The police and heroes of Feru city were on edge. One of the local heroes had been brutally murdered at the entrance of his own agency and the killer was nowhere to be seen. It was eerily similar to the death of Taser, another hero who had also been killed by a sniper that had then gone into hiding, and was still on the loose.

The HPSC didn't wait for long, and had sent their agents to help on the investigation. The hole of the bullet that had killed Amp had blasted through the agency's door and then buried deep underground, leaving an almost perfect circular hole as it lodged deep under the floor.

They had to remove the tilling of the agency and carefully raise up the ground to be able to extract the bullet. The HPSC's worries were unfortunately confirmed, as the extracted bullet matched the same exact description as the one they extracted from the building Taser had died in front of.

They were the same, small Black Bullet, made from a light, but extremely durable metal, an alloy that the HPSC had determined was impossible to replicate. Why? Because the bullets were the product of a metallurgy quirk.

With two confirmed hero kills under their belt, the HPSC filed the information of a new B class villain, preemptively named the Black Bullet Killer. They didn't have much information though, whether this was the work of a single villain with a marksman quirk or a new group of villains that were being supplied by a metallurgy quirk of some sort.

It was very rare for a villain or villain group to be assigned B class the first time the HPSC had filed them, ever since All Might had put organized crime to a stop. Normally a repeated killer like this would have gotten at most a C rank, but with the Hero Killer on the loose, the HPSC were worried this new villain or group would grow to be as infamous as them.

The fact there was no information about them didn't help at all. Normally they could use the National Quirk Registry to track down villains by their quirks, but since the real nature of the killer's quirk was still unknown, with metallurgy, marksmanship and homing being their main suspects, but they still had far too little information.

The HPSC had been poking around the underground, seeing if they could track down the group or individual responsible, but even they were in the dark over who was responsible, and no known group was claiming to be responsible.

Overall, the situation was growing out of control, in ways that made them uncomfortable. At least for Stain they could track down his possible past as a vigilante, even though it didn't get them closer to catching him. But the Black Bullet Killer had no information, not in the NQR, not in the underground.

"Hello and welcome back to Hero Spotlight Hour" The host of the program presented the section. "In today's section we are going to talk about the recent villain attacks on pro heroes by the mysterious Black Bullet Killer. We have with us Kuraishisu Aorio, Hero Expert. It's good to have you back, Kuraishisu-san."

"Likewise, Takahiro-san." A man with odd, monkey-like mutations on his face responded. "First of all, I'd like to say that I don't think the Black Bullet Killer is part of some new villain group."

"Oh? And why would that be?"

"Villain groups thrive on exposure. Most villains, if they form a group, make sure to make their group name known, if only to bring attention to themselves. The Black Bullet Killer has not made any attempt to bring attention to themselves, even the name that we call them is coming from how the ongoing investigation refers to them."

"I see, Kuraishisu-san. Then what about the villains that remained hidden for years before they were finally brought to light by All Might in his Golden Age?"

"Those are different. Hero Society has changed a lot since before the rise of All Might, villains nowadays don't think and act the same as before. We, as a society, have managed to cleanse corrupt officials and villains hidden in plain sight, mainly thanks to All Might's incredible work. That's why this new villain, not advertising themselves, seems like something straight from before All Might's time."

"Then what about Stain? He also isn't part of a group and doesn't advertise his exploits, do you think they are working together? Are they perhaps the same person?"

"Though that possibility seems alarming, no I don't think so. Their killing methods are very different, Stain has never used a firearm, always keeping with bladed weapons. Stain also seems to leave a message behind, leaving some heroes alive, though brutally injured, to spread his infamy and name, while the Black Bullet Killer has perfect hero score as far as we know, and no interest in leaving the slightest proof behind. Their reasons are something police are still investigating. I don't think such wildcards would work together, or rather, I hope they don't."

"It'd be better if they took out each other, wouldn't you say?"

"Hmmm, that would certainly help every hero in Japan…"

They share a short laugh, before straightening up for the cameras.

"Still, Kuraishisu-san, what do you think are the motives of the Black Bullet Killer?"

"Their motives…believe it or not, every single hero that has been killed by them so far was on an ongoing investigation, or going after the lead of villains."

"Really?"

"Yes. It may as well be a hired gun, a villain looking out just for money and taking on heroes as their payment."

"So heartless…but that are villains for you"

"My thoughts exactly. Though every targeted hero was also in the top 200. Unlike the Hero Killer, the Black Bullet Killer seems to constantly aim higher, while Stain doesn't seem to have a preference."

"So they are going after top heroes? Why would they do that?"

