When Lily left her father's apartment later that night, she did so with a new set of worries.

She knew for sure that she had the King Engine, now, but she was surprised by the things her father told her about it. From the way he described it, it almost had a mind of its own, reacting to and seeking out powerful opponents like some kind of shounen protagonist. It made a twisted kind of sense. It certainly explained why her easy going, video game enthusiast father ended up an S Class Hero, fighting of the strongest monsters on the planet.

On the surface, having the Engine looked like a blessing. Who wouldn't want a handy tool to help propel them into the highest echelons of Hero society? However, her father's warning still rang in her mind. If she fought every strong opponent who crossed her path, then the odds of dying increased. She didn't want that. Being a Hero was fun, but—.

"Ahem."

Lily looked up sharply. Standing just outside the apartment complex was Miss Fubuki, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her beautiful face. She peered down her nose at Lily, disapproval oozing from her every pore.

"When Eyelashes told me you had skipped out on yet another team exercise, I wasn't sure what to think. Do you know how worried everyone has been? You keep disappearing when you should be with us, and for what?"

Lily stood stock still, unsure of how to proceed. On the one hand, Miss Fubuki was her leader, had been for almost a year, now. She was the only one willing to take a chance on a thirteen year old kid. All the other B Class Heroes dismissed her, saying she'd probably die in battle, one day. The Blizzard Group took care of her though, taught her how to fight properly and made sure she was never alone.

And here she was, keeping secrets from them.

Miss Fubuki sighed dramatically. "If you want to leave the Group that badly, then—."

"No!" Lily rushed forward, clasping her hands in front of her. "That's not it! Please, Miss Fubuki, you have to believe me!"

Fubuki crossed her arms, sniffing haughtily. "Well, what else am I supposed to think? Secrets are fine, I don't need to know everything about you, but, as the adult in charge of keeping you safe, don't you think I should at least know where you're running off to?"

"Oh, my, what's this?" Mrs. Hanagawa, her arms laden with grocery bags, walked up to them, her wrinkled face scrunched in concern. "Lily, have you been coming here without your mother's permission?"

Mo…mother?

Lily rushed to explain, glancing nervously at Miss Fubuki's angry expression, but the old woman couldn't be cowed.

"I don't know what your home situation is like, but I'm sure your father wouldn't want you going around behind your mother's back like this, now would he?"

Ah!

"You're right," Lily said hastily, grabbing hold of Miss Fubuki's arm and pulling her away before any more secrets could be spilled. "I'll see you next time, Mrs. Hanagawa!"

One they were far enough away from the apartment building, Lily let go of Fubuki and bowed low. "I'm sorry! I should have told you!"

Miss Fubuki snorted, taking a moment to fix her hair and clothing before speaking. "Yes, you should have. I told you, Lily, I don't need to know everything about you. If you had just said you were visiting your father I would have just left it at that."

Lily looked away, chagrinned. "I'm sorry."

"Honestly," Fubuki continued with a huff. "All this secrecy is concerning. You've never mentioned your father, before. Is he blackmailing you? A child your age making B Class wages is probably a tempting target. Do I need to teach him a lesson for you?"

Lily shook her head frantically. "No, no! My dad's nice! I promise!"

"Then, I should probably meet him, at some point. I met your mother when you joined the Group, after all."

"No!" Lily winced as Fubuki narrowed her eyes at her. "N-no, that's not a good idea."

Or was it?

Like Miss Fubuki said, she was the adult in charge of Lily's wellbeing. She was also related to an S Class Hero, Tatsumaki. If anyone would understand her situation, it was Miss Fubuki.

Still, she'd promised her father she wouldn't tell anyone.

Miss Fubuki wasn't just anyone, though.

"If I tell you," she began, nervously shifting her weight. "You can't tell anyone, ok?"

Fubuki regarded her for a long moment before nodding. Lily swallowed stiffly and stood on her tip toes, reaching up to whisper in her leader's ear. Once she'd shared her secret, she stepped back, watching Fubuki's face carefully.

"Are you serious? I understand if you don't want to tell the truth, Lily, but a lie like that can get you in really big trouble."

What?

