One Punch Man: Polar Opposites

Chapter Five: Paying Respects

The Dark Hurricane walked down the streets, hands in his pockets and eyes glued to the sidewalk, avoiding eye contact with the civilians he passed by, heading to one of the few places that one rarely ever visits. Crossing several streets and rounding several corners, he arrived at his destination; the Big City Cemetery. Taking in a breath and letting it go, Kaze marched through the gates and passed many rows of tombstones before stopping before the set of tombstones he was looking for. Before him were three tombstones, and all three had different names and quotes.

The first tombstone had the name Ruby 'The Red' Lotus, and underneath that name was the date of birth and death, and under that, a quote; Plucked before I could bloom. The second one had the name Michael 'Sun Ray' Sanchez, under the date of birth and death was the quote 'Even in darkness, I still shine'. And the third one had the name Randy 'The Viper' Ortega, and underneath the date of birth and death was the quote 'Never give in to pain'.

Kazenikura stood before the three tombstones, fists clenching and unclenching, before he let out a calm breath.

"Hey, guys." He said aloud, as if talking to a real person. "Been a while since I last visited, huh? I apologize for that, I've been in prison for a while. But I'm out now, and things will be different."

He fell silent for a moment, before feeling a sudden surge of emotions, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry for not helping you, for not saving you. The pain you went through was undeserved. No one deserved to go through what you did." His head lowered, tears streaming down his face. "I blame myself every day, for not trying hard enough." Opening his eyes, Kaze gazed at the tombstones. "But I assure you; mankind will pay for the pain you've gone through."

"Hey, Gakura!"

Turning his head, Kaze saw Mizuki approached, wearing a T-shirt and jogging shorts, along with a track jacket.

"Mizuki." Kaze calmly said. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"I was out for a jog when I saw you." Mizuki declared. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just paying respects." Kaze blandly said, turning his attention back to the tombstones. "Respects to those no longer with us."

Turning to the tombstones in question, Mizuki frowned, "Friends of yours?"

"Students of mine." Kaze nodded. "Students I failed to protect."

Mizuki seemed confused, which Kaze noticed, "Back in the Association, I was assigned to training heroes with their telekinetic powers. These three gave the Hero Association everything they had…" He then clenched his fists in anger. "And it was never enough."

"What do you mean?" Mizuki asked, worried about where this was going.

"So many things happened that caused their downward spiral." Kaze explained with a heavy heart. "First, Randy was shot dead by gang members, but not before he returned to the H.A. headquarters after defeating them before collapsing."

"Oh my." Mizuki nearly gasped.

"Then Michael died sacrificing himself to save some civilians." Kaze continued. "Blowing himself up to destroy a monster."

"Kaze…" Mizuki whispered.

"But Ruby here had it the worst." Kaze said, gazing at Ruby's tombstone. "Despite doing everything she could, there was always something the ungrateful people would complain about. They'd nag on her for not appearing early enough when there's a monster attack or throw insults at her for accidentally causing property damage during a monster fight." He shook his head. "She would get harassed everywhere she went; and when they didn't throw insults, they threw stones and trash at her. She'd even suffer doxxing and harassment from stalkers."

"That's terrible!" Mizuki gasped, loudly this time.

"I tried to consul her as best I could," Kaze said with a sigh. "It seemed to work, but then her parents got attacked. Instead of taking it out on the obvious culprits, they blamed their own daughter and disowned her!"

"My God!" Mizuki gasped. "How could they?!"

"It got worse." Kaze said with shivering rage. "One day, when I was retrieving Ruby for her training…I had discovered that she had…committed suicide."

Mizuki gasped in shock at this, both hands covering her gapping mouth.

"And all those people she struggled to protect just laughed, saying she deserved it." Kaze growled. "And you know what the association did about it? Nothing! They did nothing against the slander and insults, and just act like it didn't matter that she went through Hell!"

Mizuki only watched and listened as he vented, letting out his anger and frustration.

"That's why I quit." Kaze said. "The people are ungrateful, and the Association just treats its heroes like toys, while the heroes themselves are no better."

Mizuki saw the anger in his eyes, hear it in his heavy breathing, but she could also feel the energy building up around him, like a bomb that might explode. Worried, Mizuki moved in and pulled Kaze into a hug, rubbing his back in order to calm him down.