"Pride? Higher pay? Suicidal tendencies? Honestly my friend, I can only guess that much about a crazy villain's thought process. I just hope both him and the Hero Killer are caught soon…"

"My thoughts exactly. There's a growing worry over the fact the investigation over so prominent hero killers hasn't managed to catch them still…"

The program droned off, as the Hero Expert and the Hero Spotlight Hour host kept talking about villain motives and goals.

Takami Keigo flapped his wings as he flew over Jaku City. The last confirmed kill of the Black Bullet Killer had been here, so he had come as fast as he could, to poke around the underground to see if he could learn something about them.

It had been a month since the first death, and the Black Bullet Killer had managed to avoid heroes and the police alike while steadily increasing their victims. HPSC wasn't happy about Keigo not having found anything yet, but honestly, what did they expect? Whoever was responsible was skilled enough to avoid any way to be detected by the heroes they target and then flee effortlessly.

They also struck in a different part of Japan every time, so far all in the main island, but was still concerning. At first Keigo and the HPSC thought that it could have been multiple people around Japan, or a resurgence of the Order of Orion, but in the end they determined it must be the work of one person.

At least the one actually shooting the heroes, they were so elusive the commission didn't yet know if more people were involved in the bullet's production or in some other unknown ways. Keigo certainly hadn't found evidence of a big group spanning the whole country operating in the underground.

He had investigated every city where the Black Bullet Killer had claimed a victim, infiltrating the underground (as he was doing now), trying to find any sort of evidence or proof of the killer's existence.

He only managed to hear rumors from all the villains hiding in the shadows, talking about the killer and wanting to recruit them, or even mentioning the elusive Boogeyman. Keigo, of course, knew that the Boogeyman had been killed by All Might almost 5 years ago now, perks of working for the people in charge of obscuring all the unpleasantries of hero society, he got to learn about them.

It was still alarming how some low villains managed to even hear rumors about the Boogeyman. The HPSC had been working hard to censor every bit of information on him, but Keigo guessed it was still too early and that some villains were bound to know about him from before All Might's time.

He was currently walking on the shady streets of Jaku, his wings perfectly hidden, feathers spread around the street and its surroundings, as he spied on every conversation around him, trying to find any clue towards the Black Bullet Killer.

"You got the money?" "Asshole got away…" "Got a stash of the good stuff hidden in..:" "...there's been more crows around the city these past few days…" "Did you hear? The Black Bullet Killer was here yesterday!"

Bingo.

It may be nothing, just villains talking about a fellow criminal, but Keigo would take anything he could. He sent a few of his feathers in the direction he heard the conversation, while walking into another direction. He noted and wrote down all the other information he'd overheard and leaned into a wall, focusing on hearing the conversation through the vibrations in the air that his feathers picked up.

"Yeah, who do you think hired him?"

"Wait, for real? You managed to contact him?"

Keigo straightened up. This was the best information he'd found. He really was a gun for hire… He immediately left the spot he was in, walking slowly without making any suspicious movements, and going to where those two unfortunate villains were, while still eavesdropping on them.

"Yeah, well, not him exactly, his handler. You're going to be mad" The other villain groaned.

"Don't tell me…Giran?"

"Yeah"

"Agh! That asshole! How does he always have the best contact!"

Giran, C rank villain is the handler… Oh boys, you are going to give me so much information~

"Doesn't matter! Fauna was a thorn on our side for years, so I'm happy Karasu made them disappear. It did cost me a lot. I swear, that asshole made it even more expensive after Fauna started looking into us…"

"Karasu? Who's that?" Hawks said, from behind the two villains, while his feathers started inching closer and closer.

"Oh, that's actually the Black Bullet Killer's true villain name! Wait, who the fuck are you!?" He turned around, realizing it wasn't his friend who asked him that, but a complete stranger.

Hawks didn't waste more seconds, and grabbed the man through his shirt ,.while his feathers swarmed into his back and the other villain, propulsing all of them into the air.

"Ahhh!? What the fuck is going on!?"

Hawks moved from the shady streets, making all his feathers follow him while he flew with the two low level villains.

"You see, I've been trying to look into the Black Bullet's case for a few weeks~ and what you just said was the most interesting thing I heard~"

The villains, having managed to look at Hawks now, after panicking about being in the air, finally recognized him, the number 11 hero Hawks had them gripped on his talons.

"So~ do you know something more about Karasu~? If you reveal more info the judge may think it over rather than just hearing about how you hired a hitman to get a hero killed"

"I don't know anything! I swear! Gi-Giran! You need to get Giran! He should know anything! He-he is the one that sends Karasu on his jobs!"

