Just the Beginning

Mission

"Kaminari, upstairs. You, here."

"You could at least start with a hello," Hiva mumbled in response to Shota's order as she closed the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Denki asked.

"Upstairs with Sero," Shota replied. Denki just nodded and made his way up.

"Is this about me being back late?" Hiva questioned. "I am sorry about that. We just lost track of time."

"Yuuma." Hiva tilted her head at the name. "Yuuma Shinsou." Hiva slowly shook her head as Hitoshi came down the stairs.

"You said you'd explain when Hiva was here," he said as he stopped at her side. "What's the big deal?"

"Wait, is he that guy from the mall?" Hizashi nodded at Hiva.

"Yes, and he is not safe," he told them. Hiva raised an eyebrow as if to give a sarcastic 'really?'

"Looking back at it, the only real thing I remember is him giving off some really weird vibes." Hiva tilted her head at Hitoshi.

"You met him?" Hitoshi gave her a confused look as Hizashi led them and Shota to the kitchen.

"We both did. He would sometimes visit when we were still going to Ayame's." Hiva hummed.

"I don't remember that." Both teens sat down as Hizashi spoke up.

"Listen, he's not a good person. He's worse than Ayame, and that's a nice way of putting it." Hiva looked skeptical, but Hitoshi nodded. "After what happened at the mall, he was behind bars, of course, but he just got out. He just disappeared."

"So what? Do you think he's gonna try and find Hanta?" Hiva questioned.

"Hiva would kill him if that was the plan," Hitoshi added. "All we'd need to worry about are visiting hours."

"That's part of the problem," Shota told them. "We talked to Sero..." Hiva sent him a glare. "Relax, we didn't force it out of him or anything." Hiva's glare fell. "Yuuma was apparently asking him about you. He wanted to know your weakness, and he got it."

"What? Me?" Hiva guessed. "As far as I can tell, I'm the entire problem."

"No, but yes," Shota answered. "It's your heart. You jumped right in to save him with no hesitation. We all know you'd do it again for anyone you care about and he's gonna know it. He might already know it. He's going to prey on that to get to you."

"Does that mean he's working with the league?" Hiva asked without thinking.

"How would that connect him to the league?" Hitoshi wondered aloud. Hiva shrugged.

"You said he just disappeared, right? What about that warp gate guy? He coulda helped him."

"We can't just jump to conclusions," Shota told her. "Besides, it's unlikely he'd associate himself with anything involving Ayame."

"Why?"

"They don't get along, never really have," Hizashi answered. "Hitoshi, are you sure you met him?" Hitoshi nodded.

"Yeah. I remember them fighting over Hiva a lot." Even though his expression didn't change, Hiva knew that worried Hizashi because of the burnt coffee smell. "She didn't like how often he tried to hang out with her."

"How do you remember this guy and I don't?" Hiva muttered. "Anyway, unlikely doesn't mean impossible. We can't pretend it's not a possibility."

"No, there is no 'we'," Hizashi told her. "We're warning you, not giving you permission to get involved."