Chapter 24

We flew at a leisurely pace through the night sky, Crystal coaching me on some of the basics of true flight. It was humbling to see how easily she moved through the air, possessing a grace that I couldn't hope to match. As I clumsily did a few turns and twists to get used to flying, she was casually flying backwards or doing fancy looking spins and spirals, literally flying circles around me. It made me realize how lucky I'd been during the Simurgh fight, as I'd had three people with experience flying backing me up when battling the Endbringer.

"Stop tensing up," Crystal chided me as I did my best to angle myself against the wind. "Let yourself flow with the air, you'll fly smoother and faster."

"This is why I like teleporting," I said with a frown. "So much simpler."

"Pft, bending space or crossing through an alternate dimension or whatever it is you do when you teleport is simpler?" She asked with an amused tone.

"Simpler to do at least," I replied. "Though I admit the mechanics are perhaps a tad more complicated."

"Just a bit," she agreed. "I mean, how do you teleport?"

I smiled a bit sheepishly and gave the slightest shrug. "Well, pre-Simurgh I think I was teleporting by travelling through an alternate dimension that's connected to darkness. After I got my power-up… I have way more options."

"Your powers are such bullshit, I swear," she laughed. "All of my family is simple-ish, but we still casually break physics. You on the other hand," she shook her head, not needing to finish the sentiment.

"I wouldn't have made it to where I am now if you hadn't saved me from that pack of skinheads," I said.

"I'm a hero. It's what I do," she said with a warm smile.

I layered an illusion over us as we landed, allowing us to blend into the Boardwalk crowd seamlessly. The meandering crowd of upper middle-class Brockton residents and tourists painted a pretty picture, one of a city that wasn't practically run by gangs and suffering from more parahuman crime than some cities three times it's size. It was the public face that Brockton Bay projected to the rest of the world, the one that most average people wouldn't care to look past.

But it was nice to pretend sometimes. And I felt myself become more determined to change what I saw from a meer facade into true reality. A Bay that was free of gangs… That would certainly be something and I had the power and determination to do it now.

I just had to get Piggot to let me.

I was jerked out of my darkening thoughts as Crystal gave my arm a nudge. "Hey. I know that look. No work tonight. Let's just have some fun, okay?"

I almost smacked myself on the head with how stupid I felt. On a date with a beautiful woman and I was letting myself get distracted. "Sorry, my bad. Just… It's been a weird week."

"I get it. My parents or my aunt and uncle will get the same expression sometimes. But just remember that we're still only people, we deserve a chance to just ignore things for a bit, ya know?"

"You're right," I agreed. Couldn't exactly save the world if I was constantly in a manic state from lack of actual relaxation. "So other than superheroing, what else do you do?"

Crystal gave a small shrug. "Most of my time is taken up by college and hero work. I like to see movies with my friends when I can. Aleph stuff if I can help it. They usually have better special effects and their cape stuff is," she fished for the right term, "different, but in a good way. You can tell that they don't have nearly as many capes over on that Earth, so they're a lot more hopeful and idealistic, like old comics from before Scion. I like to work on my car every now and then, which I bet is part of the reason that my dad got it for me."

We got in line for the sandwich shop and I could tell with the way she kept glancing around and almost instinctively ducked her head every now and then that she was still getting used to not being recognized as Laserdream.

"Do people bother you when you go out and about out of costume?" I asked sympathetically.

"It's usually not too bad. Locals know not to bother us if we aren't wearing the outfit, but while we aren't super well known outside of Brockton, you'll get the occasional megafan cape geek from out of town who doesn't know the meaning of 'family time' and interrupts us while we're at dinner or something. That's happened… a lot. The worst ones though, are folks who have a loved one that needs healing from Amy, but can't get them moved to any of the hospitals in town. They're so earnest and desperate and I know my cousin wants to help, but…" She sighed a bit and shrugged again. "No one can help everyone." She realized that she too was falling into work talk and switched topics. "So you grew up in California, right? What was that like?"

"It was… home, I guess. To be honest, I kind of hated it. Horrible cost of living and to me the benefits just weren't worth it."

"Like what?"