"You sure you don't know anything else? Giran is a very tricky person to track down, you know? He's been evading justice for years"

"I swear I don't know anything else!"

Hawks hummed, as he flew over to the nearest police station. Still, even though the search was going to change from one impossible to track down target to another, this was the best information they've gotten on the Black Bullet Killer, no, Karasu.

They had an actual name now!

A boy with bright blue hair walked down into an alleyway, shifting into the shadows behind a wall, and squeezing in between two buildings so close to each other he thought they were going to kiss each other.

After pulling to the other side, the boy dusted himself off. He didn't like staying dirty, it wasn't cute in the slightest. The boy looked around as he straightened up his school uniform that had wrinkled as he passed into the secret street.

He saw some people approach him just as he finished grooming himself to look just as he liked.

"This isn't a place for brats, brat. Go away if you don't want to have trouble."

The boy flinched after seeing three bulky men approach, looking at him with very unfriendly glares. But just as quickly as he flinched, his face morphed into an unnatural smile, tearing from his normal face.

The men stopped getting closer, as the skin around the boy's mouth and eyes melted off, showing a toothy grin and deep yellow slitted eyes.

"Are you sure I can't stay, sir~?" His voice was distorted, as if two voices were speaking at the same time from the same mouth, one deep and the other much higher.

"Who the hell are you?"

The yellow eyes of the boy turned to the man that had spoken so fast he flinched, blinking and suddenly finding the boy just in front of him, with a cutter on his hand, pointing directly to the man's throat.

"Just a naughty brat~ You wouldn't want to get in trouble with just little ol' me~ though I'm not old at all~" He/She chirped, as the other two men watched their friend get threatened by a mere kid.

"Fo-forget it. If you want to get killed, suit yourself, brat." The man tried to save face, backing away and going with the other two.

They looked at the boy, as he put a hand on his face. After pulling the hand away, his eyes were back to the light blue matching his hair, and the wide toothy grin that had peeled from underneath his skin was back to being a regular mouth.

"Ok mister~ see you around~"

The boy left the men behind, and went deeper into the shady streets he had come into. Underneath that boy was Toga Himiko, though she was deep in a disguise from a cute boy she had sucked dry.

Himiko loved that boy, his deep red blood contrasted his cute hair very nicely. But she was searching for another of her crushes right now. Killer-chan had been so active! It was very difficult to track them down.

Himiko had gone to the cities where Killer-chan had killed heroes, looking for them to be able to show them all of her love. She had met and become so many cute people… she just wanted to make Killer-san bleed all over her and drink every last drop.

Himiko goaded in her own fantasy, while the disguise of the cute boy she had on kept a perfect mask, not showing her true face, but an impartial one that he made when Himiko had found him.

Still, Himiko was getting annoyed by her little luck finding Killer-chan. It seems they never stayed in any place for long, especially after killing someone, so Himiko had decided to search around Musutafu, Killer-chan's first hunting ground, to see if there were more clues around.

So far, she/he hadn't found anything. The villains here were just as everyone else, telling her/him to beat it when she asked for Killer-chan, even if she/he used the not so cute name that people gave them on TV!

Some of the villains tried to mug or get her/him, but the boy/Himiko didn't have much trouble avoiding them and stabbing the ones that got too close. Their blood wasn't even that good, but she/he drank it anyway. She/He was a growing girl/boy after all!

The few answers she managed to get, from villains that saw her/him gut a few poor thugs, just weren't good enough. They talked about how untraceable Killer-chan was, and how it could be a whole ass new villain organization.

No, no, no, no, no, no! They were all wrong! Himiko knew that this had to be the work of a single person. Her heart told her so. The bloodlust needed to kill multiple heroes and keep going like that? She understood it very well, though Himiko hadn't found a cute hero to suck dry yet, she knew what clenching bloodlust looked like.

Killer-chan was just like her, and also Stain-chan! They all loved spilling blood of their targets and stalking them until they had them just where they wanted, then bum! Spilling their hot blood all over the place.

Himiko was getting dreamy just thinking about it. Even though she didn't actually have any proof of how Stain-chan and Killer-chan operated, the cleaness of their work told her enough. A pity these bums couldn't tell her/him anything useful.

"You talking about the Black Bullet Killer?" Another villain chimed in, making Himiko/the boy roll their eyes at the use of that name.

"Nah, I was just leaving" She/He said, backing away while still keeping the disguise.

"You know, apparently they go by Karasu." Himiko/The boy blinked a few times.

