Heroism had never been about the fame for Mirio Toogata. Contrary to his original costume design, it was never about being flashy or popular. The bright red cape that he had requested to have wasn't intended to be made as some part of theatrically or flare-like flamboyance. Yet, there's something off about his ordered change of attire and the role that he's been reinstated to have under the subdivision SHIELD through Japan's Hero Public Safety Commission.

As a 'Ghost' operative – that's the technical term to which they are referring his assignment – he's been told to remain strictly as a surveillance & spy type of 'hero' akin to that of underground pros. They at least allowed him to keep the white color scheme for his outfit – he's not lost to the irony that this color has in connectivity with the title 'Ghost', nor is is he lost to the irony that comes with his permeation quirk – but it's made to be more tactical and somewhat militaristic rather than what he had hoped to wear within the public eye.

Serving as a reconnaissance scout means he can't even crack any jokes about it either though. That's another strange thing about this switch from the hero Lemillion to 'Ghost'. Mirio Toogata's quippage and humorous personality must be subdued for serious hero work. As such, he's practically a whole other person. And Lemillion then truly does become a ghost of a shell when it comes to who is left. All that is left then is unsettling silence.

It's quiet as he goes through endless tunnels without anybody to speak to. Pretty soon, it starts to feel like he really is a phantom – lost in some place between life and death – and he's just meant to roam there. But in actuality, he's an agent of The Commission scouting the Yakuza's secret transportation system ahead of a conducted raid. He is still doing good and genuine hero work meant to help service his country.

Eventually, he finds a room that stands apart from the rest of the labyrinth. He decides it's best to enter through the floor since going through the door or wall could mean being compromised should somebody be on the other side. Ghost phases through the ground, swimming through concrete and the earth as though the solid surface is made of liquid. Nobody ever thinks to look up – or down.

When Ghost re-emerges from the floor to peek into the room, he doesn't expect to find an array of children's toys scattering and occupying the same ground. Ghost raises himself up from the floor to have a better view of the room and its surroundings. He sees crayon drawings taped to the walls. And then he sees what he feared he might find next – the child that these toys and colorings belong to.

A little girl not even half his height cowers in a corner with tears in her eyes and a horn on her tiny head. Toogata hurriedly holds his hands up while trying to keep her up from breaking out into tears, "I- It's okay! I'm one of the good guys!" He pulls off his mask and kneels down in order to appear less intimidating. "S- See?"

But the girl is still terrified beyond belief. And he can only imagine why.

Toogata releases a strained sigh as he runs a gloved hand through his low cut blond hair. Regarding the raid, he must report his findings. He puts two fingers against the comm link in his ear so that he can connect to the outside surveillance team. "Sir.. Things just got complicated–"

However, suddenly, the signal becomes fuzzy. He can't get through the static waves. "Sir? Sir?" It could be the tunnels and how deep they run. Or.. Maybe the signal is being jammed. The Yakuza could already be onto the Nighteye Agency.

Each turn of the clock's hands comes with a telltale tick, and every shift of a second is more jarring than the last. Hitoshi Shinso feels the hairs all along his arms standing on end as shivers send goosebumps down his skin. Even without the symbiote bonded to him, his ears twitch due to the intolerable noise. Bombs tick; nothing soothing about that. Ticker tape; nothing smooth about them. A tick list; overwork and stress. Someone has a perceptible tic. They are bitten by a tick and now have lymes disease. Hitoshi Shinso's mind reverberates with the unpleasant.

And then, all too suddenly, a new source of sound interjects – he jolts, sitting up straight – it's the voice of the persistent man in front of him. Eraserhead, one of Hitoshi Shinso's heroes growing up, now sits across from him as though they are back in an interrogation room. "So.. Are you ready to disclose details about your situation?", Shota Aizawa looks at Shinso with tired half lidded eyes.

