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“Kagami-kun is very brave, flying and jumping across rooftops with nothing to hide his identity.”
Kagami nearly leapt out of his skin, turning around to see his blue-haired friend (of sorts) become opaque against the slowly-darkening sky.
“When you say ‘brave’, do you really mean brave, or do you mean stupid?” Kagami frowned, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Maybe both,” Kuroko replied, smiling slightly.
The smile didn’t last long.
“Kagami-kun… you know that you can’t continue to run off without something to hide your identity, even if you’re just trying to ease your mind. Himuro-san isn’t here anymore-”
“I know he’s not!” Kagami lashed, immediately feeling remorse when Kuroko leveled him with a look that was far too soft.
“Kagami-kun...”
Kagami shook his head, reaching his hand up to grip at the ring that still dangled from the chain on his neck.
“He was supposed to be my brother, my friend-”
“Kagami-kun.” Kuroko’s voice was much firmer, and Kagami felt as the urge to fight left his body.
“Himuro-san has made his choice in leaving you behind. There is nothing you can do to persuade him if he doesn’t want to be persuaded. The best that you can do is try to forge your own path.”
Kagami raised a split eyebrow. “And how am I supposed to do that? You know as well as I do that people like us are seen as dangers to society. I can’t masquerade as a hero with no idea what I’m-”
“I never said you had to do it alone.”
Kuroko placed a gentle hand on Kagami’s back, and Kagami tried to avoid eye contact.
“Come to Seirin. We’d be more than happy to have another person with powers on our force, and there would be a community for you to be among. Plus,” Kuroko added with an odd glint in his eyes, “I’ve been informed that we’re in need of someone with high stamina.”
Kagami tried not to blush and sputter, with minimal success.
“I’ll think about it, but I won’t make any promises,” Kagami said, looking to where Kuroko was-
Or rather, where he would have been. Kuroko had either turned invisible again or just left, and Kagami could never be sure which it was. Looking around for a few moments and determining the conversation was over, he sighed and hopped onto the edge of the building’s rooftop.
At least at night, nobody could see him fly.
---
“And why should we let you on our force?” Kasamatsu leaned back in his chair and tilted his head questioningly at the blonde in front of him.
Something about the kid- yes, two years younger than him still constituted as a “kid,” in his opinion- made him feel uneasy. Not in a way that made Kasamatsu feel as though he was in danger, but more in the way that made him feel as though he was going to face constant annoyance.
“You know my track record well enough, don’t you?” The blonde grinned at him in a way that was more saccharine than sincere.
“Look, despite what the others might say, I don’t actually care if you used to be from that group. Titles don’t mean anything when you’re not actively willing to help people. And you look like the kind of person who would cause more trouble than good.”
The blonde kid looked affronted for a moment, as if he didn’t actually expect to be dismissed so easily. It was better that way, really- if the guy in front of him would give up after having his credentials thrown back in his face, Kasamatsu didn’t need him.
“I wasn’t aware that all men with super-strength were meant to be so hardcore,” the blonde kid murmured to himself, and Kasamatsu tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
“If you’re going to be petulant and talk smack, then at least say it to my face.”
The blonde kid’s expression grew sly.
“How about I say it with your face instead?”
Kasamatsu blinked.
“Wait, what?”
The air around the blonde kid seemed to ripple. Kasamatsu watched, stunned, as long blonde locks transformed into short black strands, golden eyes shifted blue, and perfectly-thin eyebrows turned dark and bushy.
Himself.
He was looking at himself.
“How the-”
“I may not be the strongest or the fastest,” the no-longer-blonde kid said, in a voice that was eerily similar to Kasamatsu’s own, “but I learn quickly. I’ve been told that’s something valuable.”
Kasamatsu was incredibly uncomfortable with the prospect of staring at his own smugly-grinning face for much longer, so he averted his eyes and said,
“Just tell me your name.”
When he looked back up, the blonde was, well, blonde again.
“Kise Ryouta. Now when do I start?”
---
“What is that thing?”
Midorima pursed his lips as Takao laughed at him, attracting the attention of a few others in the building as they passed through the busy hallways.
“It’s a toy piano, obviously. Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to have better vision?”
Takao continued to laugh, struggling to keep tears of mirth from his eyes. It barely worked.
