Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 2

All I could do was watch as the rock rolled away, and with an annoyed sigh, I turned to face Keigo. He looked just as shocked as I did. This wasn't the first time that the League had slipped through our fingers, but never before had they been literally stolen from right underneath our noses. The sounds of raging battles were replaced with a deadly silence as the other heroes around us took a few seconds to process what happened. Even the nomu had been evacuated from the fight, and I could tell that everyone else was blaming themselves for the failed attempt just as much as I was blaming myself. 

The quiet was interrupted by a sudden commotion maybe one hundred meters in front of us, and I looked away from the ruins of the small convenience store that had been destroyed by the nomu during combat. Shit. Of course the media is coming. I spotted a large television camera along with several reporters approaching us, and at best, we had maybe a minute before they'd get to us. Of all aspects of being a hero, the media was by far the worst. It seemed like no matter what, there'd be someone out there who wasn't satisfied with the way we heroes did our jobs. As if you lazy assholes could do any better. 

Beside me, Keigo also noticed the group of people approaching, and he gathered the heroes in a huddle. "We'll get a lot of questions about how the villains managed to escape," he started, and although he was one of the youngest heroes among us, only older than me by a year, he radiated authority. "Try to not reveal too much. We don't want the public to panic over the fact that the villains have an easy method of escaping. Just say that the reason they were able to evade us this time was because they had a plan, but don't go into any detail."

The heroes around us nodded in agreement, but I raised an eyebrow at Keigo. It seemed a little wrong - the public deserved to know any information we had on the League of Villains, and if they panicked over something as small as the fact that the League has a quirk that helps them escape, then that was beyond our control. The reporters were now maybe fifty meters away. Keigo caught my eye. He knew I was somewhat against hiding information from the public, but he glanced behind him towards the reporters. We had maybe half a minute before they'd reach us.

Keigo stood with his back to the cameras and he pulled me in front of him, unfurling his wings to give us a little more privacy. Hidden in the shadow of his feathers, he tucked a stray hair behind my ear - I hadn't had time to tie my hair up before the battle, and it was now a mess of long, black locks swishing all around me. I gave him a grateful smile, and Keigo leaned forward just the slightest bit, placing a soft kiss on my lips. I blushed a little. Even with the extra privacy of his wings hiding us, it felt a little weird for him to show affection so close to the cameras. After all, if they'd caught that, it would probably start a whole scandal in the hero industry.

For now, the most that the public knew about Keigo and I was that we worked as partners at his personal pro hero agency, the 'Hawks Agency', and that was how I wanted to keep it for as long as possible. Revealing our relationship to the general public would probably paint a massive target on my back for any one of Keigo's fans. I pulled away from Keigo and put a finger over my lips, saying a playful shh before slipping out from the embrace of his wings to stand with the general group of heroes. They'd all been too busy checking up to make sure none of them were injured to notice mine and Keigo's interaction, so when I slid in beside one of the heroes - was his name Gunhead? - no one paid me any attention. 

The first camera reached us just as Keigo folded his wings once more. From the expression of the reporter, it was easy to tell they hadn't seen me and Keigo, either, and I smiled slightly - partly relieved that I wouldn't be targeted today, but mostly to leave a good impression for the media. I was still pretty young for a pro hero, so a lot of the society looked down on me, and even though the fake smiles killed me a little on the inside, if it would help win some people over, I was all for it. As expected, the reporter ignored our general group and headed straight for Keigo instead. After all, he was the number two hero, and at such a young age, too. Who wouldn't want to interview him right after a run-in with the League of Villains?

The first reporter - a lady in her early thirties who I often saw interviewing the top heroes on television - was already asking the usual questions. I could make out the typical "What was the hardest part of the battle?" and "What is it like to know you're a pro hero who helped save countless lives today?" from the conversation, and although I knew the reporter was just doing her job, I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. There was no reason to bring such a large crowd to a place where a battle had just taken place. After all, there wasn't any guarantee that the villains hadn't left any traps for citizens before escaping. Still, even though I knew I had to stick around to boost my ranking, it took all of my willpower to not shoo the crowd away.

As the stragglers caught up, a few approached the other heroes around them, but the mass of the crowd was focused on Keigo, but that wasn't anything new. He'd been the center of attention for as long as I could remember, and even as kids, he seemed to shine brighter than anyone else. Just in case, I stayed pretty close to Keigo, even though the reporters continued to ignore me. If he got too uncomfortable, I'd somehow find a way to draw their attention to me instead, just to give Keigo a break. He liked the media more than I did, but even he grew tired from it sometimes. 

It annoyed me a little that the crowd would rather all fawn over Keigo, even though they were now unable to get a clear shot of him, rather than interview some of the other heroes, but then again, I couldn't exactly blame them. Of our group, not only was Keigo holding the highest ranking, but he looked the most approachable, too. All of the other heroes had very physical quirks, which gave them a somewhat villainous look, and in my all-black hero costume along with the belt of daggers and small vials of poisons strapped over my waist and right thigh, I understood why one of the cameramen took a tiny step away from me.

"Why were the villains able to escape?" The first reporter asked Keigo, and he automatically glanced at me. This question would definitely have some backlash on him, no matter what he answered. After all, how could the mighty number two hero let several villains slip right past him? Surely they could've been stopped? I had half a mind to interrupt the interview and answer the question myself, but decided against it. That'll only make us both look bad. Instead, I gave him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. Keigo shifted his gaze back to the camera, a little more relaxed now, and continued with the questions, and I sighed softly in relief.

A tap on my shoulder made me spin around, my hand automatically flying to the handle of my dagger, but it was just another reporter - a young man in his mid-twenties. "Sorry, ma'am, but we haven't really seen that much of you before," he started, and it took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. Although I'd been a pro hero for almost three years now, the amount of actual interviews I'd been in was pretty low. I never seemed to catch the media's attention, and frankly, I liked it that way. "Would it be alright if we asked you a few questions?"

"M-me?" I pointed at myself, still a little surprised, and the reporter only nodded in response. "I-I mean sure! What do you want to know?" I watched, a little scared, as he whipped out a notebook and motioned for the camera to start rolling.

"Alright, let's start with the simple questions. We've seen this hero several times before, but somehow, she always seems to slip away just before we can ask her anything, but it seems like we're in luck today!" The reporter spoke into his microphone, giving an energetic smile to the camera. "Now, would this beautiful young lady introduce herself to her future fans?"

The reporter shoved the microphone in my direction, and for a brief second, I forgot how to move. I glanced up to Keigo, his eyes immediately landing on mine even though he himself was still getting interviewed, and he smiled slightly. Confidence washed over me, and I looked straight at the camera, giving a smile. "Hello! I'm the pro hero Vizion, and my quirk is Hallucination!"