Yuuto and Mamoru split up at the corner near Seventh Street.

  Mamoru stretched his arms and yawned.

  “Tomorrow we go show who’s boss,” he said.

  Yuuto nodded.

  “Yeah.”

  Mamoru grinned.

  “Don’t die before we even start.”

  Yuuto snorted. “Same to you.”

  They bumped fists once, then went their separate ways.

  Yuuto walked for a few minutes in silence. The evening air was cooler now. Most people were already home. Streetlights flickered on one by one.

  After a while, he stopped.

  Then he started jogging.

  At first it was slow.

  Just a comfortable rhythm.

  His shoes tapped against the pavement as he moved through the empty streets. A car passed by.

  He increased his speed.

  Faster.

  His breathing grew heavier. His heart started pounding.

  Tomorrow.

  Tomorrow they would step into red territory.

  The thought repeated in his head with every step.

  The red territory wasn’t just another neighbourhood. Everyone knew what kind of place it was.

  Drug addicts.

  Small gangs.

  Thugs looking for trouble.

  People who didn’t respect the law.

  Mamoru and Yuuto had talked about it for months.

  Training.

  Preparing.

  Waiting for the moment when they would be ready to step into that place and start doing real work.

  Helping people.

  Stopping the idiots who thought they could take whatever they wanted.

  Bringing some kind of justice.

  Yuuto pushed harder.

  His legs burned.

  The pavement blurred slightly beneath him.

  But one thought kept clawing its way back into his mind.

  I’m weak.

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  His jaw tightened.

  His distortion was good.

  More than good.

  His eye could see everything.

  Every small movement.

  Every tiny shift of weight.

  Every micro-move in a person’s body before they actually moved.

  The moment someone threw a punch, he could already see where it starts.

  His brain reacted instantly.

  But his body—

  His body was too slow.

  Yuuto ran harder.

  His lungs burned now.

  It didn’t matter how well he could see a punch coming if he couldn’t move fast enough to dodge it.

  And the worst part?

  It was only one eye.

  One.

  Why am I so unlucky?

  He slowed slightly as he turned a corner.

  Mamoru appeared in his thoughts.

  That idiot.

  Mamoru had won the genetic lottery.

  Wind manipulation from his hands.

  Simple.

  Clean.

  Powerful.

  Yuuto had seen it hundreds of times now.

  The way the air twisted around Mamoru’s palms.

  The sudden bursts of pressure.

  The speed.

  The control.

  It looked cool.

  It probably felt cool too.

  Yuuto sighed between breaths.

  “I’m jealous,” he muttered quietly.

  But it wasn’t a bitter feeling.

  Mamoru was his brother.

  Not by blood.

  But that didn’t matter.

  They had grown up together. Trained together. Failed together.

  And tomorrow they would step into danger together.

  Yuuto pushed himself one last time.

  Full sprint.

  His legs screamed.

  But he didn’t slow down until his house appeared at the end of the street.

  He stopped in front of the door, breathing heavily.

  Sweat ran down his neck.

  “Good enough,” he whispered.

  He stepped inside.

  The house smelled like metal and oil.

  Yuuto smiled slightly.

  That meant his grandfather was in the kitchen.

  Sure enough, the old man stood near the table surrounded by tools, wires, and pieces of machinery that made absolutely no sense to anyone except him.

  Yuuto walked in.

  “Hey, Grandpa.”

  The old man didn’t look up immediately.

  He tightened a screw, inspected something closely, then finally glanced over.

  “You’re late,” he said.

  “Training.”

  His grandfather hummed.

  Yuuto leaned against the doorframe.

  “Tomorrow we’re going to red territory.”

  The old man paused.

  That got his attention.

  Yuuto scratched the back of his head.

  “So if I come back with some bruises… don’t be mad, okay?”

  His grandfather stared at him for a moment.

  Then he snorted.

  “You silly kid.”

  Yuuto grinned slightly.

  The old man shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

  “Instead of becoming a lawyer or something respectable,” he muttered, “you want to become a hero.”

  Yuuto shrugged.

  “Someone has to.”

  His grandfather pointed a screwdriver at him.

  “It’s your choice. I never stopped your father from chasing his dreams.”

  He sighed.

  “And I won’t stop you either.”

  Then he squinted at Yuuto.

  “But you annoy me exactly the same way he did.”

  Yuuto laughed.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  The old man waved him away.

  “Go train if you must. Just don’t break anything in my house.”

  “No promises.”

  Yuuto headed to the small room at the back of the house.

  His “training room.”

  Which was really just a spare room with a mat on the floor and enough space to move around.

  He dropped his jacket.

  Then started.

  Push-ups.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  His arms trembled slightly after the run.

  He ignored it.

  Twenty.

  Thirty.

  Forty.

  Sweat dripped onto the mat.

  After push-ups came sit-ups.

  Then squats.

  Then shadowboxing.

  His body screamed for him to stop.

  Yuuto kept going.

  Faster.

  Stronger.

  Tomorrow mattered.

  Eventually he collapsed onto the mat, breathing hard.

  “That’ll do,” he muttered.

  He dragged himself to the bathroom and turned on the shower.

  Hot water washed away the sweat and dust.

  For a few minutes he just stood there, letting the heat relax his muscles.

  Then he dried off and returned to his room.

  Yuuto lay down on his bed with a towel still resting on his head.

  The room was quiet.

  On the small desk near the bed stood a framed photograph.

  Yuuto reached over and picked it up.

  The photo showed three people.

  A younger version of himself.

  His mother.

  His father.

  They were smiling.

  A simple moment frozen forever.

  Yuuto stared at it for a long time.

  The house was silent now.

  His grandfather had probably returned to his projects.

  Yuuto looked at the picture one more time.

  Then he spoke softly.

  “I’ll be stronger tomorrow.”

  His voice was barely a whisper.

  “I promise you.”

  He swallowed.

  “Mom. Dad.”

  His hand tightened slightly around the frame.

  “No matter how hard it gets…”

  He placed the photo back on the desk.

  “I’ll complete the mission.”

  Yuuto turned off the light.

  Tomorrow would be their first real step.

  And he refused to fail.