"Karasu?"

"Interested, brat? Yeah, apparently they are a gun for hire, I've heard from a villain group in Feru City that they hired them to kill Amp."

"For real? Then it isn't a group?"

"Nah, apparently it's a guy."

"Karasu…chan~ what a cute name~"

Himiko left the two villains to talk to themselves, and hoped away, a blush through the cheeks of her disguise as she couldn't contain the love spreading through her.

"I finally know your name, Karasu-chan~ I wonder if they like crows~? Reminds me of Izumi-chan~"

She daydreamed, as she kept on her way.

Bullseye grumbled as he gave his handler for the SASC the body of the animal he was hired to kill. It had been a month since he had last been killed, and when the Commission finally graces with a job, it's just a stupid boar with an useless quirk.

Seriously, Blue Hair? Was that thing even a fucking dangerous animal that the Super Animal Safety Commission was worried about? They've been giving him less and less jobs, and the first quirked animal they task him to handle just has a completely irrelevant quirk?!

Of course the pay was shit. It always was, and they didn't even try to hide from Bullseye the fact that the target they had tasked to take out wasn't that important, since they barely paid him more than for a non-quirked animal!

The Order had also fucking failed him big time. They were supposed to be an elite alliance of assassins that terminated any and all targets! But the old farts had shit their pants when All Might started busting out every criminal organization, and sided to become the hunting dogs of the lamest governmental organization.

Bullseye did recognize that the perks of being able to hold a completely legal gun license were great, especially in the age of quirks and heroes that they were in. But still, he had joined the Order to use his super specific Hand Gun quirk.

He wasn't accepted into any hero schools when he was younger because of his "anger issues" that summed to such a lethal quirk, just made any school to fucking scared to had him. He tried joining the police force, but they were even more annoying, failing his behavioral and mental evaluation test, saying he was "too violent".

Of course he was violent! He wanted to use his goddamn quirk but because it resembled a firearm they made his life impossible! He practically gave up on joining the JSDF, as they would have even denied his admission faster than the hero schools or police force did.

So he thought that joining a lesser known organization, like the SASC, and that's when he learned about the Order of Orion. They accepted him with open arms, assigning him a turf in Japan for the SASC to assign to hunt on whenever he was needed.

But those old bastards were just playing with him! A set of forests in Iwate!? Really!? That far from the headquarters of the Order and the SASC!? He quickly realized the dry and few calls were the norm, and resigned himself for it.

But that's when, around 5 years ago, that bitch Diana got into the Order. Jupiter had just mysteriously got arrested, according to Giran, his handler, so they assigned the replacement to his turf in Tia, right at the feet of SASC's headquarters.

Jupiter was one of the of the members that the SASC favored the last years he was part of the organization, and Bullseye hated him for that, but the favoritism they showed Diana was unreal. Bullseye hung out a lot around the base of the Order, so he saw the amount of corpses that Diana sent them through Giran.

It was so much more than what they tasked him with, or any other member of the Order for that matter! When he tried to argue with the Order about it, so all of them would get more fair treatment and tasks, he was constantly shut down, being told he shouldn't mess in the business of the other hunters, and to respect the rules of the organization.

The SASC and Diana were clearly exploiting those rules! First of all she didn't show up once to any of the meetings, called by him or any other member. Hell, she didn't even attend the meeting where she was accepted, Giran handling everything for her.

What kind of deal had she struck with the SASC to have every target lured into her turf so she would hunt them instead of any other member? There was no way that so many wild animals would pop up specifically in her forest, especially with SASC's headquarters so close.

He would find the source of that strange consìracy,. be it with the help of the Order or without it. He was sick of those old has-been bastards.

Still, something interesting had happened these past few weeks. A new villain had appeared, the Black Bullet Killer. He was a new villain that targeted heroes, every one of them in different cities and even prefectures.

He thought that it could be a new villain group, like some people online had been speculating, but Bullseye hadn't heard anything about them. The Order of Orion may be operating legally now, but their members were all former villains and assassins, so he had gotten into the underground at the same time he joined the Order.

It was a good source for information, though he wasn't supposed to do anything illegal or the SASC would force the Order to kick him out. Still, he hadn't heard anything about a new villain group rising up. In fact, everything he heard for the past few weeks was just rumors about the Black Bullet Killer.

But Bullseye recognized the pattern. It was just what he had wanted all along. Freedom to act however he pleased. That villain was a gun for hire, and their turf was all of Japan. He needed to get into contact with them.

