The next two days were quite exciting. It was like a blur of activity. Laying out specifics for the plan, me going over my gear and making sure it was in top shape, Kaito was in a frenzy of building some new equipment, and it was the most frantic few days I'd ever had. I had been in the middle of sharpening my knives, in preparation of course, when I got a call. This had happened twice already, so I answered and did my best to keep sharpening it while I answered. I didn't get a glimpse of who it was though, so it surprised me when Twice's voice came through.

"Hey! Himiko, You alright?"

I nodded absentmindedly before realizing that he couldn't see and replying "Yeah, I'm doing fine. Just prepping for the big day tomorrow."

Twice seemed curious.

"What big day? Are you going on a date?"

I giggled a bit. Twice could be weird sometimes.

"Nope, I'm taking down a villain."

"Oh. I just wanted to see if you were alright after that scuffle a week ago. I thought you were dead!"

Oh. I'd forgotten to call Twice back after I'd left. Might have missed some of his calls. And considering my vigilante activities, he must have assumed the worst.

"S-sorry. It's been a busy week and I guess I just forgot to call you."

"I-t's fine. Just got worried. So who are you going after? Maybe I can help?"

I thought for a bit. Twice had been a criminal for a while, maybe he knew something?

"His name is Black Dove. We've got evidence to put him away which we're sending the police. Then, we're gonna bag him."

Twice didn't reply for a bit.

"Black Dove? I know about that guy, he's really strong. He's a weakling! You sure you wanna do this?"

I shrugged, realized he again could not see that, and said "I made a deal with Kaito. It's the right thing to do to get him off the streets."

Twice sighed audibly before saying anything else.

"I guess I get it. I don't understand at all! Do what you have to, just please stay safe. I would never be able to face your mom again if something happened. She would kill me!"

I nodded as I replied, positive.

"I'll be okay. I've got Kaito helping me out, and we've got a plan. This asshole is going down."

I could feel the smile though the receiver.

"Go get 'em then, kid."

"Can do."

And with that, I hung up and put my last sharpened knife with the others.

I grinned in anticipation, checking the date. Tomorrow, it was going down.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Kaito let me into his apartment around three hours before our plan was to begin. I looked around marveling at it. Certainly better than mine, that was for sure. I whistled low as I set down the duffel bag with my costume in it.

"Wow, nice place. How'd you get the money for this?"

Kaito shrugged.

"I sell a few of my inventions. Add a few odd jobs, and some inheritance, and I don't have to worry too much about money for now."

"Inheritance?"

Kaito's expression dropped, and he sighed.

"If you didn't already guess, my parents aren't around anymore."

I frowned.

"I'm…sorry. That must be hard."

He turned away from me as he replied, likely trying to hide his face.

"Thank you, but it's fine really. I'm tough, that's how th-they raised me."

Slight hitch, but not much else. Must be really good at hiding his emotions.

Aw, poor guy :(. I know how much that can hurt, so we've gotta help him!

'I guess, but I'm not sure there's much we can do right now aside from help him out and be his friend.'

I decided not to push right now. I felt like we were becoming friends, when he was ready, he'd open up. I know how annoying it can be for people to push you to share. Instead, I gestured to the computer I saw.

"Moving on to that thing over there, how're we leaking the info?"

He nodded, seeming to be back to normal.

"I've got it ready now. Know anyone we could send it to, anyone you trust?"

I nodded.

"Naomasa Tsukauchi. He's on the up and up."

He raised an eyebrow.

"And you know this how?"

I replied simply.

"Seen him work. If you don't want to send it just to him, send it to others too."

He shrugged and typed quickly.

"I'm not against it. If you trust him I do as well."

He stopped typing after a few minutes.

"Done."

I nodded before looking around for the pack of papers I had left there.

"What about the physical stuff?"

"Took care of that already. I have a friend who's going to deliver it."

I smiled and nodded again.

"I guess that wraps things up for now. You ready to head out?"

