Chapter 25: The Terror of Air Manipulation
"Don't bring me dinner tonight," Akio Tatsuma said as he stopped by Fujiwara Convenience Store and looked at Sakura Inoue's tired face. "I need to go out later."
Lately, Sakura had been sleeping badly.
She kept having the same nightmare—an enormous fire, repeating over and over again.
It had gotten bad enough that even Akio noticed. If her face hadn't looked so exhausted these past few days, he might never have known anything was wrong.
Sakura looked at him uneasily.
"Akio… I've had a bad feeling recently. Don't wander around tonight. I'm worried."
Akio smiled gently.
"You should worry about yourself first. Get more rest. Don't overwork yourself."
Then, half-joking, he added, "If it really comes down to it, I can take care of you."
Sakura nodded, warmth rising in her chest. By now, she truly treated Akio like family.
After returning home, Akio took a hot shower and immediately opened the system shop.
At the moment, he had two Quirk Enhancement Pills.
One had come from the lottery.The other had been purchased directly from the system store.
The pill from the lottery didn't automatically raise a Quirk's level the way the purchased one did, but with Akio's current level, it could still grant a full upgrade.
He swallowed the first one.
"Upgrade Air Manipulation."
Air Manipulation — Level 2 (50/200)
Upgrade successful.
Akio didn't stop there.
He immediately swallowed the second pill.
"Upgrade Air Manipulation."
Air Manipulation — Level 3 (100/300)
Upgrade successful.
A stronger invisible force surged through his body.
At this point, Air Manipulation actually felt slightly stronger than his lightning.
Akio tested it right away.
He punched toward the wall without touching it.
A ripple flashed through the air.
Bang.
A clean hole opened in the wall—about the size of an adult fist.
That was with him controlling the output.
Then he climbed to the rooftop.
Raising his left hand, he struck at the empty air.
A faint cracking sound followed.
For a brief instant, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to collapse inward under his control, forming an invisible shockwave. If a villain had been standing in front of him, the impact alone might have shattered their internal organs.
Akio's eyes brightened.
Then he swung his hand again.
A stream of compressed air shot outward and pierced the water tank on the building across from him.
Water burst out in a rush.
But just before it could come crashing down, Akio clenched his hand.
The water froze in midair.
Then, under his control, it flowed back up and poured neatly into the damaged tank.
Akio stood on the rooftop, laughing.
"From today on, I can finally count myself as a real force in this world!"
A furious voice immediately shouted from below.
"What kind of lunatic is yelling up there?!"
Akio grinned.
He felt fantastic.
A second later, he leaped straight off the tenth floor.
Using Air Manipulation around his body, he controlled the currents around him and turned the fall into a glide.
He floated through the air, landed lightly on a neighboring building, then jumped again—moving between rooftops like a bird.
Before long, he had left his neighborhood behind and reached a riverside slope.
Standing there and watching the dark water churn below, Akio made up his mind.
Tonight, he was going to act.
If he remembered the timeline correctly, the League of Villains should already be preparing its next moves.
And if that was true, then Nomu was probably already being developed in secret.
Akio knew better than to underestimate that monster.
Even All Might had needed to go all out against it.
Right now, Akio was nowhere near that level.
Still, there had to be more than one Nomu facility. Somewhere in this city, one of them was hidden.
He didn't know the exact location.
So he would search.
First, he stopped at a supermarket and bought a black cloak to hide his hands and body movements while using his Quirk.
At 8:30 PM, the streets were still crowded.
Wrapped in black, Akio looked suspicious enough that several pedestrians gave him odd looks.
Heroes wore strange outfits all the time, sure—but a person covered head to toe in a dark cloak didn't exactly look trustworthy.
Then suddenly—
"Thief! Stop him!"
A woman's scream rang out ahead.
The crowd scattered.
A man with a bright red mohawk came charging down the street, clutching a woman's handbag.
He headed straight toward Akio.
"Move!" the thief shouted.
He was Quirk-awakened, and the moment he saw Akio blocking the way, he opened his mouth and spat out a burst of flame.
Akio didn't move.
He simply tightened his left hand.
The air shifted instantly.
The flame vanished.
The mohawked man's eyes widened.
Then he dropped to his knees, clutching his throat as his face turned red.
He couldn't breathe.
Pure terror filled his eyes.
His flames had been snuffed out in an instant, and now the air itself seemed to be choking him.
What kind of Quirk was this?
It was terrifying.
It was almost the perfect murder weapon.
Akio had no intention of killing him, though.
This was still a society ruled by law. Even heroes faced consequences for killing, and Akio wasn't even licensed yet.
A second later, a nearby pro hero rushed in, kicked the thief to the ground, and pinned him in front of the crowd.
From the perspective of the onlookers, the hero had solved everything.
No one understood why the thief had suddenly dropped to his knees in agony.
No one realized Akio had done anything.
The pressure vanished.
Akio turned to leave.
The pro hero had arrived. His role was finished.
"Wait."
Akio stopped.
The pro hero had risen and was staring at his back.
"Is there a problem?" Akio asked, lowering his voice.
"Turn around," the hero said. "Take off the cloak."
By now, a sizable crowd had gathered around them.
Akio stayed still.
No chance.
If he revealed himself here, he might end up on camera. And if the League of Villains' spies got hold of the footage, they could connect him to U.A. and start digging.
A capable observer might already be able to infer too much from the way the thief's flames had vanished and his breathing had been cut off.
So Akio made his decision.
"See you around."
Lightning surged through his legs.
He shot upward into the air, using Air Manipulation to keep himself from falling.
The pro hero stared in shock.
"He can fly?"
Jumping and flying were not the same thing. He could tell the difference immediately.
Whoever this cloaked figure was, he was dangerous—and definitely unusual.
The hero grabbed his radio at once.
"Suspicious individual spotted. Requesting backup in Sector XX immediately!"
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