Shinso's set of eyes skewer as they stare back with just as many bags beneath them. He shifts uncomfortably despite the otherwise homey atmosphere that they're in. "Spider-Man didn't tell you enough already?"

Aizawa's eyebrows raise slightly. He sighs and shakes his head, "He actually didn't tell me very much of anything..", the tone of his voice is just as begrudging of the vigilante as Shinso's.

Shinso looks up, surprised. He doesn't believe that the retired underground hero is telling the truth. He scoffs. "No? Wouldn't you want to fact check whatever I tell you?"

Aizawa's monotonous facial features take on a sadder expressionism. "That was another guy's job..", he thinks about his past colleague with a lie detection quirk who would have probably gone about this much more differently from him. After only a brief moment of grief, he reminds himself that he's who is left here and looks at Shinso with as much sincerity as he can muster. "I have no reason to distrust anything you say."

Shinso falters when seeing the slight shift in Aizawa's demeanor. He looks away, disgruntled. "You didn't trust me before.." He avoids making eye contact, instead opting to stare down at the floor.

Aizawa thinks back to the first 'interrogation' that they had and his treatment then. After Kaminari's reveal as the traitor in their midst and All Might's post-retiring final fight with AFO, he had reasons to be as wary and on edge as he was. But now.. "Spider-Man wouldn't have spared you this time around unless circumstances changed."

Shinso snaps to attention, his head whipping right up. "Spare me? He didn't show me mercy! He humiliated me further!", Shinso is rattled enough that he jumps to his feet as he shouts, "He thinks he's superior to me! That I'm inferior!"

"Sit down", Aizawa ceases the exposure of aggression with a hard glare just shy of using his erasure quirk. The sudden outburst reminds him of Katsuki Bakugo's inferiority complex. "You sound like one of my former students", the principal sighs while massaging the sagging skin beneath his eyes, "I suppose he still technically is one of my students but.."

"If he actually did show me mercy, then he'll regret it, because that's one thing I will never show him in return!" Shinso's snarling and sneering continues. Aizawa waits for the bout of anger to pass.

After Shinso seems to calm down, he continues. He does so by asking, "Why is it that you hate Spider-Man so much when all I've seen him do is vouch for you?"

Shinso looks away again. A low hanging shadow casts over him and his face. "..It's personal.." He keeps being vague about his relation to the vigilante. But one thing does manage to make him lower his guard, "What do you mean he vouched for me?"

"Shinso.. Whatever happened this time could have costed you more than a school suspension", Aizawa leans forward so that Shinso has to focus and listen to him. "You say Spider-Man ruined your life but, from my perspective, it looks like he's trying to save whatever is left of it."

Shinso keeps his head turned, but Aizawa can see the contemplative frown that's plastered there as clearly as crystal. The boy's brain is working. There's something deeper seeded going on here. This may as well be an underground case that Aizawa is working all over again just like back in the olden days.

But before Aizawa can pry any deeper, he is disrupted. The door to the bedroom swings open and Hizashi Yamada comes flying in through the entryway. He holds a cellphone high up in the air as he shouts, "Shota!", to get the fellow hero worker's attention.

Aizawa grunts, agitated as much as he is annoyed, but stands up to address the disturbing factor ever still. "Can't you see we're preoccupied?", is also his way of asking what's so important to interrupt his conversation with their guest.

"Er, yes–" Yamada pauses to be apologetic towards Shinso. "Sorry, little listener.." Before holding out the phone in his hand. "It's the Nighteye Agency. They're requesting our services for a raid on the Yakuza."

Aizawa's eyes widen with surprise. He wasn't expecting that. "Go", he motions for Yamada to accept the call. And then reminds his comrade that he won't be of much assistance anyways. "I'm retired from hero work now so it's on you this time."

Yamada hesitates, "Alright.. I'll leave you two to it..", but doesn't argue – he nods and exits while closing the door behind himself to keep his conversation about the raid as private as possible.

Aizawa, with his own privacy returned to him so that he can converse properly with Shinso, returns his attention to the boy across from him. "Now… Where were we?"

