Kyle sat down beside his sister and took out an apple, sinking his teeth into it as he leaned back on his chair.
Tsumi pouted. "Weren't those meant for me?"
He chuckled and tossed it to her, Tsumi grabbing the apple with both hands before biting into it.
But then, Kyle's next words nearly made her choke on the fruit.
"So what really happened?"
Although she was unaware, Kyle had been at the site of the incident; that was how he knew that it was no regular kidnapping.
He was sure that she was not the target and had been dragged into the mess, but there were some things that he still wasn't sure about.
The villain seemed beaten up…
Besides that, there was no need for Pulse to treat her with so much hostility—that was unless he saw her as a threat.
His eyes narrowed as he watched her.
"I got home and when you weren't there I rushed to find you, but when I did, everything was already over…"
Tsumi stared at the apple for a few seconds as though deciding what to say, then she looked up to meet his gaze.
"It was like brainwashing…" She began her story.
She went on to tell Kyle everything that had happened, and then she finally reached the part he was most interested in.
"So when I snapped out of the haze… well… I fought back."
Kyle gave her a strange look. "You fought back…"
Although Kyle had already suspected this, hearing it from Tsumi's mouth was nothing short of shocking.
He leaned back slightly, allowing her words to sink in.
Tsumi chuckled when she saw his reaction. "You've lost your memories, that's why you don't remember, but I'm pretty tough, you know."
"Plus that guy was all talk." Her eyes glistened as she spoke. "I made sure to give him a proper smack on the head."
'Yeah… I'm sure you did a lot more than that…' Kyle mused. Although Tsumi was trying to make light of what had happened, he had seen the state of both men…
"Does that mean you have a quirk?"
It was technically a foolish question, considering that 80% of the world had quirks.
Tsumi nodded. "Hold on…"
Suddenly, a stream of light poured out of her arm, coalescing to form a sleek war hammer.
Although it looked very large, she was able to balance it so easily in her hands.
"My quirk basically allows me to summon and manipulate this Warhammer at will. It also makes me just a little stronger."
Kyle stared at the weapon for a few seconds, then laughed. "Now I understand."
The nature of the injuries perfectly matched what was possible with a hammer, painfully so…
The hammer vanished into sparkles, then Tsumi bit into her apple, averting her gaze from his.
Strangely, although she had spoken rather freely, Kyle had the impression that she was leaving out bits of information.
There were some strange things about her story no matter how Kyle looked at it.
Although Tsumi had a cold demeanour and gave off the vibe of a strong woman, she was not trained…
At least she was not meant to be. How then did she manage to take on a member of the Salamander gang?
Although the 'Salamander gang' he had encountered weren't much to write home about, the guys Tsumi fought had been hired by the Commission!
If she actually fought them alone, then that means she knocked out the first villain before taking care of the second.
Did it make sense that she was able to handle them both?
'Maybe I'm overthinking things…'
"Well, all that matters is that you're alright, sis. Next time, call me. I will come running with a stick."
Tsumi smiled. "You don't have a quirk, remember? It won't be a fair fight."
They continued to talk for a few seconds before Kyle stood up to leave.
"I'll be back in the evening to pick you up, you'll be alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. Get going, you must have a lot of work waiting for you, it's already late."
Kyle nodded. Although he would have preferred to stay with her until she was discharged, there were a lot of things he had to attend to.
Akiko was still sick, and must be suffering alone…
The shocking revelation about the Commission was also still fresh in his mind; if he delayed, then they would have more than enough time to prepare.
'I have to strike today…'
It was earlier than he expected, but it was time he struck the hpsc—with full force.
"Kyle?" Tsumi called before he could leave.
"Yes?"
He turned to face her, but Tsumi just shook her head. "Never mind…"
'I wanted to ask if there was any news about the masked man…' she thought.
But there is no way Kyle would know anything about them.
Kyle smiled. "I'll be back before nine!"
•••
Immediately after Kyle left the hospital, he first called the orphanage to confirm that Akiko was still okay, and told them to call him if anything were to happen.
Then he drove to a more secluded part of town where there were little to no cameras and parked his car a few blocks away before walking up to an internet cafe.
He got into the establishment, paid the staff, and walked up to one of the chairs.
Then he took off his coat and hung it on the armrest, before sitting down.
Kyle could have easily searched for this at home, but wasn't sure to what levels the internet was being monitored by the hpsc.
After all, it isn't every day the average person would search up the Salamander gang…
His fingers began to glide over the keyboard, pulling up images and news stories and sorting them into different tabs.
As the news stories were coming, Kyle was swiftly looking through them, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
But after going through every single story, none of them were what he was looking for. They were just organisations bearing similar names…
'I guess it wouldn't be that easy…' When looking for information on the internet, a little patience was key.
'I should have just let Sakura do this.' He mused. He had considered telling her, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him.
It took about thirty minutes before Kyle finally found something related to the case, and even then it was purely by luck.
Salamander Corp.
It was a bodyguard agency in China that boasted of providing the best services in all of Asia.
Although their name was suspiciously similar to that of the gang, it was not enough for Kyle to pin it on them.
That was until he saw a group photo of their executives…
'Isn't that—'
He zoomed into the photo at a black spot that was sticking out of a man's chest.
'That is definitely a tattoo.'
And he was not the only one; several others also had similar concealed marks that would have been impossible to spot if you didn't know what you were looking for.
And that was not the only thing that gave them away.
"Five counts of bribery, assault, arson, suspected murder…"
Their criminal file was full to the point of overflowing, but of course, they were just 'allegations.'
It was more than shocking to think that the hpsc would partner themselves with such people.
'This is basically teaming up with villains…'
And somehow, the Fallen Legion were also involved in this mess?
'What the actual fuck is going on??'
Kyle sat back and decided to go over everything he had discovered.
'So the gang is their undercover group—it is probably a mercenary group of sorts.' He thought.
The villain he had interrogated had told him he was working for the hpsc after all.
Still, he could not rule out the possibility that they had other business here in the city.
This group had ties with the Fallen Legion, but there was no way to tell if they were also connected to the Commission.
The Commission, on the other hand, were kidnapping people with good quirks for an unknown reason…
'Is this why they badly wanted Akiko?'
Kidnapping her would have been more difficult because it would have been easy to make the connection.
That was probably why they tried to persuade her instead.
'It is very possible there was never any real cure.'
Kyle thrummed his fingers on the desk as he contemplated.
'How long has stuff like this actually been going on?'
His mind suddenly went back to a news story he had heard a few days back, about how a number of people had vanished without a trace.
'Were they also involved in that?' He thought, his gaze darkening.
•
Kyle walked out of the cafe feeling the chilly winds brush past his face, his coat fluttering by his sides.
He sighed, his breath steamy as he stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialling in a number.
"Yes, boss?" Sakura's perky voice came from the other side.
"Gather the others…"
There was a short pause.
"It's time for our very first mission."