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❟❛❟ CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT ❟❛❟
WINTER BREAK WAS SLIPPING AWAY like sand through fingers. Todoroki, Bakugou, and Akame had returned to their respective work studies, each consumed by the demands of their missions. Since Bakugou had regained consciousness, Akame hadn't found time to visit him. Izanagi's mission had pulled her far from the city, sometimes even to different prefectures, or in this case, across borders.
Her latest mission had taken her to China alongside several other heroes. The exhaustion weighed on her, though she hid it well behind her calm demeanor. She had heard rumors that others were being dispatched outside Japan as well, each caught in the rising tide of villain activity.
"Tohoku?"
Izanagi nodded. "More precisely, Miyagi."
From the moment they touched down at Narita Airport, a helicopter from the Hero Commission whisked them off to their destination. Akame barely had time to feel the cold sting of winter air before they were airborne again, slicing through the sky toward Miyagi.
"What's going on?"
Izanagi glanced up from the tablet in his hands. "They're suspicious of some groups operating in the area. It could be linked to the League of Villains, the Liberation Army... or another Yakuza faction. The commission isn't sure yet."
Akame nodded, her expression unreadable. Ever since All Might's retirement, the floodgates had opened for villain organizations. It was as if the shadow he had kept at bay for so long had finally crept into every corner of Japan.
His absence had left a vacuum no one had yet filled.
Izanagi's sharp gaze flickered toward her, his fingers scrolling through files, though his attention wasn't on the screen. He was studying her again, the same way he had ever since their first mission together. He couldn't quite figure her out, this quiet, unassuming girl who seemed so ordinary—until she wasn't.
Her fight with Obutsu had changed his perception. He had witnessed the terrifying power she wielded, the dark blue skeleton that cloaked her like a manifestation of death itself. At first, he thought it was some uncontrollable force, something newly awakened in the heat of battle. But Akame had returned to her usual self afterward, never speaking of it, never using it again.
What troubled him more was how composed she seemed, as though she had long mastered that power. No curiosity, no fear. It was as if the skeletal form was as familiar to her as breathing.
He studied her profile, the calm mask she always wore. He wanted her under his watch, not just because of the power she held, but because he couldn't read her mind. What lay behind those eyes? What was she truly capable of?
"What's wrong, Akame?" IIzanagi's voice was low, but there was an edge to it as soon as he caught the subtle furrow in her brow.
Akame's gaze narrowed, scanning the distant horizon. "Something's coming," she murmured. The overwhelming chakra was unmistakable—vast and terrifyingly familiar. How could it be? No one else in this world should possess such power.