Shinso stares ahead, his shoulders somehow both slumping and tensing at the same time. "..Spider-Man.." His face has a frown on it still. "We were talking about Spider-Man."

Spider-Man steps into the recently renovated log cabin with a good amount of uncertainty. Despite the mask that blocks his fingers from coursing through his curly locks of hair, he runs a hand along the back of his head anyways. "Ya know.. When I agreed to watching Kota, I didn't think it'd be so soon.." He looks around the place with less than fond memories of all that transpired at the Wild Wild Pussycats' resort previously.

Mandalay has her back to the vigilante as she finishes tidying things up, so she misses his anxious body language. "Neither did we", but she can hear the tone of his voice to presume an apology is in order, "Sorry for the abruptness of it all.." When she turns around, she becomes the slightly more bashful one. "But we were called away for an important raid of some sort."

At the mention of hero activity that requires the assistance of a pro hero team, Spider-Man raises his attentiveness to be more serious and focused. Watching kids, he isn't all that confident about. Battling bad guys, on the other hand, that's something he has familiarity with. He asks her, "You don't think my services would be better suited there then?"

Mandalay juts out a hip so that she can rest a hand upon it, striking a pose that conveys some margin of tough authority towards him. Her counter question is more rhetorical than his, "Were you also invited?"

Spider-Man wavers as he thinks about the lack of an 'invitation' to join the raid. After what they've been through together and what with his special extenuating circumstances, perhaps she needs a reminder about his unlicensed status. "Uh.. I'm a vigilante.."

"Exactly", Mandalay lets him know the reason why her question was rhetorical – she didn't need a reminder – and puts him in his place much like his mother probably would in that same type of situational setting, "So you're staying here."

Spider-Man was raised knowing better than to argue with his mother, and he was taught to also respect his elders or authoritarian figures. So, he stays quiet and accepts his fate with a nod & a hum of surrender. Considering the numbers that the Wild Wild Pussycats has and their experience, he doubts that they'll need him as backup anyways.

It's then that Kota joins them in the living room, as though to serve as a reminder of what he had originally been 'assigned' to instead. But Kota comes with his own objections now, "I don't need a babysitter."

Spider-Man's eyes widen when he thinks about how this must seem – even at such a young age, nobody likes having to be babysat – he fumbles with his words while trying to think of another way to phrase it. "Oh, I'm not really a babysitter! I'm just here to – uh – sit and watch you.."

Kota scoffs and rolls his eyes. "That's what a babysitter is, stupid!"

"Kota!", Mandalay hushes the young boy while simultaneously correcting his behavior – all with just a single shout of his name.

But the silence only stays for a second. Kota tries appealing to Mandalay with an alternative suggestion, "You couldn't hire a regular nanny instead? I'm still not okay with your hero friends."

Spidey realizes that the problem isn't that he's a babysitter but rather that it's HIM doing the babysitting. He quietly tries pacifying Kota with a peace offering based on a technicality. "Again, I'm actually a vigilante, but.."

Kota does a doubletake. "A vigilante?", his frown falls off his face and becomes replaced with an expression of both interest & concern, "Like.. Like Yaoyorozu?"

"Oh", Spider-Man looks up from Kota to Mandalay and then back. "You know Cat– Er, Yaoyorozu!" Part of him didn't realize just how deeply involved with his life the Wild Wild Pussycats became. Probably because the other part was a slimy symbiote…

Kota steps closer, still wary, but venturing far enough to figure things out. "Is she okay after .. what happened?"

Spider-Man nods, "Y- Yeah! She's doing– fine, I think!" He's honestly not so sure about that since she quit being The Black Cat, but her recovery looked fair enough for her to return to classes at U.A recently.

Mandalay smiles, content with their conversation even if it comes from a bad experience. At least the two of them have mutual grounds to bond over. "You two seem like you'll do just fine while we're gone", she motions for her teammates to meet her outside and prepares to leave.

