[Kin]

Revenge wasn’t petty if it wasn’t your revenge, was it?

Ignoring the smell of gasoline as she sloshed it along a wall of merchandise the woman’s gold eyes narrowed slightly in consideration more than any real guilt. The debate went back and forth in her head as she continued her work in the darkness, shaking the red plastic canister about to spread its flammable contents. The small mom and pop’s pharmacy wasn’t scheduled to open for a few more hours at 6am, but after she was done here Kin was sure the establishment would never open again. Once her gas can was empty she tossed it next to four more identical containers on the floor. The hollow clunking noises the plastic items made when knocking into each other confirmed what Kin already knew: with the fuel all spent up it was time to burn this place to the ground.

‘No; no it’s not,’ decided the mutant finally as she shook a small box of matches in her hand. She seemed to have come to a conclusion about the question from earlier. She lit several matches one by one and threw them out into the darkened store. Almost immediately orange light roared into life, reflecting off Kin’s impassive golden gaze. She might have been the means through which this revenge was carried out, but there was nothing petty about her actions. Nothing was smashed up or vandalized. The security and fire alarm systems were carefully shut down. Even the money in the backroom safe was left untouched as a professional courtesy.

After all, she had already been paid, and quite handsomely so.

The gas cans would undoubtedly be found later, melted together no doubt. However, this was about sending a message. Hit one of us, and we hit one of you. In her mind, Kin had no question that this retaliation was completely petty in nature, but a client was a client, and they were willing to play by her rules. The fact that they were going after smaller fish made little difference to her. She stayed for only a few more moments to make sure the fire was spreading to the walls and ceiling before she made her exit out a backdoor.

The early morning air felt invitingly cool after being near so much heat. She quickly made her way across the street to once more observe her handiwork from a distance this time. Gloved hands brushed at her body in a futile attempt to remove the smell of gasoline from her person as her nose scrunched up from the stinging scent. A long, hot shower would be in order once she got back home.

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Kin | ### | notes

Miroru's fox ears twitched and pivoted as the fire started. She wasn't nearby- she was quite a ways away, actually, entirely on the other side of a canal running along the side of the street where the pharmacy sat- but there was a very low baseline infrared register in open space in a city. Lower still in air conditioned buildings where the materials inside hold lower temperatures and release less thermal radiation.

And fire is, itself, entirely infrared light roaring off of superheated particulate.

The fire was more or less a screech against Miroru's sense of the electromagnetic surroundings, one kept from being painful only due to not being literally audible. It was burning extremely hot- accelerants and open air flow tended to do that- and that meant the window of time to minimize damage was small- but it existed, and Miroru turned and vaulted into open air over the canal without hesitation.

---

Even as Kin stepped out the backdoor, she was extremely unlikely to hear the whirr of the turbofans in Miroru's boots pushing back hard enough to let her run across the canal a dozen feet above street level. What she was much more likely to hear was the thud of those boots smacking against concrete- and what she was CERTAIN to see was the sudden, furious blaze of iridescence as the flames were sucked out of the drug store's front windows and refracted through the form of the hoodie-wearing, clunky-boot-clad, fox-tailed redhead's body into harmless rainbow light pouring back from her body like a cascade of fireworks! It only lasted a moment, but just like that, the fire was out. Most of the gasoline was still inside- it was the vapors that caught fire, after all- but it'd take a fresh spark to set them off again... which, as long as this interloper was here, seemed likely to get snuffed out all over again!

"Hello?! Is anybody in there?! Hurry and come out, it might not be safe!" came from the front of the shop. Kin- for now, at least- seemed to remain undiscovered... but was her job complete with the fire stopped almost immediately?

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Kin]

HIDE ALL YOUR PRECIOUS THINGS

don’t let anyone

INTO YOUR MIND

mhm, the things we hide

Kin’s view from across the street was impeded as something, or someone, landed in front of the pharmacy with a distinct thudding noise. She barely had enough time to raise a curious brow before all of her hard work literally dissipated, gone with the wind! To the invader’s credit, the flashy display of light that was emitted was aesthetically pleasing, and Kin found it reminiscent of a New Year’s celebration, almost. Under different circumstances the would-be arsonist might have applauded.

That being said, golden eyes looked past tonight’s savior into the once more darkened pharmacy in weary disbelief. Even if the complete destruction of the store had been prevented, the mere act of targeting the innocuous establishment might be enough to get the message across.

Kin’s gaze drifted down irritably to the fox’s strange boots. What a strange piece of technology. It was a stark reminder of the all too dire need the villain had to upgrade her own arsenal. While Kin did have the means to reignite the fire, doing that would be entirely pointless right now.

