Chapter 5: The Million-Yen Debut of the No-Body Man!

At the stroke of midnight, the citizens of Deimon City are sleeping soundly in their beds, cozy in their dreamlands. Suddenly, there is a cry for help that breaks the night air!

"Help!" cries Hiroshi Nakamura. The forty-year old banker is cornered in an alleyway by a pair of men wearing black masks. Terror fills every inch of the small man's body as the men corner him, handguns drawn and ready.

"Give us everything you got, old man," says one of the muggers, "or Mr. Chameleon is gonna have to get down here and get personal!"

"Yeah, fool!" says the other. "Wallet, watch, whatever you got, we're takin'!"

"T-T-T-Take everything! J-J-J-Just p-pl-please don't hurt me!" the banker whimpers.

The muggers snicker as they close in on the man. "Aw, now where's the fun in that?" asks the first.

"Yeah, we've got a reputation to uphold!" the other chortles.

Just before they can get their hands on the poor banker, there comes the sound of running feet coming ever closer to the muggers. Without warning and seemingly without cause, one mugger is thrown back by an invisible force, while the other feels his feet being knocked out from under him. The first mugger scrambles off the ground and flits his head around nervously.

"What the hell was that?!" he screams. "Is there a super here!?"

"Maybe there is, and maybe there isn't," a disembodied voice yawns. "You're going down, super or not."

"Found ya!" the other mugger screams as he tackles the air where the voice came from. He receives only a face full of filthy concrete as his reward. There comes the sound of a clucking tongue from a nearby dumpster.

"Too slow, friend, too slow," the voice taunts. There comes the sound of boots clicking against the concrete, and the invisible force approaches the mugger on the ground before picking him up by the collar and swinging him over to his partner in crime. From the air comes the sound of cracking knuckles. Hiroshi, who has not moved since the mugger was punched, feels eyes gazing at him.

"Don't worry," the voice tells him, "this won't take long."

"Fuck you!" the first mugger howls. He lets out the clip in his gun, while his partner does the same. Hiroshi feels a pair of hands pushing him to the side, onto the ground. There is a wincing sound, like a person in pain, and he sees blood pouring out of some invisible force in the air.

"Ooh, that hurt," the invisible man groans as he wipes the blood off his arm. "That really hurt. No big deal though."

"Wh-What the fuck are you?!" the second mugger cries.

"Oh. I'm Nobody," says the invisible man. The blood vanishes away and once more, the muggers lose sight of the enigmatic hunter. Suddenly, both men feel fists being shoved into their guts, then a crack across the back, followed by another blow to the back with what feels like a kick. The muggers collapse to the ground in agony, but the invisible man grabs them by the head and slams both into the concrete. A pool of blood forms around their heads.

Hiroshi nervously begins to stand up. "Are they d-d-d-dead?" he asks the air around him, hoping his invisible savior is still there.

"Nope," the invisible man sighs. "I tend to frown on killing. Bit of a principles thing, really."

"O-O-Oh. D…Do you think I might be able to…to thank you? In the flesh?" asks Hiroshi.

"Sure. Why not?" the invisible man replies. Suddenly, he appears in front of Hiroshi, and the banker can finally see the man who saved him. The invisible man is built slim, like a runner, and is dressed in a superhero's costume. He wears a red helmet that covers the top part of his head, goggles with a red strap and silver lenses across his face, a red sleeveless top that has a large, silver 'N' on the front, and silver, skin-tight shorts that end just above his knees and have a red line on the outer sides of the thighs. Silver and red shoes adorn his feet, just as silver and red, fingerless gloves are on his hands. The man is very young, and has a relaxed look on his face despite having been shot in the arm.

"Don't worry, the police will be here soon to pick these guys up," the now-visible man says to Hiroshi.

Hiroshi replies, "Thank you, um…"

"I'm called 'The No-Body Man'," says the hero. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be off."

With that, the No-Body Man disappears from sight once more, the diminishing sound of shoes smacking against the ground the only sign that there was another man in the alley. He runs off, unseen, into the night once more, hunting down crime wherever it might be! Wherever evil lurks, he will be there, never seen. Though his actions might go by ignored, he does it not for the glory, but for the pride he feels in keeping the city safe. For he is a humble No-Body, after all…

***

"So, Hiruma…what, uh, what's this machine for?" asked Sena.