"Tch", Kota crosses his arms and looks away while still trying to remain rebellious. And then, he snaps back to attention. "Wait – you were there then too!" He points a finger at Spider-Man.

"Uh", Spider-Man blinks since he doesn't remember much from that incident. He hurriedly tries to think of a way to explain himself that won't scare the poor kid. "As you can see, I just got out of my emo gothic phase!" The best he can do is a lame joke.

"Behave, Kota.." Mandalay ruffles Kota's hair despite the hat on his head, much to the boy's grievances. Before she turns to the babysitter she has entrusted to watch him. "Thanks again, Spider-Man."

"Don't mention it", Spider-Man awkwardly salutes her before turning the gesture into a wave since that works much better as a means to bid goodbye.

And then, he and Kota are left alone to their vices. The two stand around the space in silence, glancing about, and not really knowing what to say or do. Neither of them know if they are on good or bad terms with eachother. And this isn't exactly the most ideal situation for either of them to be in to begin with.

After an unbearably awkward second more, it's about all Spidey can take. He goes for the 'cool' babysitter route and makes a suggestion that he hopes will work to win Kota's favor. "So.. Uh.. Wanna order pizza and play videogames?"

What was initially meant to be a tactical raid quickly devolved into chaos. The Nighteye Agency had intended to infiltrate the secret headquarters of the Yakuza's base – below ground – but the criminal organization has done a good job of keeping things strictly stuck upon surface level. They somehow knew the heroes were coming and came out of the gates swinging – literally.

Rikiya Katsukame, one of the Yakuza's heavy hitters, was sent to intercept the SWAT squadrons that had been waiting outfront. Marked vans and emptied buildings to hold troops got decimated immediately. Whatever element of surprise that the police may have had was instantly done away with.

Nighteye would hate to admit it but he was relieved to have Mighty Jab be apart of the raid. Her strength to rival Katsukame's was what managed to hold the fort long enough for him and his strike team to storm the front of the stronghold thereafter. She was able to hold off the large muscular brute while the other heroes on site dealt with canon fodder from the Yakuza.

Nevertheless, more members of the Yakuza's precepts joined the battle and Nighteye resorted to calling in reinforcements. Silvermane clearly has no such qualms about throwing away the Yakuza 'bullets' like pawns. And that's exactly what they serve to be. A deterrent. A distraction. The heroes are being forced to fight on the criminal organization's terms.

But it works both ways. Sansa Tamakawa uses the commotional conflict as a cover. One man amongst an entire mob is able to go unnoticed. He slips through the cracks, so to speak. Tamakawa sneaks inside the Yakuza compound while the heroes and his fellow police officers are preoccupied.

He's there to take down Silvermane just like the rest of them. The only difference is that he's there to do so because he has a need to finish what was already started.

Toogata stays knelt down to the young girl's level, not wanting to startle or scare her. Despite his role assignment and the unclear status of the situation, he prioritizes the original purpose he had of entering hero work. He focuses on rescuing her from whatever captivity this is.

He slowly holds out a hand for her to take, as though he's trying not to spook a wild animal. By the way she recluses from him and hides, she may as well be a cornered & frightened creature. He asks her anyways, "Can you come with me?"

She shakes her head and with a quivering voice denies his request, "I.. I'm not supposed to go with anyone unless grandpa says it's okay"

Toogata's face scrunches up with confusion, "Your grandpa?" But then he remembers what Sir Nighteye told him about Silvermane. His face focuses into a frown while he asks the girl, "Do you know where he might be?"

Her face tells him his answer before a gunshot straight through his stomach does. Toogata looks down to see a bright red stain spreading out from the white of his costume. When he uses his permeation quirk to make the bullet phase through his body – the round hitting the floor – he knows that he's too late to do so.

The girl's grandfather – Silvermane – announces that he was the one to shoot the 'Ghost' operative, "I'm right here."

