There is a legend in the Shizuoka District. One that’s been going around for the past few months.
‘The Phoenix flies across the skies every two weeks.'
Every two weeks, The Phoenix’s embers spread across the city, leading those with worries and heavy hearts to a different place every time. And this night was no different.
Their snow-white fox mask and the oversized hoodie fell down to their thighs. Dozens and dozens of different people, ranging from children to the elderly, gathered for this moment.
Her embers scattered across the city, seeking those with heavy burdens. Within minutes, the Phoenix’s embers attracted all those to a new location. This time it was a long-abandoned plaza. In the center sat the Phoenix crafting new things out of her flames. One by one, the crafts floated into the air waiting for them, ranging from animals, like birds, and things that made no sense to her… but made sense to someone else.
They gathered around her, silent as the Phoenix quietly made more things. Each one represented a person’s burdens. The blue flames did not burn them. It was simply warm to the touch as everyone’s burdens were lifted one by one… then she stopped. For the first time that night, she looked up from her work.
Every pair of eyes was on her. This was the first time she’d ever looked up before finishing making all the crafts. In the back, away from everyone else, sat a man. Not a second later and she materialized in front of him, leaving a trail of blue flames behind her.
Under his black hoodie was a pair of tired and worn golden-brown eyes meeting her sapphire eyes. The man was the first to speak. “Ya know, using your quirk is illegal without a license.” He said, pulling down his hoodie. The Phoenix hadn’t noticed before. She looked up and saw his bright red wings stretching out. “Before I leave, do you think you could craft me something?”
Slowly, she raised her hands. Bits of fire started forming; more and more gathered until bright blue feathers took form. He held out his hands as the flaming feathers danced around him.
He stood up and began to take off, his eyes not leaving her sapphire eyes until he was far off. Not even a thank you.
No one said a word as she watched as he flew away, getting farther with each passing second.
Not a second later, she materialized back in the center of the plaza, passing out and making her crafts as if nothing ever happened.
*
Everyone knew about the Hero Public Safety Commission; that’d they existed to manage the interactions heroes had on society and to inspect some of the most dangerous cases. Everyone knew about Hawks, the twenty-year-old that had risen to the top ten of the hero charts within a year. What the public didn’t know was their connection.
Ever since Hawks was a child, he’d admired Endeavor. People said he was special because of his quirk. Of course, he never thought he was. That was… until the HPSC recruited him.
He’d saved the lives of a lot of people from a high-speed car accident. The police were shocked to hear that a child had saved so many lives. It spread so much that it caught the attention of the HPSC.
They gave him a choice. Train under the organization and become a hero like Endeavor or rot away on the island without the resources of the HPSC. He accepted. He abandoned his name and trained like hell, learning and mastering the arts of deception and infiltration.
All that work made him into the man he is now. Hawks, the man who’s too fast for his own good.
“…Hawks. Hawks!” He jolted up from his sleep. On instinct, one of his sharps feathers flew into his hand, prepared to fight. But he quickly realized that wasn’t necessary. “Goddamnit Hawks, what the hell are you doing?” Akihiro Ami, also known as the current president of the HPSC, took sat in her chair.
“Sorry! Night terrors.” Hawks responded, stretching out his massive wings. Whatever that Phoenix did to him really shook him up… but he felt lighter. The feathers that’d been given to him evaporated after a few hours. But he couldn’t get his mind off of how they’d done it. He turned and faced the president. “Hey Ami… have you heard of the Phoenix?”
“Ah, yea. That fox person that is active in the south part of Japan,” She eyed Hawks a few times before returning to her work. “…I’ve sent heroes after them multiple times. But every single time, they reported that they couldn’t do it.”
“Interesting.”
“So how come you didn’t bring them in?”
“…Well, I don’t know. They seem peaceful and they weren’t disturbing anyone, so I let it slide.”
Ami sighed before pointing at Hawks. “From now on, you’re responsible for them. Find out who they are, and I’ll arrange the rest… I want to see what this fuss is all about.”
*
Teka didn’t know how long it had been. Deku had taken Kai’s advice from a few weeks ago to start exercising and follow her personal training plan. She tried talking him out of using her plan, but he insisted, saying that he needed to get stronger. Reluctantly, she agreed. But now she was starting to regret that decision.
It’d been a few weeks since she’d seen him. To make matters worse, she couldn’t even visit him since she had no clue where he lived and forgot to grab his number. With a heavy groan, she pushed the last of the daily junk out of the way before collapsing on a nearby bench. Why did I dumb self-have to say clean the beach?
Water flew down her throat as the sun hit her skin. Where is he? She stretched a bit. Suddenly, a smokey smell filled her nose. Teka jumped up once she saw Midoriya jogging in the distance. Smoke leaked off of him and he came to a stop gasping for air.
“I… I did it,” He gasped. Teka handed him some water which he gulped down in a matter of seconds. “I can’t believe I did it.”
“What did you do?” Teka questioned. The smoke lessened a bit.
“I was able to manipulate my smoke!” He held out his hand. The smoke slowly gathered and made a small sphere before quickly dissipating.
“This is the best I can do right now… but with a lot more training, I know I can do so much more!”
Teka felt like hugging him on the spot. “Midoriya, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!” Bits of flames popped off uncontrollably. “Let’s go to the beach! I want to see what else you can do!”
*
Kori couldn’t contain his laughter as he rolled over across the roof later that night. “Both of you and Midoriya are going to clear that entire beach in a year? Oh my god, I wish you guys good luck!”
“Shut it, Kori.” Teka chopped him over the head while taking in the skyline. On top of the tallest building in the Chiba, district sat two kids with fox masks. One with blue embers trailing off of them and another with an icy aura. “Ugh, I got too caught up in the moment and decided to come with you on a whim.”
“I told you that you don’t have to come with me on deliveries.” Kori yawned as he took in the cool summer air. The stars shined bright as he swiped away on his tablet, looking for the buyer that he was supposed to approach tonight. “You can just stay home and start clearing out that beach.”
“…Ya know what, flying doesn’t sound so bad now.”
“You just want to heal people. I don’t blame you for that since you’ve always been like that. Even when you were a child.”
Teka pouted a bit at that. She never really liked the fact that Kori brought up things she no longer remembered. “You sound like a parent… even though I’m older.”
“By three days.” He slipped his mask onto his waist and shifted his body into his beast form. The body of a drake with pure white fur formed. She ran her hands over it with a smile on her face.
“Three days is a lot of time Kori.” She slipped her mask back on and stood over the edge next to him. With a low hum, he eyed the city of Tokyo. “That package is for the son of the Todoroki’s, right?”
His low growl told her that it was a yes.
“…I’ll see you at home then.”
Without a second thought or a hint of hesitation, she leapt off the building. She didn’t know why, but she never really felt the fear of death. Her long white hair that she’d pushed down in her hoodie flowed out. Blue flames wrapped around her, catching the attention of onlookers, and her body began to resemble that of a flaming bird.
She screeched across the city and spread her thrusters, pushing herself into the air before she hit the ground. Cars stopped and watched while others pulled out their phones to record. Landing on a nearby pole, she let her embers flow off her body and dance through the empty streets.
People gathered around as the Phoenix stopped a few kilometers from the tower she jumped off of. “…” It was silent for a bit. All eyes were on her, waiting for her next move.
Like a fox, she sneakily moved deeper into the city, weaving and ducking through traffic and streets to a nearby park while leaving a trail of blue embers. The people followed closely. The blazing embers lit up the dull park, giving it a long overdue glow-up.
“…Alright!” She said from behind her mask. She dropped down from a tree and let out a small howl.
After that, the people poured into the park and began searching for her. Although, it wasn’t needed as all they needed to do was be there. One by one, her crafts flew out from the center of the park and made their way to the people. And one by one, the people gathered, each with a different problem they wanted gone.
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That was the start of the ‘Fire Crafter’. Or Phoenix as some people still called her.
Burnin was one of Endeavor’s top sidekicks. Because of that, she was required at all times to be on guard and never look weak as to not tarnish the Endeavor name. This very night was no different. She watched as swarms of people followed those strange blue embers. She’d been enticed to go with them at first but quickly realized that it would tarnish the Endeavor name if she was caught.
“Endeavor, Endeavor come in. This is Burnin in the southeast park of Tokyo. Meguro district.” She leaned against the wall, watching the massive amount of people pouring into All Might Park.
His rough and angry voice came in through the mic. “What is it? More trouble?” It always made her shiver whenever he answered.
“Something like that… have you ever heard of the ‘Phoenix’? Real popular down in south Japan.”
She waited for a response but only got an angry chuckle.
“Ah yes, I’ve heard of them. They’re climbing the charts in the vigilante list. You spotted them?”
“Yes sir. In All Might Park right now.”
“I’ll be there. Stay put.”
The phone cut off with a satisfying click. She could never understand why he wanted to be number one. In her eyes, he had everything. One of the top-ranking heroes, a caring family, and amazing kids who’s quirks outshined hers. She looked back into the park. It had completely changed now. Dozens of different color crafts were floating in the air as if waiting to be picked out. “I wonder…” She eyed one of the crafts.
It was bright orange and resembled that of a… scorched car. She shook her a bit, letting the memories of the past fade back into existence. There’s no way they….
Her red eyes picked up on what seemed to be a small comet. That comet grew in the figure of Endeavor once he touched down. His focused and sharp gaze always surprised her. For as long as she’d been working for him, she had never seen him smile. Even the blue embers around them didn’t faze him.
“What’s the situation?”
They both took a look into the park. “At least seventy to a hundred people gathered here after following these embers,” Her flaming hair gestured towards the embers currently falling like snow. “I believe it’s a mind-control quirk. The people seemed to forget what they were doing as soon as they came into contact with one…”
Endeavor listened carefully, not letting a single detail escape his ears.
“I’ll deal with them. Just stay back and watch.”
The finished crafted floated to their destined person. She stood up and gazed over the massive crowd, sending sparks of confusion. Then her sapphire eyes contacted a pair just like her own. The embers around her wavered then collapsed. Her instincts kicked in and her black thrusters sprouted out and blue flames erupted, caking the park with bright flames.
Just my fucking luck. She could barely hear her thoughts as her thrusters screamed across the night. A blue trail of embers echoed across Tokyo as they dashed through the streets.
It created a spectacle. The mix of blue and orange covered the skyline as Teka desperately tried to throw Endeavor off her tail, but he never backed down. After what seemed like hours, her wings gave out. The sound of cracking filled her ears as her thrusters cut out and she plummeted down to Earth. But she didn’t slow herself down. Instead, she sped up. People moved out of the way once they realized she had no intention of stopping.
She launched a volley of flames behind her as she approached closer and closer until the very last second. With precise control, she formed a fist with her flames and smashed the ground. The concrete covered her position from all sides before she copied what Kori did and materialized away from the scene.
Her body rolled along a nearby roof. She was sure the pounding of her heart could be heard around the world as she peeked over the corner of the roof. Endeavor was moving through the smoke, looking for her. Tch, damn hothead.
Her phone buzzed just as she fell onto her back. Pulling it out, she saw it was a picture of herself flying while running away from Endeavor. ‘You look cute when you’re like this.’ Even though Kori was overprotective, he still let Teka have her freedom.
*
The media was in a frenzy. Phoenix and the Ice wolf had appeared in Tokyo for the first time ever and caused two major problems. The first was the dealing with Natsu Todoroki that someone had recorded. And the second was the skirmish with Endeavor. No matter where you looked on the internet, there was at least someone mentioning it. Now even major broadcasts were having discussions about it.
“So tell me Daichi,” Tokyo Tv’s biggest newscasters, Chitose, also known as Curious, and Daichi were currently live on air from the Tokyo Sky Tree. From one of Tokyo’s many districts. It had been a busy morning and they’d just managed to get on the air. “Let’s start with the first clip. What do you think the Ice wolf and Natsu Todoroki were dealing with? Drugs? Or maybe it was an exotic substance.”
“To be honest Chitose, we can only speculate. The Todoroki’s haven’t said anything, and this could be a major blow to Endeavor as the number 2 hero. Hell, it might be able to knock him down a few after he let the Phoenix escape too.”
“Ah yes, that fight with Endeavor was quite impressive. Who knew that there was someone out there who could control flames better than the Flame Hero himself? He couldn’t even catch them either.”
“True. The way they handled their flames was impressive,” The massive screen behind them switched to where Phoenix had launched herself into the ground and slowed down the point where she teleported. “But the way they disappeared was even more shocking. We slowed the clip for the viewers but take a look.”
The clip replayed over and over, showing the moment of impact. Flames coated her at the last moment and ripped her body apart, sending her scattering into her flames.
“My oh my,” Chitose whistled before continuing. “Could you imagine if they weren’t a good person?”
“Oh? They’re a good person? For what? Handing out miniature figures that somehow makes people calmer? Not to mention, the Ice wolf sold drugs to the Todoroki’s.”
“Whoa, it was just speculation that they were drugs. We don’t truly know what’s in them.”
“But that’s not the point. They’ve broken multiple laws while doing this. These two need to be held accountable for their actions!”
The two went on about the Phoenix, Ice wolf, and their connections to the Todoroki family. So much that the supervisor had to cut to a commercial early because they were practically yelling at each other.
“Tch. I just don’t think they would do this without a good reason,” Chitose took a sip of her now lukewarm coffee. “And there might be more people working with them. There were multiple eyewitnesses of Phoenix talking with an earpiece.”
“Look Daichi, I’m sure they have a good reason for this. What do ya say we go look for a new scoop with Tokuda?”
Chitose could see Daichi contemplating whether it would be worth it or not before finally giving it. “Fine. But only to interview them. Don’t go playing hero like last time we ran into a vigilante.” He eyed the area under her chest. The scar from last time was still fresh on his mind. “Just don’t do that and we have a deal.”
Chitose grinned again and shook his hand. “Deal.”
*
“Natsu, what the hell was in that box! Do you have any idea how many reporters are outside of the house right now?” Fuyumi ran down the wooden halls and slid open random doors. She finally found Natsu cooking in the kitchen. “Natsu… what happened last night?”
“Hm? I don’t know. I’ve been cooking all night and my phone died a while ago,” The smell of multiple spices filled the air. Multiple dishes all ranging from seafood to stir-fry were laid out throughout the entire kitchen. Fuyumi was stunned as she tried to grasp the situation at hand. “Mom said she wanted to try some of my cooking. So, Shoto and I made a few things.”
Fuyumi made her way to Natsu and handed him the phone. Shoto peaked at it too. He didn’t want to look at first, but Fuyumi forcefully shoved the phone in his face. Multiple articles about the suspected drug deal were clear as day. “You’ve caused so much trouble over the last twelve hours.”
“Well, maybe if whoever took those photos were minding their own business, this wouldn’t have happened,” He reached over her and pulled the white box out of the cabinet. He pulled back the top and revealed multiple spices that were extremely difficult to get. “And those weren’t drugs, they were spices. Ya know the ones that the supplier stopped selling in Japan because it wasn’t profitable?”
Fuyumi turned to the youngest Todoroki, Shoto. “Shoto, did you know about this?”
He replied while tasting one of the many dishes. “I did but got caught up in cooking and forgot to mention it.” His neutral expression didn’t change as he turned to Fuyumi. “How bad is it?”
“At least a hundred different reporters and some officers are outside. Natsu, can you please just go outside and deal with this?”
“Ugh,” He pointed at the dishes on the far end of the table. “Just don’t burn the rest of the food.” He grabbed the box and headed outside.
*
There’s an ice cream shop near Aldera Junior High, famous for its high-end ice cream with low prices that would make you forget all your problems. That wasn’t the case for Teka and Kori though. Midoriya sat across from the duo while replaying the video of the Phoenix fighting Endeavor, scribbling down notes like a madman.
“…Should we tell him?” Teka asked in a hushed tone.