He shook his head.

"I've got one more thing to show you. Follow me."

He got up and went to a side room, me following, curious. The side room looked like a sort of makeshift workshop, with various parts and tools lying about, half-finished projects too. Honestly felt a little out of character for him.

"Nice place, but what's the point of showing me this?"

Kaito smiled and gestured to a more organized table than others. On it were what looked like several finished inventions.

"I was working all week on these. Wanted to make sure my gadgets were full and to test out some new ones."

I could feel my grin. Was I going to get to test out some cool stuff? He seemed to catch on to my excitement and started showing them off.

"This," He started, showing off what looked like a sort of gun.

"Is a stun blaster. Should be able to bring down any weaker goons, and at least stun more powerful ones."

I nodded. That was pretty cool. He continued, picking up a handful of pellets.

"I got these made with a little help. They're expanding foam pellets. Used right, they should be able to immobilize any opponent for at least a short time."

The next on his list was some sort of gloves.

"I want you to test these out for me."

I looked at them, then tilted my head slightly, confused.

"But I already have my gecko gloves."

He nodded.

"You do, but these may be better."

He put one on, and tapped a button on it. The thing lit up red, and began to crackle with some sort of energy. My eyes widened.

"What is that?"

Kaito smiled.

"It's what I call an electro grasp. It can shock opponents you hit, and though it can't cling to all surfaces, it can do so to metal, using electro-magnetism."

He turned them off and handed them to me, showing me how to put them on, activate them, and let me test them out. I guess they were pretty cool.

Plus they match our outfit better than those ugly gloves!

'I didn't think they were that bad, but I guess you have a point'

He turned to one last thing he had there, and dropped it into my hand. Looking at it, it was like some sort of sharpened boomerang, with a large circle in its center. I gave him a weird look. He returned it.

"I know you use knives, so I made something sharp for you. Test it out if you want."

I nodded and threw it at a target Kaito had set up. It embedded itself perfectly in the center. I looked over at him, slightly unimpressed.

"It's just a sharp thing."

"Whistle at it."

I gave him a look, but he insisted. I decided to humor him, and whistled. The center lit up, and it seemed to tug itself out of the target and fly back, with me catching it carefully. I smiled.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun."

Kaito smiled back.

"Glad you like it. Now suit up. We have a crime boss to catch."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The meeting spot was set in the docks area of the city, just a few lights showing the area, clear and isolated among the massive storage containers. Kaito had illustrated that my position was the more hidden of them, on top of one of the stacks. He knew what he was doing too. The metal let me use my new gloves to climb them, and I crouched down, in position to stake things out. It would be another thirty minutes or so for the meeting to start, if the information was correct.

Kaito was in a more dangerous spot than I was, using some of the crates as cover to hide, but he was on the ground, more vulnerable than I was. It concerned me. While he was measured and seemed calm, there was…something raging behind his eyes when we were suiting up. I hoped he wouldn't make a mistake.

I shook my head and kept waiting. Thinking things like that was just going to distract me. Himiko was silent as well. She had been doing that a lot, even after our conversation a few days ago. She was normal as ever when we were in the mindscape, but there were times when she just…didn't seem to be there. It was worrying, but I was focused on this.

I was just starting to get restless when there was noise down below. A few people walked into view, carrying briefcases and talking rapidly to each other. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, they were keeping their voices down, but I could get the idea. One of them, a taller man in a leather jacket and sunglasses, seemed nervous, and another, a short stocky woman with bright yellow hair and horns, agreed, while the leader, a guy dressed in a business suit with long slicked back black hair, seemed irritated at them. The others were mixed in their opinions, though the one at the back of the group didn't speak at all.

It wasn't long after that that another group arrived, though this one was larger. The former group was maybe six, seven people, while the other was around ten, with an ominous figure leading them. At the figure's side was Takahashi, looking as arrogant as ever. They stepped into the light, and I saw who it was. Black Dove himself, though I could understand why people might not connect him to Silver Falcon. It wasn't just the appearance, a stark white and gray suit, gloves, and a full black face mask, but the demeanor.

