My Mangekyo Sharingan Can't Save My Hero Academia

Chapter 195 192 Chitose Kizuki

The low hum of the portable generators thrummed through the soles of Yuta's boots, the sound accompanied by the faint, rhythmic clicking of the camera around the woman's neck.

"...I have articles about me?"

Chitose Kizuki laughed, her bright green irises crinkling at the corners against her dark sclerae. She lifted the small notebook tucked beneath her arm and tapped the cover with a manicured, blue-skinned finger.

"Oh, more than just articles, my elusive friend. You're the front page of the digital underground and above ground."

Her eyes gleamed with light. "A complete statistical anomaly who's managed to stir up a storm in a short time. Don't tell me you don't know about any of this yet?" There was no response. The light in her eyes only grew stronger.

"You truly don't."

The conclusion was so surprising she almost laughed.

For several seconds she simply stared at him. Then the laugh escaped anyway. "How fascinating. Most individuals ... dream of being famous, gaining recognition or at least being praised for their actions, yet you say you have no idea what's going on concerning you at all." She tilted her head.

"That doesn't seem normal, does it?"

Yuta didn't respond, his eyes turning scanning her from head to toe.

'Hmm?' An action, Curious noticed. "There's no need to be wary, I'm unarmed, nor did I come with any intent to fight." She smiled, reaching into her aqua colored jacket, pulling out a recorder.

"I want to put this on the record, if you don't mind. It would be great to have evidence of our meeting. The public is absolutely starving to know what you are. And frankly? So am I, Mr Hatake .. or would you prefer your chosen alias instead?"

She arranged her fingers in a filming gesture. "The famous Vigilante, White Fang of Japan. Who is he ... The shocking interview of the Man behind the mask ... I've come a long way. So would you please do this interview with me?" Curious asked, tone laced with obsessive excitement.

The White Fang himself was silent for a few moments on the other end. "A reporter huh?" He looked her over once again. "And here I was wondering when I would have people sent after me. I mean, I was expecting something like this, but honestly, it's a bit sooner than I expected."

He had observed her facial features and listened to her heartbeat. Unless she could control her expressions to a degree as good as him, then she wasn't lying. Which was surprising.

He had expected to be tracked down sooner or later. He hadn't really made much effort to hide his actions either. However, he had expected heroes, or villains to be the ones to locate him first. Being found by a civilian was surprising even for him.

Yuta's brow remained furrowed beneath his dark mask. As a clone, his enhanced senses were actively scanning her, measuring her heart rate, her breathing, and the total lack of tension in her muscles. She was standing in a warehouse littered with broken bones, shattered weapons, and international contraband, yet her body language was entirely devoid of any form of fear.

'Oh ... Interesting.' He thought, looking at her. "What are you talking about?"

In response, the lady produced her phone and drew closer. Her heels clicking crisply against the concrete, completely ignoring the massive, unconscious body of the head dealer slumped just inches from her path. Then, she held the screen out toward him.

Seeing her bizarre actions that were practically a total absence of a self-preservation instinct, Yuta felt even more puzzled as he took a look at the phone before him. The engagement numbers beneath the first article were not small. The ones beneath the second were larger. By the third piece the comment count had crossed into territory that required a moment to parse. Every single one, without exception, we're talking about him.

"Like I said. You've caused quite a stir. People are talking about you everywhere."

"The news. The internet. Neighborhood associations. Hero agencies."

She smiled. "You're probably one of the most discussed people in the country right now."

"You're a reporter," Yuta said, his voice dropping into a flat, mechanical monotone that masked any hint of his true identity. "And you tracked me to an illegal maritime distribution point in Shizuoka. That seems outside the scope of standard investigative journalism."

"Face to face, ideally. I find that interviews conducted in person produce significantly more compelling material than secondhand accounts. The reader can feel the difference." She glanced around the warehouse with genuine professional interest, her dark eyes cataloguing the scene.

"The setting is unusual but the lighting is workable. And the context is certainly ..." She paused, looking at the crater in the floor where the earth spike had come through. " ....contextual."

"I see." He nodded, sweeping his gaze to the side. His focus had already shifted past the rusted corrugated walls of the warehouse. Outside, hidden behind the concrete barriers and shipping crates were several distinct life signatures all lying in wait.

"I suppose the people waiting outside are your editorial staff?"

The smile froze on Chitose's face.

Only briefly.

Then it widened again.