The young first-year was with his fellow superheroes, Hiruma and Kurita, in Hiruma's "devil bat-cave". Today, they wanted to test out some of Sena's powers, and to make sure that there was nothing wrong with his body. Hiruma had said that it was just going to be a few examinations to gauge his speed and the strain it put on Sena's muscles. For some reason, when he had said this, the demonic man had cackled endlessly, though Sena figured this was common, as Kurita hadn't even flinched.

It was a few days after the Unlucky Valentines incident. Eyeshield 21 had been seen all over each and every news station in that time; the media just couldn't get enough of the mystery man "who could run as fast as light." (These were the words of a regional reporter, Kumabukuro something-or-other.) Everywhere in the city, there were images of Sena, in costume, punching out Black Cupid with a rapid speed punch. Word was spreading fast about the hero, though the question most people were asking was "When will he show up again?"

"I told you, damn bush-head, that this test is to see how your body is channeling the hyper-speed energy," said Hiruma. "All you have to do is run on that treadmill until I say to stop."

"Fine," said Sena.

He began to run, slowly at first, not even close to the levels of speed he had achieved three days ago. Sena was not at all focusing on the test at hand, but rather, what he could be doing besides this. He and Suzuna could be hanging out, watching a movie, he could be over at Monta's, playing video games, or he could be at Mamori's, reorganizing his room and its contents. Okay, scratch the last one. He could either be at the movies or playing video games. But running on a treadmill with wires hooked up to the major muscle locations on his body? This was not at all what Sena would consider fun.

He was shaken from his mile-a-minute thinking by a jolt of electricity. It came from the various wires, which came from a giant machine, which was being controlled by Hiruma, who was sitting in a black chair. His long, pointy fingers were tracing over a glowing keyboard, pressing buttons over and over again.

"Bear in mind, bush-head, that if you run too slow, you will receive a shock to your body," said Hiruma. "Unless you want to come out of this looking like a charred piece of meat, I'd advise you to pick up the tempo."

"Hiruma, are you sure this is safe?" asked Kurita nervously. He was Hiruma's partner in crime, sure, but he didn't like seeing others in pain. Unless they deserved it, of course.

"Eh, maybe," replied Hiruma. "When was the last time we had someone with super-speed down here?"

"Uh…never?"

"Yeah, so your guess is as good as mine," said Hiruma.

Sena began running faster and faster in order to avoid another dangerous shock from Hiruma. As he ran, he could feel the muscles in his body tensing, growing more taught as the seconds went by. He almost felt broken by the time Hiruma said, "Okay, fuzz-ball, that was good. You can stop now."

At this, Sena simply stopped, not realizing that the large treadmill he was running on was still going. The machine threw Sena off and straight into a large machine on the other side of the room. Hiruma laughed so much that he fell from his chair. Kurita, on the other hand, ran over to the pile of equipment Sena had crashed into.

"Oh geez, Sena! Are you okay!?" asked Kurita. He tossed away machine after machine until he happened upon Sena. Having found the smaller boy, Kurita picked him up and gave him a tight squeeze that took all the air from Sena's lungs. Sena assumed that Kurita was giving him a hug. A very, very painful hug.

"K…Kuri…ta…" wheezed Sena, unable to form a complete word.

"Ease up, fat ass," said Hiruma as he sauntered over to the two. "We need him to be able to breathe before we give him the next test."

Sena's eyes grew wide with terror as he wondered what new tortures Hiruma had in store for him. Mamori had been right to warn Sena about him. If only she had warned him about staying away from particle accelerators as well…

***

"So after another run on the treadmill, he had me run through a room filled with red-hot lasers," said Sena to Suzuna. He was no longer in Hiruma's training center, but instead, outside, walking through the snow on the college campus. The two of them met up shortly after Sena had finished his training with Hiruma, and Suzuna had suggested they get some hot chocolate. Sena leaped at the prospect, or would have, had he not felt so worn out from the exercises. He would complain about how much it hurt just to walk, but he didn't want to look bad in front of Suzuna.

"Geez, for real?" asked the indigo-haired girl. "How are you still alive after all that?!"

