Over the next couple of days, Raito had been sneaking out at night for his Gift training. The training was starting to pay off for the most part. No more did Raito have trouble controlling his super hearing and was starting to really enjoy being a Gift. One of Raito’s favorite training routines was to shoot soda cans off trash cans. It made him feel like a trained gunslinger. Along with learning how to use his powers to fight. He had also been learning to manipulate sound. By accident, he discovered that he could manipulate people’s speech to say whatever he wanted them to say.
“Okay, see that couple over there,” Flight asked while pointing over to a couple sitting down on a bench. “Make them only say mean compliments.”
“That’s so mean…let’s do it. Here, put these headphones on so you can hear what they’re saying.” Raito closed his eyes and started to listen closely to what the couple was saying. Raito could hear the man saying typical love bird compliments and even repeated some of them back to Flight. “You are the breath I breathe and the sun in my life,” Raito mimicked while doing an impression of the man.
Trying hard not to laugh, Raito started manipulating the man’s voice. “Your hair is as beautiful as the hair on my armpits and your teeth are as white as your pale skin.” The woman in complete shock started to smack the man on the arm and head. Raito and Flight tried to contain their laughs but weren’t done just yet.
Raito went on to use his Gift on the woman this time. “Those are the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. I truly am lucky to have you.” Raito stuttered, trying to hold back his laughter. The couple just stood there confused about what to say or even do.
“That never gets old, that was funnier when you made that guy from yesterday only speak in Japanese. I have to say you’ve gotten a lot better and controlling your powers,” Flight said as he patted Raito on the back.
“Can I ask you a question?” Asked Raito.
“Over course!”
“Why was I chosen to have this power?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble but you weren’t chosen as in there was a reason. I don’t know how Gifts pick their vessels. My boss told me to not think about it too much. Apparently, it’s completely random before we are even born. And when we die the Gift leaves our body and chooses a new vessel. That’s why you shouldn’t try and play superhero. Just enjoy your Gift and have fun!”
“But I can’t,” Raito said while making a fist, “I just feel like I need to do something that helps people. Playing around with my powers like this is fine but that’s because it’s helping me better control my powers. I can’t use my powers for my own benefit.”
“Isn’t that a contradiction? You saying you don’t want to use your powers for your own benefit. It is no different than you wanting to use it to fill your fantasy of wanting to be a superhero.” Flight responded as he wrapped an arm around Raito, pulling him in closer. “This is the real world. People get killed trying to be a hero every day. Only a small percentage of people live to see the next day when they fight off a person with a gun or knife. If you put yourself out there. Not only will you have to be careful of the average criminal. You’ll also gain Timekeeper’s attention.”
“Timekeeper? Who's that!” Raito asked, pushing himself away from Flight. “You tell me not to do certain things but won’t give me more details. If I’m a Gift and there are other Gifts. Then I should know about this world I’m entering in! You brought me into this world by telling me I’m a Gift. It’s not fair I’m in the dark, especially if my life is on the line!”
Flight knew that Raito wasn’t wrong. He did deserve to have more knowledge than what Flight had been giving him. Flight slowly sat up and turned around to face Raito. With a deep sigh he agreed to tell Raito more about the world he was about to enter but stated he won’t do it just yet.
“Let’s keep doing these practice sessions and when I feel like you’re ready to know everything. I’ll take you to meet my boss, Soul.”
Raito looked into Flight’s eyes and could see them being slightly watery and red. He could feel Flight’s passion and concern for his safety. Without realizing it, Raito had a smile on his face. This was the first time a person, no, a friend actually put his feelings first. Raito was finally able to experience what it meant to have a friend. Wanting to break the tension in the air, “wanna see my room?” Raito asked.
“My parents are asleep. I hope you don’t mind just sneaking into my room,” Raito said as they reached his house.
Flight simply just flew into Raito’s room while Raito opened the door and proceeded to sneak into his own house. Raito’s room was covered in posters, bookcases filled with comics, and paper scattered around the floor and desk. Flight had never seen a room quite like Raito’s, then again, he hasn’t met someone like Raito either.
“Sorry my room is kind of messy. I’m not used to people other than my parents coming in here. Just be careful not to step on any pieces of paper.” Raito explained as he picked up various pieces of papers that were on the floor. “I like to practice drawing so I can make my own manga.”
“You’ve said that word a few times but, to be honest. I don’t know what a manga is. Kind of sounds like you are trying to say mango.”
Raito felt like he wanted to smack his own forehead. But had to remind himself that not everyone was into comics and handed Flight the I Am Hero manga. “They’re basically just Japanese comic books. The main differences are that mangas are in black and white with a lot more pages than regular comic books.”
“No wonder you’re so adamant about wanting to be a hero. You’re surrounded by nothing but TV shows and books about heroes. Do you have any mangas or comics that’s not about them?” Flight asked while he skimmed through the manga.