"Actually..." She laughed. "Yes. They are my editorial staff."

".."

Well, that didn't go the way he expected.

Before he could say anything, Chitose continued and called out. "Well, since you've figured it out, then there's no need to stay hidden. You can come out now."

The moment the words left her mouth, movement appeared outside the warehouse. Several figures emerged from behind the concrete barriers and rusted shipping containers surrounding the structure.

They had clearly been attempting to remain concealed. The fact that their cover had already been blown rendered the effort pointless. The side door opened. Seven people entered the building, all wearing solemn expressions and dressed in practical formal clothing. One stepped forward immediately.

Then another. And another. Four flanked her immediately. The other three spread out, and took positions near the exits without being directed to.

Curious watched his face. His expression hadn't changed.

"I apologize for the theatrics," she said, with a tone that managed to sound genuinely apologetic and completely unbothered simultaneously. "A woman in my position moves with security wherever she goes. Occupational necessity." She glanced at the two nearest her.

"Particularly when the appointment involves meeting someone capable of doing..." She gestured vaguely around the devastated warehouse.

"...all this."

One of the escorts visibly twitched. Apparently seeing the destruction from up close remained an unpleasant experience.

She looked back at him. "I want to be clear that I didn't bring them here with any expectation that they'd be useful in that specific regard. I have studied your exploits rather thoroughly. I know what they can and cannot do."

The statement sounded absurd enough that she laughed at herself. "No offense to them of course."

The seven people in question, didn't look offended at all.

As MLA members, they were well aware of their limits. Yuta raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by the turn of events.

"They're not here to stop me?" he asked.

"No," she said. "They're here so I could come at all. There's a difference." She tucked the pen behind her ear. "If I'd wanted to bring people capable of stopping you, I'd have had to make significantly different arrangements. And frankly, that wasn't the point of my visit."

He tilted his head. "I am guessing those arrangements are why you were able to find me."

"I guess that's half right." Curious produced the folded map from her jacket pocket. She held it up briefly. It was covered in markings. Dates. Locations. Timing estimates. "I've been doing pattern analysis on your activity for the past week," she said. "Response times. Geographic distribution. The kinds of incidents you engage with versus the ones you don't."

"Based on the Trigger distribution expanding into civilian markets and your response to trafficking operations in Aichi and Kanagawa, I identified three high-probability locations you'd likely hit in Shizuoka within the next forty-eight hours. This was the third one I tried. The first two were empty by the time I arrived."

She folded the map again.

"The other two were disappointingly empty."

"...You tracked me."

"Yes. I am a journalist after all, and I am good at my job." Yuta's brow remained furrowed beneath his dark mask. The fact that a publishing executive possessed the analytical framework to build an accurate predictive model of his tactical deployments was clearly not normal.

"Since secrecy appears to have become somewhat pointless... Allow me to introduce myself properly."

She offered a small bow.

"Chitose Kizuki."

"Executive Director of Shoowaysha Publishing."

She paused. Then continued.

"I also belong to a civic advocacy organization called the Meta Liberation Army."

There was a moment of silence. "That sounds like a cult." The voice fell into their ears, causing the faces of the MLA soldiers to turn red in indignation.

Curious smiled brighter. "Despite the dramatic name, we're primarily interested in quirk rights, civil liberties, and public discourse. You might call it a club, if the word fits. However .." She straightened her posture.

"I'm not here under any organizational directive. I want that stated clearly. My interest in you is personal and professional. You're the most compelling journalistic subject I've encountered in eleven years of this work, and I would be doing my career a disservice if I let that pass without a proper attempt at documentation."

"I have many questions I want to ask. Firstly, your methodology. The selection process for who receives what kind of outcome when you hunt criminals." She raised her recorder. "Do you have a framework for that or is it more intuitive?"

"Furthermore, the institutional system is collapsing. Heroes all over the country are currently in a state of being overwhelmed and are unable to seamlessly protect civilians like before. People are waking up to the reality that the regulatory framework they've relied on is completely hollow. With civilians being unable to use their own quirks in situations of importance without breaking the law, do you find this unfair?"

"After all, the system is demonstrably broken, yet the law still decrees that if those citizens use their natural power to defend their homes without a state-approved license, they are the criminals. My question to you is simple: When you look at this fracturing society, do you believe the institutional hero structure is still a necessity for Japan's survival, or have your actions here tonight already proven that it has become entirely obsolete?"

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