The girls had all gathered in the underground section of Kikimaru Cafe, idly speaking when Kyle walked into the room, holding a shopping bag.
When he arrived, all eyes immediately landed on him. Himiko and Akiko were seated by the sides of the room, while Sakura was typing away at the computer.
Himiko smiled, a certain fondness in her eyes when she saw him. "You're late…" she said in a playful tone.
Kyle placed the bags on a nearby table and smiled. "I had to get some stuff along the way. It's good to see you all are here."
"Is what Sakura said true?" Solvane asked from the corner of the room.
Unlike during the day, she looked more active, but her laziness was still evident from the way she slouched in her chair.
"Are we really going on our first mission?" she finished.
Himiko's eyes brightened.
"We are going on a mission? Why didn't anyone tell me?!" she grinned, her eyes moving from person to person.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "That was because you ended the call right after I said Kyle wants to see you."
"Oh…" Himiko paused, then smiled in a sly manner.
"Anyways…" she began gesturing animatedly as she described the various ideas running in her head.
"…what is this mission about? Are we decimating a century-old mafia group? Or are we foiling some ancient plot? Ouu, maybe we have to go against a corrupt government?"
Kyle nervously scratched his head. *'I wonder how they'll take this…'*
"Neither of those. We are storming the Hero Public Safety Commission."
Clack!
Sakura slipped from her chair and fell hard on the floor. "W-what?? You can't be serious!"
As for Miko, she smiled pleasantly and rested her chin in her hands. "It's even far better!"
*'I see why she was a villain in story…'*
"The commission, huh…" Solvane muttered, her fingers grazing the scar on her face.
She said nothing after that, but Kyle could tell she was a little conflicted about it.
The HPSC had done unforgivable things to her and were the reason she had lived in isolation for so long.
The scar on her face was testament to that—
Kyle paused when he realized something he had missed.
"Solvane."
"Hmm?"
"Your scar," he said, pointing at her face. "Why haven't you tried healing it yet?"
Her eyes suddenly widened, and she jumped out of her seat, appearing next to Kyle a split second later.
"Are—you saying—I can heal it??" she stuttered, subtle to believe her ears.
Kyle nodded. "Mmm."
Vampires all had an innate regenerative ability. What he had gotten from the Nomu was just an addition to what he naturally had.
"All you have to do is focus on it."
The scar should have healed on its own the moment she became a vampire. But it never did because she had not recognized the scar as an injury…
Solvane hesitated for a second before she clasped her eyes shut and focused.
And the moment she did, the terrible scar that had once been a reminder of all she had gone through vanished as though it was never there.
Solvane opened her eyes, one at a time like a newborn curious about the world.
"Did… did it go?" she asked, her voice heavy with hope.
Himiko picked up Sakura's hand mirror and walked up to them, pacing it in front of her face.
The moment she saw herself, Solvane smiled. Her eyes were moist with tears. "Thank you…" she said, her voice airy as though she was on the verge of tears.
They all understood that they needed to give her a moment to get herself together, so for a few minutes Kyle delayed talking about their plan until Solvane was back to her usual self.
"What are we waiting for?" she smirked. "I still have a bone to pick with the Commission, let's get back to it!"
•••
Kyle cleared his throat. "Alright then, as I was saying…"
He then went on to explain everything that had happened in the last 24 hours and his reason for targeting the Commission.
Sakura sprang up to her feet, concern etched all over her features. "Tsumi was attacked? Is she alright??"
"She's fine, which reminds me, I have to pick her up after this…"
Solvane sighed. "This is quite bold for the Commission." Then her expression faltered as she glanced at Kyle.
"You don't think… that they are using them for human experimentation, do you?"
Kyle's face hardened slightly. "Nothing is certain yet, that is why we need to investigate."
*'There is no way they would go that far, right?'* Kyle mused.
It was what he would have liked to believe, but no matter how he looked at it, all the signs pointed to something nasty.
"Alright, let's get started. Sakura, can you pull up an image of the Hero Commission?"
Sakura nodded and began typing. "Which one?"
"The one we visited on Akiko's behalf."
At the mention of her friend, Sakura's mood dampened a little, but she continued and brought up an image on the large monitor.
Then Kyle brought up an image of his own, but not on the monitor. Instead, he manifested the scan he had done with geo-location into real life.
The skeletal structure floated just above his hands, slowly rotating for them all to see.
Himiko walked close to it and leaned towards the projection, poking it a few times. "Woah, just how many quirks do you have?"
Kyle fake coughed and quickly changed the topic.
"My scan of the commission came up short around here, meaning there is probably a lead wall around there, purposely designed to block scanning quirks such as mine.
"Normally, I felt it was just a highly classified room; most agencies have things like that."
He zoomed closer to the building, highlighting the area in red.
"But after what happened, I'm sure of it. They are probably keeping those they capture here."
Kyle gave them a few seconds to let his words sink in before he continued.
"We have two objectives…"
"Number one, find out what the HPSC is hiding…"
"And two, if there is anyone trapped down there, we must rescue them."
Himiko smirked. "Sounds like my type of mission."
Solvane nodded. "Easy enough…"
Then Kyle tapped Sakura on her shoulder. "You will stay back for this one, Saku; we need you to be on the coms. We are going to record every single thing we discover tonight."
Although having one more person on the ground would have been great, Sakura was largely inexperienced.
Solvane had once been a top student at UA, and Himiko was already a villain before they met.
But Sakura was not just new to quirks as a whole; she was a complete novice when it came to fighting.
Besides, he had not lied to make her feel better; there was a need to have someone handle things here.
At this time, having her here was the best use of her talents.
Sakura understood and nodded with determination. "Understood!"
Now there was only one problem left…
Solvane got up from her chair and yawned. "The plan sounds great and all… but what are we going to wear? We can't let them see our faces, can we?"
Kyle picked up the bag he had brought earlier and raised it by his side.
"I was late for a reason…."
•••
A few minutes later, they were standing at a building opposite the Commission's compound, staring down at the area.
While Kyle was in his usual getup, Himiko and Solvane were dressed in pure black hooded clothing to help them blend into the night.
They wore a face mask that covered the lower part of their face down to their nose, leather gloves, and domino masks to make it even harder to decipher who they were.
It was just temporary clothing until Kyle got in contact with his supplier, but they both seemed to like it quite a lot...
Unlike in the morning when they had been allowed in, right now the Commission was on total lockdown.
Armed men littered the walls, spotlights bathed the vicinity, making it look as though it was daytime, and the gigantic gate, the only entrance, was barred shut.
Naturally, they could just fly above it…
But Kyle had other plans.
"How are we going to get in…" Himiko was asking when she saw Kyle staring into blank space as though he could see something they could not.
Then he smirked, pulled his hand back then punched the air—
Bang!
The wind seemed to fracture, a gale of compressed air and energy lashing out like a storm and blowing the gate into bits and pieces.
Talent upgrade complete!
[Aura punch => Fracture]
Since there was no way to avoid being spotted…
Kyle had decided to draw them all in the flashiest way possible.
"Up there! Get them!!" a guard screamed, spotlights zeroing in on them.
Bullets began to rain through the sky like the very stars were descending, but they all uselessly bounced against an invisible force.
Kyle cracked his fingers as crimson wings tore through his back, each one dripping blood.
"We have one hour…"
"I need to pick up my sister by ten!"