Sora nodded as Kazashi made her point about hero costumes, willing to concede on that matter. "True enough, heh." He said with a chuckle as she indicated her own dress to emphasize her point. "Though I would at least like to get some gear to go along with my stuff, you know? Can't hurt to have more options, so long as they don't weigh me down." She continued, expressing a bit of envy at his lack of notoriety for the time being. "Yeah, I at least want to enjoy that while it lasts. Though I can't imagine people will talk about me all that much once my name does get out there; not much to discuss."

Kazashi went on to thank him for his congratulations, informing him that it was actually the same guy she had been dating since before they were in school together. At this his smile grew. "That's amazing. Y'all being together that long, I mean. Won't lie, I'm a little jealous. I'm sure I'd love to meet him if we ever get the chance! What's his name, anyway?" He could remember that nobody back at school, to his knowledge at least, had ever met her now-husband. But he wasn't one to pry into someone's business. Even now he was just kinda getting swept up in their reuniting.

Sora's eyes scanned the crowd as his guide inquired about the Circus of Man organization he had mentioned, both keeping an eye out for trouble and also seeing if anybody had reacted to the name. No trouble to speak of yet, so he looked back at her as she noted the trouble Japan had also had with something a bit similar. He made a mental note of the case she mentioned, deciding he would look into the matter when he had the chance. "The Circus of Man was a real sick group of villains." He started, his easy smile turning into a stern frown as he remembered the day of the raid on their headquarters. "They would force the people they captured to perform for the criminal elite in a secret underground facility,beating and starving anyone who disappointed or resisted. We've confirmed at least 12 deaths at the hands of their treatment of their "performers", last I saw the records."

"As I said, they captured and imprisoned Mutation and Transformation quirk users. At least 80 disappearances were attributed to them by the time we tracked their base down." He looked up at the sky, thankful for its warm light as he remembered the cold underground tunnels he explored two years ago. "During my time at my sister Aella's agency, I befriended a good number of people around town where she was stationed. And I also investigated the sites of several people reported missing's last known appearances. Every time I searched one of those areas I'd catch a scent, but it wasn't enough to go off of."

Sora paused, remembering two of his friends. "Two of the people I met were a Mutation Quirk holder named Kuchinawa, whose power turned him into a three-headed snake. And the other was an orphaned little girl named Bailey who he took care of; Bailey had a Transformation Quirk that let her turn into a big Wendigo monster, though she couldn't control it. And one day, their names popped up in the missing persons reports."

His frown deepened for a moment, but then his smile returned. "But as much as I hate that they got caught, it was integral to the takedown of the Circus. See, because I saw Bailey and Kuchinawa a bunch, I had their scents memorized. And I also detected that same scent from the previous disappearances; the aftermath of a Quirk used to disable them. Between the stronger scent trail and them needing to be careful due to how dangerous my friends were, the scent lingered for longer and I was able to trace it all the way to one of the underground entrances."

He looked back at Kazashi. "So me and my sister rounded up as many heroes as we could on short notice, and I lead them to the Circus. We were able to take them by surprise and snatched up a ton of people and important data before they could delete it. Captured nearly 200 criminals in the process."

Kazashi mentioned that she would bring the case up with local investigators to be safe, and he nodded. "Thank you. And as for leads, some of the data we recovered was about villains who were hired to capture promising "acts" and smuggle them to America for performances. No confirmed identities on them yet, but the location of most of them was narrowed down to Tokyo. Guess they figured a place as big as this, nobody'd notice or care about a few missing people."

Despite that, he smiled a bit. "Oh, but it isn't all bad news! I try and keep up to date on info relating to the case, and I recently learned that someone who was freed from the Circus has actually moved to Japan to enroll in UAU." He explained, sounding quite proud of the fact. The fact that someone he helped save had also decided to become a hero, and at the same school no less, was something that made it all feel worth it.

Sora decided to stop talking for the moment, worried he had been a bit self-indulgent. He sniffed at the air, trying to see if anything was suspicious or off. It was nice to not have to rely on his eyes alone all the time. Not catching anything for the time being, he looked back at his fellow hero. "So what about you, Kazashi? Besides getting married, anything else of note happen?" He was tempted to ask about the case she had mentioned, but wasn't sure if he should. It was easy for him to talk about his own happenings; not so easy to ask someone else for theirs.

Kazashi McCoy

While Sora would not consider himself to be an anti-social person, he was willing to admit that there weren't very many people outside of his family that he had been in contact with since returning to Japan. He had met up with Kazashi to patrol Akihabara not long after returning, and also joined Nadeshiko in exploring the same region at the request of her father. That was about it for old acquaintances.