Not to join them, Bullseye didn't want to throw away the perks of the license he got thanks to the Order's deal with the SASC. But still… knowing of a gun for hire working outside the Order… he may be able to get away with targeting someone with the Order being non the wiser.

Once I find the Black Bullet Killer you are done, Diana.

8 - Black Bullet Killer

Izumi followed the tracks of her prey through the forest. The first signs of winter were starting to become more and more noticeable. The crows stayed more time at their tiny wooden houses at the Nest or around the furnace of the abandoned building. Though she had been using the abandoned building for so long she had a hard time referring to it as abandoned anymore. It was more like…an Old Cabin.

Hunting in winter was no issue for Izumi though, and Giran and the SASC was aware of it, as she had been getting jobs from both her jobs to keep hunting down prey. Izumi couldn't ask for more.

She wore a winter jacket and thick thermic pants that made her able to stay in one place in Tia even through the cold wind without much issue. Izumi heard the caw of a crow, and returned the message with a whistle. Hatori flapped her wings twice mid air to change direction, mimicking Izumi's whistle as she flew the way she'd come from.

She hid behind a tree, pulling B-Tip tightly and nocking a Black Arrow in its bowstrings. She narrowed her eyes and sharpened her senses. The cold wind hit her in her face, but Izumi didn't let it disturb her. She calmed her heart, ignoring the cold on her ears and waited patiently.

Not soon after, a high pitched squeal followed by the caws of the murder started becoming louder and louder. Without saying a word, Izumi got out from behind the tree, bow close to her face, Black Arrow nocked all the way back.

She let her arm rest, releasing the arrow who zoomed in the air and pierced a wild boar into a tree, knocking it into it, impaled helplessly into the cold bark.

The boar squealed and tried running away, but the arrow kept him stuck to the tree, unable to break free of it, as the arrow pierced its entire body and sank halfway into the tree. It didn't have enough strength to pull the arrow from the tree and try to escape.

Izumi, slowly but surely, walked towards the boar and nocked another arrow into B-Tip. Hatori landed on her shoulder, with other crows cawing and spreading their wings at the boar, itching to get closer to it once it stopped moving.

Izumi looked down on the helpless animal that could run over an adult if they weren't being careful. She pointed to its head and unloaded the arrow.

A cacophony of caws and cheers from the murder surrounded her as they flew down on the boar to enjoy their feast, flying across her, the tips of their feathers tickling her as they dove down into the feast.

Izumi smiled.

Izumi used an old rag to clean up the blood and brain matter from the Black Arrow. On the other side of the room, near the furnace, the crows fought to peel off what little meat was left from the boar's skull.

The fire inside the furnace heated up the entire room of the Old Cabin, and let out a black puff of smoke outside of it, sneaking through the hole on the roof Izumi have conveniently built the furnace under.

Kuro groomed his feathers on the side, making a clunking pattern as his beak straightened his metallic feathers. A group of younger crows were showing off impersonations of different animals and people that they had heard. Between them, Hatori mimicked the squeal of the boar, while one of the other crows kept repeating words in Izumi's voice.

After she was done cleaning the arrows, Izumi took out the cast with the shape of the Black Arrows and the Black Bullets engraved into it. She picked up a bunch of Kuro's black feathers that were left on the floor.

Kuro and a bunch of the other crows helped Izumi pick them up, being easily recognizable much like Shiro's and Gorogoro's, but unlike them, not from their unusual color, but because of their distinctly metallic shine.

Izumi put the feathers on the pot, and opened the furnace. The crows had learned from now that when Izumi put on the thick gloves, she was going to open the furnace, and quickly got away. They appreciated the heat, but when the door of the furnace was open, only Shiro could stand being so close to it.

Izumi put the pot inside and closed the furnace. She grabbed the rag and cleaned up the stains of blood from the boar that had spilled over the wooden boards of the Old Cabin. She had brought what was left of the carcass of the boar inside knowing this would happen, but it was better to move it inside than having it get colder outside. Giran only needed a visual proof this time, so the fact only bones were left of it was no issue.

Izumi put the skull of the boar on top of the furnace. It wasn't her most impressive hunt, not in the slightest, the boar didn't even have a quirk, but she decided to leave it there for the moment as she cleaned the floor.

She was done by the time the feathers would have melted down, and took them out of the furnace. The pot steamed as usual, and she slowly poured the molten orange metal alloy into the cast, filling the holes with the shape of the arrows and the bullets, getting ready for another batch of them.

Izumi kept reusing the same bullets and arrows in her jobs now that she was making her own source. Giran complained a bit about it, but brushed it off when Izumi instead asked for better gear, keeping him happy as still her source for other materials.