"Turns out that it was an exercise to see if I could slow down my perception of time, so the lasers wouldn't hit me. It's like what happened when I got you away from that bank robber the other day," said Sena.

"Wow," said Suzuna, her eyes wide with wonder. "So, what else can you do?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Seems that guy didn't want me getting TOO worn out, so he decided to cut me some slack for today."

"How fast were you going on the treadmill?" Suzuna asked as she cleared off a snow-covered bench.

"I think Hiruma stopped me at…somewhere around 423 miles per hour. Wait, don't sit down yet," said Sena. He removed his red gloves and put his hands to the cold metal of the bench.

"What're you-"

"Hang on, you'll see."

Suzuna watched as Sena's hands began to glow bright red, and steam rose slowly from the bench. All the snow and ice on the bench melted and evaporated in just a few seconds, leaving behind a dry, very warm bench. Sena stood up, slipped his gloves back onto his hands, and gestured to the bench.

"I can also heat stuff. Sort of like a human microwave," said Sena.

Cautiously, Suzuna sat down on the bench. "Ooh!" she exclaimed. "It's real warm! Guess I don't need a heater if I stay with you, huh?" Suzuna laughed. A crimson blush spread across Sena's face as he sat down, smiling, forgetting the hellish exercise he had just gone through.

***

Not long afterwards, Sena walked back to his and Mamori's apartment by himself. He and Suzuna had parted ways, though not before she made him promise to take her out for dinner some time soon.

Go out to dinner? Sena thought to himself. But…we've barely just met! I guess I'm pretty new at this though…We've only just talked and walked when we've gone out together. What do you do on an actual date? I better ask Mamori, she'll have an answer for me.

"Mamori, I'm back!" said Sena as he pushed open the door to the apartment.

"Oh, Sena! Guess who I bumped into today!" said Mamori from the kitchen.

"Who?" asked Sena.

"You remember Tetsuo Ishimaru, right?"

Sitting at the kitchen counter on one of the stools that Mamori had was a man that Sena remembered from his high school days. Ishimaru had black hair that was always shaved down to a buzz-cut, tanned skin, and long, gangly limbs. He kept in shape throughout high school by being a runner for the Deimon track and cross-country team, though he was often in need of members. Today, he was wearing a big, gray jacket, gray sweatpants and white sneakers. A cup of steaming coffee in his hands, Ishimaru waved to Sena.

"Yo, Sena! Long time, no see!" said the tall man as he got up and walked over to Sena. There was an obvious height difference between the two men, Ishimaru being six feet tall and Sena only being five feet, seven inches. They both shook hands, Sena noting that Ishimaru's grip felt limp and weak.

"Ishimaru! Good to see you again!" said Sena. "Do you go to the university?"

"Nope," Ishimaru replied. "I couldn't afford to get into university, what with my mom being sick and my dad, well…not being in the picture, I had to take care of things around the house."

"Whoa, seriously?!" Sena gasped.

"Yeah, but it's fine, really! I've been making things manage for some time now, and my older siblings have been helping out when they can, so it's no big deal," said Ishimaru.

Sena walked into the kitchen to get a soda from the refrigerator. "Well, that's good," he said. "I'm really glad you're doing okay, Ishimaru. Hey, um, Mamori, I've got a favor to ask you."

"What do you need, Sena?" asked Mamori.

"Well, it's, uh…I need to borrow some…yen."

"What for?" questioned Mamori.

"There's this girl, Suzuna, that I met here the other day, and I-"

"Say no more, say no more," Mamori excitedly exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. "You want to treat this girl to a night out, right? Let me see how much I have on me…"

"N-No! You don't need to worry about giving it to me right now!" Sena stammered.

Mamori stopped searching her purse. "You're right, Sena," she said as she put her wallet away. "Sorry, I guess I got a little bit carried away. So who is this girl? What's she like? Is she a student here?"

"Uh…her name's Suzuna Taki and, yeah, she's a student here. She's very, um, energetic. Which isn't a bad thing! I mean…she's very nice and she likes to roller skate and she's a little clumsy but-"

"Easy, Sean," Mamori giggled as she patted the nervous boy on the shoulder. "You don't need to tell me everything. Just make sure that when you do go out with Suzuna, you just be safe but have fun. By the way, what were you thinking of doing?"