Toogata turns around and sees two people much too young to be the girl's grandfather. Yet, clearly, the one holding a handgun MUST be Silvermane. Beside him is another Yakuza character that Nighteye helped Toogata familiarize himself with knowing about – Overhaul, if he's not mistaken – which makes this a dire situation indeed.

Toogata takes a step forward, "You–"

And he's shot again. This time, in the chest. Toogata's eyes widen when he realizes – he can't phase the bullets through himself for some reason – it's like his quirk has been shut off. Even with bulletproof padding, the close proximity of the gunshots send him teetering over his legs so that he falls over onto his back and into a pool of his own blood.

Silvermane looks at the gun in his hand, satisfied with its results. "Maybe those quirk erasing bullets of yours weren't the worst idea..", he gives his colleague credit where credit is due before patting the fellow Yakuza member on the shoulder, "So I'll leave the rest to you here."

The frightened granddaughter of Silvermane stares at the bleeding body that's laid out in front of her. Her voice shakes like the rest of her, "G- Grandpa?"

The youthful version of Silvermane smiles as he steps over Toogata's body. "Yes, Eri!" He holds out a hand for his granddaughter to take, "It's time for us to go", but there is no familial familiarity when he does so.

Trying to connect with a kid turns out to be more difficult than one would think. Not even the suggestion to order pizza and play videogames had worked. Kota preferred to run outside – maybe he's more of the sticks & mud type of boy – but he didn't want his babysitter tagging along. As such, Spider-Man was left with a difficult decision to make.

He wants to respect Kota's wishes and give the boy some space – he understands the need for privacy at that age, and even now. But he was also entrusted with this task by Mandalay and so Kota is his responsibility. He feigns giving Kota the time alone that was requested but secretly sneaks from above in the trees to keep an observant eye on the kid.

He can't risk a repeat of what happened the last time on this resort. He has his Spider-Sense on high alert, his web shooters stocked and ready, and his eyes wide open. All the while, he tries to be as stealthy as possible to not be detected by Kota. He follows Kota all the way back to the mountainside where Muscular had been brought down.

It's there that one of the dry branches he grabs creaks and cracks under the pressure of supporting his weight. It makes a loud enough disturbing noise that causes Kota to look up and catch him. The boy looks as betrayed as he might very well feel when he points an accusatory finger at Spider-Man & shouts, "You! What are you doing up there?!"

Spider-Man sighs before turning himself upside down on one of the more structurally supportive tree branches. "Nothing much – just hanging around!", he tries salvaging the situation with a joke but he knows already that it won't do much to help in Kota's case.

Kota huffs and pouts with some stomping of his feet, "I can't believe you followed me here!", he's throwing a tantrum.

Spider-Man hops down from his perch so that he can try calming the kid. "Can you blame me? I'm supposed to be watching you and making sure that you're safe", he does so by trying to explain himself rationality.

"This is my secret base! I'm fine here!", but rationality clearly isn't cutting it.

"The last time you went here alone, you were attacked by villains.." Spider-Man does well to remind Kota of the Muscular incident – even if it might be a relatively traumatizing memory to dredge up.

"Yeah, well.." Kota falters at that. He doesn't have much of an argumentative basis anymore. Maybe rational reasoning DOES work.

Spider-Man slowly sits down, "Ya know.. Yaoyorozu would probably really like to see you again", and then pats the place beside himself for Kota to join him.

Kota looks at the spot, hesitant to accept the offer. He eventually sits down, but not where Spider-Man suggested. "Her and that other guy may have helped save me but they almost got killed too in the process.." Kota looks frustrated even more as he grumbles out, "They're crazy for trying to get stronger!" He also adds at a lower decibel, "Especially that one guy."

Spidey tries not to laugh – now isn't the appropriate time to do that – but he has a pretty good idea of who the 'one guy' is. "You might be right about one of those things", he takes the opportunity to throw shade in Bakugo's direction before getting serious, "But it's not crazy trying to get stronger if it's to help someone."