"Well near L.A for one, which meant Alexandria was close by, so we had a relatively low crime-rate. But all the things everyone said they loved about my hometown just made it a drag. Same weather all year round and a beach that could be described as 'mid' at best. Water was always too cold, I basically never went."

Her eyes twinkled humorously as she glanced out at the Bay. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

"At least real estate is cheap here! My hometown, I couldn't find a place on my own for anything less than two grand a month. It was ridiculous. Apartments around here are way cheaper, even when you factor in the protection money," I only half-joked.

That earned me a snort of laughter. "So you came here to Brockton Bay and never moved… Bold choice."

"I think I mentioned to you once, not many colleges would accept someone with my grades. BBU was one of the few. And after I was done… California didn't have anything left for me, so yeah, I stuck around." I also didn't want to go back to my family and admit that I'd failed in so many ways, but that was a different matter entirely.

"I thought Asian kids were supposed to be good in school," she said teasingly.

"That's a stereotype, even if all my cousins fulfill it to a T. I'm just… I have a hard time applying myself to things that don't interest me, even if it's important. School sucked, lemme tell ya. Plus no parents to reinforce doing well. My aunts and uncles didn't really care, so long as I wasn't failing."

She winced as I mentioned this dimension's version of my parents. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up painful topics…"

"It was a long time ago," I waved it off. "I've made my peace. Or will, once I rip the Empire apart anyway. Then at least, I can give my family back home some good news."

"You still close with them?"

"Oh yeah, but now that I'm in the Protectorate and with how terribly I've been guarding my identity… Better to leave some distance. Once I've settled in, I'll make a trip back to visit or something," I said.

"Sounds like you have a lot," she commented.

"Two aunts, an uncle, and seven first-cousins between them all," I said with a chuckle. "They're all good folk."

"Damn, I thought our family was big."

"Imagine if we were all parahumans too," I joked. "We'd conquer the West Coast."

"Especially if they were all as strong as you. Though I wouldn't wish that on anyone with… you know."

"Yeah…" Trigger events weren't something any cape took lightly, even an artificial one like me.

"What do you do when you aren't wearing the cape anyway?" She asked once we'd reached the counter and ordered, standing off to the side.

"I read a lot. Aleph books, for basically the same reason you like their movies. I used to write a bit in my spare time, but… Well, being a hero full time sucks up most of my time and energy, you know?"

"Especially since you're trying to pull off two cape identities," she pointed out. "Reckless of you, in case I haven't mentioned it before."

"Necessary," I countered. "But hopefully not forever."

"How have things been going for Kage anyway?"

"I thought you said no work talk?"

"Pft, it's your semi-illegal vigilante alter ego, it counts more as a hobby than anything else," she said.

"And how many hobbies end up catching criminals," I muttered. "It's been going… fine. I teamed up with Purity the other day. She's apparently been trying to be a hero for the last couple of years."

Crystal let out an undignified snort and nearly choked on her soda. "Seriously? And yet she still calls herself 'Purity' and hasn't offered any kind of information or cooperation with the PRT? You gotta be joking."

"Nope. She genuinely thinks she's trying to be a hero. I think she's one bad day from going crawling back to the Empire, but that's just me. I also met a young indie who I think has potential. Bug controller. Nice kid, but scary when she wants to be. Been showing her the ropes, making sure she doesn't get herself shot or worse, run into Lung again."

"Again?"

"First night out she ran into the dragon-man himself," I confirmed. "Nearly got herself killed, but Armsmaster was nearby and I was able to administer some emergency healing before we got her to your cousin. Stupid, but gutsy."

"And how old is she?"

"I didn't pry, but… I'm guessing fifteen, sixteen?"

"You should be getting that girl into the Wards and then into therapy immediately," Crystal said.

"First off, Brockton Wards don't have a therapist. Don't have the budget," I'd have to see about getting that changed with my new influence, "and second, she needs more careful persuasion. I agree that the Wards would probably be better for her in the long run, but she currently doesn't have many friends her age and she very much does not trust authority. Pushing her would only make her dig in her heels and damage any remaining trust she has in the heroes."

"Well… I guess at least she has you watching her back," she agreed reluctantly.

We made some more conversation as we grabbed our food and walked along the Boardwalk together, simply enjoying the peaceful night, good food, and better company. It was… a lot like hanging out with my friends actually, except I managed to work up the courage to lace my arm through hers, keeping us pleasantly close together and also staving off the cold night air. Win-win in my books.

