"Closed? How can it be closed?"

The guard shrugged, totally unconcerned. "I put up a sign. People don't go by. That's how it can be closed."

"No one likes a smartass," Kotetsu muttered. He shoved his hands in his pockets, thinking quickly. Kaede's classes wouldn't be out for another hour, but the streets were far too crowded to drive through the main highway at rush hour. He'd planned to park his car and walk through the thoroughfare, but…

"Why don't you just go through Market Street?"

Don't wince. Don't grimace. Don't frown. You make it obvious, even to a guard on the street, and you and Kaede might as well be dead.

Kotetsu forced a grin. "Right, right! I forgot that went the same place. Thanks!"

"You'd better hurry, though. It's going to be busy today."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"They caught a Class-H."

Do. Nothing. For Kaede's sake.

Kotetsu parked his car in an overnight lot. He could afford the fee, and he'd pick it up in the morning on his way to work. Market Street was a faster way to the apartment he shared with his daughter; he just never went that way.

The smell of the Market reached his nose after two, maybe three steps in. Leather, metal, and the smell of too many animals in the same place mixed together to form something Kotetsu stayed away from whenever possible.

Keep eyes front. Do not engage.

Every part of him ached to do something. The sounds of chains clinking together reached his ears, loud even over the ambient sound. A girl―she couldn't be any older than Kaede―whimpered at a blow from her master.

Ten years ago, Kotetsu would have jumped in regardless of the consequences. He'd have fetched the man a good smack, asked the girl if she was all right, and notified his contacts. Six years ago, he would have simply bought the girl, then set her free.

He walked past.

Keep your head down. Don't look them in the eyes. It's worse if you look them in the eyes.

None of the vendors were trying too hard to sell him anyone. A couple made half-hearted attempts as he strode down the street, but it was obvious he wasn't in a buying mood.

"Off to see the Class-H?" one vendor called to him. "Heard he's really something."

Kotetsu didn't reply. They got worse if you talked to them.

He didn't have to ask where the Class-H was. Unfortunately, he couldn't very well hurry by without looking. That would have been suspicious.

Besides, he had to check to see if it was anyone he knew.

He ran through a list of names in his head, mentally preparing to see one of those faces atop a metal collar. The list of NEXT he knew that were still free (and therefore in danger of capture) was depressingly short, and half of them lived in his house. As long as it isn't Ivan. As long as it isn't Tony. They were the only two who ever came to the city anymore.

He didn't even let himself think his true fear.

Kotetsu craned his neck to look, telling himself he wasn't looking for brown shoulder-length hair, wasn't looking for frightened blue eyes, wasn't looking for the hoodie he'd bought for her only last week. It couldn't be Kaede, after all. She didn't have any powers. She wasn't a NEXT.

Unless she is. Unless those powers woke up while you were away.

Kotetsu shouldered his way between two women and stared down at the Tiger. Did Kaede even know what a Class-H was? She must have. He'd told her.

"Daddy, why would anyone want to buy a really powerful NEXT?"

She'd asked the question in all innocence. He and Tomoe had decided when things started changing that Kaede would never need to know about her father. She never needed to know that if he were ever discovered, ever taken, he'd be in the cage, living up to his name.

He squatted down near her, flicking off the TV channel showing a tall dark-skinned man surrounded by fire. "Kaede, why would someone have a tiger as a pet? A real one?"

She furrowed her brow. "They're pretty?"

"What else?"

"Can you cuddle them, if they're pets?"

"No. You're never safe with a tiger. If you turn your back on them for one second and they think you're food, they'll kill you. They're not good for anything except to be looked at, so other people think you're cool to have a tiger." He straightened up, patting her head. "But people always want them as pets anyway. It's the same with the super-powerful NEXT we call Class-H. They're not safe to own, they're stronger than their masters, and they could turn on you at any time."

The Class-H's hair wasn't brown. Kotetsu breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the pale waves of hair falling to the ground. For a heart-stopping second, he thought the figure chained and kneeling on the ground was Barnaby. His chest constricted painfully.

Then the slave driver grabbed a fistful of that pale hair and yanked the man upright. It wasn't Barnaby, as Kotetsu had known it wouldn't be, couldn't be. The man was paler, with sharp, fine features―at least, what Kotetsu could see of his features.

"Why is he blindfolded?" someone in the crowd asked. "Why can't we see his eyes?"

Kotetsu realized with a start that the slave driver was nervous. He was sweating, and didn't take a step closer to the slave than he had to. He licked his lips. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, you see before you the most powerful NEXT abomination we've ever brought to Sternbild!"

"Pull the other one!"

"Really, he is!"

"You say that every time you catch someone who can do more than make their hair grow on command," a woman sneered. "What's he do, then?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, do not misunderstand. This slave comes from exceptional stock. His sire was none other than Patient Zero himself!"

Kotetsu, about to push his way out of the crowd, froze. He closed his eyes, remembering a time before everything was so insane, before people acted like monsters and treated other people like dogs. He turned, giving the pale man a second look.

His legs were bent at an awkward angle, due to his ankles being chained apart. His hands were sealed together with the standard cuffs, but there was a second pair fastened tightly around his elbows, which must have been excruciating. The collar was the standard-issue, built out of some new alloy that had been discovered thirty years ago, making the transition into the "enlightened age" possible. Arestium, they called it, and talked enthusiastically about how it blocked NEXT powers.

Kotetsu frowned, looking closer. Yes―not only the collar, but the cuffs on arms and wrists, as well as the slave's ankle chains, were all made of Arestium. Not only that… "What's the blindfold for?" he called, unable to keep silent.

The slave driver glared at him. "Of course, being the son of Patient Zero, we're unwilling to take any chances. This particular creature has been known to excrete searing flames not only from his hands, but from his eyes as well."

There was a sharp intake of breath. This slave was dangerous. A Class-H indeed, Kotetsu thought to himself. Anyone would be a fool to try and bring this slave into their home, no matter how secure they thought his cell.

Then again, that's what I thought about Keith and Karina. Look how much they sold for.

Sure enough, the slave driver had hardly stopped speaking when a man yelled, "Twenty thousand!"

I should do something. I should buy him. Ivan could get him out of the city, probably. Maybe. I owe it to his father to try.

Kotetsu's phone buzzed against his leg. Kaede's picture blinked up at him, two fingers held out in front of her, a huge grin on her face.

Slowly, Kotetsu put his hands back in his pockets and turned his back on the market.