"It is if it means dying!", Kota snaps at Spider-Man – the entire mountain range goes quiet when he loudly asks the question, "Isn't it better to do nothing at all?!"

Spider-Man stares at the naive child in front of him. So young. So arrogant, brash, and foolish. Much like he himself was. His voice is quiet but not even nature is louder than it ever still when he answers that loud question. "..No, Kota.. No, it's not.."

Kota's frown tightens to a point that his face looks too wrinkled to be a child's, "If you just leave the bad guys alone then it won't affect you!"

But Spider-Man remains calm. Actually, he wears a sad yet forgiving smile underneath his mask. "That's just not the way that it works.. Believe me, I know.."

Kota catches onto Spider-Man's tone and the anger that had been so prominently rearing before eases back. But that doesn't mean he isn't still annoyed or just as still inquisitive at his age. "How would you know?", he asks.

Spider-Man hangs his head. He'd already revisited old yet persistently painful wounds when he talked to his mom. He's not sure if he's ready to do that again. "..I.. I just do.."

Kota looks away, fed up. "Whatever.."

Spider-Man looks back up. He can't let this go undiscussed. "Is that what this is about? You feel like your parents shouldn't have put their lives on the line to protect people?", he tries getting to the bottom of things.

And then Kota tells him, "They were trying to protect me…", and he kinda gets it – if at least a little.

"Oh", Spider-Man knows enough about guilt to also know that he needs to tell this kid early on some important stuff that he needs to hear, "That doesn't make it your fault."

Kota appears unconvinced. "I can't help thinking.. Maybe I could have saved my parents somehow.. If I had just been stronger.." He looks at his tiny hands. They couldn't have possibly done anything.

But Spider-Man… Izuku Midoriya.. When he looks at his hands, he has a different story to tell. "..You wanna know a secret.. ?" Maybe he should share the origins of his mistake afterall. There's more ways than one to save somebody. He tells Kota, "I KNOW I could have saved my dad."

Silvermane opens the passenger door to the transport truck, all while hitting the handheld remote that's needed to make the garage bay doors raise up. They're at an emergency vehicle depot that the Yakuza keeps reserved for situations such as this. During the scuffle with the heroes & the police, he and Eri should be able to 'slip out the back' essentially.

The crime boss that's had his youth rejuvenated motions for his even younger company to get into the evacuation truck. "Come on, Eri, we're going for a little ride!" He tries and fails to keep the sense of urgency he has out of his voice.

His patience is tried even further when Eri doesn't budge. "Grandpa.. Did I do this to you?" She's like a limp plant, rooted in place but woefully hunched over.

"Yes, you did, Eri" He doesn't see nor acknowledge her downtrodden demeanor at first. He beckons for her to get in the vehicle again. "Now let's go–"

"I'm sorry", but her behavior is hard to miss when she starts to apologize through snotty sniffles & tears.

"What?" Silvermane spins around to see his granddaughter crying. Something about the sight makes him stall as much as she is. "Why would you apologize?", his ambitious youth wrestles with his elder wisdom & experience over what he should do and whether or not he is wasting his time by delaying their departure with this, "What you've given me is a gift."

Eri wipes at the tears streaming down her cheeks but they never truly become dry. "But– Uncle Chisaki says it's a curse.."

Silvermane looks up from Eri, back in the direction of the tunnels, his eyes hardening into a concentrated glare. "Did he now.. ?" His paternal instincts return to him slowly, overriding the altered brain chemistry that came as a side effect of his age being rewinded.

"I'm sorry, grandpa" Seeing his granddaughter break down into tears over her quirk, and feeling guilty about its effect on him, is more than enough to help bring his mind back to its former state.