“I have a few but I just prefer stories about heroes. They make me want to be one and help people that can’t defend themselves.”
“Is it because when you read them. You saw yourself as the people in the background that needed rescuing?” Flight questioned while sitting on Raito’s bed.
“You’re not wrong, I do sometimes feel I need rescuing. I think that’s why I just shadowed my ex-friends around.” Raito admitted as he looked down.
He had always felt like he was just an extra in this world. A person who only existed in the background so the more exciting and interesting people can shine. He saw being a hero as a way out of this. He chuckled as he realized that this might be what's driving him to be a hero. Maybe Flight was right. Maybe he was only trying to be a hero to fulfill his fantasy.
“I’m glad you look up to heroes and that's probably why I got a good feeling from you. I’m not one to stick around after meeting a Gift. But something about you just made me feel compelled to help you out.” Flight patted Raito on the shoulder while giving him a comforting smile.
Upon hearing Flight’s voice, Raito was able to snap out of his trance. Maybe what Raito wanted to do was selfish. Is that a bad thing if it meant he could help people? He went on to whisper to himself, “I will be a hero and show the world what I’m capable of.”
“Why are you whispering?” asked Flight.
“Because if I yelled out my heroic speech, I would have woken up my parents.” Flight made a quick snort at the funny response and proceeded to ask Raito about the I Am Hero manga.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Without hesitation Raito quickly grabbed his computer chair and the manga from Flight. Like a mad man, Raito quickly and rapidly began to explain the entire series to Flight…
“The main character, Hiro, went to a special school that trained people to become powerful heroes. They fought against those that threaten justice and peace. In the story there was a hero who was the strongest out of all the other heroes. The power slowly got to his head and left the school to become known as the evil hero. Hiro tried to become just as powerful as the evil hero and was eventually able to defeat the evil hero. But this was where the plot twist comes in. It turned out that the reason the guy turned into an evil hero was to create peace. The school was actually creating villains and used heroes to fight the villains so they can charge the government for their services. Realizing that Hiro’s journey to bring peace to the world was nothing but a false reality; decided to end everything by becoming an evil hero himself to complete the original evil heroes’ goal. To destroy the school!”
“What happens at the end?” Flight asked showing interest in the story.
Raito just simply handed Flight the first volume in the series, “you got to read it to find out.”
“Then I guess that means you better keep that window opened for me to stop by and pick up the next book when I’m done.” Flight replied as he gripped on to the manga.
As Flight was about ready to leave through the window, Raito grabbed onto Flight’s arm. “I’ll never stop thinking about becoming a superhero, especially now since I’m a Gift. You know now why I’m so persistent on wanting to use my Gift for good. For now, I promise I won’t do anything rash. But I can’t promise you that I won't want to be the hero I know I can be. Even after you tell me the full story.”
With a nod Flight quietly flew out of Raito’s room and into the night. With Flight gone, Raito walked over to his bookshelf and picked out the final volume of I Am Hero and turned it to the last few pages. In it, Hiro was able to destroy the school but that was not the end of the story. Before the school was destroyed, a powerful villain had already been created and was in the process of making its own school. Hiro passed out from exhaustion and is then defeated by Vile. Raito returned the manga back into its place and took out the manga he bought from the comic-bookstore. “Even when a hero is defeated, there will be those that take their place and continue their work. A hero never dies as long as justice exist.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leech, excited to catch Blight doing back deals. Followed him around to make sure Blight was doing his daily routine. Blight’s routine consisted of him going to meetings where he would meet up with various doctors. But when it came time to do deals with hardcore prescription medication, they were done at night at very secluded locations. In order to keep himself hidden from Blight. Leech always turned himself into a shadow in order to be near Blight.
The morning routine went by with no problem, but something didn’t sit well with Leech. He was noticing that Blight would purposely make some small talk with his clients and hang around the area much longer than necessary. Normally it’s a simple exchange and should not take longer than five minutes. It seemed to Leech that maybe Blight was putting on a show as if he knew Leech was near and making sure he saw him doing his job.
As Blight left his last meeting, it was around three o’clock so there were about four hours left before doing the night route. Normally, Blight liked to wait out the time at home but decided to spend his time at a café. Leech’s suspension grew but with nothing more for him to do, he decided to take a small break. Leech made sure he was far away from Blight and people before turning himself back from a shadow to a person again.
Angered that he couldn’t get any dirt on Blight, he started to swear loudly and flailing his arms around; punching nearby walls and garbage cans. In order to calm himself down he started to imagine how satisfying it will be once he was able to catch Blight in the act. Just the thought of him being able to squeeze the life out of Blight was enough to put a smile back on his face. “I might not have found anything on him right now, but he will slip up and once that happens. I’ll kill him before he realizes what happened.” Just then, Leech’s phone began to go off and he quickly answered it.
