Kaori, Viltrumite | Your Lie In April x Invincible

Chapter 9: Heroine By Day, Villain By Night

"So, you're not going to tell me?" Kaori growled, her red cape flapping behind her.

"Absolutely not, you little brat!" the masked thug snarled. "You won't do anything to me! Heroes have too many rules!"

"You're talking awful big for a man hanging for his life," Kaori retorted, swinging him just a little bit as she dangled him hundreds of feet above the city.

"I'm not talking!" the thug insisted.

"You're giving him too much room to defy you, Kaori," Omni Man said, hovering off to the side. "You've got to scare him into submission. Make him think you'll cross the line."

Kaori hesitated. Then, she let go.

"Heyheyhey waaaaaaaaait!" the man's voice faded away as he plummeted to his doom.

Omni Man nodded at her and smiled. Mark had refused to even drop the man. Kaori hadn't.

Kaori squinted, gauging how long she had to wait before she could swoop down. Then, with perfect form, she dived downward and scooped the suspect up in her arms just seconds before his body impacted onto the roof of a warehouse. Flying back up to her dad, she seized the man by his wrists and held his face just inches from hers. Then, she smiled.

"Now then. Where did your boss order the loot from your heist today to be taken to?"

"To the main Shikaimu Coastal Shipyard," the man sobbed, clearly more shaken up from Kaori's stunt than he wanted to admit. "The ship will look like a regular cargo ship, but it has two red stripes running from bow to stern. And the cranes aboard will be painted green."

"See how much easier that was," Kaori smiled at him again. "Now, let's get you down to the station."

After dropping him off in front of the nearest station for the Tokyo Police, Kaori and her father dashed off into the sky in the direction of the shipyard. Once again, Omni Man let his daughter take the reins. She'd been doing well in her training the past two weeks. He wanted her to be confident. To be strong.

Because her time was coming soon.

"Look carefully, Kaori," Omni Man encouraged her. "Yes, it's nighttime, but the lights on the dock are very bright. Remember the ship's description."

"Yes father," Kaori nodded, carefully scanning the ships. Then, her eyes lit up with excitement.

"There it is," she pointed, and Omni Man confirmed her sighting. The ship was a perfect match.

"Good work. Now, you remember your underwater training, right?" Omni Man asked.

"Yup," Kaori grinned.

"Perfect. Now, sometimes, creating a scene is not necessary," Omni Man elaborated. "Since this particular criminal ring is disguising their operation under a legitimate shipyard, and we don't have backup, we can't cause too much damage."

"So I pick up the boat from underneath and fly it over to the nearest Coast Guard base," Kaori finished.

"You're learning quickly," Omni Man winked. "Well, what are you waiting for? Your prey is caught. Go in for the kill."

Kaori readied herself, breathing in as deeply as she could. Then, she shot into the water next to the target ship like a torpedo, forcing her eyes to remain open as water flooded her ears and nose. Placing herself underneath the belly of the ship, she flexed her muscles and grabbed the hull with every bit of her superhuman strength. At first, nothing moved. Then, the 300,000 ton ship began to rise out of the water, at the complete mercy of Kaori's willpower and strength. In just two minutes, Kaori broke the surface of the water, holding the entire ship high above her head and commanding the attention of the entire dock. She was not one to forget her mission, however, and began floating the ship over to the Coast Guard base a few miles down the river.