Chapter Text
To the left—
Kai swivels his head, breath heavy as his feet soar past puddles of damp concrete. He nearly falls when the air from behind almost catches him by the nape. Even despite the looming motion, he wouldn’t dare turn back to confirm, neck glued upright to a stream of fog.
Impulsive? Yes. Stupid? As if!
“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,”
Dark brown scans over reflections, to predict—fuck, they’re right behind him, why did he look—before Kai ducks under a lamplight and turns.
There’s a brief pause, he can feel it, but he wastes no time. Not even metal can bear his sound, steps light as he leaps and mounts across a fire escape, jumping over a rooftop. Gravity takes him before he lunges, palms expectant as he grunts. Hands find purchase among corded string before swinging his weight up, feet burning against tightrope as he runs across the guiding stars of the night.
They’ve got to have left, there’s no way they could’ve—
Kai jolts, freezing. A silent thud of weight echoes from the thin ledge of a building, legs crouched before rising against silhouetted shadows of a deserted city. From the stark distance, the master of fire can only make out sharp edges from wavy hair and—of course—that damning scarf that tried grabbing him just now.
Fabric ruffles. Kai tenses, the rope holding him bouncing slightly. He eyes warily, muscles tight. The twitching under his calves only worsens when the figure’s head tilts.
They pause.
“…”
…
Not gonna say anything?
The ninja can only be grateful his gi offers a secure hood and mask, because the way his nose is scrunching would probably make the situation worse.
Unfortunately, he catches the figure and the pointed chin-up. Waiting, almost…expectant. Pit forming in his stomach, unsure from annoyance or familiarity, Kai opts to grit his teeth the moment the figure opens their mouth.
“…It’s awfully late for someone like you to be out here.”
So it’s a guy—just great. The tone alone from the man tells Kai exactly everything he doesn’t wanna hear. Slow drawl, rough edge, too blunt. No nonsense type; maybe.
“I agree.” Kai quips, pursing his lips when the man doesn’t move an inch. The guy probably doesn’t blink either; somehow, Kai doesn’t find that hard to believe.
Humming, Kai tries again, nonchalant, “Y’know, it’s actually really strange for a grown man to be following someone else around at night. Creepy, am I right?”
The man stays quiet. No give. At this, Kai squints. Normally, Kai could always escape without sweat—but he’s not looking forward to running into this kind of dilemma everyday on top of patrolling the streets. It’s a waste of energy.
After a moment of internal debate, and planning his escape route should his throat be caught, he begrudgingly pulls his lips into a scowl.
“What do you want from me?”
Now the man shifts—hesitantly, Kai notices. So Kai watches carefully when the man steps closer. Nearby lighting reveals a contorted picture between black and color, a cut shadow revealing sunken eyes beneath matted ebony. The voice the man draws is curt, dragging as he starts with a grunt.
“Identification, motives, weapons, everything.” His hands spread out besides him to emphasize, the sound of his boots echoing throughout the streets as he steps forward, “Seeing as how you’re either playing intentionally misguided, or that you’ve somehow developed amnesia between last week and now, I’ll allow you a choice not many are granted the privilege of. We can do this either the easy way, or the hard way. I’m impartial to either.”
Something between a scoff and a huff escapes Kai, arms crossing as he shoots a look.
“No way. You’re serious?” He jabs a finger at him, scrutinizing. “Lemme guess, you have some sort of jurisdiction to take me into—oh, I don’t know—your city’s weird version of an interrogation?”
Not a single change. “Yes. By law, you are required to abide by my instructions. Obviously, this includes an interrogation back at a police station. And in your case, not many around the area find vigilantism particularly comforting.” His brows furrow, lips pulling. “Especially from an unregistered quirk user; no less one with fire.”
Something uneven escapes Kai—a nervous laugh, at first, before he forces it to trail off into one of mockery. Heart pounding, he wipes at his eye before unsheathing an item from his hip; the tip of his dagger clinks from the motion. Twirling the weapon, he points the blunt end of the handle at his chest. His breastplate armor clanks against the friction as he tilts his head, brows raising.
“Me?” He pitches his voice, lips quirking, “Hate to break it to you, bud, but, uh, you definitely got the wrong guy.”
