A few weeks passed after the news about the strange new vigilantes had come about
Endeavor didn't bring it up at home, but Shoto noticed he had been busier than usual. He even asked him a few questions about his whereabouts. Did his father suspect him? He answered them honestly since he wasn't responsible and had an alibi. Endeavor looked relieved. Despite that there was a lot more coverage in recent days. However, the news talked more about the fire user "The Great Demon Lord Dragneel."
Shoto still thought the name was ridiculous.
But the other one, the ice user from the yakuza incident, barely came up anymore. It was mentioned once or twice, usually as a strange side story before the news moved on to the masked fire vigilante who had taken down the Rhino villain.
That was probably for the best.
At least, Shoto hoped so.
That afternoon, Shoto walked beside Endeavor through the upper floor of the Endeavor Hero Agency.
It had been a while since he had come here. There were two things he was here for.
When he was younger, Endeavor used to bring him more often, mostly to get him used to the agency and the kind of work heroes handled outside of fighting villains. Shoto had never really enjoyed it. It always felt less like learning and more like being shown what he was supposed to become. To reach something his father couldn't.
He had tried to get Yakuto and Haise to come along again after their first visit so he wouldn't be bored.
Haise didn't show any interest after that.
Yakuto was worse.
Burnin was still scared of him after the incident, and Endeavor never bothered dragging him back again. Shoto was pretty sure the assistant flinched when she saw him, since they looked so similar.
So now it was just him.
He had not gone to the agency much lately because of school, training, and exams. But after seeing how strong both of his brothers had become, he found himself thinking about it more.
Yakuto was reckless, and loud. But he was strong. Shoto hadn't realized how strong he had gotten until he saw the news about the Rhino villain who was a B tier villain. He was already stronger than some heroes.
Haise was quiet, but smart. He knew Haise never really tried that hard in school. He was also strong, he took down an entire Yakuza group by himself.
They were both improving at such speeds without their fathers help.
Shoto did not want to fall behind.
So he had asked Endeavor if he could come to the agency again.
Endeavor had looked almost too pleased.
That alone nearly made Shoto regret asking.
Now Endeavor walked beside him, arms crossed, flames burning steadily around his shoulders as he explained the different floors.
"Patrol reports are handled there," Endeavor said, gesturing toward a room filled with sidekicks and staff moving between desks. "They track incidents, villain sightings, property damage, and requests from police."
Shoto nodded quietly.
"The support division manages equipment and costume maintenance. The medical response is two floors below. Dispatch is separate from patrol because calls need to be sorted quickly. A hero agency is not just combat."
"I know," Shoto said.
Endeavor glanced at him. "Knowing and understanding are different."
Shoto did not argue.
They passed a large room where sidekicks were reviewing footage from several districts. Screens showed traffic cameras, incident maps, and police reports. A few sidekicks bowed when Endeavor passed, then immediately went back to work.
Shoto's eyes lingered on one screen.
A blurry image of a black figure leaving the bank.
His chest tightened slightly.
"Are you still looking into the strange hero?" Shoto asked.
Endeavor stopped walking.
Shoto looked up at him. "The fire one. The one from the bank."
For a second, Endeavor looked surprised.
Not much. Just enough for Shoto to notice.
"You have been following the news?"
"A little."
Endeavor turned his gaze toward the screen. "The police are still investigating."
"Do they know who he is?"
"No."
Shoto kept his face calm.
Endeavor continued, "The villain disabled most of the bank cameras before the fight. The remaining footage is poor. Witnesses only saw a masked individual in black clothing. Fire quirk. High speed."
Shoto nodded slowly.
Too exactly.
"And the yakuza incident?" Shoto asked.
Endeavor's eyes shifted back to him.
This time, the surprise was clearer.
Shoto quickly added, "The one with the ice user. It was on the news too."
Endeavor studied him for a moment.
"The police are still looking into it," he said. Clearing stopping there.
"I see."
It was obvious Endeavor wasn't telling him everything.
Not that he blamed him. He was still a student. Police investigations were not something he should have access to.