"Dinner at Uzumaki Ramen with Monta and then we'd go see that new Evangelion film, I guess," Sena wondered. What was he supposed to do on a REAL date?

"That sounds like fun, Sena, but I'm not sure that bringing her to a ramen shop with Raimon is a good idea," Mamori said with a smile. "Maybe you should just make it the two of you. Oh, there's this great, new steakhouse my friends took me to the other night. You two would love it! I'll call them and make a reservation for tonight, is that okay?"

"Yeah, that'd be great! Thanks, Mamori!" Sena said as he picked up his cellphone and began typing a text message for Suzuna.

"No problem, Sena! Let me know what's going on, okay?" asked Mamori. She turned and began to reorganize some papers that were lying on the counter when she noticed that Ishimaru was still sitting there, drinking his coffee slowly.

"Oh, Ishimaru! I'm sorry, I completely forgot you were still here!" she apologized.

"No, don't worry about it," the tall man replied. "I probably need to get going anyways. Got work to do, y'know?" He swallowed the last of his coffee and headed for the door. "Thanks for having me over, Mamori."

"It was my pleasure, Ishimaru," Mamori said with a blush of embarrassment on her face.

Ishimaru chuckled. "Mamori, we've known each other for years now. Call me Tetsuo, please."

"Okay, see you later…Tetsuo," Mamori said with a wave.

"There ya go!" he exclaimed as he walked out the door. "Later! Oh, and tell Sena I said goodbye!"

***

Ishimaru shut the door quietly shut the door behind him. He hated making a lot of noise, always had, and probably always would. People always asked him why he didn't speak up more, but all Ishimaru could tell them was, "I think if you don't have anything to say, you shouldn't say anything at all." This was his favorite saying of all, and one that he took to heart ever since he first heard it.

As a matter of fact, Ishimaru often wondered why people were always making spectacles of themselves. Chances are that, if you tried to pull off something great, you either succeeded or failed spectacularly, and who likes those chances? Not him. Ishimaru preferred to remain in anonymity; it kept him from being bothered by other people and their incessant need to make noise and bring attention to themselves. 'Work hard and do the right things, even if you aren't noticed for it,' that's what his mother had told him.

"If only you could see me now, Mom," Ishimaru said as he pulled a black ski hat from his pocket. He placed it on his head and pulled his hood over that. Then he took two black gloves from his pockets and slid them onto his hands. Dressed for the trek back to his house, Ishimaru vanished into thin air. Only the tell-tale signs of footprints revealed that there was someone walking away from Mamori Anezaki's apartment. Tetsuo Ishimaru had become invisible to the human eye.

It was a gift that he was born with, although, for a long time, Ishimaru never realized just what he was capable of. He often wondered why people failed to pick him for teams during games, how they could not possibly see him standing in front of their very eyes. He wondered this until he watched himself disappear one day when he was ten years old. Young Ishimaru had needed to go to the bathroom very badly, and he ran down the hall until he found the room. What he didn't know was that when he ducked inside, he had gone into the wrong bathroom; he was in the girl's bathroom by mistake. So, when he heard a group of girls come into the bathroom and stop in front of the mirrors, Ishimaru had no idea what to do. He wished that he could vanish, just walk away without making them notice him. So he got his wish: Ishimaru became completely invisible, and he made it out of the girl's bathroom without any of the girls realizing he was ever there. For many days afterward, Ishimaru practiced this power, to see how it worked, but he never quite fully understood how he managed to use it.

So, here he was: a young man who, although slightly forgettable, had a steady job and a power that ordinary men only dreamed of having. Ishimaru could not have been happier with how his life had turned out. He often thanked his ancestors for making him so ordinary and forgettable, as it greatly helped his…part-time job.

***

"Do you see him yet, fat-ass?"

"No sign of him yet, Hiruma," said Kurita into the walky-talky. "Are you sure he'll be by here?"

"Of course I'm sure, moron. He may be invisible, but that doesn't mean that we can't find him."