Still, even though she reused the nearly indestructible Kuro based projectiles, having more never hurt, so Izumi had melted Kuro's feather's as they fell off, always doing it when she had enough. It was better than what she did before with them, burying them in certain places of Tia forest so no one could find it and report it to the SASC.

She knew how trigger happy they were about those kinds of quirked animals. She had been tasked with dealing with a few. Izumi still wore the Nemean Vest made from that super tough deer that prompted her to develop the first Black Arrows.

She was starting to get noticed more by the media lately, probably since the current investigation on the "Black Bullet Killer" wasn't going anywhere and she was still killing heroes.

Izumi was slightly annoyed about that name, but Giran told her that she had done so many jobs, her real villain name was bound to leak whenever one of her clients gets eventually caught.

Still, Izumi enjoyed her new job. That combined with having to research and hunt down more complex prey, as well as to build more intricate tools and gear, was the most fun Izumi ever had on hunts.

Izumi smiled, and finished pouring the molten metal in the cast, now waiting for it to cool off.

Izumi spent a lot of time on the shinkansen. Her job required it, and the new special tickets that Giran had got her secured she wouldn't be able to be tracked back if the police started to investigate people taking the shinkansen before and after the killings.

Investigating the hundreds if not thousands of people that could get on the shinkansen to be able to go around the country like she did was a bit of an overkill, but if Izumi was the police department, as soon as the pattern of the killings happening everywhere was made apparent, investigating the shinkansen lines would be the first thing she'd do.

Still, perhaps they weren't sure about a single person being able to move around so much and were subscribing to the theory she'd seen and heard talked about specially in school about the Black Bullet Killer being instead "the Black Bullet Group".

They were mostly right at that, there was a black group. The murder was after the killings after all, they helped Izumi a lot. But the one hunting the heroes down in the end was Karasu.

Still, Izumi didn't dislike spending hours of her time in the shinkansen. With all her hunts and trips to the Nest and the Old Cabin in Tia, she ended up making a lot from the special tickets, but she had things to pass time on.

There was always at least one crow sneaking on the train with her, always hidden from view, usually below her seat, but her time waiting on the train was the time she used to browse around the MakeshiftGo forums and talk with zoomCEO.

She decided to keep in touch with that user, as they had exchanged tips and tricks multiple times. Izumi ended up showing them pictures of the furnace and the casts, along with some of the other gadgets she had made, like the paper shuffler or some of the birdhouses of the Nest.

Izumi even mentioned something about the Nemean Vest, merely saying that she had made a piece of gear out of some extraordinarily hard material. She was purposefully vague about it, as to not bring attention to herself should the SASC discover her account somehow. Izumi didn't think they could get authorization on seeing her DMs with a random user of the forums, but now that she was openly committing villain actions by hunting down heroes (it was mostly their fault for failing to notice the fact they were being hunted).

But the moment she sent "gear" it was almost like it had triggered a manic response from zoomCEO. Izumi had seen them send unbelievably long texts in way too short periods of time, to the point where she had actually wondered if their quirk was some sort of speed enhancer for their hands, as while the messages where long and fast, their were riddled with grammar errors that a techno quirk could have easily avoided…she thinks.

zoomCEO apparently was a teen around the same age as Izumi,. as they told her that they were actually trying to get into the Support Department of UA. Izumi scolded her for revealing that kind of personal information to a stranger on the internet, and though they tried brush her off saying "THERES NOWAY BIRDKEEPER IS A STRAnGER!", Izumi still tried to make zoomCEO understand she couldn't just say that kind of personal information out there.

She still wished them luck, but Izumi herself wasn't that interested in UA's Support Course. While it could do good for her to improve upon her gadgets, she was fully committed to hunting. If anything, she could get additional gear from zoomCEO's future company that they had told her thousands of times they were going to fund.

From all the gadgets that they had sent Izumi pictures in return, along with all their knowledge on mechanics, Izumi was sure they would revolutionize heroics once their company started up. Maybe then she'd actually have to try harder to hunt down heroes using zoomCEO's gear. It was a net positive for her. Except she did kinda feel bad of devaluing their gear down the line once she actually hunted down some hero wearing it.

The familiar ding of the shinkansen brought Izumi back to reality. She excused herself towards zoomCEO, who remained oblivious as to what Izumi used her gadgets and year for, as well as her general information. Izumi appreciates the help they give her, but she wasn't going to put more information about herself that she wanted to online.

She felt the crow below her seat sneak out before it could be seen, flying off outside the shinkansen into the orange sky of dusk.

