Metal Bat wandered the hallway of his apartment, staring at the pictures on the wall and the pristine paint job recently put in place by a professional. He would have painted the walls himself, but he would have just become frustrated and put several holes in them, besides, money wasn't an object for him. Ever since he became an S-class the money had been rolling in, he could of afforded a bigger place, but that wasn't his style. Moving into a nicer place would of taken his little sister away from her friends, too, which would break her heart.

His little sister was happy here, if she was happy then he was happy. Still, the hero job had kept him really busy and kept him away from her most of the time, Metal Bat wished he could be there more often, but he had to do his job to keep people safe, to keep her safe. He thought back to the other day, to the meeting with that red haired guy.

His little sister had wanted to come with him to the meeting, she had never been to the HA, she was never allowed to: heroes and staff only. But that guy...Kane? He pulled some strings before Metal Bat even asked, set up a kids area in the S-class meeting room right outside his office just in case she wanted me to come with Metal bat, hell he even got some B-classes to baby sit while he was in the interview. Metal Bat would of been cool with the guy, if it weren't for what he said during the interview…


"Ah, welcome, Mister…?" Kana asked.

"You can call me Metal Bat, that's all you can call me."

"Very well, you can call me Kana, we met at the S-class meeting the yesterday."

"Uh, no, you introduced ya self, we never 'met.'"


"I see, well, if that's the case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Metal Bat."

Kana extended an open hand across the table, offering a friendly handshake. Metal Bat, stared down at the hand as he leaned back in his chair, then he looked back up at Kana who was wearing a casual, easy smile. They made eye contact for a few seconds before Kana slowly retracted his hand, almost disappointed by the outcome. Metal Bat decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for a while now.

"Why'd you set all that stuff up for my sis, eh?" He asked.

"I saw in your files that you had a younger sister, I seem to be one of the only chairmen who understand the importance of family."

"So that's it then? You just thought it was a good idea to let a kid in here?"

"Not just a good idea, an immensely important one, we're already dragging you away on death defying missions, might as well take her with you when you can right?"

"That's...nice of ya?" Metal Bat said in a confused tone, only to receive a chuckle from Kana.

"Not used to that sort of treatment from the association? Me neither, but if there is one good thing about the HA, it's the living arrangements, I must recommend you take them up on the offer to move you two out here."

Metal Bat let out a sigh as he got a bit more comfortable. "Nah, I gotta decline, all of Sis' pals are out there."

"Well, you may not have to worry about that, I'm trying to talk the association into expanding and moving that entire city out here."

Something about the way Kana said that struck a nerve with Metal Bat. "Why?" He asked.

"Well, it's simply less durable and prone to monster attacks, it's got a lot of families out there and who knows when a dragon level threat could just come through and wipe the entire place out. Thousands would be dead, many would lose loved ones, and I know how painful that can be."

"Eh? Man, I'm sorry to hear that, who'd ya lose?"

Kana leaned back and stared at the wall, losing his expression for a mere instance, almost undetectable to those less prone to emotion. Metal Bat saw it, though, he saw the pain dance in Kana's eyes for a millisecond, he saw memories rush back before being pushed down, he saw Kana dissociate for an instance before trying to replace his facade and failing. It all happened in the matter of a second, but Metal Bat had seen it, and now there was only sadness on Kana's face as he spoke.

"Everyone," Kana said solemnly. "I have lost everyone."


A/n: sorry, snow ruined my internet yesterday, I'll upload another chapter later today, and the update schedule will become once every other day. My new story launches tomorrow, it's an elder scrolls based fic filled with OC's, so there won't be an update for this story until Friday, followed by an update on Monday since I know most people want this story in particular, see you guys then!