"Don't apologize, Eri" He crouches down to her level, forgetting about the truck that's waiting on standby or what may be happening outside of the Yakuza base. "It's me who is sorry for neglecting you and putting you in this position.. I got a little carried away" He thinks about how he lost himself to the feeling of power and the lack of honor or responsibility that he had been so against with Chisaki's overhauling movement. "Your quirk is special and– and that can make a lot of people want to see you use it for them differently, but, it's up to you what you want to do with that power!" He reminds himself of what it truly means to be the figurehead of the Yakuza – but more importantly, what it means to be a grandfather.

Eri looks at him with watery wide eyes. "I just want to do good, grandpa.. Like you.." And she breaks his heart with that innocent stare as much as she does with her piercing words. Even with his recession evident in his physical appearance, she never once saw a change in her grandpa.

As though to pay the price for his sins, he feels something else piercing his heart. It's a bullet. He feels pain flood his chest as he's shot from behind.

Sansa Tamakawa had followed them into the tunnels, and caught up with them. "Your grandfather is anything but good", the vengeful anti-hero lowers his smoking firearm.

"G- Grandpa.. ?!" Eri shrieks as her grandfather slumps over as a lifeless corpse.

Tamakawa pays the death of Silvermane no mind. He reaches for the girl, intent on getting her to the surface so that they can be untraceable to it. "Come on", but he's surprised when she pulls away from him, "Let's–"

"Stay away!", she looks at him with wild eyes as though he might shoot her next. In all of his years as a police officer, he was never once on the receiving end of such a look – much less from a child. "Please, don't hurt me!"

Tamakawa stumbles, nearly tripping over his own feet as he backs away from her. "..I'm not the bad guy, kid.." He looks at the weapon that he's holding in his hand. The one that's meant to help him serve & protect. "I'm not.."

Tamakawa is too caught up in himself to notice Silvermane has again shifted from one stage of life to another. The crimelord has now reverted to a child near Eri's age. That doesn't make him any less capable of handling a gun though. Tamakawa hears the telltale click of the weapon cocking, his ear twitching before he turns his head to look. He's too shocked – too hesitant – and much to slow. He is unable to raise his own handgun before Silvermane shoots him first.

Silvermane doesn't even wait for Tamakawa's body to hit the floor before grabbing ahold of his granddaughter's hand and dragging her along, "Eri.. We need to go!"

"Grandpa.. Is that you.. ?", Eri staggers as she tries to keep up with his forceful pulling. She's watched blood be spilt once too many times today. She's dazed and she has no clue in which direction she is going anymore.

"We need to go NOW!", all that she knows is that her grandfather is telling her that she does need to still go – wherever that may be.

Tamakawa watches the two kids flee from the garage bay that has an opening big enough for a sizable truck to exit through, much less tiny children. He sits up, ignoring the pulsating pain in his chest – the bulletproof vest that he has on took most of the damage for him but he'll be badly bruised in the morning. His hand shakes when he lifts his gun to try and get one final shot off on Silvermane.

His aim is off. He doesn't even try to shoot. He lowers the gun, giving up. The comm link in his ear tells him that the raid on the Yakuza was a success, but it wasn't a success for him. Silvermane knows his face now. And though the comm link also tells him that the heroes are looking for Silvermane, he's sure Silvermane will come looking for HIM now too.

Tamakawa curses. He knows the heroes won't be able to catch Silvermane before that happens. And currently, neither can he.

AUTHOR NOTES

Somehow, I managed to make the raid chapter a slow burn chapter - but, in all honesty, I doubt you felt like reading most of the same / similar canonical events as much as I didn't feel like writing it all out. This 'character study' approach hopefully got more accomplished than alot of action would have.

On another note, I'm going to try and go back to responding to reviews directly again!

Starting with good ol' theMAX360! Thanks for the suggestions as always! Whereas I probably won't go the scarring route since that's maybe too similar to what happened with Kaminari, you did make me want to give Himiko the classic Chameleon mask so I now believe I have a good idea as how to go about doing that otherwise.

Till next time, true believers!

-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author!