Hiruma, dressed in a furry, white jacket and long, white pants, stood on a rooftop in Deimon City, a pair of high-tech binoculars in his hands. Kurita and he were on the lookout for a mysterious vigilante that had begun to operate in their city; Hiruma, being the crafty devil that he was, could not stand to think that there was another super-human in the city. So he rifled through his 'Black Files' and located three men who had (unsuccessfully) robbed a bank a month ago, and, after a great deal of string-pulling and threatening on Hiruma's part, those three criminals would be robbing the same bank today. All this was part of the devil's scheme to draw out the invisible man, or, as Hiruma referred to him, "The No-Body Man".

Everything was going according to plan so far: Kurita had been planted across the street from the bank at a hamburger joint, where he kept one eye on his enormous meal and one eye on the bank; the robber's were already inside the bank building, making a ruckus; the police and emergency personnel were outside, waiting for a chance to get inside and end the situation. If Hiruma had his way, and he usually did, the No-Body Man would arrive soon to break up the fake robbery.

Soon, the walky-talky in his hand crackled to life. Kurita's voice called out through the other end. "Hiruma? He's here. There's something pushing the crowd apart, like a guy trying to get through. He's actually here!"

"Great," said Hiruma with a wicked grin. "I'll be there in a second."

Black smoke swirled up around Hiruma's feet, covering him from head to toe. In a heartbeat, Hiruma had gone away in the smoke and reappeared in the alleyway behind the bank. The space would have been too small for an ordinary man, but the devilish student was far from an ordinary man; his lithe body fit perfectly in the small area. Slowly and silently, he slinked around to the right side of the building and hid behind a dumpster. This way, he could keep an eye on the side door.

Some time passed before anything happened, but, eventually, Hiruma heard the sounds of stampeding feet and cheering. These sounds made Hiruma cackle with glee, as it meant that No-Body had saved the day. The door to the bank opened up, and Hiruma watched as nothing stepped out into the alley. He knew that there was somebody there though, so he stepped out from behind the dumpster.

"Hey, fucking nobody!" he called out. "I know you're here, so show yourself."

"Well now, I can't just do that, can I?" asked a disembodied voice. "I mean, if I were to show myself to you, you could see me, and then I would be open to an attack, right?"

Oh, he was good. "You have my word that I will not harm you if you show yourself, okay?" Hiruma sarcastically promised. "Now show yourself before I start shooting."

"Fine, fine."

Tetsuo Ishimaru appeared before Hiruma, standing in the spot where his voice had been coming from just an instant ago. His plain face showed a faint sign of surprise.

"Well, Hiruma, long time, no see," he said nonchalantly.

"Yep. Three years or so, Ishimaru," said Hiruma. "Let's screw the formalities and get right down to business, okay? I know who you are and you know who I am. I'm putting together a team of people like you, people who do the right thing in a 'super' kind of way. You'd be perfect for the team. What d'you say?"

Ishimaru chuckled warmly. "Sorry, too 'show-offy' for me. I prefer to work alone, where no one can see me coming. No offense, Hiruma, but you aren't exactly the 'subtle' type." He expected Hiruma's evil grin to drop into a frown, but it only remained up.

"You know me, Ishimaru. I'm not the kind to give up easily. One day, you'll be working for me. EVERYONE will work for me someday, and you know it," said Hiruma. "Why waste my time and everyone else's? Join the Devil Bat Action Squad now, before something unfortunate happens and you've got no choice but to join, kekeke!"

"No means no, Hiruma," said Ishimaru. "I'm not going to join your team and that's final! I've got a good life right now, doing this and everything; I don't need you coming in and changing it all around. Leave me alone."

"But-"

"Leave me alone," Ishimaru groaned as he turned his back and began to walk away. "I just want to be left alone."

"Fine, have it your way," Hiruma growled. "But I should warn you: there's a group of supers in town that would just love to take a piece out of your sorry ass! You're going to need my help soon, Tetsuo Ishimaru!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Ishimaru said. With that, he waved to Hiruma and instantaneously disappeared.

"Fucking boring bastard," Hiruma hissed under his breath. He picked up his walky-talky and spoke to Kurita. "Hey, fat-ass, we've got a little bit of trouble. Ishimaru said no."

"Aww…" moaned Kurita. "What're we going to do now?"

