Chapter 20: Infiltration

The city never slept.

Not really.

Not in the way people thought. The well-lit streets, the blinking hero billboards, the distant hum of traffic—it was all just a surface. A mask.

Beneath it, the city breathed.

And tonight, Kirishima was breathing with it.

They moved like ghosts.

Kase led the way, darting across rooftops with the kind of effortless agility that came from years of living outside the system. Kirishima followed, his boots hitting the concrete with controlled weight, his breath steady. Stray and two others—Shade and Krow—moved behind them.

The target was Hideo Kagemura, the kind of man whose crimes were whispered behind closed doors but never written in police reports. He had built an empire on stolen lives, hiding behind charity galas and media appearances.

Heroes knew.

Heroes didn't act.

Kirishima gritted his teeth as they neared the towering complex in the Seirin District. A penthouse fortress, complete with private security, state-of-the-art defenses, and a guarantee that the law would never touch him.

Too bad The Hollow wasn't the law.

The plan was simple.

Infiltrate. Isolate. Deliver justice.

Kase and Shade were on recon, disabling cameras and clearing the upper floors. Stray and Krow handled the exits, ensuring no one got in or out without their say.

Kirishima?

He was here to make sure Kagemura didn't walk away.

The first guard went down hard.

A quick strike—faster than Kirishima thought possible—sent the man crumpling. His strength was growing, his strikes hitting with a force that felt almost unnatural.

The second guard was smarter. He had a quirk—shockwave projection—but Kirishima had learned to move differently now. He twisted, let the blast skim past him, and then drove his fist forward.

The impact sent the guard flying through a glass divider.

Kirishima exhaled, rolling his shoulders. His quirk didn't just harden anymore. It hit back.

"Keep moving," Kase's voice came through the earpiece. "Two more floors up. He's there."

Kirishima didn't answer.

He just moved.

By the time he reached the penthouse, Stray was already inside.

Kagemura was backed against a desk, his breathing uneven, his expensive suit crumpled in fear. The room was dimly lit, the massive windows overlooking the city like a throne built on filth.

"Please," Kagemura stammered. "Whatever you're being paid, I can double it. Triple it."

Stray just laughed.

Kirishima stared at the man—the face he had seen in headlines, the name that had been protected for years.

Now, he was just a man.

A weak, desperate man.

"You think this is about money?" Kirishima's voice was quiet, but there was something new in it. A weight.

He stepped forward.

Kagemura flinched.

Stray tilted his head, watching. "What do you think, kid? You wanted to see how we work. How we end people like this."

Kirishima's fist clenched. He had spent his life believing in rules.

Rules that let men like Kagemura thrive.

He thought of the trafficking victims. The ones who never got justice. The ones heroes forgot.

His vision blurred.

His knuckles cracked.

His quirk roared.

The cracks in his skin burned molten red, the room dimming under the sheer force building inside him.

Kagemura choked on a breath.

Kirishima had the power to break him.

To make sure he never hurt anyone again.

To end it.

But—

Would that make him better than the villains he fought?

Would it make him worse?

Kase's voice echoed in his mind. "You're changing, you know."

Stray's words followed. "Now you're thinking like us."

Kirishima exhaled sharply.

And then—

He pulled back.

His quirk flickered, the burning glow fading. His heartbeat slowed.

Instead of a punch—

He grabbed Kagemura by the collar and slammed him down into his desk, holding him there.

"Confess." His voice was low, steady, unyielding.

Kagemura struggled. "I—"

Kirishima tightened his grip. The wood beneath the CEO splintered.

"Confess," he repeated.

Stray's eyes gleamed with amusement, but he didn't interfere.

Kagemura let out a broken gasp. And then he did.

Everything.

Names, locations, accounts, proof.

Enough to bring down more than just him. Enough to collapse an empire.

Kirishima let go.

Kagemura crumpled, shaking.

Stray whistled. "Not what I expected. But hey—effective."

Kirishima turned away.

His hands still burned. His mind still raced.

But he had made his choice.

For now.