Although, that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything more to salvage from this situation. Taking one of her 9 Bangs from her belt she then slid the tip of her cat tail through the finger loop of the flash grenade’s pin, but didn’t pull the safety device free just yet. Instead, Kin’s tail held the explosive canister up against her back to conceal it from view, leaving her hands free.

Stepping onto the street and towards the fox girl Kin began to make her way across with a calm stride.

“There’s nobody in there,” called out the troublemaker in a bored tone, “...and even if there were, it looks like you have things handled already.” Her golden eyes were still narrowed slightly with indignation, but her expression was still a far cry from malevolent. She didn’t close the distance between them completely, opting to remain on the asphalt of the road instead of moving onto the sidewalk behind the fox girl.

“That’s a fancy pair of shoes. Are you a hero by any chance?”

« Miroru »

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Kin | ### | notes

"Are you sure? I think you're right, but I didn't want to risk it. That fire was crazy! I don't see anything in there that burns that hot or that fast!" It'd become clear pretty quick that Miroru couldn't see the gas cans from her particular position, or else the answer would have been much more clear. "Were you inside? You're sure there wasn't anyone else that needed help clearing out from the scene?"

The redheaded fox seemed, understandably, to be primarily concerned with making sure everyone was safe. "I'm really sorry, but I don't think it's going to be safe to go back inside tonight, not before the fire department has a chance to clear the location and find out what started the fire."

Asking about her shoes was what pulled Miroru's focus more fully onto Kin. Turning, she blinked. "Ah- yeah, they are. I designed them myself. With help, mind. And not a hero, not yet. Training to be one, though." Miroru offered a hand towards Kin. "I'm Miroru. It's nice to make your acquaintance, miss..?" She trailed off, fishing for a name.

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Kin]

HIDE ALL YOUR PRECIOUS THINGS

don’t let anyone

INTO YOUR MIND

mhm, the things we hide

“The situation escalated pretty quickly, yes. I was inside earlier, but I didn’t see anyone else. Keeping my distance doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all, though.” That much was the truth at least, not that it mattered any. Now that they were putting thoughts into words though, Kin did have to wonder just how did this hero respond so quickly? When the fox turned her attention to Kin fully, the latter frowned slightly at the discovery of how young this interloper appeared to be.

‘Shit, she’s just a kid,’ lamented the woman internally.

All of a sudden that grenade hanging from her tail felt a little heavier than usual, and her cat ears flattened down in further indignation. For once, it was Kin that broke eye contact first, using the girl’s explanation about her special boots as an excuse to avert her gaze. A junior hero? No, not even that. A hero in training. In other words, a UA student. She looked up in time to see Miroru offering her hand in a greeting.

“Schrodinger,” answered Kin when pressed for a name. Her cat ears perked up as she offered a polite smile back. Stepping off the road and onto the sidewalk she then accepted the girl’s handshake with a firm grasp of her own. At this proximity there was no hiding the fact that Kin reeked of gasoline, but she seemed unconcerned with the smell. “Miroru. I’ll have to remember that name, and that fires are no good around you.” After shaking the girl’s hand Kin took a step back.

“Welcome to the business, hero in training. You did good tonight so don’t be upset if things end differently from how you might want them to. And a freebie bit of advice? Gasoline burns real well, and it's real cheap.”

Well, it was cheaper than conventional explosives, anyways. As her voice trailed off she raised her hand up just over her shoulder. From behind her, Kin’s tail set the flash grenade into her palm, the item now clearly in view. Her body was already in motion as her tail yanked out the safety pin, and she pitched the metal canister through the front display window of the pharmacy.

“It’s just business, kid!” was all she said as she started to turn away to make her escape. Inside the store the 9 Bang bellowed to life with concussive blasts and stinging flashes of light. The gasoline on the floor didn’t catch on the first searing jet of explosive light, but there were eight more to go as Kin was already several steps into a dead sprint onto the road.

« Miroru »

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Kin | ### | notes

"Yes, please do. If there's nobody inside, then there's minimal risk of injuries, I just want to keep it that way," Miroru admitted without reservation.

"Schrodinger. That's a cool name. I guess you're alive in this particular box, huh?" said the redhead, trying to make a bit of a physics joke related to the popularized thought experiment. "Cuz you're a cat and... all?" She trailed off at that last comment about fires being no good, narrowing her eyes suspiciously- and then pulling her head back as she caught the strong scent of gasoline.

