It was the next day, and Hawks has an adventure planned for his two emo interns.
"Y'all got your stuff?" Hawks asked Sukuna and Tokoyami walking up to him, having just exited their individual sleep pods in the rest wing.
"We didn't really bring much to Kyushu in the first place." Sukuna replied, only carrying a singular backpack on his back alongside with Tokoyami. They didn't know why Hawks suddenly told them to pack up their bags though.
"Come on." Hawks beckoned them to follow him to the elevator. As they went down, Hawks gave them a small explanation of today's excursion.
"I'm taking you kids to a multi-agency strategy discussion. Hero offices from different prefectures gather to share patrol data, map out new threats and stuff."
"And where is this meeting taking place exactly?" Tokoyami questioned.
"Oh nothing much, just the main headquarters of the Hero Public Safety Commission in Tokyo." A silence reigned in the elevator as both interns stared at him.
"Are you sure you're allowed to bring students to a high-security government complex just like that?" Sukuna finally spoke up.
"Nahhh it'll be fine, I'm with you after all. Besides, where's the harm in that? You're there to learn more about the hero society right? I'm just letting you guys get an early taste of it."
...
"Iida's been out of it for quite awhile now. He was always one who replies our messages the fastest right?" Tokoyami questioned Sukuna, showing the pink haired teen his smartphone, specifically 1-A's group chat.
Izuku had asked Iida in the group chat what it was like in Hosu, adding a picture of the city with it. It seems that the green haired boy was also on a little excursion himself with Nighteye. He wouldn't be surprised if they came across each other at the Commission headquarters, considering Sir Nighteye was a top hero himself and would possibly attend this coordination meeting.
But Izuku's curiosity was left on 'read', Iida hasn't replied in 10 minutes now. Sukuna shook his head, leaning against his seat.
"That guy isn't good at hiding his intentions at all. He joined Normal Hero: Manual's agency at Hosu to chase down Stain." He stated in amusement.
"Now I'm not saying that he shouldn't be mad, but if he's dragging down others with him, then we have a problem." Tokoyami nodded in agreement, before looking back at the group chat.
"It seems Midoriya would be at the HSPC headquarters for the meeting too. Should we tell him we're heading there too?"
Sukuna shook his head, smirking a little.
"Surprises are fun, don't you think?"
"Fair enough..." Tokoyami shut off his phone, placing it back in his pocket. They went into silence, both seemingly deep in thought.
" You think there's something up with Hawks?" Tokoyami suddenly commented.
"What do you mean by that?" Sukuna asked, glancing at the bird man with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but as a friend, I have to say something. Hawks seems to have ulterior motives concerning you." Tokoyami stated in a low voice, not wanting to disturb Hawks who was sitting a few seats away from them, leaning back on his seat with a relaxed smile.
Sukuna stared at Tokoyami for a moment before he sighed. "So I'm not the only one huh?"
"It was kind of obvious, Sukuna. He lets you take the lead in patrols, lets you make the important decisions, and lets you in on stuff we students shouldn't know just yet. Sure, you might've demonstrated some of that quick thinking and maturity during the Sports Festival, but that doesn't mean that as a mentor, he should puts a hundred percent of his trust onto you, a rookie, from the start."
"And I haven't add to the fact that he always asks uncomfortable questions to you for no reason at random times. I wouldn't have said anything if he does the same to me, but it seems like you are a test subject to him."
"And I probably am." Sukuna muttered back, glancing at Hawks. "I'm not surprised if the Commission put him up to this."
"And you're... okay with this?" Tokoyami tilted his head. Sukuna snorted.
"Of course not. They assumed my nature would override my judgment and needed hidden supervision to behave properly, but as you can see, that's not the case."
"But why, I don't understand." Sukuna shrugged.
"Probably because my philosophies differ from the usual hero. You couple that with my strength and you got an unstable variable. They never expected a fifteen year old to act like... ya know... this..." He pointed at himself.
Tokoyami looked down. "Surely you can't just let them get their way..." Sukuna grinned at him.
"Oh no, you have it all wrong. I could act like a goody two shoes for them to shape me into something institutional, but bowing to someone just to have breathing room isn't how I do things." His face became serious, as Tokoyami felt a chilling aura emitting from the teenager.
"They can say whatever they want, but I know who I am. And my way of doing things will remain, whether they like it or not."
Tokoyami nodded silently as the Shinkansen ride went on.
...
Shigaraki stood on top of a water tower, overlooking the calm city of Hosu and the setting sun.
"Stain, what a bastard..." He muttered to himself before chuckling. "I hate the idea of having that nutcase as a party member..." He glanced at Kurogiri standing idly behind him.