But he had heard enough.
They did not know.
Not about Yakuto.
Not about Haise.
Shoto felt some of the tension in his shoulders loosen.
Endeavor noticed anyway.
"You are interested in them now?" he asked.
Shoto paused.
"No," he said carefully. "I was just curious.Everyone is calling them Heroes"
Endeavor's expression hardened.
"They aren't heroes! They are vigilantes who tried to take the law into their own hands. Acts like these are reckless, what if someone had gotten hurt."
Shoto blinked.
Endeavor's voice calmed a bit. "Acting without a hero license is illegal. It does not matter if someone defeats a villain. If they use their quirk in public without authorization, interfere with police investigations, or endanger civilians, they will be treated as a criminal."
Shoto nodded.
"I understand."
Endeavor stared at him for another moment before turning away.
"Remember that."
"I will."
Shoto followed after him, his face calm.
Inside, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He definitely was not going to snitch on his brothers.
–
For the next several months, Natsu kept his word, technically.
He didn't go out looking for villains. Not after Shoto repeatedly gave him an unusually long and serious lecture that sounded more like something their dad would say. And he had promised. So he didn't.
When he told Itsuki Shou and Glowl that he was laying low for a while, they were elated., "Good. that was way too close."
So Natsu stayed local. No hero business for him. No close calls.
Instead, he passed the time spending time with his friends, training and sparring and studying.
With both of their quirks now awakened, their matches were too intense to be used at their house and training rooms. So they did it the old fashioned way.
They relied on fists and feet. Pure hand-to-hand. Both Natsu and Gray knew they couldn't always just rely on quirks. Their own physical strength and skill was also as important. It was also far more fun to fight without their quirks.
The training room was quiet except for the sound of feet scuffing against the mat.
They both squared up against each other. The air felt tense for a moment and Natsu immediately charged in.
Gray circled slowly, arms up, eyes narrowed. "You always rush in."
Natsu stood loose, relaxed. "And you always overthink."
Gray darted forward, feinting a jab before dropping low, sweeping at Natsu's legs.Natsu jumped.
Gray smirked and twisted his body mid-motion, shifting into a follow-up elbow strike aimed for Natsu's ribs as he landed.
Natsu dipped just enough to let it graze past him, then drove his shoulder forward, ramming Gray off balance. Gray grunted, skidding back with a small wince.
"Too easy" Natsu taunted, his feet already in motion again.
Gray didn't answer, he pivoted on his heel and caught Natsu's arm as he lunged in, locking the elbow and trying to drag him down into a chokehold.
"You were saying?" he muttered.
But Natsu grinned through his teeth. "Nice try."
In one fluid motion, Natsu shifted his weight, twisted out of the hold, and slammed his forearm into Gray's chest, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Gray staggered and fell back onto the mat with a dull thud.
Natsu stood over him, panting lightly, arms loose at his sides. "Smart move. Just not fast enough."
Gray coughed once, glaring. "You're like an animal. How are you that strong?"
"Yes, like a dragon!" Natsu said, offering a hand to help him up. "You think too much."
Gray took the hand reluctantly and stood. "One of these days, I'm going to freeze your smug face into the mat."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Natsu said with a grin, already bouncing on his heels, ready for round two.
Outside of sparring, Natsu mostly spent his free time goofing off with his friends. Arcades, ramen shops, rooftops, and just wandering through the quieter parts of Musutafu with Itsuki and Glowl made up most of his weekends. Sometimes they talked about quirks, other times about girls, but usually, they just enjoyed the rare stretch of peace.
But Natsu was bored. There wasn't much else to do. He thought about sneaking off to fight villains, but Shoto was keeping an eye on him like a hawk.
4 months later
Eventually Natsu returned to his regular school life.
He didn't break his promise. Not once.
"Bro, this is actual hell," Natsu groaned, forehead planted dramatically against his algebra worksheet. "I'd rather just go without fighting."
"Aren't you already doing that??"
Despite the endless complaints, Natsu did the work. Slowly. Begrudgingly. With the occasional kick under the table from Glowl when he got distracted.