Fubuki scoffed at the teenager in front of her. "You didn't think I would believe that, did you? Ha! I can only imagine what King would do if he knew you were telling people you were his—."

Fubuki swallowed her words. Was that…the Engine? It was faint, it was definitely there. The low rumble that preceded the Strongest Man Alive was growing steadily louder. A quick look around told her that the S Class Hero was nowhere in sight. In fact, the only other person on the street right then was…

Impossible.

Lily was looking up at her with wide, terrified eyes, her face pale as a ghost.

"Please," she said, her voice strained. "Don't tell him I told you. I promised I wouldn't."

Oh. Oh.

Damn. She'd messed up.

Fubuki reached out and placed her hands on Lily's shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, it's just…"

Lily looked absolutely nothing like her father. Was she supposed to believe that mountain of a man had somehow managed to sire such a petite daughter? Even Lily's mother was taller than her.

As Lily calmed down, the Engine faded, and Fubuki realized her suspicions had been correct all along. The sound had come from Lily last week. Huh.

"I won't tell anyone," she promised. "This isn't something the public should know, anyway. Not until you're much older, at least."

"Thank you, Miss Fubuki."

Fubuki sighed. This was going to complicate things.

...

Fubuki and Lily walked through the city quietly, the space between them relaxed as the moon rose in the sky. There were few people out on the street, and those who were hurried to get inside where monsters couldn't get to them. That wasn't an issue for the two women, though, and they continued on at a leisurely pace.

Fubuki's mind was still reeling after her subordinate's teary eyed confession. King. A father. It was hard to believe. Even harder when the child in question was Lily. Fubuki stepped forward and twirled on her heel, turning to walk backwards in front of Lily as she examined the teenager's face. There was nothing there that even remotely resembled the World's Strongest Man. Then again, the few times Fubuki had seen him in person, he was scowling angrily, the famed King Engine roaring through the air. He was notoriously hard to interview, refusing all requests and valuing his privacy more than most other Heroes, S Class or otherwise. More often than not, the Engine was the only sign of his presence during a fight, the man himself only showing up once the threat was managed and then vanishing just as quickly.

"Um, Miss Fubuki?"

Lily was looking at her strangely and Fubuki realized how odd she must look, staring so intently at a child's face like that. She turned around, clearing her throat with embarrassment as she started walking normally again.

"So," she began, uncharacteristically hesitant. "What can you tell me about the Engine? I need to know if it will cause any problems in the field."

Lily shook her head, looking woeful. "King didn't tell me much," she admitted. "Just that the Engine seems to have a mind of its own."

That wasn't much?

"Lily, that is very important! Come, let's sit down so you can explain."

There was a bench on the side of the road and they settled onto it, the cool night air beginning to bite at their skin. Still, neither of them complained, too engrossed in their conversation to consider the weather.

"Well," Lily continued, pale blue eyes looking back and forth as though her father would jump from the bushes at any second. "He said it wanted to fight strong opponents; that I needed to be careful or it would make me fight someone I couldn't beat." Fubuki watched as she clutched at the fabric of her shirt, right above her heart. "I was scared when Terrible Toilet cornered us, Miss Fubuki. So scared. He was so much stronger than me, and I—."

Fubuki reached out and wrapped an arm around the girl's narrow shoulders, pulling her in for a hug.

"It's ok," she crooned gently. "I was scared, too. He was a bad one and we were just supposed to hold him off until someone stronger got there. We weren't meant to fight him on our own."

It was a hard reality for most Heroes to accept. Lots of kids joined up with big dreams of becoming the next King or Flashy Flash or even Tatsumaki, but Fubuki had seen those same children dashed upon the rocks alongside all their aspirations. Some remained Heroes, if they lived, never really giving up on their childhood dreams, but so many left the world of heroism behind, embittered against those who stayed. Fubuki couldn't imagine Lily turning out like that. She was a B Class Hero at fourteen. There weren't many people in the world who had that kind of potential, let alone acted on it in a constructive or altruistic way. Lily was special.

Maybe she got it from her father.

Another, more troubling thought occurred to her. If the Engine activated when Lily was afraid…had she frightened the poor kid?