His master had advised the League of Villains to recruit the infamous Hero Killer: Stain during the height of his popularity. But the meeting had turned hostile instead.
Stain had just left, intending to purge the remaining false heroes of Hosu, and Shigaraki intends to destroy his pride.
"Kurogiri, release the Nomus."
...
The train ride lasted until dusk, Sukuna and Tokoyami haven't slept a single second unlike Hawks who might've snored at some point.
The both of them were just talking about legacy, with what it meant to be remembered by the people, along with some other 'dark' topics in low voices, both having a newfound respect for each other.
Suddenly, the bullet train was halted to a stop in the middle of the track, causing confusion among the passengers. Hawks immediately opened his eyes, already cautious.
"Look." Tokoyami pointed at a large plume of smoke rising from an area of a city outside of the train. Sukuna, in the middle of chatting online with Mina, looked at what Tokoyami was pointing at.
"That's Hosu..." Sukuna muttered, narrowing his eyes before getting up with Tokoyami. He looked to see Hawks already up, ready to go.
"Mr. Hawks!" The hero looked to see the train driver rushing towards him with a panicked expression. He leaned into the pro hero, making sure that he delivered the news in a low tone as to not cause panic.
"There's a bullet train not far from us that's been attacked by some beast." Hawks nodded.
"Got it. Take your back train to the previous station now." He calmly ordered before looking at his two interns, already standing before him, ready to act.
"Let's move!"
...
"Oh my God..." Mina whispered as she watched the television, Midnight had a tense expression, watching the screen with her intern. There was a news channel broadcasting what was happening in Hosu, and it didn't look good.
Burning buildings, civilians running around, screaming horrifically, and the occasional boom that shook the camera in the background as the live journalist kept on reporting while shaking from fear.
"Shouldn't we be heading there, sensei?" Mina asked.
"Hosu's one hour away, Mina. If we arrive we would only serve as the cleanup crew..." Midnight whispered before grinning at her.
"Don't worry, I heard word that Endeavor's already on his way." Mina silently looked back at the screen, before looking back at her phone. Sukuna suddenly went offline. She just hoped it wasn't a bad sign.
"It'll be fine, ma'am. You're safe now." Sukuna muttered as he carried a woman from the half destroyed train. Tokoyami carried a bunch of passengers using Dark Shadow while Hawks' feathers carried some more.
"Kid! Watch out!" Sukuna widened his eyes, noticing a black creature charging towards him at high speeds.
'A Nomu?!' Sukuna immediately placed down the woman, charging towards the Nomu.
"Wait! No! Why are you charging at him?!" The pro hero that had warned Sukuna shouted in horror. Black markings appeared around his body in an instant. As soon as his second pair of crimson eyes made itself known, Sukuna disappeared in a blur.
The Nomu, similar to the one he fought at the USJ, folded like a sandwich as soon as his punch landed on its body, sending it blasting back. Sukuna disappeared again, appearing before it and slamming its head down on the ground, the impact leaving a large crater underneath them.
The Nomu attempted to punch Sukuna, but its hand was sliced off by invisible slashes. Sukuna slammed its head on the ground again, before hundreds of cuts appeared on its body a second later.
He threw the black Nomu high up to the air like it was a ball before leaping towards it. He arrived in front of it within a second before his right hand were placed close to the Nomu's chest.
Giant cuts sliced off the Nomu's limbs as Sukuna used Cleave. As he expected, its Super Regeneration was going haywire. Sukuna grabbed it again by the head, diving down towards the ground. A resounding explosion occurred as the two crashed on the road, sending dust and small pieces of debris flying everywhere.
The pros near the area of impact shielded their eyes, coughing from the dust. As the smoke cleared, they watched as Sukuna stood on the giant creature, its brain destroyed. He was looking down at it with his signature unreadable expression, his hands in his pocket.
'Were they always this weak? I can't believe this thing gave me a challenge back then.' Sukuna thought, as he jumped off the Nomu.
...
"Master Tomura... That Nomu was an Upper Tier..." Kurogiri whispered, glancing at the blue haired man who was seething behind the hand covering his face, his hands shaking as he tried not to scream in rage.
"So you're here too huh?!"
....
"He's just a kid..."
"Isn't that the dude from the Sports Festival?"
"The hell is he doing here... Where are his parents?"
Sukuna ran his hand through his pink hair, looking up at the group of pro heros staring at him like he was an anomaly.
"The hell are you fools doing standing around? Go evacuate the civilians already."
The heros immediately straightened up, feeling an invisible pressure subtly crushing them as he spoke.
"O-on it!"
To be continued...