Set

As I impatiently waited for Kenji's response, I couldn't help but think of why I'd done what I'd done.

I helped Kirishima and Mina adapt to a line of thinking that may help them out in the long run, especially if my plans succeed. I acted as a figure of wisdom, and with the effects of my mask and the general mystery that surrounded me, Mina and Kirishima probably didn't understand why I was doing what I was doing.

Why did I help them instead of just knocking them unconscious and calling it a day?

Because I didn't do that, I probably caused myself more issues than what it was worth. There were plenty of opportunities where I could've made things easier, but I'm only recognizing them now.

I could've just told Mina and Kirishima off, acting as an employee like I'd been doing the entire time, but I didn't.

It made me feel like I'd just had an argument and I was thinking of a response late while I was taking a shower. Something that would've undoubtedly made things easier I only recognized now, late.

I screwed up; I could recognize it. I screwed up by not just taking the obvious route out.

It just felt… natural to assume the role of a leader rather than someone with rushed goals to achieve. That was probably an effect of the mask that wasn't nullified, but I hope it wouldn't put me into any precarious situations where I choose to educate my enemy rather than defeating them.

Then, I summoned Fulgur, a Lightning―Electricity, if you wanted to be more specific. Lightning just sounded cooler though―Elemental.

I'd been meaning to do it, but I didn't see the point of it for the longest time.

The biggest thing I understood about Elementals were that they were a different being than you, so telling them to do something and waiting for them to actually do it added a lot of lag time between when you wanted something to happen and when it actually happened.

It's the reason why manual things like taking kinetic energy and enhancing my body I did myself, because I needed them done immediately.

But even with that delay, there were things an Elemental being could do that I couldn't.

I couldn't pull water from the air itself and create droplets like Shui could, and I couldn't store kinetic energy for a long period of time like Fulgur could. Most importantly, I couldn't work with the Elementals as efficiently as they could work with one another.

Besides, some extra help when trying something as bold as I was right now.

Still, I knew I was making the right move. Holding two of my distant peers hostage wasn't a good look for me, but it was the right move.

Simply put, I didn't have a whole lot of options here. Dabi was stuck in between a rock and a hard place, Manami was gone to somewhere I didn't know about, and I had no plans of leaving Dabi to be captured.

I wasn't blind, he wasn't some perfect citizen who had never done anything wrong and would be let free. On first sight, he was a suspicious person, and I had no doubts that these heroes would believe what they could see.

However, once you pushed past his hard exterior, you learned that he was a difficult but fairly fun guy to be around. He laughed, joked, and complained like the rest of the world. As cheesy as it may seem, he was my friend, and I wasn't going to leave him here for the success of the mission.

So I was planning to save him through a hostage situation, which seemed easy enough, but was absolutely not. Yes, I was attempting to give them the lives of two children versus one criminal, but to let the criminal of a serious crime off the hook―even for someone in a high position of power like Kenji―was going to be extremely difficult to justify doing.

Because of that, I had absolutely zero doubts that as soon as the kids were guaranteed to be safe, Dabi and I would be running away from Pro-Heroes with every bit of energy that we had.

The goal of this hostage situation was to get Dabi to join me and to get the slightest head start on running away.

The only advantage I had is that no one knew what my abilities were, no one knew what my true intentions were, and they didn't know how far I was willing to go to succeed. Of course, I wouldn't kill Kirishima and Mina, despite how nasty the situation could get, but they didn't know that.

I needed to make use of my advantage and act as if I were in a position of power. Well, that would begin with holding Mina by the neck as if I didn't care for her life.

That was only the beginning of this wild ride.

Kenji took a step forward, the crowd falling silent. He glanced around to the crowd, clearly laying his eyes on Dabi before turning up to me.

He certainly had a lot going through his mind, despite the generally uninformative expression on his face. Observe was more than powerful enough to cut right through his façade and show me tiny glimpses into his mind. The anger, consideration, and fear that would undoubtedly seep into his actions would be my only chances of succeeding today. Without those feelings, I'd never be able to get Dabi free or get away with the Ultraphone.

And I was going to succeed.

That didn't mean it was going to be easy, because as I sit here and wait for Kenji to respond Pro-Heroes were approaching and constantly making my job harder, but I'd succeed regardless.

"If I'm such a promising man, you shouldn't mind talking to me face-to-face, would you?" Kenji asked, his voice never faltering even under the undeniable pressure I was forcing him into.

"While I'd love to, I know that'd be a poor decision. Men like us must learn to talk at a distance," I shook my head, whether Kenji could see it from the ground or not. "As I'm on quite a strict time restraint, I shall be upfront. My subordinate for these two children. I will trade with you now."

I couldn't waste time. Every second only made my chances of success that much slimmer, and because of that, I had to push forward with my idea immediately.

The crowd was silent, almost certainly because a masked villain was demanding some very high things that if they weren't given to him, all sorts of things could occur. Kenji was an undoubtedly smart man, so he was probably forming a plan of his own that would have Kirishima and Mina safe while also having Dabi and myself captured.

Shinji and Yu were probably thinking the same thing. As Pro-Heroes, they'd certainly been trained in dealing with hostage situations, especially if a villain looked worried and erratic, but this would be a new situation for even them.

Two children were being held hostage, but the Ultraphone was also being held hostage. Just charging at me and saving the kids would be fine, but at the risk of the Ultraphone? It was a priceless relic that would save many, many more lives in the long run.

Anyone who could look at the situation with a cold and calculated perspective would be willing to sacrifice these two kids for the Ultraphone.

But nobody here was that cold and calculating. We didn't live in a world that needed to be that cold and calculated.

So they were probably waiting on a hero with a better skill set.

Midnight was probably heading this way, and I didn't know if her Quirk to induce slumber through an aroma produced by her skin would affect me. I wasn't really willing to risk it either, so I needed to make sure the crowd knew I wasn't playing around.

At the exact same time, I'd need to push the worrisome trio to think more emotionally than logically, so….

"These children will become the next generation of heroes! Surely you wouldn't want anything particularly―" I let go of the Ultraphone, allowing it to float in front of my face before grasping onto Kirishima's arm. "―Bad to happen to them, would you?"

First, a threat. If that didn't work, I'd push further.

I homed in on the crowd, expanding my Electric senses as far as I could. I was looking to see if anyone were doing anything that would particularly mess my plans up. I had to be thankful that my Quirk was so stupidly powerful.

"Naomasa Tsukauchi, I'd prefer if you didn't message him at such an important time like now," I hummed, causing Tsukauchi to pause at my words. He had been texting with a single hand in his pocket, which would've been fairly impossible for me to notice without my Electricity Manipulation.

Tsukauchi was texting a man named Toshinori Yagi, and the fact that he was messaging someone right now of all times made it clear that they may be able to make a difference. Whether they were a strong Pro-Hero or a reporter or anything else really, I wasn't taking any chances.

Tsukauchi looked hesitant for a moment, before I could feel him turn his phone off.

"Thank you. Now, Kenji, as I've said, I'm on a time limit. Will you accept my suggestion?"

The crowd grew tense, and the mana reflected that perfectly. It was uneasy, unwilling to form into anything coherent. No one uttered a sound until Kenji nodded.

"Where and when?" The Chief of the Police Force asked.

"Here and now," I gestured towards the sky. "And they'll help us."

The situation was getting trickier.