That couldn't be. She made a concerted effort to be—while not necessarily friendly—an approachable figure in the eyes of the Blizzard Group's younger members. Lily was among the youngest, so she'd put extra time into making sure she was taken care of and knew she could come to Fubuki for help. She'd even met her parents!

Well, parent. Lily certainly resembled her mother more than her father. Now that she knew their secret, should she make King aware that she knew? Give him the same speech and run down the Blizzard Group's activities and organization she gave to all parents of underage Heroes in her care?

Wait, before that, why had the Engine reacted to her?

A tiny flame of private happiness blossomed in her chest at the realization that it obviously considered her a powerful opponent. Why else would it activate around her? It wasn't going off now, of course, but she was comforting its owner. Before, in the alleyway, she had confronted Lily with more force than she'd ever dared to use around the girl. That must have been it. She went into that conversation expecting it to be an argument and had dismissed Lily when she told her the truth. Of course, the Engine would take offense to that. If it really was alive the way Lily said it was, then it was a miracle it hadn't activated sooner.

An even worse thought barreled right into her brain, snuffing out the pride she was slowly nurturing. If she understood Lily's brief explanation correctly, then the Engine wanted to fight. Could drive even King to seek out strong opponents to satisfy its bloodlust. If that was the case, then Lily…

Fubuki tightened her grip around the teenaged girl, pulling her closer as a fierce protective instinct ran through her. The girl was still shaking from the mere memory of the Terrible Toilet. What would she do in the face of another monster of similar or—heaven forbid—even greater strength? Lily was stronger than the average teenager. Much stronger. But she still wasn't ready to face such powerful opponents. Her father faced Dragon Level beings on the regular, flattening entire cities in the process. His reputation was built on his numerous successes, but King was an unknown before recently. How long did he spend quietly amassing his power before stepping into the limelight?

However long he'd spent training, Lily didn't have that luxury. King could operate unnoticed because there was no one like him, yet. He was the first of his kind. If someone heard the Engine before King took his place as the Strongest Man on Earth, they probably dismissed it as a monster or some other Hero at work. Now, with King an active and beloved S Class Hero, Lily would be held to a completely different standard. Not only would people mistake her Engine for her father's, as Fubuki had, but they would expect her to be as strong as he was if their relationship ever became public.

A cold shiver ran down Fubuki's spine as she made the terrible conclusion that she would not be able to help Lily. She was the strongest B Class Hero in the Association, but that was it. Lily would definitely surpass her, one day. She knew that even before learning about her parentage. That had saddened her, sure, but she had always assumed Lily would progress at a reasonable pace—and that she would have the power to get her out of trouble if she ever bit off more than she could chew.

The Engine threw a wrench into the works, for sure. She had no idea what kinds of corners it would drive its owner into and absolutely no guarantee she would be of any help.

She hated this. Hated feeling so helpless. She knew she wasn't the strongest, but at least she was strong enough.

Not anymore, though.

With a sigh, she pushed Lily back gently and wiped at the tears in her bright blue eyes.

"Has he offered to train you?" She asked hopefully. "He's probably the only one who can, though I hate to admit it."

Lily shook her head, sniffling weakly, and a wave of anger ran through Fubuki. What was King thinking? No way he just told his daughter about a life changing problem and offered no solutions. She refused to believe it.

Then again, thinking of the people she sometimes saw him with, he might actually be capable of such stupidity.

"Ok," she began, wracking her brain for a way to salvage the situation. "What about…! What about the Ultimate Hellfire Wavemotion Cannon?"

Lily returned her excitement with a blank look, confusion clear on her face.

"It's his energy attack," she explained a little impatiently, bouncing in her seat as she thought about the possibilities. "It's in his official record! Did he mention it, at all?"

Lily shook her head, looking even more discouraged.

Well, Fubuki would definitely be speaking with him.

But not now. No, she knew where he lived, and she had a convenient excuse thanks to the old lady's misunderstanding. She could get his address from one of the other tenants, she was sure.

Right now, she needed to take care of Lily.

"Has your father explained anything to you? Beyond the Engine, I mean."

Lily shook her head, again, and Fubuki almost changed her mind about speaking with King right that instant.

"We mostly play video games," Lily said sheepishly. "It's fun."