Silver Falcon carried himself like an arrogant but foppish hero. He was flamboyant and grandiose. But this guy? He was none of those. He carried himself with absolute cold confidence. Still arrogant, but not the fun kind, like he considered everyone else below him. Even his movements were slow and very methodical. Even from a distance I could tell this guy did not tolerate any shit.

The man in the black suit- a rival gang leader, I think- stepped forward, voice now raised so I could hear him.

"So, the great Black Dove deigns to arrive. You are ten minutes past our agreed meeting time."

I checked my phone. It was the time Kaito had given me. Which meant that Black Dove had done this very deliberately. It was after a few seconds of silence that the insulted crime boss spoke, his voice lacking any sort of passion to it. It was cold, and sent shivers down my spine. No wonder people were scared of this guy.

"I must…apologize for my lateness, Mr. Okimura. I was held up by…important matters."

Implying that this meeting wasn't really important? Was he trying to piss the guy off? The other seemed to think so, scowling.

"You reached out to me, Dove. I would think you had the decency to show up on time. But never mind that. You said you had an opportunity that could benefit us both. What was it?"

I could feel the smile, even as the mask kept his features hidden.

"That I do. You see, I have received news that you are having some trouble with your…operations recently. I simply wish to provide assistance."

The other boss, Okimura, seemed confused, but quickly returned to scowling. I had to assume that was his default mood at this point.

"And how would you do that? You've never been one for cooperation before. In fact I've heard rumors you were the one behind my syndicates troubles in the first place."

Black Dove laughed at that. It was so out of place with his demeanor that it shocked me. This raucous sound that seemed to echo despite the open space. It only went on for maybe ten seconds, but it was chilling. He quickly righted himself, as if that break had never happened. Even his own entourage seemed caught off guard. Except for Takahashi, who seemed completely unfazed.

"Oh, you say such amusing things Mr. Okimura. I am in no way responsible for your run of bad luck. However, I am the way out."

Okimura's scowl widened.

"Answer my question, Dove. How would you help?"

Black Dove's answer was simple.

"Assimilate into my group. I would give you a highly paid position as one of my lieutenants and with my resources your problems will simply vanish."

Okimura's eyes widened, before he exploded in rage.

"You…YOU WOULD DARE?"

Black Dove seemed unfazed by this. Okimura's men seemed to tense, as did Black Dove's group.

"I would. Your problems are dire, and the easiest solution would be to take your rightful place; under your better so he can fix the problems in your operation."

Okay, yeah. I think he might be more arrogant here. Okimura seemed to have had enough. He roared in anger and gestured to his men.

"Light them up! Show this arrogant fool what happens when you mess with Mr. Okimura."

The seven gang members nodded, various quirks activating as they prepared for a fight. Black Dove sighed loudly at this.

"I only ask nicely once, Mr. Okimura. If you do this, I will not abide by your syndicate's existence any longer."

He gestured to his entourage, who all readied themselves.

"I will take your power. By force."

Okimura laughed.

"Upstarts like you piss me off. Kill him boys."

And that coincided with a brawl breaking out, though Black Dove didn't seem to participate. He walked to the side, simply standing there, watching as the two groups fought. Even Okimura was fighting, using his bare hands to dish out blows and getting into a knockout fight with Takahashi, whose face split into a sadistic grin as he realized he'd met a match.

Watching made me antsy, but I had promised Kaito to wait for his signal. He hadn't said what that signal was, just that I'd "know it when I saw it". I hated cryptic movie lines like that. Why not just tell me?

The fight was brutal too. This wasn't a spar or hero vs. villain fight. This was a fight to the death, or at least until one side retreated. I spotted quite a bit of blood flying as several of the combatants went down and didn't move again, and that just made me antsier. It was getting hard to contain myself the longer I looked, But I needed to see the signal. So I did my best to push it down.