"It's okay, Gakura." She said soothingly. "Let it all out."

Surprised by the sudden embrace, Kaze felt himself calm down simply from the warm hug from the young hero. Even during his time locked up in a maximum-security prison, Kazenikura had learned to isolate himself from others, as to focus on his mental training. But this feeling of physical contact? It brought something human of him to light.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist, reciprocating the hug and feeling his anger wither away slightly.

"I'm sorry for what you went through, and the losses you suffered." Mizuki said in a soothing tone. "I know the Hero Association is far from perfect, it has a lot of flaws." She then gave a small smile. "But there are some good people in the Association that care. People who can help and support you, if you just asked."

She then broke the hug, still smiling as she backed up a bit, "So please; don't think that you're alone. People can help you, including me."

She then offered her hand, "And don't think that everyone in the Hero Association is evil; there are good people who care about what it means to be a hero. Like me!"

Taking a moment to ponder Mizuki's words, Kaze took hold of Mizuki's left hand with his right, gently squeezing.

"I will think on what you said." He said, feeling himself calming down.

"Good to hear." Mizuki nodded, before lighting up. "Oh, I know! Why don't we spend the day together?"

"Now?" Kaze asked, tilting his head.

"It's the best way to relief stress!" Mizuki declared. "Now, come on!"

Not even giving Kaze a chance to think about protesting, Mizuki then dragged him away from the graveyard, the elder vesper feeling his heart beat rapidly, somewhat glad of her insistence.

Meanwhile, at the Association headquarters, Sitch stood alone in his office, looking over the various files lying across his desk, his mind racing with so many things, before the door suddenly swung open.

"We're here!" Tatsumaki shouted as she and her sister entered, Fubuki's sporting a stone-cold expression.

"Ah, good." Sitch smiled. "Now, I'll keep it as brief as possible…"

The two esper sisters stood before him as Sitch laid out a file regarding Black Tooth Island.

"As you two are fully aware," Sitch began. "Black Tooth Prison is one of our more advanced maximum-security prisons, housing over thousands, if not millions of villains that spawned throughout the years. There should be no way anyone should get in or out without special clearance." He then sighed. "Unfortunately, that's no longer the case."

He then laid one more closed file down on his desk, "Many criminals had broken out…including this one."

Opening the file, he turned it around and pushed it forward so the sisters could see; the file and information of their older brother, Kazenikura, his mugshot staring back at them with a glaring expression.

"The Hurricane of Darkness." Sitch finally said.

"Kazenikura." Tatsumaki growled.

"Big brother…" Fubuki said sorrowfully.

"He was the one who started the prison riot and now he's out there, somewhere." Sitch said. "While we were able to recapture some of the criminals that escaped, he's still at large."

"So what's your plan?" Tatsumaki asked with a raised brow. "Declare a large enough bounty and set out a manhunt?"

"No, it would cause widespread panic." Sitch said with a shake of his head. "Given how powerful he is and the damage he could cause, people everywhere would be panic and do more harm in the long run."

The esper sisters nodded in understanding, finding some logic in his words.

"Which is why I'm choosing to handle it in house and with those who know him best." Sitch went on. "Which is why I called you two in specifically. As his sisters, it's only natural that you two would be chosen to bring him in before he causes major damage."

The esper sisters mulled it over for a moment, finding sense in Sitch's words, before he finished, "And so you both have your objective; bring in Kazenikura by any means necessary."

After that, the two left the office, Tatsumaki left, no doubt to prepare herself, Fubuki seemed very conflicted, with only one option in her head.

'I need Saitama's help.' She thought. 'If anyone is strong enough to stop Kazenikura, it's him!'

And there's the newest chapter! Sorry for the long wait, you know how it is; work's keeping me busy, other personal life stuff, and a thunderstorm knocked out the internet, so I had to wait a few days for the internet to get reinstalled before surfing the web.

But hey, we get to learn a bit more about Kaze and why he quit the Association and why he's on a warpath. And yes, while it is sad that he lost his students, one of them to suicide, that doesn't give him the right to lash out the way he is now and his plans. Still, you can at least understand him to a degree.

Anyways, hope you stay tuned for more chapters! Be sure to review!