As if demonstrating, he gestures to the dagger, head cocking forward. “Even if I had badass fire powers—which I don’t, by the way—why would I be carrying something like this around, then?”
Silence. A long pause, maybe a reconsideration of life choices that Kai can only halfheartedly assume, before the man sighs.
“I don’t argue with evidence.” A hand waves, dismissing, “Numerous eyewitness accounts describe injuries of burn marks, in addition to multiple wildfires destroying private property.” He then tilts his head, gaze unwavering. “And unless you have another quirk up your sleeve, all recorded camera footage and witness testimonies circle back to you at the scene of these crimes.”
…What?
This time, Kai blinks. Information accusing him of all people that very much goes against his being as a protector; pretty damning. And yet strangely, the feeling of puzzlement feels faintly familiar. Almost as if he’s being framed.
But Kai can’t focus on that when the man catches his line of sight, the man’s stare stagnant as he clears his throat.
“Listen to me carefully,” he advises, voice lowering, “I work alongside the top underground heroes in the country. I’ve come across countless vigilantes of your type. With that said, I know there’s a fair chance you have some regard for justice, correct?”
The hair on Kai’s neck stands on end when he sees the pointed chin-up tilt directed at him. In an instant, the atmosphere wavers. A feeling of apprehension slowly curls itself within Kai’s stomach. His fingers twitch.
Continuing, the man angles his chin, voice piercing to held whispers. “But you’re playing a dangerous game if you believe that you can get out of harming innocents. It’s not a situation that I imagine someone of your reputation will end up winning. The severity of your actions is a natural consequence that neither Pros nor other law enforcement will spare you the charges on. So,”
A hand lifts from his pocket. Sliver glints daringly as metal-on-metal clinks over the lure in stark silence. That seemingly bundled scarf concealing his jaw slowly slithers from its end and rises, looming closely beside a readied shoulder. Narrowed eyes hold a singular promise.
“Easy way, or hard way?”
Kai nearly leaps. There’s a rising thrum in his chest now—churning—as he tenses, almost stumbling from the tension that he’s come to face with. Shit, he has to get ahold of himself before he loses control of the situation. Breath stuttering, he forces a deep exhale, gaze flickering as he chews on his bottom lip.
“I…uh,” he fumbles as he stashes back the dagger, fingers twitching. He placates his hands in a motion of surrender, wincing. “Look, okay, what you just told me does sound really bad, I’m not gonna lie. It’s pretty convincing, right?”
That same glare doesn’t weaken; it only creases more. Kai clears his throat, back foot positioned. “Hey, uh, I understand, it’s like, your job to do this. But I think there’d be a huge mistake if I don’t set things straight—“
“—That can be arranged in court—“
Kai leaps and free-falls off the line, dodging the swift evasion.
His feet land him safely on the back of a billboard sign, immediately recovering from his crouch as he looks back up. The height of where he dropped from wasn’t too high, maybe between 800 or so feet. But as Kai pinpoints the man’s slow turn towards his direction, stationed easily between two brick buildings as his boots and hands steady his weight, something stirs again. The man’s pace, gradual and controlled, only worsens the earlier feeling.
First Master, he can parkour easy. How is he hiding his face for so long? Where..?
His eyes widen. Kai has less than a beat before his arms guard against a forceful strike, jumping back from the push with fervor. He can only stagger in response, huffing from the sudden exertion as the man simply walks up to the previous spot Kai has perched on. Casually, the man stops and stands mere feet before him, exuding what Kai can only call (with strong distaste) years of experience.
Catching his glare, that same man only offers a lifted brow.
“You’ve been trained.” He acknowledges after a moment, as if testing the information. He clicks his tongue. “For a while, I see.”
Whether a compliment or insult, Kai still grits his teeth uneasily. At the factual read, he ignores the heaviness in his chest as he rapidly waves his arms, exasperating.
“I’m telling you, all that stuff you said back there wasn’t me. I’ve been framed!”
The man doesn’t budge; chin pointed down, hair raising, he mutters something inaudible under his breath. Ignored and already ready to launch, fire ignites within Kai’s bones.
Oh, that is it!