The two sides, despite numbers, seemed matched well too. Black Dove's gang seemed to be made up of only a few heavy hitters that were the ones left after only a few minutes, the rest getting stomped hard. Takahashi was chief among those heavy hitters, the guy seeming to shrug off any hit against him and then throw that damage back even harder.

Ten minutes passed before things seemed to turn for one side. Okimura was on the ground due to one too many hits, as were most of his men. Takahashi and three others were still up, the white suited man looking terrifying as his suit was torn and bloody while he smiled sadistically. Black Dove stepped in at this point.

"I am a benevolent man. I will give you one last chance Mr. Okimura. Take my deal and you can live. If not, well things might get…even more unpleasant"

Okimura spit on his shoe. Black Dove simply looked at it, before turning to Takahashi.

"Takahashi, make an example of them, if you will."

Takahashi simply grinned.

"On it, boss."

He stepped forward, but then the arena erupted in smoke, and the deep modulated voice of the Shade echoed across the area.

"Black Dove, for too long, you have hid your crimes behind a cape and done harm to too many innocent people to count. That ends tonight."

And with that, I saw the figure of Kaito descend, and the sound of fighting begin.

Guess that was my cue.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Putting my goggles down and activating them, I could see more clearly through the smoke. I took a few knives and leapt into the fray, throwing them in a wide arc and smiling when I heard several grunts of pain at once.

I followed that up by dashing forward and jumping to plant my feet squarely into one of the remaining gang members' backs, shoving him forward as I landed gracefully and swept his feet out from under him. He didn't seem all that hurt by that move, but I still had surprise on my side, so I followed it up with a few good boot kicks to the head. He didn't move after that, though he was still breathing.

The smoke was starting to fade, revealing Kaito had also taken care of one of the gang members, tied up in a visibly thicker wire bolo than he had used before, likely an upgrade. Takahashi seemed surprised before he smirked.

"Well if it isn't Shade and the little lady. Back for more?"

I glared at him, grabbed a knife, and chucked it at him. He brought his arm up and let the knife sink in once again, not showing any hint of pain.

Black Dove seemed surprised before regaining his poise, looking over at Kaito.

"Then you are the Shade? I admit, even after two years of sabotaging our operations, I didn't think you were bold enough to try this kind of direct attack."

I spun a knife in my hand, before tossing it right at Black Dove. Maybe I could catch him by surprise.

"He had help, jackass!"

He simply waved his hand and the knife, on course to hit him dead on, seemed to change direction and miss, hitting a nearby stack of storage containers.

"Hmm. I didn't think you would bring someone else into this, but that is one more vigilante I won't have to take care of at a later date. Takahashi, kill them."

Takahashi's grin was almost terrifying.

"Gladly, boss."

He cracked his neck, before doing the same to his knuckles.

"So which one of you wants to take on Takahashi first?"

I nodded to Kaito, and we both charged at the same time. Kaito was closer, lashing out with a hook to Takahashi's jaw. His head barely even moved, and he used the opportunity to try and land a hook of his own, which was thrown off as I landed a kick to his leg, causing it to go wide. Kaito easily ducked and swept Takahashi's legs out from under him, causing the guy to crash to the ground with a slight grunt.

Kaito didn't waste time, taking out a number of pellets and tossing them onto Takahashi, where they exploded into foam, quickly overtaking most of his body. Takahashi tried to struggle, but the stuff hardened quickly, leaving him immobile.

I stood over the gangster, then smirked at Kaito.

"I'd call that one a success."

He nodded, before turning to Black Dove. Said villain tsked and stepped forward.

"To be honest, I expected better of you Takahashi. I think I don't need an enforcer who fails so easily. You didn't even last a minute. You're fired."

Takahashi's face fell.

I ignored that, and drew one of my knives. Kaito readied himself. Black Dove seemed completely unfazed.