It wasn't a smell she recognized. She'd never driven a car, and never refueled one. Never refilled a lawn mower to handle the grass- it just wasn't in her experience, but she knew it was a strong chemical scent, and context explained it once Schrodinger name-dropped the compound... right before hurling a grenade towards the front window!

Her conversational partner was immediately forgotten- in more ways than one- as she pivoted, using some of the lingering energy she'd stolen from the fire to catch the grenade in a magnetic field, swinging the field overhead and towards the canal she'd leapt over before releasing it, sending the flashbang and its many roaring, brilliant releases harmlessly down into the empty bike path below.

Which left her standing baffled as to where a grenade had come out of thin air.

She didn't have to twist around to find the girl- she could feel the warm body pelting away from her on foot, and moved to scramble into the air, each step carrying her higher as she sprinted up onto the rooftops and ran fast as she could in Kin's trajectory. She could feel the fleeing suspect outpacing her faintly, and hoped maybe her own ability to completely ignore terrain while in pursuit might make up the difference!

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Kin]

HIDE ALL YOUR PRECIOUS THINGS

don’t let anyone

INTO YOUR MIND

mhm, the things we hide

For what it was worth, Miroru’s joke had earned an amused smirk from Kin. It was already hard enough for the burglar to socialize with other people normally, so she had to take the rare dose of humor in her life whenever it came around. Although, that accusatory look of Miroru’s once she had started to piece things together had been enough to tell the older woman to know that it was time to disappear. She hadn’t planned on looking back; not at first anyways. It was the distant cracking of her 9 Bang that had caught her attention.

A glance was risked over her shoulder. Kin didn’t understand how, but the girl had managed to launch the flash grenade away from the scene of the crime, effectively disposing of it safely. Both fire and grenades were not a problem for the fox girl. Kin could only guess at what kind of quirker this hero in training was. Relying on her own quirk to escape, Kin changed course and dashed into a side alleyway, attempting to forcefully break line of sight with Miroru. A chain link fence bisected the narrow pathway, but the nimble woman had little trouble overcoming the obstacle. A few quick seconds were all that were needed to vault up and climb over it.

She would continue to run across the next street unconcerned with the traffic, or lack thereof, of the early morning hours. Her momentum was carrying her towards a large opening in the sidewalk with stairs going down a well lit tunnel. Tokyo’s subways weren’t operating yet, but the underground facilities made for wonderful hiding spots as far as Kin was concerned.

« Miroru »

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Kin | ### | notes

In the battle of ninetails versus nine-bang, Kin had the right of it- it'd be tricky to get a grenade into effective radius around Miroru without surprising her completely! That was sure to be valuable knowledge if they ever met again- though Miroru certainly intended for this to be their only meeting before the would-be arsonist found herself serving out some time for her vandalism! After all, that was all she'd actually managed. With the fire put out, it'd likely soften her sentencing as well, which Miroru considered a good thing. She was hardest on those threatening the lives or health of others- many non-violent criminals were trying to make a point, and she could understand that!

The maneuver to break sight was clean and well executed, slashing her movement into the alley and surely breaking all lines of sight that previous existed to her. An excellent move to ensure that her quirk would trigger on anybody looking at her at the moment.

Which was what made the footsteps slamming onto the rooftops as she vaulted past the chain link fence even more startling.

They made it clear that she was still being followed- some way, some how! Was she even LOOKING at her?! She couldn't tell, the kid was too-

Too high up. It'd be an easy realization that SOMETHING else was letting her keep up with Kin's movements, though what it was exactly surely wasn't clear. Which put the pressure on Kin to find some other way to escape! Forcing eye contact maybe? Diving out of view? Maybe it was some sort of bird's eye perspective that her evasions hadn't accounted for?!

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Kin]

HIDE ALL YOUR PRECIOUS THINGS

don’t let anyone

INTO YOUR MIND

mhm, the things we hide

The triangular ears poking out of her cap stood fully upright at attention as the hurried footsteps chased her from above. Was it the same interloper?

‘But I cut her off?!’ protested Kin silently, assuming her dash into the alleyway had successfully forced a break in line of sight. Usually chases didn’t last long due to people forgetting. ‘But then who-?’ Was it a second hero arriving on scene? It was too late to turn back now as she kept running for the subway entrance.

Her hands removed a second 9 Bang from her belt, leaving her with one more remaining. As the woman jumped to take the flight of stairs going down in one go, she pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it back up into the air behind her. A distraction for her pursuer at best, but that was all Kin would need. Her feet hit the ground running, carrying her towards the toll booths and turnstiles. To the side of all that was a security office sticking out from the wall, well lit with a large front window; and, apparently occupied.