That is, until today.

One of the first cases Sora had taken to investigating once he returned to his home was a drug ring that had been targeting local youths. The thought of such scummy people targeting innocent teens with dangerous substances lit a rare fire in the young hero's belly, and that was before he had learned more about the ring itself. Apparently the ones running this organization weren't keen on any sort of failure to meet expectations from any of their unfortunate clients; a number of civilians who had been reported to associate with known dealers and suppliers of the drug ring had been reported missing, and it didn't take a pro hero to put two and two together. One of the clients who had been reported missing was even a student currently attending UAU, the very same school that had trained him to be a hero.

But while Sora was quite sure a simple drug ring wouldn't be too much trouble for him at this point, he tried to never be the sort to let their ego drive them into a terrible mistake. And so, once he learned that at least one student from UAU was involved, he immediately made the decision to contact the school. But specifically, he contacted Kamigawa Fuyuko; the dorm mother of the university.

Fuyoko was already working at UAU back when Sora was attending, and had been for quite some time already (not that one would know it just by looking at her). She was a reasonable and reliable sort, but above all she cared for the future heroes that she was responsible for. And it wasn't hard to imagine why, especially now; from what he had heard, her own daughter was now attending the school herself. Sora wouldn't be surprised if she had stormed the gang's hideout on her own if he had told her that it was Hiyori who had been captured; thankfully it wasn't, so that was one crisis averted.

Right now Sora was scoping out the old building he had tracked the drug ring to. The police were on their way, but wouldn't be there for a bit. Between himself and Kamigawa, though, he was pretty sure that backup would be unnecessary. So, from his position around the corner looking up at the unassuming structure, he turned to look at the dorm mother. "So Fuyuko-san, how would you like to approach this?" He asked her. Though he was a pro in his own right, he was more than happy to defer to someone with more experience; especially when there were innocent lives at stake. He was a bit curious to be working with someone who was formerly a teacher of his, and were it not for the current situation he would actually be rather excited. But as things stood now, he wished their reunion had been under less... stressful circumstances.

Fuyuko

Sora finally stirred from his statue-like focus, glancing back at the man running the little "game". He looks over to see Nadeshiko still desperately scribbling away at her notebook, trying to figure out what was going on until she was biting at the end of her pen. "You're right, Nadeshiko." Sora confirmed, when she said it was all wrong. "You're never going to get the right answer, because the answer is always changing." He looked around the shop for a moment, before walking away in the direction of another customer nearby. Something seemed to have caught his attention as he went behind the book shelf to speak to them.

After a minute or so he returned, shaking his head but giving Nadeshiko a smile. "This is some operation you've got going here." Sora told the man, his pale green eyes practically boring a hole into the cheater's. He stepped closer to the man, leaning on the counter. ""Any particular reason you went with the rubber ducks for this... game?" It was pretty random question, but then again he didn't especially care for the answer. He looked back at his associate. "Nadeshiko. Why don't you take another shot?" He suggested. Did he have some sort of plan? Sora pulled out his phone and pointed it at the man, not even bothering to hide that he was recording him to see if he did anything as she took her guess.

Nadeshiko Kouji

Sora inhaled sharply as he raised his arms above his head, taking in the warm rays of the sun on such a beautiful day. He was taking a day off from his hero work so that he could take a look around Shinjuku; he had been doing such things every few days, slowly relearning the way Tokyo was laid out after his time working in America. For the most part things were the same. But for every two familiar sights, there was one new.

The young hero was wearing an outfit near identical to his hero costume, the only major differences being the lack of gloves, his jacket was thinner and more lightweight, and his goggles were replaced with a pair of sunglasses currently shielding his eyes with their reflective lenses. His wardrobe wasn’t too extensive, and most of his clothes were along the same lines as what he was wearing now.

As he finished stretching, a faded old sign caught Sora’s attention. A familiar one, too; the sign was there to direct people to the nearby theme park. Or at least, it would be if the park was open. The park had been shut down for as long as he could remember, and probably even longer. Heck, he even remembered seeing it in the distance once as a kid. He had asked his mom if they could go, only for her to tell him it wasn’t open anymore. Come to think of it, he didn’t think he had ever even known what the park was once called before it was shut down. Apparently it was something of a hub despite this though, from what he had always heard and seen. Constant coming and going in and out of the gates, all sorts of people. It had been such an interesting sight that in his childhood days, Sora would frequently visit the park just to people watch and see what they were up to. Sometimes he’d see them working on the rides and attractions, so he had always hoped back then that maybe if they got the rides working he could play on them.

Sora’s curiosity and nostalgia were ringing in his head, and given he had nothing else to do today, he figured that he would head on over. It had been years since he had been close to the park, after all. Might as well check things out for old time’s sake. A new destination in mind, a relaxed smile took Sora’s face as he walked down the path, taking his time with his hands in his pockets and humming a quiet tune. As he walked he tried to see if he could remember anybody in particular that had stood out from his past visits. There was one he could vaguely recall sticking out to him; he’d never gotten a good look, but they had seemed to change a bit every time he saw them. He couldn’t remember exactly how, though.

bean

Family

Sora hails from a family of heroes, both immediate and extended; His father Kendrick, from the eastern United States. His mother Kotone, also known as Sonia Boom, from Japan’s own Tokyo. And his elder sister, adopted before his birth, Aella.

Kendrick: Kendrick is a former support tech designer for heroes, specializing in the automation of heroes’ devices and equipment. His Quirk, simply called Gust, allows him to generate and control powerful winds. Kendrick met Sora’s mother when she was requested to America regarding a particular criminal she was familiar with. The two worked together on the case, getting to know each other. When the job was done, Kotone returned to Japan. Kendrick, having felt a longing like never before, decided to pack up shop and move to Japan. Once settled in he managed to get into contact with Kotone, and the two began dating, eventually marrying. Kendrick was the disciplinarian of the household, being strict but compromising. Though Sora’s training was largely handled by his mother, his father instilled in him the importance of being inventive and clever… and more than a little sarcasm made its way into the boy’s personality as well. Kendrick is partially retired from his support work; he still will accept orders from old associates or anyone his family puts in touch with him, but most of his time is devoted to his antique shop.

Kotone: Before her retirement from hero work several years ago, Kotone was known as one of Japan’s top heroes; the Thundering Heroine, Sonia Boom. Her Quirk, Volume, allows her to control how loud things were; she can render them almost silent, or amplify them many times over. Beyond her competence as a hero focused on villain suppression, Kotone owed much of her popularity to charitable ventures. She was frequently making appearances and donating much of her earnings to local shelters, hospitals, and the like. Sonia did much of the training for Sora and his sister, improving their skills in combat both with and without their Quirks. Kotone retired from hero work following an incident in her last mission that left her partially deaf. While compensated for by a hearing aid, the loss of her hearing saw the woman make the choice to step down, attributing it to her getting sloppy and not wanting to put others at risk since her sound manipulating abilities were now more difficult to use. Nowadays she runs the day to day activity at the antique shop she and Kendrick own, always ready to offer her family, friends, and strangers alike an empathetic ear.

Aella: A young girl who was orphaned by a former enemy of the heroine Sonia Boom, Aella was the child of two of Kotone’s former classmates at UAU, and was adopted by her when she was only three or four years old. Her Quirk, Zipline, is a combination of her father’s metal manipulation and her mother’s portal creation quirk; through it she can create and place zippers on objects and people, which she can then zip or unzip in order to connect or separate them. Aella attended UAU and graduated, becoming the Pro Hero Known as Zip Hop. Wanting to see the world, Aella decided to travel to the USA in order to open her own hero agency, though she makes sure to visit home during major holidays and events for the family. Aella is the social butterfly sort, always knowing what to say and how to say it to make friends. Because of this, as well as her powerful Quirk, her younger brother has always admired her. So much so, in fact, that Sora decided to join her in America following his own graduation from UAU, working with her at her agency to train and get experience for about two years before returning to Japan. She’s currently single, and shows no interest in pursuing a relationship with anyone.



The Charm Necklace

Sora carries a necklace decorated with silver charms at all times. Originally it was a gift given to him to celebrate his enrollment in UAU; a simple black chord hung loosely around his neck, decorated with charms that symbolize his family. After his friend Shinokame was killed in a fight with a villain after she became a vigilante, Sora added a new charm to it in remembrance of his lost friend, hoping to remind himself of their shared dream of becoming heroes. Since then, Sora has decided to add a new charm to the necklace whenever he feels as though he’s made an important connection with someone… though as of yet, Shinokame’s is the only charm added to the original three.

The Helmet: A charm made in the shape of the helmet Sora’s mother wore during her days as a hero. Looking at it reminds him of her love and empathy, and how she always took the time for her children.

The Logo: A charm made in the image of Kendrick’s brand he would place on support items. Sora often looks at it to remind himself to think and consider all options, and to remember his father’s unwavering support and confidence.

The Zipper: Made to symbolize and reference his older sister’s Quirk. Seeing the zipper often helps brighten Sora’s mood, remembering his sister’s friendly optimism and love of fun.