"Well, it's been a while since I've had to truly step into the ring. Come at me, and I will ensure your meddling comes to an end. Swiftly."

I grinned, ready for a real fight. Takahashi had gone down swiftly due to our plans, so this whole thing had left me starved for some action. I charged the same time as Kaito did, with me leaping towards his right while Kaito went for his front. Black Dove remained still, a fact that set off alarms in my head. I tried to correct it but it was too late. Black Dove raised his arm, and with a motion I felt the trajectory of my body suddenly change, sending me flying right into Kaito. Not pleasant, especially since I then found out the painful way that Kaito's costume had armored parts in it.

Black Dove chuckled as we crashed to the ground, groaning, before he walked forward toward us. We managed to untangle ourselves, with me taking a defensive stance. Black Dove didn't seem worried at all, continuing a stroll toward us, revealing the gun he kept in his suit jacket.

"How disappointing. I expected more from you Shade. You single handedly caused me more trouble than any legal heroes, and yet you were downed so easily."

Kaito growled, a deep, loathing sound.

"I'm not done yet you scum."

Black Dove waved his hand dismissively, before leveling the gun at Kaito.

"I think you are. Once you die I'll have to take care of the mademoiselle too. A shame, she is quite cute."

I think I just threw up a little in our brain.

'Oh. You spoke.'

Have I not been? I thought you were just ignoring me

'Ugh, not important right now!'

Back to the present, I took a knife and threw it, aiming for his hand. Good news, I made it to his hand, causing him to drop it and let out a curse. Bad news, I did that right as he fired, causing the shot to go wide and instead hit Kaito in the mask. He stumbled in response, but looked back up, showing just that the mask was slightly cracked. I sighed and rushed at Black Dove, hoping he was still distracted, and managed to get a slash in as he barely had time to raise an arm to block. The knife tore his suit and led to a deep gash in his lower arm.

The villain growled, a strange sound to hear from him, and punched me right in the face, throwing me back a bit, my knife clattering to the ground as I held my nose. It was broken. This guy was stronger than he looked. He laughed.

"Did you really think I was defenseless without a weapon? Naive."

I smiled and giggled as I saw Kaito coming toward him, quietly.

"Not really. I was just thinking that I wanted to mess up that nice white suit. Must take a fortune to keep clean, right? Plus all the other stuff, you look like you love yourself. Maybe your villain name should have been 'Preening Peacock'"

Now that pissed him off something fierce. I could feel the murder rolling off him in waves. The man clearly didn't take insults well if it was his ego on the line.

"How dare you! I will make you regret those words, little girl."

I smiled even wider as I saw Kaito making his move.

"Not before Shade makes you regret yours."

He barely had time to utter a "what?" before he was grabbed from behind, spun around, and subjected to an absolute barrage of brutal punches to his face and chest, before Kaito kicked him right in the ribs, sending him stumbling toward me. I gladly activated the electricity in my gloves and shoved my hands right into his ribcage, holding it there as he twitched and yelled, before shoving him back and delivering a roundhouse to his face, shattering part of his mask.

He stumbled and fell down, barely supported on his arms as he groaned, smoke rising off him. His suit was torn and blackened in places, and when he looked up, half his face was uncovered, one gold eye staring hatefully at the two of us as we met up in front of him. He looked pathetic, and I couldn't help the laugh that tore itself from my throat. Despite my own nerves, this had gone pretty good.

Yeah! Now stab him!

'We already did though'

That was a slash not a stab!

'Same difference.'

You're no fun.

'So you've told me.'

The first words out of my mouth should not at that point have been "Anyone want some fried chicken?" But they were, and Kaito did not seem to get it, simply staring at the downed villain intensely, though I could only guess with the mask covering his face.

Of course that wasn't much of a problem as he removed it, slowly walking up to Black Dove.

"Do you recognize me?"