Kin hissed between her teeth in annoyance as a young man in a clean black uniform was stepping out to try and intercept her. In a move meant to deter the additional roadblocker the woman snatched the last flash grenade from her belt and held it up in plain view towards the man. It sort of worked; the security guard stopped trying to get closer or in her way, but he was still shouting at her to stop. She didn't say anything in return, and only glared at him as the distance closed between herself and the turnstiles.

So long as she could make it into the train tunnels she believed she would be safe.

« Miroru »

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Kin | ### | notes

On the rooftop, Miroru's ears flicked upwards likewise before flattening back to keep the wind out of them as she shot across the rooftops, in hot pursuit of the girl below- and very much not in pursuit of the grenade hurled back her way! This time, Miroru knew what to expect, and Miroru wrapped her quirk around the grenade as it flew, demanding only one thing- the outward, lossless release of the infrared heat created by the detonator.

Rather than starting the chain reaction it should have, the extremely clever grenade bled its heat outwards without ignition, rendered a dud by the clever scientist hero in pursuit- one that melted entirely out of sight as she sprinted straight off the roof and into a descent towards the subway in an accidental evasion of Kin's extremely potent quirk- by rendering herself invisible, she also prevented light from reaching her eyes, and thus ensured eye contact couldn't be initiated, much less broken!

The ominous whoosh of air was all that signalled Miroru's presence as she kept sprinting off the surface of the ground, more easily located by the debris and dust kicked up with every pulsing gush of air that kept her aloft, like a ghost hunting Kin specifically as she made for the train tunnels with the pipsqueak fox in hot, invisible pursuit!

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Kin]

HIDE ALL YOUR PRECIOUS THINGS

don’t let anyone

INTO YOUR MIND

mhm, the things we hide

If the first incident hadn’t been enough proof, the second 9 Bang confirmed that Miroru could readily dispose of Kin’s toys. The villain didn’t even have to look back over her shoulder to realize this; the 9 Bang simply wasn’t emitting its obnoxious banging! The woman sighed inwardly, making a brief mental note that she was going to have to stop cheaping out on accessories next time she went shopping for contraband.

Although, as she passed through the subway’s turnstiles she did peek back to try and identify what the hell was making those short gusts of wind she kept hearing now. Of course, what she saw didn’t really make sense to her. It was enough to put together that something was still chasing her, though. Incredulity highlighted her expression before the chase continued.

“Just let it go, already! We’ll be at this all morning, kid!” she shouted out in an exasperated tone.

‘How the hell is she still following me?!’ she wondered in an equally frustrated temper.

Maybe it was karma finally catching up to Kin. A bad hangover that was preparing to slam into her like a wall of concrete for all the binging she did to satisfy her greedy thirst. It just seemed strange to come this far only to have her quirk fail her now. A discussion for a later time, though.

As the corridor opened up to the waiting area for the subway trains Kin suddenly veered off towards the tracks and hopped over the safety barrier walls and off of the platform. Immediately her pace slowed as she backed up against the short wall of the waiting area, crouching down to stay out of sight. As softly as she could manage Kin kept close to the wall and tried to hurry along towards the deeper parts of the tunnel.

Unfortunately Tokyo kept its underground railways powered and lit, but the lights in the tunnels were spaced out at least. Kin was also hoping this plucky hero in training would think twice about following her into an area where she might get hit by a train. The stations were still closed as far as the public was concerned, but trains could still be on the move as the subway set itself up for the upcoming morning.

« Miroru »

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Kin | ### | notes

"Maybe!" Miroru yelled forwards. "I'm game if you are!"

God, but she sounded closer than Kin probably liked.

Miroru bounded through darkness in pursuit of the arsonist, chasing her into the tunnels, which was going to be unbearably dangerous for both of them. Miroru had the mobility to scoot over a train if she needed to- in truth, she was more worried about "Schrodinger's" safety than her own, and she harbored some level of respect for the use of nonharmful flashbangs over lethal weaponry. Still... arson was horrendously dangerous even on empty buildings, and she needed to be taken off the streets before she hurt someone.

And even with all the rushing power of the subway all around her, Miroru wasn't willing to utilize it to subdue the other runner.

Instead, Kin was treated to the impossible sight of her pursuer manifesting in front of her, every footstep echoing in the tunnels as she approached, the sound closer and closer to her back-

-wait, what?

As the sound in all likelihood registered as actually being behind her, the cloaked kitsune leapt into the air and threw one hell of a sucker punch at the back of Kin's head with the goal of socking her unconscious, to be dragged safely from the tunnels and into the waiting arms of the authorities!

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey