BNHA: I am Reiji Toga

The morning passed with crushing slowness.

Reiji was in his classroom, his cheek resting on his hand, his gaze lost among the scribbles in his notebook. The teacher continued talking at the front of the class, drawing formulas on the blackboard, but his mind was elsewhere.

A few days had passed since their encounter on the train and the little problem with Himiko. Unfortunately, neither had been resolved, at least until he looked up.

A figure passed by the third-floor window. Quickly. Lightly. No one else seemed to notice, but Reiji did. He looked up slowly, and he didn't have to hesitate: that tousled blond hair and dark glasses didn't belong to any teacher.

Hawks.

And he was waiting for him.

Reiji didn't ask how he had gotten there. Or why. He just understood. They had finally contacted him.

The bell rang for the change of classes, and the room erupted in murmurs and movement. Without saying a word, Reiji grabbed his backpack, went out into the hallway, and turned down the back stairs. Leaving behind all his classmates who wanted to strike up a conversation with him.

He found Hawks waiting for him by one of the emergency exits, as if he had simply gotten lost on a walk.

"Did you know that pigeons have a better sense of direction than many humans?" Hawks said, without turning around.

Reiji looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Skipping class for bird trivia?"

"It could be worse," Hawks said, turning with a crooked smile. "I could have asked you to write a long report." Reiji's eye twitched. He remembered his carefree and slightly comical personality, but experiencing it was different.

"What do you want to show me?"

"Something they don't teach at this school," he replied, already walking toward the exit. "I promise to bring you back before lunch."

Reiji followed him without further questions. He was already part of this, and he had a feeling that refusing would result in tragedy. They had already tested him by putting Himiko in danger, and he didn't want to imagine what would happen if they wanted to take him out of the game.

"You better be right. My mother will kill me if she finds out I'm skipping class..."

***

They didn't know exactly how long they had been walking.

The streets had become grayer, narrower. The signs were broken or faded. Some windows had boards across them, others were just empty holes staring soullessly out onto the street. Reiji had been in poor areas before, but this was different.

This was a place the world had decided to forget.

There were no children playing. There were no elderly people on the steps. Only rusty scrap metal, expired advertisements, and a distant hum that could have been either wind or decaying machinery.

Hawks walked beside him with his hands in his pockets. His steps were relaxed, almost carefree. But Reiji knew this wasn't a stroll; it was another one of those stupid tests he'd have to pass.

He knew this because, since they had set foot in that district, Hawks hadn't cracked a single joke.

They walked until they stopped in a side alley. It was half-collapsed, like the backbone of a neighborhood that no longer breathed. At the end, a sliver of artificial light flickered through a poorly closed door. Hawks raised a finger without looking at Reiji. Silence.

They crouched down.

And there he was.

A hero. Full uniform. Shiny boots. The posture of a television heartthrob. On the other side, a guy with a torn jacket, yellow teeth, and a plastic bag hiding something poorly sealed. They spoke in low voices. But not low enough.

"...you know how it is, right? A couple of photos, you arrest me, I act surprised. In two weeks we'll do it again in another neighborhood."

The hero laughed as he handed him a wad of bills.

"Try not to act as badly as last time. The press noticed."

Reiji didn't blink. He didn't even breathe.

The hero turned and started walking toward the exit, adjusting his cape with a practical smile, as if he had just given a motivational speech. The other man stayed behind, counting the money.

Hawks said nothing. He just waited.

"You brought me here to change my view of the world, didn't you?" He asked, knowing full well what he was doing, given that he was working for Japan's public safety commission, the organization Hawks worked for.

"You're perceptive... And what do you think?"

"I think you didn't bring me here just to test me once again. Your job is to stop him, and you brought me here to recruit me, because if my calculations are correct... I should be dead if I hadn't played along with his games, right?"

Hawks didn't answer right away.

The silence stretched between them like a taut string. Only the passing of the "Hero" in the distance broke the silence.

"You see?" he said at last, in a soft voice. "That's why you're here."

Reiji kept his gaze fixed, his brow barely furrowed. 

"I'm not like you," Hawks continued, turning to look at him more closely. "I wasn't born knowing what was wrong with this world. It took me years to understand it. Even with a pretty rough childhood. You... you only need a minute and a couple of facts. You have something different from the rest, apart from your double gift."

"And what does that say about me?"

"That I don't need to explain certain things to you, and in this job, that's the best thing you can do. I remember people getting lost because of stupid questions."

Reiji looked down. Thinking about Hawks' words, that was clearly the reason why they hadn't labeled him a threat and, consequently, killed him. Having a double Quirk was dangerous...

"And what are you supposed to do when you see this? You knew about it beforehand, that's obvious." Reiji spoke again after thinking about his words.