“Geez, Shin-chan, I was told when you joined that you had some weird quirks, but the fact that you actually and consistently bring along those lucky items with you is hilarious.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking your aptitude test?” Midorima asked sharply.
“Just like you, I already finished.” Takao quipped.
“It’s absurd that they- what?” Midorima stopped walking staring at Takao in disbelief. “There’s no way you finished that quickly.”
Takao hummed happily. “I could say the same to you, Miracle-sama. I’ll tell you what- I’ll tell you how I got through so quickly if you tell me how you did.”
Midorima pushed up his glasses. “And why would I want to do something so foolish?”
“Because,” Takao replied, stepping forward into Midorima’s personal space, “You’re curious.”
Midorima hesitated.
“It goes back to my power, obviously,” he said, not at all pleased with the way that Takao pouted at him.
“Well, duh. But how did you do it? Did you sneak a look at the answers beforehand or something? Superhuman memory?”
“Hardly,” Midorima huffed. “I have the power of psychometry; I can see the history of any object that I touch. Simply by touching the test paper, I could trace it back to when it was printed, along with the answer sheets.” He adjusted his glasses again. “Not that I needed to anyway. The answers were simple to begin with, obviously.”
“Oh, really? I just cheated off of you.”
Midorima furrowed his brows, dumbfounded.
“How? That shouldn’t be possible!”
Takao laughed again, glancing around and, upon seeing that the coast was clear, leaned over to whisper into Midorima’s ears.
“I have the ability to see anyone’s vision alongside my own. You were smart and got easily accepted, so I figured I’d just peek at what you were seeing and compare your answers to my own. Thanks for the help!” Takao grinned widely, pulling away and sauntering off.
Midorima stared at him as he left, somewhat awed and more than a bit uncomfortable.
---
“Dai-chan, you can’t keep skipping practice again!” Momoi chastised as she walked up to a Aomine, who was dozing off on one of the office couches.
“Five more minutes,” he drawled, and turned onto his back.
“You and I both know that five minutes is going to turn into half an hour,” Momoi rebutted.
Several seconds passed, and Momoi’s frown deepened.
“Dai-chan, I can hear your thoughts. I know you didn’t fall back asleep already, so please, just wake up and get back to the practice room.”
“What’s the point?” Aomine groused, extending his hand towards an abandoned magazine on the opposite side of the office, not even flinching when it rushed right into his waiting grip. “I’m way too strong for anyone to hurt me, criminal or otherwise. Practice gets boring.”
Momoi concentrated on the floor.
“I know you think that you don’t need to train yourself any more, but… what happened to the Aomine Daiki I used to know? The one who didn’t give up on his friends, the one who liked fighting crime, the one who enjoyed being on a force?”
Aomine’s expression seemed to grow heavy at Momoi’s words, and he ran his fingers through his hair.
“Look, Satsuki, times are different. Nobody really wants to be a superhero anymore, not after everything that’s been going down, and especially not after everyone else started getting so…” he struggled to find the right word, “...predictable. You know what it’s like, since you’ve got your mind-reading powers or whatever.”
Momoi had no response, only looking up when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the open office door.
“Well then, it looks like the elusive wonder kid’s been caught again.”
Aomine frowned, glaring up at Imayoshi, who always seemed to wear an infuriating smile.
And who hardly ever opened his fucking eyes.
“Tell me, when’s the last time you manipulated gravity for anything other than just grabbing a gravure magazine?” Imayoshi asked, walking over and plucking the magazine out of Aomine’s hand. “I ought to tell you, seeing an 'employee' reading these kinds of things isn’t good for the public image.”
Imayoshi didn’t resist when Aomine snagged the magazine right back out of his hands, though Aomine saw his smile grow tight.
“I’ll tell you one more time- whether or not you come to practice is your choice. But if you don’t continue to be a benefit to us, you’re not going to find the building as welcoming as it is now. Just a little something for you to keep in mind.”
Aomine glared at Imayoshi, who in turn, frowned and glared at him.
It was only times when Imayoshi actually opened his eyes that Aomine could remember how terrifying he was- the way his entire body felt paper-light as Imayoshi looked right through him- literally.
Man, see-through vision was a bitch when it was aimed at him.
Once again, after the tense moment had passed, Imayoshi reverted to his usual smile, and closed his eyes again.