Izumi smiled, grabbing her helmet. It was time for Karasu to work.

Karasu used her binoculars to spy the streets below her. She had the visor of her helmet up, and could feel the wind brush against her from the top of the building she was on. She had been stalking Bambooman for a week now, and had his complete patrol route memorized. It was even easier than other hunts, as Bambooman operated in Musutafu, and Karasu didn't have to make much investigation on the surroundings.

She already knew them. It was her territory after all.

Wuji, Urusai and seven other crows were with her today. Karasu had great support for this hunt. Just as she had predicted, Bambooman came out of the corner of the street, following his usual patrol.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

Karasu got into position, grabbing her hunting rifle and laying on her chest over the edge of the building. She slowed her breathing, steading her grip on the rifle. Her lens showed her the hero's face, moving slightly to the side. She moved the rifle as subtly as she could, following the hero's movement.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

She pulled a Black Bullet from her pocket, and slid it inside the rifle, never losing sight of the target. Karasu narrowed her eyes, breath completely steady, her heartbeat stopping its drumming against her ears.

…

She brought a finger to the trigger, and pulled on it.

Bang!

Karasu's concentration was excellent. Stopping her breathing and letting all of herself focus on the task at hand was dangerous because of the tunnel vision it generated, especially when all her visual stimuli came from the lens she was looking down her target on. But that's not a problem for Karasu, as she always had the crows along with her, that could warn her from anything that her tunnel vision made her blind to.

It was thanks to that extreme concentration that she was capable as she was, on top of the Order of Orion and the most prolific gun for hire since All Might's rise in the hero rankings. That concentration also allowed her to keep the rifle steady even after firing, her grip so tight she was able to hold off the recoil and see the victims of her Black Bullets.

But this time, for some reason, at the very same time as she pulled the trigger, Bambooman had suddenly moved down, the Black Bullet scrapping the bamboo straps on his shoulder as his body went down.

Thump…!

Karasu immediately moved the rifle down, looking for Bambooman. His posture looked like he had tripped on something, but he was shouting and signaling to someone, then started to run. He was on high guard now.

Thump…thump…

Karasu grabbed another Black Bullet from the pocket on her thigh, and pulled on the rifle's level, throwing off the old cartridge and loading the next bullet and aiming for his head.

Thump…thump…thump…

Bang!

"Tsk"

The bullet went straight to Bambooman's shoulder, straight through the armor of bamboo that he had grown over his body.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

The hero looked at Karasu's general direction, and erected a barrier of bamboo over his body as armor, and started running in her direction, signaling at the people at her sides and getting behind a car ro cover himself.

This is bad.

Karasu loaded another Black Bullet after pulling the cartridge of the other one off.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

Bang!

The bullet went a meter to the car's left, completely missing the hero at all, while sinking into the asphalt. Karasu felt her heartbeat drumming into her head.

Relax Izumi. It's alright. You have one bullet left, shit. Doesn't matter, can make more.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

Karasu breathed out, putting herself in the zone again. She searched around the street using the lens of the rifle. She was far away from Bambooman, so he wouldn't reach her if she kept pressuring him under fire. The shot she had missed earlier could be interpreted as a warning shot thinking the bullet can't get through the car.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…

It was an erroneous conclusion since from all the leftovers of her bullets from previous kills the heroes should know that her bullets are strong enough to go through cars. Hell, if the trail of blood he left while getting into a cover was any indication, not even this hero's quirk was good enough.

Bambooman could boast of the defensive quirk that let him become the 75th hero in the national rankings…but Izumi had hunted sturdier animals. She was wearing the proof of that.

Still…staying here for long isn't a good idea. He must have called for back up already. He may be trapped under the cover of a car, but if I wait more, I'll soon get surrounded by heroes as well.

Thump…thump…thump…

Karasu pulled her helmet slightly off, enough to let her mouth free. She brought two fingers to her mouth, and let out a long high pitched whistle. The crows around her flew away, going down the street.

Thump…thump…

Karasu had to make sure that Bambooman hadn't moved from the cover, and sending the crows to check it out was her only option.

"Caw!" Behind!

"Caw!" Crouched!

"Caw!" Bleeding!

Thump…

Karasu let all air out of her lungs, and pointed right at the car. She put her last Black Bullet into the rifle, cartridge of the previous one flying away.

…Bang!

Izumi saw a splash of blood spray from behind the car, right behind the clean hole that the bullet had left behind. Moments later she saw from the side of the car a hand fall down.

The crows flew closer to her, landing on top of the building.

Head. Spilled.