The still smoking man looked up, and no recognition registered on his face.

"No. But that's impossible! How could I be beaten by a mere child?"

Kaito ignored the jab, leaning close to Black Dove's face.

"My parents ran a store in the district you frequent. You asked them to pay you. They refused"

He seemed to growl out the last part.

"Then you killed them in cold blood."

I gasped quietly. So many things fit now.

Black Dove stayed silent after that, which made Kaito seem to get angrier.

"Nothing to say? That's fine. Nothing you could say that would save you."

I spotted the knife just a bit before it came out in the open, gleaming in the light.

"Now you pay."

I found my body moving before I could think.

"Kaito, wait!"

That got him to pause, and turn toward me. And with that I was at a loss. Why did I do that? Save scum like this? Why not let him end this?

Because it's wrong!

Himiko?

We did all of this, worked to expose him, and now you want to just murder him?

But-

No buts!

And with that, it felt like a torrent ran through me, emotions and memories that made my next move clear. I slowly made my way toward Kaito. He seemed wary.

"You don't need to do this."

That just turned him back from confused to curious.

"Don't have to- that bastard is the reason my parents are rotting in a grave instead of helping people, the reason my dad isn't giving me advice or mom isn't hugging me when I'm scared and telling me it's alright!"

He gestured wildly as I saw hot tears starting to stream down his face.

"He's the reason I have nightmares, watching them die over and over and over again, the reason I can't even talk to my old friends without breaking down, the reason I'M STANDING HERE WITH A KNIFE IN MY HAND!"

His voice reached a fever pitch at that point.

"GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON I SHOULDN'T END HIM RIGHT NOW!"

I kept moving. For some reason, despite the raging storm in front of me, I stayed calm.

"I get that. He's scum. But if you kill him, you can never take it back. Murder is something no one should have to do. It…doesn't leave you the same."

He scoffed.

"What would you know about that?"

My response was quiet.

"I've made that mistake."

He seemed shocked.

"What?"

And I couldn't hold it anymore.

"I SAID I MADE THAT MISTAKE!"

I didn't stop there.

"I don't remember most of the last two years of my life, because it's all in a bloody haze! I don't know how many people I hurt, I don't know how many people I killed! And I am never going to be able to forget that! I'm going to spend the rest of my life wondering, and that is something I don't want you to go through!"

I wasn't sure when I had started crying, but it happened, and now tears were coming fast. As I finally got close to Kaito.

"Arresting him, letting the world see who he really is, that's a better punishment. Death would just be letting him off easy."

The fury seemed to drain from his face. I felt like shit, but I kept fire in my eyes as I looked Kaito dead in his.

"So please, put the knife down."

He hesitated a moment, looking down at the blade, but his head came back up, and he looked at me, his eyes seeming to convey…a tiredness I hadn't seen from him before. He had been planning this all along. All alone. For two years. I don't even think he knew what he would do next. I don't even know if he thought he had a future at all.

We were interrupted from our talk by a click behind us. We turned just in time to see Black Dove aiming at us with the gun he had crawled over to. The man smiled psychotically before pulling the trigger.

Kaito was out of the way faster than I was. The bullet nearly caught me in the shoulder, but I was far enough that it only grazed me. Still painful though, as it tore my outfit and left me bleeding. I cursed as I held it.

Kaito ran forward and dodged another wide shot, before kicking the gun away. Black Dove tried to move toward it, but Kaito's boot pinned him down. The villain made several pathetic noises, before saying something else, his voice shaking.

"What is it you want? Money? Power? I could vacate, leave, you'd never see me again! I could give you my empire! What do you want?"

Kaito was silent for a minute before responding.

"I want my parents back."

My breath hitched and for a second I thought he was going to kill him, but after standing there for what felt like hours, he took out a pair of cuffs, roughly putting Black Dove's hands behind his back and securing them.

"But killing you won't bring them back. And it's not how they would want to be remembered."