Well, far be it from her to tell a child how to spend time with their father, but this was getting ridiculous. Even a civilian father would be considered a deadbeat for such obvious neglect. Playing video games was fun, but there were lives at stake. Specifically, his child's life! What was he thinking? No. He clearly wasn't thinking at all.

Her displeasure must have shown on her face because Lily deflated even further, if that was possible, looking very depressed.

Fubuki reached out and took the girl's hands in her own, cold skin reminding her of the time and temperature. "Don't worry about it," she said with burning determination that kept out the cold. "I'll handle your training."

Lily looked up at her with wide eyed surprise, the moonlight illuminating the blue of her gaze and Fubuki could finally see some of her father in her. Those eyes were famous, after all, and now that she'd noticed them she could never overlook them.

The decision to train Lily was a split second one, but one she stood by after a moment's thought. Lily was formally under her care. King aside, her mother was trusting Fubuki to take care of her daughter and that included providing access to training facilities and group exercises like the one Lily skipped today. Theoretically, they were meant to foster goodwill between Heroes and help them realize their full potential. Now that Lily's situation was more complicated, Fubuki didn't really have any choice but to oversee the girl's training herself. There was no telling what mysteries lay undiscovered in the cute girl beside her. Letting her train with the others could prove disastrous. If the Engine decided a member of the Blizzard Groups was worth fighting, would Lily hold back in sparring? Or would she let loose some previously untapped source of power and seriously hurt one of her friends?

Fubuki would train Lily herself. It was for the best. At least, until she could beat some sense into that idiot father of hers. How strange, that a single day could turn her near hero worship into vague disdain for such a powerful man. If she happened across him in the wild, she couldn't say for sure what she'd do. Probably hit him. If his Engine went off for her, well, that would be nice.

There was a part of her that was excited to be training King's child, she had to admit. If and when Lily's relationship with the Strongest Man became public—or she achieved S Class status herself, whichever came first—Fubuki's reputation would also skyrocket. Lily was a kind child, and too naïve for someone in her position. By establishing a rapport with her now, Fubuki would definitely be able to ride the tailcoats of her success years in the future.

But that was the future. This was now.

Fubuki stood from the bench, stretching her hands high above her head and loosing the stiff muscles in her neck. When she turned back to the still seated Lily, she made sure to smile invitingly and extend a hand.

"I don't know what your father is thinking," she couldn't help but scold gently as she helped her subordinate to her feet. "But you need training. I don't mind doing it. There's no one else in the Group who could be trusted with this kind of secret, anyway. I know you only told me because I pressured you and I'm sorry for that, but this is the kind of thing that should be kept between as few people as possible." King was right about that, at least. "We should probably start with the Engine, since we know the most about that, but I want you to start working on energy techniques at home. Nothing big, but they should help you better understand your own internal energy before you start using it for anything.

"I also want you to ask your father about all this," she said with a cock of her eyebrow. "He might not want you to know these things yet, but you need to. If he fights you on it, just start crying. That always worked on my father."

Lily laughed a bit at that and Fubuki relaxed. The entire situation was too tense for her liking. Lily was better suited to happy smiles than she was teary eyes, anyway.

"Come on," she said, gesturing for Lily to follow her. "It's late and the boys are probably worried."

A quick glance at her phone confirmed that. Twenty three missed calls from Eyelashes alone, and the others had all tried reaching her somehow, too.

"I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't come to us about this," she said gently as they walked down the empty street. "The Blizzard Group is on your side, Lily, I promise you that. While it might be a little difficult for your to join group training in the future, please promise me you'll start coming to the hangouts again. For Eyelashes' sake if nothing else."

She held up her phone, showing Lily the list of missed calls and texts, and the girl giggled even as an embarrassed blush crossed her face.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fubuki." She was honest about that, the look in her eyes revealed that much. "I never meant to distance myself from everyone. It's just hard to schedule anything with King since we never know where he might be needed."

Fubuki sniffed haughtily. "Well, I can certainly understand prioritizing him in some cases, but you're under my employ. You would do well to remember that."

"Yes, Miss Fubuki!"

Lily snapped to attention, the salute comical in the cold light of the moon, but the smile on her face warmed Fubuki's heart.