Hiruma pulled an arrowhead from his pocket and examined it in the light of the sun. "First, we figure out who's sending us these damn arrows. Once we've got that figured out, we'll get Ishimaru onto the team. He doesn't know it, but Tetsuo Ishimaru is going to be playing a big part in the days to come."

***

It was 7:49 when Sena finally made it to Suzuna's apartment. He was wearing a nice shirt underneath a thick jacket, jeans freshly ironed by Mamori, and white sneakers she had helped him pick out (his old ones were "absolutely filthy" according to his roommate). There he stood, nervous as ever, ready to knock on the door, when Suzuna opened it. She looked lovely, with her hair pinned up, not too much make-up on, and the frustration-induced blush on her face really brought out her features.

"Sena, where have you been?!" she prodded. "We're going to be late! Our reservation's at eight o'clock!"

"Well, um, Iiiiiii…" he stammered.

"Yeeeeeah?" she asked, curious.

"I had to g-g-go pretty far to g-g-get these flowers," he said as he produced a bouquet of violet flowers in his hands. "Th-Th-There's this flower shop in my hometown that s-s-s-sells these. A friend of mine thought I should get you some."

Suzuna gasped in surprise, and her scowl from before gave way to a soft smile. "Sena, they're…they're lovely! Thank you!" She ran inside, saying, "Let me go put these in some water!"

Sena followed her inside. It was the first time he was in a girl's apartment other than Mamori's, and he was really amazed at what he saw. Where Mamori's was neat and tidy, Suzuna's looked as though a bomb had gone off in the center. There were magazines scattered all over the place (football magazines, from what Sena could tell), a pile of random things where Sena assumed was a couch, and a giant case filled with all sorts of little trinkets and pictures. Many of them featured a goofy-looking guy with a goatee and long hair. He seemed to be pretty close to Suzuna, whoever he was.

"Say, Suzuna, who's the guy in all these pictures?" asked Sena.

"Him? That's just my idiot brother," replied Suzuna. There was a great deal of disdain in her voice, indicating some animosity between her brother and her. "Don't worry about him."

She walked out of the kitchen with the flowers arranged in a milk jug. "Sorry. I know it doesn't look good; I just don't have a fancy vase or anything right now," the indigo-haired beauty apologized. "So, how're we going to get to the restaurant?"

"Oh, that," said Sena. He blushed and murmured something Suzuna couldn't understand. It was kind of cute, she thought, seeing him all hunched over and acting anxious. "W-W-W-Well, I-I-I-I-I th-thought that I c-c-c-could, uh-um…c-c-c-carry you t-t-t-to th-th-the st-steak h-h-h-house?

Suzuna placed a hand to her mouth and giggled. "Of course it's okay, silly!" She wrapped her arms around Sena's neck then hopped up into his arms. "Y'know, Sena, you're a real gentleman."

Sena felt so happy and embarrassed and shy all at once, but he still tried his best to keep a cool composure. "Th-Then l-l-let's be off!" he exclaimed as he ran off with her into the night. Of course, it wasn't as cool or as romantic as they would have liked, considering how they had to stop a fraction of a second later when Suzuna remembered she had left her front door wide open. Once they got back underway though, the two smiled, eagerly awaiting what the night would hold for both of them.

***

Atop the building adjacent to Suzuna's, there stood three men: a tall, handsome man with features like a model, a burly, smaller man with a stoic face set in stone, and a man in a wheelchair. They had been watching the apartment at the request of the man in the wheelchair, who needed to gather some data on a certain super-fast runner. As they had trained their eyes to spot his movement, they could easily tell when Sena had appeared, left, and reappeared at the apartment.

"What do you make of him, Shin," asked the man in the wheelchair.

"To be honest, Takami, I see nothing extraordinary in him, save for his speed," the stoic man grunted. "He runs fast, faster than I can imagine, but that looks like all he can do. And he slows down after his initial burst of speed. It is slight, but it is there. I doubt he is the opponent I have been waiting for."

"Seems pretty damn fast to me," said the handsome man. "But then, what do I know about superhumans?"

"More than you are aware of, Sakuraba," Takami told his friend.

For the first time in hours, Takami turns and wheels himself away. "Come on, you guys. We have all the data we need on Sena Kobayakawa that we need right now. Let's go get ready for tomorrow."

TO BE CONTINUED…