Soreness evaporated in a haze of worry-born panic. I twisted into a standing position, my tails disturbed the air with an audible fwap as I flicked them up and out of the way. The mad thrumming of my heart against my chest reached all the way to painfully stiff ears. Vaulting over the couch without stumbling proved trivial.
Heels slammed against marble, leg muscles strained, lungs cried out in displeasure with each harsh intake of air.
I messed up. I messed up big time. In my carelessness, I let the Merchants or some other unsavory figure track us down. Unwritten rules or no, the situation couldn't be that uncommon, all it would take would be one maverick with no regard for their personal safety. Senna was pretty; if any scumbag had a mind to do something to her...
I'd hurt them, I wasn't proud of the thought, but I'd hurt them. Badly. A pop not unlike a blunted snapping of fingers sounded above my shoulder. The light was intense enough to mar the corner of my vision, the generated globe oozed bits of pseudomass that dissipated before it reached the flooring.
I bounded into the kitchen, aiming for the nearest not-Senna body present.
And paused.
"Ojii-Chan!" Senna wrapped her arms around a man just a mite shorter than herself. He was more wrinkles than deeply tanned skin, a tuft of white hair clung defiantly in the shape of fullness but half of its substance. Dangling from the ring finger of the hand that was not busy returning the gesture was a spare key on a short length of black chain. Beside him sat two suitcases.
Shards of a dropped cup dotted the floor. It was as if fallen Armsmaster #13 was flung from a window. He reached for his halberd, just out of grabbing range. The smirk of grim determination remained plastered to his face. Truly, never has there lived a paragon of justice as stalwart as he.
The globe fizzled out of existence, leaving little motes of light and a slight tinge from my reservoir in its wake.
"If I knew you were coming I'd cook for three!" Senna disentangled from the hug, patting his shoulders thrice.
"And spoil the look on your face? Never!" Senna harbored a slight accent, her L sometimes sounded like a short R. One of the first things she asked of me was to point out whenever she slipped up until it became a rarity on the verge of dying out. This man had no accent at all, and spoke with the kind of calm authority one sees from a politician.
'Ojii-Chan.' I didn't know much Japanese, only snips from little things Senna taught me in our idle time. Given his age, I was absolutely certain that it meant grandpa rather than uncle.
Brushing a lock of loose hair away. Senna turned to deactivate the stove, deposit a stack of liver and mixed greens on a serving plate and emitted a short "Oh." as she noticed my presence.
My tails flitted, unconsciously preparing for the rest of my body to turn around though It was much too late. The sizzling pan may have covered my entrance, but there was no escaping an unprepared and awkward introduction now.
"Come here, come here!" She gestured to me with both hands, palms up, confirming my fears. As soon as I got within reach she steadied me by my upper arms for presentation.
Left, right, and then than far left enough for me to have fallen over without her support, she rocked me with her chin rested on my shoulders. A warm hat whose sides brushed up against my ears.
"This is the guy I was telling you about over email, we still haven't settled on a name but I think we're getting closer."
"Hello mister Hisai." I managed to stumble out without whining. Even though I'd only been active for a grand total of one day, it was much easier talking to people in my capacity as a cape. Find problems, dispense justice, inspire a sense of security in those around you. Rinse, wash, repeat. Establishing new connections came with a myriad of different nuances that could end with a negative result if just one thing was botched.
Senna's grandfather scowled. Case in point. Did I guess the surname of the wrong side of the family? He relented in his silence only after I was done with so much fidgeting. I had to manually remove my ears from their place, flattened against my head.
"I'm so tired of hearing, 'Mr. Hisai' this and 'Mr. Hisai' that, I'd appreciate it if you didn't remind me of work. Takashi is fine." He sounded annoyed, but he smiled as he brought my hand in for a tight shake.
"Right, sorry mist- Takashi." I corrected myself.
Turns out that Mr. Hisai (It felt improper to regard him as anything else in my head, despite his request; he was Senna's father's father!) wasn't hungry. After the swift wipe and salvage operation of Armsmaster's Last Stand, he saw fit to sit around and listen to his granddaughter.
Senna set her cup back against the redwood table with a dull clink. There was space for twelve seats, so it felt a bit bare with all of us huddled around a single corner. It came with the house, and I was certain that Senna would have sold the thing if it wasn't a good platform for crafting displays and custom tabletop environments. Of course, everything was a good platform for such things but having so many in-progress jobs laying around at random didn't seem to bother her much.
"Shop's doing fine, but it's mostly exports." "You know, some guy in Manchester wires us money for a Brockton Bay Ward figure on saturday and we deliver it to them by whatever middleman's cheapest. Haven't had nearly as much foot business since the Merchants moved in."
Senna leaned sideways ever so slightly, stretching her fingers out towards me. Her place at the head of the table wasn't optimal for ear floofs, even with the chair tipped nearly to the point of no return. Our eyes locked in a battle of wills which I lost nigh instantly. I inched my head towards her so she could easily capture my left ear by the base with her fingertips, rubbing the rest of it with her palm. I bit the inside of my cheeks.
Why? Why must you embarrassed me so?
"Buuuut, I guarantee all of that's about to be settled. My very special guest just ran off a few Merchants pushing a 'protection tax' on us earlier today."
Mister Hisai pressed his thumb and forefinger against his chin, passing me a furrow-browed look. "Young man, do you understand what you're agreeing to?"
I wasn't sure about how to answer that question.
I've lurked around Parahumans Online at Senna's behest to mine as much information I could out of the forum posts from the few Case 53's that messed with the site. Success was minimal. General cape issues however, were quite easy to dig up.
A high turnover rate for independent heros happened to be the most glaring aspect.
"Before you answer." He said. "Kappa, Senna's surrogate father, fell in combat with Leviathan, he sacrificed his life, his ambitions, his free will, so that others could retain their own. Are you willing to do the same?"
Senna told me about Kappa the first day she took me in. He was a hydrokinetic that usually protected shipping companies from pirates when Japan was still… Japan, though his fate went unmentioned. I had my suspicions, but the way she talked about him, the endless stories. It was obvious that she loved him very much, bringing up his possible death didn't seem like a wise thing to do.
"It won't be like that!" Senna slammed her palms against table, the vibrations traveled down my chair leg and into my tails. I didn't even notice that I'd wound them around the wood. They throbbed pitifully upon release.
Hand raised, Mister Hisai continued in the same measured tone he began. "Even still, It is important that he understands the risk. Being a cape is no game of cops and robbers. He will be walking side by side with death and you will be responsible for sending him on his way.
"Boy, my son was a fool. A kind fool but a fool nonetheless. Avoid unnecessary risks, do not bite off more than you can chew. You will do much more harm than good by dying."
Senna bristled. It was the most horrible expression I'd seen her bear.
"It's okay." My voice sounded distant, muted, like it wasn't my own. "My dream is to be a hero, just like Kappa, my ambition is to repay Senna for the comfortable life she's given me."
Mister Hisai sighed. Whether it was in satisfaction at my answer or silent condemnation, I was unsure. He rubbed at his temples. "Be awake at six." He finally said. "I want to see what you can do. Everything."
He left, taking his suitcases with him. A lump settled itself in my throat. He probably meant the best, even if his words were harsh.
I cast a wane smile Senna's way. "Are you okay?"
She wouldn't look at me.