Hiro and Mirko patrolled the streets until the sun reached its peak. Aside from stopping the occasional disputes, they didn’t have the opportunity to apprehend another criminal.
“Mirko, how often do you encounter villains during patrol?”
Hiro asked the rabbit hero. They had just finished eating lunch, and were resting on the rooftop of a skyscraper.
The weather had turned cloudy at some point. Along with the cool breeze, it made for a good place to relax and unwind.
“Mornings are usually slow. It ramps up in the afternoon, peaks at night, then dies down after midnight.”
Mirko idly commented. Her back laid against the roof in a relaxed posture. She took out her phone, then clicked her tongue before placing it back.
Hiro raised an eyebrow. During their patrol, he noticed Mirko kept checking her phone from time to time. It made him curious.
“What are you waiting for? A message from your boyfriend?”
Hiro asked. The rabbit hero’s ears twitched, before she responded in a lazy tone.
“Heh, no one can tame this wild bunny. I was waiting for news about my prey.”
“Prey?”
“Yeah, rumors I heard says he’s quite powerful."
Hiro opened his mouth, then closed it. He inwardly facepalmed. That’s right. With Mirko’s personality, thugs on the streets won’t arouse her fighting intent. So she was just waiting for info on her target.
Although All Might’s influence as the Symbol of Peace has lessened in recent years, Japan is still in its stable period. Competent villains remained cautious and hidden, and only fodders would openly commit crime.
Hiro now felt stupid for intently searching for a powerful villain during their earlier patrol. In fact, if he wasn’t too obsessed, he should have already noticed the signs with how laidback Mirko had been in their earlier patrol.
“…you don’t have an agency, right? Is the info from the hero commission?”
Hiro said, diverting Mirko’s attention from noticing his inner gaffe.
“Hah! By the time those paper pushers got the info I needed, I’d have already found their location myself. No. I get my news directly from the local police. At least those guys are more aware of what’s happening in their city.”
“That’s…surprisingly intelligent for someone like you.”
“What, you wanna fight?”
Mirko glared and cracked her knuckles. However, Hiro just chuckled at her threat.
“You’re welcome anytime. Isn’t that why you picked me as your intern?”
Mirko stood up, the laziness leaving her body. She looked at Hiro with a satisfied smirk as she began to stretch.
“You’re right. Well then, a post-exercise after meal just sounds-“
“Ding!”
Mirko stopped in the middle of stretching her back. She took out her phone and the smirk on her face grew wider.
“Keep up, Genesis!”
She shouted before bolting away. Hiro immediately followed suit and ran beside her. Then, he asked:
“Did you get the news about your prey?”
“Nah. The message I got was for a villain attack. However, they seem to be quite strong.”
“I see.”
The two of them remained silent after as they rushed towards the indicated location. In less than a minute, faint screams reached their ears.
Smoke was seen rising from a multi-story apartment. The fire seemed to have originated from the first floor and had already reached the second, causing the people to be unable to exit the building.
As they got closer, they noticed that the apartment wasn’t the only thing burning. The whole street was ablaze. The nearby houses were also set on fire, threatening to spread throughout the whole city block.
Firefighters couldn’t get near. They could only hose down the surrounding area to slow down the spread of the flames.
Crowds had formed on both ends of the street to watch the spectacle. News reporters have also appeared, along with the cops who had tense faces as they guarded the vicinity.
Hiro saw a few figures in costumes skirting around the fire- presumably the heroes who had been unable to take care of the situation which was why Mirko was called for back-up.
“Aliciaaaa! Can you feel it?! My burning love!!!”
A loud shout drew Mirko and Hiro’s attention. From within the massive flames, a figure covered in yellow fire was laughing and crying as he continued to spew out flames from his rock-like body. (Think of Heatblast from Ben 10)
“Please! Come back to me! I’ll burn that guy! T-that way, there would be nothing in-between us again!”
Flames burst forth once more as he shouted hysterically towards the apartment. Except for the warnings from the police, only panicked shouts and cries from the people in the trapped building responded to him.
Hiro found the current state of the villain to be odd. Along with their current powerful strength, he had a guess as to the probable cause.
But he didn’t care about that. Right now, the top priority is to stop this guy’s rampage and save the civilians.
“I’ll leave this guy to you. Try not to get roasted.”
Hiro said as he and Mirko landed behind the crowd. Without waiting for her response, Hiro’s leg muscles contracted and his figure vanished in a blur.
A gust of wind swept above the onlookers and the police officers. They involuntarily closed their eyes. When they opened them, they were surprised to find a circular gap in the flames.
Hiro’s speed was so fast that he pushed the surrounding air away from him. He disregarded the heat from the flames, his only focus right now to rescue the people trapped in the buildings.
When Hiro passed by the villain, he was taken aback at seeing the guy’s deranged eyes follow him. The villain reached out his hand to stop him, but his rocky fingers only grasped empty air.
“Uohhhh!!! Y-you! You came to steal Alicia too!? Unforgivable!!!”
The villain screamed. He raised his palms in the direction of the apartment. Though before he could fire another blast, his body flew sideways and ragdolled along the burning concrete.
“Hiss! What are you made of? Lava or something?”
Mirko said as she jumped away from the burning street. When she landed, she stomped out the fire that sparked at her foot when she dropkicked the villain.
“I-it’s the Rabbit Hero Mirko! That villain is doomed!”
“Go Mirko!”
“The other heroes couldn’t even get close, but she knocked him off his feet as soon as she arrived. As expected of the No. 7 Hero on the Hero Rankings!”
The onlookers cheered. The tense police officers subconsciously relaxed. News reporters began to scramble to get a better position to film the fight.
“Urk! W-why? Why must you try to stop me and Alicia from igniting our love? Why!?!”
Just then, the villain’s hoarse voice slightly silenced the cheering crowd. He stood up from the flames. There were cracks on his abdomen due to Mirko’s kicks. But it slowly disappeared as the fire on his head blazed brighter and he glared at Mirko.
“Hah! That’s more like it! I’d have been disappointed if that was enough to take you out.”
Mirko grinned. She once again rushed towards the villain, but this time, the guy was ready. He raised his palms at Mirko’s direction and fired a blast of flames. Mirko didn’t flinch. She tensed her legs, and then kicked away the approaching flames.