"Hot cocoa?" I asked after we'd finished our food and neared a stand selling the stuff.

"Chocolate is always a yes," she agreed with a grin.

"Noted. Two please!" Once I'd grabbed our drinks, I glanced around despite the illusion over us, then allowed the drinks to float in mid-air as I took out a flask from my coat pocket. "Peppermint schnapps?"

"Mr. Inouye, are you trying to give a young lady not of age alcohol? How scandalous. Do all heroes behave this way?" She asked with a faux accent.

I gave her a deadpan look. "You've been at my place drinking multiple times by this point."

"That's different! You were just being the cool older friend. Now we're on a date. Are you trying to get me drunk or something for whatever nefarious plans you have?" She asked teasingly with a small wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Yes, that's exactly the kind of person I am," I said deadpan. "Beware of your virtue when around me. Heartbreaker 2.0 over here."

Crystal snorted and swiped the flask from my hand, pouring a healthy measure into her cocoa, then mine. "Good call. Peppermint and chocolate is a match made in heaven."

"My favorite," I agreed. "More than chocolate and peanut butter."

"Well now you're just talking like a lunatic."

We bickered playfully like that for a while before we reached the end of the Boardwalk.

"Hey, mind if I show you something?" She asked. "It'll take a bit of a flight."

I began floating in the air, the pleasant buzz of good company and a bit of booze making me feel rather warm. "Lead the way, my fair lady," I said with an 'after you' gesture.

I got a giggle for my antics (I swear it was only like… twenty-percent out of pity) and she took my hand again as we flew through the sky once more. We ended up at the top of the Medhall building and she directed my gaze toward a section of the night sky just off the coast.

"They only do this on weekends, for the tourists," Crystal explained.

Before I could ask what she was talking about, fireworks began to light up the night, dazzling displays of color that showed whoever was in charge knew their stuff. Watching from the top of a skyscraper made the experience all the better.

The show lasted several minutes before going silent. I noticed the look of disappointment on Crystal's face and flicked a wrist, summoning forth several floating orbs of multicolored light.

Her face turned into a grin at the display. "Powers usually suck, but sometimes… sometimes they can make something magical."

Then the Grimoire decided to be my wingman for the evening.

The Song of Your Heart (Symphogear, free): In addition to an improvement to your singing skills and ability to compose songs you are no longer reliant on your mouth to deliver your songs. You may freely sing and speak simultaneously, as your heart broadcasts your song (plus appropriate musical accompaniment) without necessity for such things as atmosphere, breathing, or instruments. This can be freely toggled but doesn't require further concentration once activated unless you wish to use non-Relic based singing abilities alongside it.

I offered her my hand as music began to fill the air. "Might I have a dance?"

She rolled her eyes at my posh tone, but took my hand as we danced beneath the moon, starlight, and magical faery lights.

My heart thudded in my chest as I looked at her beneath that light, our eyes locked. I shifted nervously and finally worked up the courage to just ask. "Can I kiss you?"

She grabbed me by the front of my jacket and dragged me toward her in reply.

/
I made it back to my place with a stupid grin on my face. Date? Completed and ended rather well I think. Crystal seemed amiable to going out again and there was definitely something there other than friendship if that kiss was anything to go by. I'd flown with her back to her place, gotten another kiss (a rather chaste one on the cheek as her family had a door cam) and then flown back to the Overlook.

I gave the concierge a small nod and then stepped into my room.

Then my night started to go to hell.

I was just finishing up locking the door and stripping off my jacket when the lamp turned on, revealing the well dressed woman wearing a suit and fedora, an amused expression on her face.

"Shit," I said.

"Makanaokeakua Inouye. I'd like to have a conversation with you," The Boogeyman of Cauldron, Contessa, said by way of greeting.

/
A/N: A little on the shorter side as this was a little new for me in terms of writing, that is to say, romance. Lemme know how I did, how I could improve, if the date felt realistic, all that jazz. If you want to read a chapter ahead (and hopefully a little more than that in the near future), you can find me where patrons go to support creators, under Tenron Lightvoid. Catch y'all later.