I sighed, releasing what I hadn't known I'd been holding. Kaito and I made sure the rest of the gangsters were secured as well. Some had run, but others were still there. Takahashi glared, but he seemed to explode in fury as I bent down and took his shades.

"HEY! Give those back!"

I simply smirked, and put them on.

"These are mine now."

He kept yelling, but it was impotent. I giggled, before turning back to Kaito once we were done.

"Do you want to make the call, or should I?"

Kaito tossed me a phone. The case was gaudy as all hell.

"Black Dove's phone. I'll let you take this one."

I couldn't help the grin that time.

"Thanks."

Turning the thing on, it didn't even need a password. That wasn't just arrogant, but stupid too. He actually had the police on his contacts, likely for pick up or something. I wasn't sure how that worked, but hey, it was convenient. It only took two rings before a stern sounding woman picked it up.

"What is it this time Ken? And at this late too. You're lucky I was still at the station."

I responded with a bit of mirth.

"Oh, this is quite an important matter I can assure you, Miss…?"

"Kaburagi. And who are you? Why are you calling from Silver Falcon's phone?"

I smiled. She seemed on edge, but interested.

"You might know me already. Does Bloodrush ring any bells? And as for why I'm calling from that asshole's phone…well I think it best if you ask some of your colleagues about some info they may have gotten, perhaps a Detective Tsukauchi?"

Kaburagi seemed to humm in consideration.

"I may do that. But you wouldn't be taking a risk like calling this number if you just wanted to check if your information was received."

I chuckled a little.

"Right there. I have some crooks you might want to pick up. Mr. Okimura, and Black Dove. And if you haven't already traced the call, have your officers go to the Therin Shipping Company on the docks."

I paused to let her process this, before adding one last thing.

"And if you haven't figured out why I'm calling from this phone…one of the crooks may seem familiar."

I hung up and tossed the phone near where Black Dove was secured. He scowled at us.

" If you think for one second this will stick-"

I cut him off.

"Oh, this will stick, Mr. Peacock. But I think I've heard enough."

I punched him in the temple, knocking him out, before turning to Kaito.

"Let's go."

He scooped up his cracked mask and nodded, and we ran for a good ten minutes, before stopping in a nearby alleyway. I looked at him, and he looked at me, before we broke out in laughter for a good two minutes. I looked down before something occurred.

"You know, the police or the hero commission might try to cover this up."

He raised an eyebrow.

"So what would we do?"

I smirked.

"So maybe Spotlight might want to talk to some news agencies. I can see the headlines. Villains among Heroes?"

Kaito smiled back.

"I think you may be right."

I gave him a lopsided smile.

"I always am."

He nodded. That just made me giggle, before my smile fell.

"So what happens now?"

Kaito also grew serious.

"I don't know. Our partnership is over, I think."

Kaito noticed how I frowned at that.

"But I still consider you my friend. Even with certain revelations. You know how to find me. Call me if you need help. Or if you're just feeling lonely."

I nodded, before another question came to me.

"What'll you do now?"

He thought for a moment.

"I'm…not sure. But I know I'll figure it out. I'll probably keep being the Shade. But other than that?"

He shrugged.

"Who knows?"

I nodded and turned to leave.

"Well if you need help figuring that out, just call me. We're friends after all."

I stopped a moment as I was walking away, and turned back to look at him.

"And as for a suggestion, I think Spotlight could do just as much good as the Shade."

He nodded, and I turned back and ran. I barely heard the "Thank you" as I left, but it made me smile. Once we were separated, it didn't take long before I was home.

I slipped off the costume, and only then did it occur that I needed to address the wounds I had. The adrenaline was finally draining, and I was starting to really feel the strain. I cursed under my breath and went for the medical supplies I had bought after the incident where I rescued Kaito.

Dressing my wounds didn't take long, and soon enough I found myself passing out in bed.

It wasn't until the next morning that Himiko and I realized we had been merged that entire time.