"I know you know without telling you." The confident and assured smile on his face made Reiji relax a little. Despite being in a shady organization, Hawks was a trustworthy man. Even with his 15-16-year-old version.

"Confirm the suspicion, gather evidence... That's what you do now," he muttered.

Hawks smiled. Not mockingly. Respectfully. Without saying anything before Reiji spoke again.

"Stopping him now could mean missing the opportunity to capture a bigger fish, right?"

Hawks looked at him proudly.

"Exactly. It's not as simple as him paying the villain; it's also the people involved who let him go free."

Hawks turned toward the alley, as if he saw something beyond the shadows.

"The Commission isn't looking for child prodigies, Reiji. There are plenty of those. It's looking for individuals with discernment. With that strange mixture of empathy and toughness that makes them useful... dangerous... necessary. And most importantly, they must have some of that darkness inside them."

He put his hands in his pockets. Reiji looked at his back, starting to move with him.

"They've been watching you. You have the same drive as your sister, but you've suppressed it... We can help you with that. We can train you and make you a great hero. Those guys have a lot of free time and resources. It's not just empty talk."

Reiji looked up.

"Is this a formal offer?"

"No," said Hawks, without looking back. "Nothing is official with these guys, but if you're in, they can change your life... And personally, that's what I recommend. I like you, and you already said what would happen if you refused... I don't think your life and your family's life is a good price to pay. Basically, you have no choice, at least not for now."

They walked silently toward the district exit. There were no more words for a while.

Almost at the corner, Hawks stopped, as if remembering something.

"Oh, by the way..." he said as he took a small folded envelope from inside his jacket. "Call this number when you're ready. It will change your life in many ways, but I think it's a good path. You want to protect your sister, don't you?"

Reiji looked at him, somewhat puzzled.

"This is the best way, believe me. I'm not saying this as a part-time worker, I'm saying it as an acquaintance."

Reiji took it carefully.

"See you soon, serious boy. Oh, and if anyone asks... yes, you skipped class today on your own."

And with a slight flutter of his feathers, he disappeared, flying through the abandoned streets in broad daylight.

Reiji was left alone. With the piece of paper with a number he was determined to call, but not now... He looked at the streets and sighed.

The walk back would be long.

But no longer than the journey he had just begun.

***

The school cafeteria buzzed with the incessant murmur of hungry students. For most, it was just a break in the day. For Reiji, it was the most exposed moment.

He sat down calmly, placing his tray on the empty table. As soon as he started eating, a shadow fell over his table.

"Ah, there you are!" exclaimed a familiar voice, just before a pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind.

Reiji didn't flinch. He already knew who it was.

"Himiko," he greeted her, unsurprised.

The girl plopped down next to him as if it were her reserved seat. Her backpack was loosely closed, her uniform slightly wrinkled, and her hair still damp from having wet her head in the bathroom minutes earlier. It was a habit of hers to "refresh her mind," as she said.

"You missed my favorite class," she complained, sitting down with a crooked smile. "And I even combed my hair for you today."

"I didn't know we were in the same classroom."

She puffed out her cheeks.

"I know perfectly well that you ran away. Where did you go?"

"For a walk."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

She looked at him, analyzing every inch of his face. As if waiting for a crack. A sign of a lie.

"I don't believe you at all," she said sweetly, just before biting his shoulder with a force that made him hiss.

"Hey!" Reiji complained, pushing her away with a slight elbow. "What are you doing?"

"If you don't tell me, I'll bite," she declared with the most absurd solemnity. "I have the whole lunch to bite the truth out of you, so you better cooperate."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. Still, he smiled.

"It's not important. I just... needed to think."

"About what?"

"Things."

She looked at him as if she wanted to pierce him with her gaze. Then she pursed her lips.

"Does it have to do with the guys from the other day?"

He didn't answer.

"With your Quirk?"

Nothing.

"With something bigger?"

Reiji finally raised his eyes. He held her gaze. Not defiantly, but with an unsettling stillness.

"I'm working something out," he said at last. "When I have answers, you'll be the first to know. But it's not time yet."

Himiko didn't press him. Not with words. She just rested her chin on her arm, watching him out of the corner of her eye as she picked at her rice with her chopsticks.

"I don't like it when you get so serious," she murmured. "I don't like it when you seem so distant, when we're sitting right next to each other. Besides, you treat me like a little sister when I'm the older one..."

He didn't respond. Not because he didn't want to. But because he didn't know how.

She moved a little closer, her voice now barely a whisper:

"If you run away again, I'll follow you. Even if I have to bite every person between you and me."

Reiji laughed softly. Not mockingly, but with that strange affection reserved only for her.

And although they continued eating, amid the noise of the dining room and other people's conversations, something slipped between them. A silent certainty.

He didn't say it, but he felt it with every decision: every step he took brought him closer to the world where Himiko could still be just a child. At the same time, he was moving further and further away from her...