Izumi smiled, and went to pet Wuji and the rest of the crows. She whistled a few times, the crows knowing what to do and grabbing the cartridges of the four Black Bullets as Karasu quickly.

Thump…thump…thump…

Karasu let her heartbeat flow faster, as she hurriedly dismounted and packed her rifle, walking off the emergency stairs of the building.

"Caw!"

She moved to the side and hid in the darkness against a wall, her dark hunting gear helping her obscure herself. A moment later, a police officer went over and passed right through the spot she was hiding on.

Karasu kept herself completely silent, looking at the crows to give her the signal to move. She trusted completely on them to help be able to avoid anyone, always counting on them whenever she failed to take a prey in one shot. This was no different.

Somewhere behind her, she heard the police officer yelp, along with a crow cawing loudly.

Shiny! Shiny!

"Ah! Get off of my badge!"

That was the signal. Izumi got out of the darkness and went into the main street. People were panicking and running away, the police trying to keep them away from the street while starting to surround the building she was just on.

She managed to sneak alongside scared civilians, running along with them. She saw Wuji and other crows fly above them, and turn to the right on the next street. Izumi briefly looked back, police cars starting to come in to shield around the building, with others around the corpse of Bambooman.

Izumi smiled, heart pumping steadily, but breath calm. She turned to the right, recognizing it as one of the less than safe criminal crawling streets. She blended effortlessly into the shadows, sinking into the underground of Musutafu.

She knew the shady streets of Mustufau like the back of her hand, having spent a few nights familiarizing with them and all the lesser gangs and villains around them had paid off, and Karasu was able to move swiftly and quickly through the buzzing criminals.

"Caw!" Karasu looked up, seeing Urusai flying in circles around her.

She spread her arm, allowing him to land on it. Urusai opened his beak, repeating the words of a man Karasu haven't heard before.

"Suspect with the helmet has been seen entered Arcana street, I'll begin search-"

Urusai closed his beak, silencing the voice that he'd recorded. Karasu kept walking with the crow on her arm, always moving, keeping her cool, now more than ever needing to stay focused.

"Is he a hero?"

"Yes. Caw" Black clothes. White scarf. Yellow googles.

Karasu didn't recognize he hero. It couldn't be a vigilante since from Urusai's recording it seemed that he was speaking to the police or other heroes.

An underground hero then. Could be an issue. May know these streets.

"Guide me" She whistled and let Urusair fly away.

The rest of the way, Izumi kept following the directions of the crows. Wuji, Urusai and the other ones guiding her away from the hero. Slowly but surely, Karasu got more and more distance away from the underground hero.

They may know the streets well, but thanks to the literal bird's eye view that she had, she was always able to outmaneuver him, to the point that the crows confirmed that he had completely lost her track, never even getting as close as to see her back thanks to them.

Karasu pet them from their efforts, and let the bag with her rifle and her helmet with them once she reached an open street away from the underground and the ones controlled by petty criminals.

Someone must have seen her after all, so the profile of a suspicious person wearing a helmet near the building must have been the reason why that hero followed her.

Still, she knew all about tracking down prey, as the predator, she wouldn't let anyone track her. The murder made sure she would never get ambushed, and helped her always have her prey on sight.

Giving the murder the helmet and the bag would help her if someone saw her get back to the apartment now. It was unlikely that she'd get spotted at this hour, but if anything she'd learnt today, is that it was very easy for things to go sideways for the smallest mistake.

The murder flew away with the helmet and bag, being enough so that they could carry everything between all of them, and Izumi joined the open street to get back to her apartment.

She looked on her phone to see if there was some update, and found that one of the hero forums was already getting updated with the latest news and presumed death of Bambooman.

Izumi didn't even need to check the news, she trusted the murder's word more than whatever the news or hero forums could say. Still, seeing speculation on the forum over a possible new target of the Black Bullet Killer filled her with pride.

It seems that this is the only way I'm going to get recognized. That's fine though.

She got into the apartment, heart calm, doing as little noise as possible. She didn't really care about Inko finding out she was away this late. She had done it lots of times already. She'd gone on multiple hero hunts after all.

Still, it was annoying having to hear her complain, so Izumi went silently to her room and let herself fall into the bed.

She felt great. The sleep deprivation was barely any issue when she could just keep herself awake by her breathing exercises, and her hunts had been fulfilling the previous hole in her chest.

Not even a pro hero actively chasing after me can catch me. I truly am the predator of heroes. I wonder which one Giran will send me on a hunt for.

With that thought, and the reminder of having to weld and mold more Black Bullets, Izumi let sleep overtake her, with a smile on her face.