“What is it!? I’m sort of busy here….....I’m sorting of doing a job right now……..well I do have some free time…….….okay, I’ll stop by right now.”
Leech snapped his fingers and a black hole appeared on a nearby wall and made his way through it. He then appeared inside of a large house, but it didn’t appear to be his house this time. The house’s interior was almost completely white, with white tile floors and white paint on nearly every wall. As Leech made his announcement that he was in the house, a man wearing an all-white suit and dress pants appeared. The man’s skin was light brown and looked to be in his sixties.
“Ah, Leech, I’m happy you were able to see me despite your busy schedule. Timekeeper has been keeping you busy lately. You don’t stop by here as much on your own now,” the man said in a Hispanic accent.
“Cut the small talk Soul. You said you had a job for me, and I only have about three hours of free time to hear you out.” Leech demanded while walking himself over to a chair to sit himself down on. “And you know buttering me up to give you info on Timekeeper’s operation is pointless. I don’t give him information on you, and I don’t give you information on him.”
“You got me! I called you here because I need you to take out this pharmacist,” Soul said as he handed Leech a photo of a man. The man didn’t look particularly special in any way. He was white with brown eyes, a short dark brown haircut, and looked to be around his late 20’s. “Ambrosia was working on a case where three people had died from an apparent drug overdose of prescription painkillers. But after an investigation, no records of who prescribed them could be found. He asked me if I could look into it for him. He suspects a pharmacist was the supplier because the drugs didn’t look street made. It took me about five days of visiting different pharmacies to find him,” Soul said while pointing over to the photo. “After reading his soul I was able to get the full story. He sells fake prescriptions to customers and sells the real deal on the street to those who can afford it.”
“What seems to be the problem,” Leech questioned as he held up the picture to his face. “Oh...I get it now.” Leech started to smile and even giggled slightly. “This son of a bitch is a client from Timekeeper? Sure, this makes it harder for you but it’s not the first time you’ve put a client of his into jail before. It’s people that actually work under him that makes it impossible,” Leech recalled while putting the picture into his pocket.
“You’re right about that but this pharmacist is a bit more complicated. The person who is supplying the pharmacist with drugs is a Gift. In fact, it’s that Gift you hate so much. Blight was his name, correct?”
Leech leaned back into his chair, “Can’t help you there then. That makes this guy untouchable since he has a connection to a Gift. I might hate the guy but I’m going to need something in return if I’m doing a job like this.”
“How about this.” Soul then dropped a stack of papers at Leech’s feet.
“You know I’m not going to read that so give me the short version.”
“This pharmacist is running his own giant drug ring with Blight’s help. A drug ring that can put a lot of people away. I know you don’t care about that but the part of this drug ring not being connected to Timekeeper is something you’d care about.”
Leeched screamed in laughter as everything was starting to make sense now. “This is what I need. This is the information I needed so I can kill that asshole!”
“Don’t!” Soul yelled. “If you do, then this drug ring is dead. Blight is the only source that the pharmacist has. If he’s dead, this case is dead. All the people who have died and their loved ones will not see justice!”
“I don’t give a shit. I do. What. I. Want” Leech said as he stood up.
“You want proof of Blight’s betrayal and right now you only have my word. We both know that’s not a good enough of a reason considering the source is coming from me. If you kill Blight right now. It will be an empty victory. Don’t you want him to suffer and have his life ruined? Kill the pharmacist. My ability to read souls means nothing without the actual evidence. His death will be the excuse Ambrosia can use to find information about the prescription drug ring on his computer. I get to put lots of people away. Blight’s connections will be ruined and that’s when you can rub it in his face. And kill him!” Soul explained.
The plan satisfied Leech enough to agree to Soul’s plan. “You got yourself a deal. I’ll carry out this little plan for now. You better win that case or else I’ll find a way to get even with you,” Leech threatened as he left the house using his black hole. After Leech left the area, Soul began to receive a call from his cellphone. It turned out Flight was on the other line.
Leech made it back to the café where Blight was waiting at and noticed he was already gone. “That bastard knew I was here! I couldn’t have been gone for more than eight minutes!” Leeched started punching a nearby brick wall. He continued to smash his fist into the wall. Not carrying about the blood shooting out of his hands or the sound of his bones breaking. “Just smile! Just smile! Everything will be okay when I smile! Just smile!” Leech murmured to himself. “Soul’s plan will work and then I’ll finally get rid of that asshole,” he continued to say before slowly sitting on the floor.
Leech began to laugh and wiped his blood-covered hand all over his face. He then reached down into his pocket to grab out his phone and dialed Timekeeper’s number. “I didn’t find anything today, but I’ll try again tomorrow. I’m off the clock now and have some business I need to take care of. Bye”