The Turtle: Made in remembrance of Shinokame, his fallen friend. Though she may have turned to vigilantism, Sora remembers her for her desire to carry out justice and her determination. Whenever Sora doubts himself, he looks to this charm and remembers the promise they made together.



Major Villain Cases

During Sora’s time as a hero, he has battled with numerous villains. In particular, however, two cases earned him great fame and popularity among the people of America.

The Circus of Man

The Circus of Man was an infamous based in the eastern United States of America, getting its name from the twisted premise of the organization; predominantly composed of serial kidnappers and abductors, the Circus of Man was an organization that saw those with Mutation (and to a lesser extent, Transformation) Quirks as freaks of nature. The Circus of Man was responsible for the disappearance of no less than 80 such Quirk users, and is currently suspected of playing a part in twice as many. Those captured by the organization were “trained” to perform in a twisted circus for the entertainment of the world’s most elite criminals and villains. These “attractions” were given the bare minimum of food and medical treatment to keep them up and moving so they could continue to perform for their sick audience. Popular acts were forced to take the stage more often, while the least popular were punished with brutal beatings and, in at least 12 confirmed instances, death.

Sora played an integral part in the dismantling of the Circus of Man during his time in America. While patrolling New York, he made a point to befriend and familiarize himself with as many locals as he could manage to remember, wanting to become a reassuring presence to the city’s population. Among the many people he met were a number of Mutation Quirk holders. In particular he befriended an odd pair; a three-headed serpent man named Kuchinawa, and an orphaned little girl in his care named Bailey, who could transform into a fearsome Wendigo, though she lacked full control over her Transformation.

Such distinctive and extravagant appearances and abilities were practically irresistible to the Circus of Man, who spent quite some time staking out the two’s home to figure out the perfect time to strike. One cold night in November, when Bailey was asleep and Kuchinawa was weakened by the weather, the two were abducted while unable to put up any resistance.

However, the kidnappers made a grave mistake that would lead to the collapse of their organization. The people who kidnapped Bailey and Kuchinawa were some of the most skilled “recruiters” of the organization, and as such were responsible for the collection of many of the abductions in this particular area of New York. Sora, having assisted in investigating several previous kidnappings by the group, had noticed a familiar scent across each location; the scent of the kidnappers and their Quirks’ aftermath. When he heard of Bailey and Kuchinawa’s disappearance, he immediately joined the investigation and discovered the same scent as he had detected before. But due to Kuchinawa’s size and how careful they needed to be to not wake Bailey, less she go berserk, their scent lingered moreso than their previous kidnappings. And with a stronger scent to track, Sora was able to pinpoint the headquarters of the Circus of Man with the assistance of his sister Aella and the rest of New York’s heroes.

A raid was conducted on the hidden facility, striking as soon as they could mobilize. In the end, nearly 200 criminals and villains were subdued and/or arrested, and the imprisoned kidnap victims released. Many records were seized in the process, revealing that the Circus of Man had connections as far as Japan and China, having those captured across the sea smuggled to the states across the ocean and through the skies. Sora saw an explosion in local popularity following the events thanks to his role in tracking down the organization. About two years later, after Sora had clashed with the criminal known as Don Blood, he was contacted regarding the Circus of Man case; their connections in Japan had been narrowed down to Tokyo, his home, and he was requested to investigate thanks to his involvement with the case coupled with his familiarity with the area. Sora accepted, which was the biggest factor in his return to Japan.


Don Blood

Sora wasn’t waiting for much longer before he heard a familiar voice over the din of the crowded streets, shouting his name. A very distinct red blur was rushing towards him, and when it stopped he saw Kazashi standing there with welcoming arms and a toothy grin. He smiled back at her as she welcomed him home, and happily returned her offered hug. “Good to be back, Kazashi! Thanks for inviting me along today.” He told her with a slight chuckle as he let go. She noted that he seemed to have changed, which did at least confirm his wondering if he had or not. He shrugged. “Maybe I bulked up a little. Things were pretty crazy in New York. Don’t think I would have lasted too long without my sister there showing me around, heh!”

He looked his old schoolmate over curiously. Back when he first met her, he was pretty certain that she wouldn’t ever wear such a thing. But she had definitely grown out of her shell since that first year. “I’m not the only one who changed, I see. You look good! How have things been here while I was gone?” He asked, crossing his arms as he awaited her answer. “I dan’t wait to catch each other up!” Sora had also changed some in his time away. Shortly before leaving Japan, those who knew him before would have likely noticed him growing a bit listless. Some bad news he received the day he graduated had really shaken him. But now he stood tall but relaxed, a focused but easy look in his eyes. He was kind of a stickler back in school, but it seemed having some more experience had loosened him up considerably.

Kazashi McCoy