Seven Heroes Redux

Yuto, Tatsuya, and Haji ran away from the stadium. They were now at a port, where there were several coastal shops.

Yuto didn't understand something:

— Why are you following us, Tokihito-san?

— You are important to me, I have to follow you until I understand why.

— How can we trust you? Wait, I have an idea: if you take this girl to safety and we meet again later, we can have a longer talk to get to know each other better. But if you do anything to her, I'll kill you. Sounds fair, doesn't it?

— Are you sure? Well, that's fine with me...

Haji was surprised by what Yuto proposed, and exclaimed:

— Hey, don't go deciding things for me! I don't want to be with this beggar, I want to be with you, Yuto!

Tatsuya felt offended, but ignored it. Yuto tried to convince her:

— If anything happens to you, call me as soon as possible. And if you accept this mission, I'll give you any candy you want.

Haji perked up:

— Really? You're the one who promised, so you better keep it!

Tatsuya grabbed Haji's hand and the two ran away. A voice came from behind Yuto:

— Wow, I wish Ria was this easy to convince.

Yuto was startled and turned back. It was Exwind, who had already found him, even after running for kilometers.

— H-How did you find me in such a short time?!

— You could say I'm good with directions. And I asked people along the way if they'd seen this peculiar trio, so it was pretty easy to find.

— Dude, let me go, please! I don't want to fight.

— We just wanted to talk. Ria is over there.

Exwind pointed to the window of a nearby restaurant.

— Ria, let's talk to Ishikawa-san!

The only response was a gunshot. Yuto felt a sting in his right foot, which had been shot. Then in his left. He felt a lot of pain, but he couldn't move his feet, so he was immobilized.

— Seriously, Ria? It's not like I didn't see this coming...

Exwind punched Yuto in the stomach, but his fist didn't connect. He stood still for less than a second, until a wind began to come out of his hand. A wind strong enough to send Yuto flying a few hundred meters into the sky. Exwind jumped to start the fight in the air. He threw a kick, which Yuto barely defended.

He was sent back a few dozen meters. Shots came from the door, aiming for Yuto's arms, but they stopped in midair. With the power he had, it was easy to stop them. But new shots, much stronger, pierced Yuto's shoulders, who could no longer move his arms. Then Exwind punched him down with both hands.

Yuto was sent to where the ocean was. The speed was so high that when he collided with the water, a wave a few dozen meters high formed. Since he was far enough away from the harbor, the wave dissipated before it reached there.

Yuto was struggling to remain conscious. He managed to stand on the water, even though his feet hurt. Exwind also landed in the water. But he was startled when he saw Yuto's gaze. He was about to fight seriously.

Until Exwind tried to calm him down:

— Calm down, man, I know you're stronger than me! If you try to kill me, you'll definitely succeed.

— You say that after almost killing me?

— It's just that you're a famous person wanted by the association. If we had you in our custody, the other bounty hunters wouldn't dare to show up. But Ria ended up being a bit harsh on you, because she really doesn't like criminals...

— You're not that different from her.

— I just wanted to knock you out!

Yuto calmed down and listened to what Exwind had to say.

— What do you want from me?

— We wanted to talk to you. Well, at least I did. Ria tried to incapacitate you before you could do anything, so I just went along with the plan.

— Are you sure she won't kill me while we're talking?

— I'll convince her, I promise. If I offer her sweets like you did before, it might be easier.

Yuto smiled and chuckled. That man seemed too innocent to actually want to kill him. Maybe he could be trusted.

Tatsuya and Haji were walking through the streets, blending in with the crowd. There was no one chasing them, as Ria and Exwind's target was Yuto. But Tatsuya was afraid that he wouldn't gain Yuto's trust, so he took every precaution.

— Where are we going?

— I don't know.

— What do you mean you don't know? What if we meet those people again?

— We're too far away from them, and they're not after us.

Haji felt uncomfortable holding the suspicious man's hand, but at the same time, she felt safe. He looked strong, so she decided to ask:

— What is your power?

— My power? Oh yeah, I forgot I had one. I would tell you if I remembered.

— You don't even remember your own power? You're weird.

Tatsuya seemed to move a little faster than Haji, and it bothered her:

— Why do you keep picking up the pace all of a sudden?

— I'm walking at normal speed, maybe you're going slow. By the way, why is everything silent for a few milliseconds?

— I don't know what you're talking about. There's so much noise on the street all the time that there's not a moment of silence.

Tatsuya stopped, as if he had realized something important. He looked ahead and saw a scene typical of any big city: a child was being pulled into an alley, probably to be beaten. He let go of Haji's hand and ran into the alley. He saw two men who looked dangerous, forcibly holding the child. They saw Tatsuya and said:

— Turn around and walk away. You didn't see anything.

— What are you doing?

— If you're not here to buy anything, get out while you can. Don't even think about calling the police.

Tatsuya continued to glare at them, challenging them. Letting go of the child, they picked up their knives and began walking towards him. Tatsuya suddenly disappeared. He had already passed them by without them noticing.

One of them had his head separated from his body. The other had his neck twisted backwards, seeing Tatsuya from behind. He died soon after.

— So that's my power...

Yuto, Ria, and Exwind went to Kiseki's clinic. The match was already over, so she went to where she could help more people. Noticing the three arriving, she said:

— P-Please let me heal him!

Exwind replied:

— Sorry to increase your burden, Kiseki-chan.

— T-That's my job, don't worry, please! Thank you for bringing him to me!

Kiseki approached Yuto and healed him. The pain completely disappeared within a few seconds and he felt a great sense of well-being. His spine, which was slightly crooked due to his life as a gamer, was also straightened.

— Thank you, Kiseki-san.

— I-It's nothing, really! I'm happy to help... And you can call me Kiseki-chan if you want...

Kiseki was a maid, a nurse, and a very kind person. Her power matched her personality perfectly. She always tried to help as many people as possible and loved her job.

Her power was called Benevolent Shrine. Not only could she heal people, but she could also repair broken objects or return them to their original state. She could do the same for dying people, but she could not revive them. In addition, she could nullify all kinds of discomfort and bring all kinds of positive effects to the patient's body and mind.

Yuto, impressed by the girl's purity and innocence, thought:

You really are a miracle, Kiseki-chan.

Yuto, Exwind, and Ria returned to the port they were at. They went to have lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant overlooking the sea.

They sat down at a table, and the first to speak was Ria:

— I may have agreed to this, but know that I don't regret anything I did.

— It was to be expected. I'm a wanted criminal, so I should expect people to hunt me down.

— I think you're misunderstanding, Ishikawa-san. We wanted to interrogate you, not capture or hunt you like bounty hunters. If we were the first to talk to you, we would have all the information you could give us.

— You see me as a product, then. A defective one, since you don't seem to like me.

Exwind tried to smooth things over:

— Calm down, it's nothing like that. We can become friends, don't you agree, Ria?

— I would never become friends with someone like him.

— But our interests are the same. The three of us want a revolution.

Yuto, surprised, asked:

— Are you planning to attack the association?

— Yes, that's why we're having this conversation. We didn't want to arrest or punish you. Our goal was to make sure you were trustworthy.