“I’ll expect to see you performing at maximum capacity once the evaluation period starts,” He said jovially. “Oh, and Aomine?”
“Hah?” Aomine grunted, already letting the apathy sink back in.
“I’d recommend hiding your lunch money somewhere that isn’t in your jacket pocket. You’d never know who might stumble upon it when you’re asleep.”
Aomine frowned, not even bothering to dignify Imayoshi with a response as Momoi followed him out of the room. Another nap, ruined.
---
“Hey, Muro-chin.”
Himuro smiled at Murasakibara as they traveled down the long corridor into the arena, quiet except for the sounds of their footsteps (and the sound of Murasakibara sucking on a hard candy.)
“Yeah?”
“Why are we watching this fight?”
Himuro glanced back down the corridor, where the sound of cheering slowly began to come into the range of hearing.
“Because it’s better to know what kind of powers we’ll be having on our side, isn’t it? I head Fukui is one of our representatives. He’s short, but powerful.” Himuro looked back at Murasakibara, smile still in place, “And since nobody expects it from him, it should be all the more entertaining.”
“Muro-chin is a closet sadist,” Murasakibara said neutrally, which made Himuro chuckle lightly.
He stopped when Murasakibara tugged on the door handle and frowned.
“It’s locked.”
Murasakibara hummed, and touched the door handle again. Immediately, the screws and hinges on the door came loose, the glass screen shattered to pieces, the door handle flew off in his grip, and the metal frame fell forward. The sound of cheers grew much, much louder.
“Oh, I did it again,” Murasakibara said, sounding pleased at the fact that he had deconstructed a door for the third time that day.
“Thank you,” Himuro said, and stepped inside.
At the base of the arena, Fukui and another person- some unnamed girl, Himuro supposed- were running at each other at full speed. They collided in a flurry of motion, though it was hard to see from the angle that Himuro and Murasakibara were at on the sidelines.
“He still isn’t as interesting as your mirage-self,” Murasakibara lazily commented, and stalked off to look for a pair of seats.
---
“Interesting.”
Akashi eyed the man who had just phased his hand through the glass of one of the vending machines and pulled out a bottle of water, completely unnoticed aside from himself.
The man looked up, somewhat surprised to see that he had been caught. When he saw Akashi, he narrowed his eyes.
“Relax, I’m not going to report you,” Akashi said to him- Mayuzumi Chihiro, if his memory served correctly (which it always did.)
Mayuzumi frowned, still hesitant.
“Then what do you want?”
“Nothing much. I’m just interested in your powers.”
Mayuzumi narrowed his gaze.
“And what would the all-seeing leader of section one want to do with me?”
Akashi smiled, taking a seat next to where Mayuzumi had moved moments before.
“I’ve been observing you for a while- you possess such a… unique talent. Why haven’t you taken advantage of it?”
“Ignoring the part where you said you’ve been observing me- which is completely creepy- I don’t really see anything notable about my powers. It’s not like they’re useful for anything, and I don’t particularly feel like being dragged into something I don’t want to do, like being in a higher-ranking section.”
Akashi hummed, and said, “You realize that higher sections have more benefits.”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why hold yourself back?”
Mayuzumi frowned, and searched through his messenger bag for something- a book, no, a light novel (and now he knew what kind of person read those, Akashi mused.)
“Like I said, my powers aren’t useful. And being in a higher section means more responsibilities, which I’m not fond of.”
“And if I were to ask you to move up a section?”
“I’d refuse,” Mayuzumi claimed without skipping a beat.
Akashi smiled, his gold eye seeming to flash.
“You wouldn’t. I can see the most likely outcome of any situation, and right now I see that you’ll eventually agree.”
Mayuzumi’s eyes flickered from his novel to Akashi, and in that moment, Akashi knew he had already won.
Just as predicted.
“I’ll be moving you up to first section within the next few days. Training will be rigorous, but I’m sure I can tap into your full potential.You’ll be serving the greater good, naturally.” He paused, and added, “I look forward to your arrival.”
Mayuzumi sighed, seemingly in submission.
Akashi could tell that Mayuzumi was going to be a bit of a character- torn between preening at someone finally noticing his abilities, and wanting to keep up his nonchalant facade.
But then again, Akashi was nothing if not absolute.
And he refused to back down from such a challenge.