you never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice. - 𝘽𝙤𝙗 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙮
╔══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══════╗
𝟐𝟎. 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She stared out the window, watching the train leave the platform ever so slowly.
They were seated in pairs with a table separating the two younger ones. Shoto was busy with his phone, typing away text after text to his father. Airi turned to look at the two young sidekicks in front of her, noticing the boy who was seated at the aisle reading a book in silence. She averted her gaze to look at the girl next, whose adoring eyes were already on her.
Brushing it off with a smile, Hikari asked, "Have you been to Hatsukaichi, Mari-chan?"
"No. Have you?"
"Actually, me and Haruto have been stationed here a few times already under Violet's agency. In fact, our final test to become her sidekicks was held in the very same mountain we are about to go to."
Haruto's ears perked up to the sound of his name, lowering the book as a sign he wanted to listen further.
"Really? That's interesting!", Airi's eyes glimmered in fascination. "I assume you're already well familiar with the place?"
"Very well familiar.", Haruto added from his side, a tint of annoyance lacing with his words. "I honestly never expected I would come back here after our internships."
She was slightly taken aback by his words. That was the most amount of emotions Airi had seen from the quiet boy, let alone the most number of words that escaped from his mouth. Shoto then asked,
"Are there a lot of villains in the district?"
"Not that much like in Tokyo. A decent amount I could say."
"But the villagers there don't believe in heroes. Heck, even the existence of villains themselves.", Hikari stated, earning shocked looks from the pair.
"Wait, so why are you even stationed there if the people don't believe in the existence of both heroes and villains?"
Haruto placed the book on the table between them with a soft thud. He crossed his arms, shrugging his shoulders,
"It's how Violet trains us."
His vague answer confused the both of them even more. Hikari lets out a soft chuckle at the sight of their expressions, taking this as a sign for her to explain,
"It's impossible for a society to even be a society without heroes and villains. There will always be vigilantes lurking around the villages, especially since the police station there isn't as high tech and updated like the cities in Tokyo or Osaka.", she leaned back into her seat with a sigh. "The people there have very high cultural and religious beliefs, and since they grew up in such conditions, they still believe in historical myths and use traditional solutions to their problems if they ever got themselves into one."