When he got a B- on his last test, he held it up like a trophy.
"I'm basically a genius," he declared.
"You're basically average," Itsuki deadpanned. "You know the hero tests are much, much harder than these tests right?
Natsu looked defeated and sank back to his seat. The hardest part of his life was studying.
If there was one thing that kept Natsu from exploding, it was sparring.
At least he was able to get rid of all that excess energy by consistently training and sparring with Gra. He would simply go out for a run for miles on end, sometimes with weights attached to him. It was something Shoto gave him. Supposedly Endeavor had some weighted bands to train with. Shoto had borrowed them and given them to him. Natsu was using them to beat his record.
Weekends were now much more simple.
They hung out like normal teenagers, well, as normal as it could get. Studying, going out or spending time at the arcade.
Natsu, Itsuki, and Glowl roamed Musutafu's quieter districts. Yakitori stands. Claw machines. Glowl's favorite thrift store that sold "vintage hero capes.".
The only obstacle that was coming up was the dreadful final exam.
–
The sun dipped low behind Musutafu's skyline, casting long shadows that swallowed the streets in lazy gold.
Natsu trudged along the main road, head hung low, his school bag bouncing against his spine with each sluggish step. His friends had bailed early for a group study session, but Natsu couldn't bring himself to go. Not today. His brain felt fried, like it had been roasted from the inside out by formulas, grammar drills, and sheer boredom. Now he knew how his opponents felt.
"Stupid math, english, history.." he muttered under his breath, eyes glazed. "I'm not gonna use them to punch a villain…"
He barely registered the squad of patrol cars arriving up ahead. A few police officers stood outside a sleek, glass-fronted lab building, caution tape flickering in the breeze. Natsu didn't even slow down.
His mind wandered. To food. To sleep. Maybe both at the same time. He was so out of it, he didn't hear the commotion until a voice snapped him out of his daze.
"Watch out!"
Too late.
A blur of black crashed down from above. In a flash, Natsu felt claws wrap around his chest and neck. Cold steel-like nails pressed against his throat, dangerously close. His feet lifted off the ground. He didn't have time to react.
Everything stilled. The world finally caught up.
"What the-" Natsu's voice died in his throat as he locked eyes with something… not human looking to say the least.
The man holding him was tall and dressed in a sleek black suit, a white shirt undone at the collar beneath a billowing black trench coat. His face was partially masked, but it wasn't hard to see the truth beneath the fabric.
Golden skin.
Cat-like, slitted pupils.
Leopard ears twitching at the sound of approaching sirens.
Arms covered in sleek spots.
A long tail, curling around. .
This wasn't some random thug.
He looked familiar. Natsu had seen him mentioned in the news a few times. A high profile villain of high A rank.
Natsu's instincts flared awake. He was ready to strike back.
"Now, now..." Black Leopard purred, his smooth voice rich with amusement. "Let's not go wriggling just yet, little guy. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
He turned to the police, frozen in shock nearby. "Tell your heroes to stay the hell out of this. If I see one cape, this boy's gonna be sliced from collarbone to chin."
The police didn't move. Guns trembled. One officer fumbled for his radio, hesitating.
"I said no heroes," Black Leopard barked, eyes narrowing. His claws dug into Natsu's neck, drawing a bit of blood.
He didn't want backup showing up.
Not with his claws stained in blood and stolen research vials stashed in the lining of his coat. If Endeavor or other pros show up, he would be in trouble.
The lab raid had gone much better than expected. Just a few guards, a secured vault, a bit of bloodshed. The kid was just insurance.
"Back off, and I walk. Try anything stupid, and I'll gut him like a rabbit."
He flexed his claws to make the point.
Natsu, heart now racing, finally spoke low. "Seriously? "
"Shut up and stay still." The man commanded.
Natsu obeyed and tried his best to suppress the grin that was forming on his face. 'Don't laugh, don't laugh.'
The villain smirked. "Good boy."
And with a powerful leap, they disappeared into the alleyways, one of them a hunter, the other a prey. But who was who?