Kori responded by jabbing her side with an icicle.
“Well, he’ll probably find out anyway!” She reached over and sneakily stole his ice cream. His hand suddenly landed on her own and he gave a nervous look to the two of them.
“I already know.”
The two stopped their bickering and stared at Midoriya as if they’d just seen a ghost. “…Could you repeat that Midoriya?”
He fidgeted a bit and opened his book. The pages flipped until they reached the last few pages. Drawings of the Phoenix and Teka decorated the pages. He flipped again to a page that contained measurements and body shapes. It was so precise that Teka wondered if Midoriya had been spying on her.
She sunk back into her seat and covered her face in flames. Kori groaned a bit before speaking. “And I guess you know that the Ice wolf is me.”
Midoriya scratched his head and turned to a page just like Teka’s. Just as detailed and just as precise. Another groan escaped his lips. “And here we thought we could get away with it since fire and ice quirks are so common.”
“I haven’t told anyone, and I won’t,” He started to pack his bag and pushed the melting ice cream to Teka, who’d been silent. “But… would it be alright if you could tell me why?”
Kori eyed Teka who had started eating the ice cream silently. “For now, let’s just say that it’s my job. I deliver products and other things that are no longer sold in Japan. Teka just tags along whenever she feels like it.”
“…I see.”
Teka pulled on Kori’s shirt a bit while eating her ice cream. “Sorry that I got us caught.”
“It’s not your fault. Midoriya over here can just see things better than a lot of other people in the world.”
Midoriya’s eyes widened once he mentioned that. “Oh yea, speaking about that,” He pulled out his phone. “…Also, there is someone with a rabbit mask too,” The phone lit up with a photo of what seemed to be a girl with heavy winter clothes. Even though the photo was blurry, you could still make out the hundreds of humanoid shadow figures surrounding her. “It’s odd. I feel like I’ve met them before though… like we’re connected. It was just a rumor at first. But this is the first time they’ve ever come out in broad daylight. Let alone be caught on camera.”
Kori tensed up a bit which Teka took notice of. She poked him in the face with a light tap of her spoon. “Hey Kori, you ok? You look like you’ve seen death itself.”
“I need to make a call.” He didn’t waste another second and rushed out of the store. Despite Teka’s calls, he disappeared in a burst of ice and reappeared on top of a roof. Why now? Of all times? Why did she leave the Aether?
Quickly, he dialed one of the few numbers he had saved on his phone. The ringing filled his ears as he sat on the edge of the building. Finally, she picked up.
“Well, this is a first. You usually never call,” Teka’s grandmother said. After Teka’s core was cracked, she was able to stop it from shattering by placing it in her void. Teka was far too unstable to hold it. But as a result, her body deteriorated faster than expected. “So, what’s happening? You must be worried.”
“Kage’s here.”
He heard a sigh through the phone before she spoke again. “Is Sora with her?”
“…No. One of Teka’s friends showed us a video of Kage resurrecting someone. They were in North Japan, but I’m not sure if they’ll come down here,” He groaned again as he eyed some heroes patrolling the street. “But her bond is here too Miss.”
“For now, let’s just wait. We don’t know if she’s looking for Teka or just having a stroll. Just sit back and let Teka live a peaceful life. …This is the least I could for her after…” She stopped talking as if she just remembered a bad thought.
“Alright, Miss.” Kori knew deep down he still wasn’t convinced, but let it go for now.
“And stop calling me Miss. Call me by my name.”
"I understand then... Nana."
With that, he hung up, materialized in an alleyway next to the ice cream shop, and met up with Midoriya and Teka.
Unfortunately for him, a certain explosive head saw the trio. “That bitch is hanging out with Deku now?”
His mother smacked him over the head the second she heard that. “Hah? Who the hell are you calling a bitch?” She glanced over to where Bakugo had just looked. Izuku and two people she didn’t know had just left a sweet shop. “Oh, who’re those people with him?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know you old hag?”
His father stepped in before things could progress. “Guys, please calm down. People are starting to stare.”
But of course, they didn’t listen.