Upstairs, above the tailor shop that his apartment sat upon, the nephalem stared into his reflection, as it was cast by the blade that sat on his lap. It was the color of obsidian, pitch-black with a sheen to it. The ebony hero’s eyes scanned across the entire length of the sword’s blade. Along the blade there were faint jade kanji symbols that ran across it, there was also jade hugging the edge of the weapon. Before, the symbols would’ve been lit up so bright that they would be the same shade of green as the streaks in Kato’s quills. Ever since he made the change to become someone better, the markings had lost their color. He knew what that meant. It meant that he didn’t hold the sword with purpose, its blade was still sharp but the spirit was dull within it.
He no longer used it because, to him at least, a sword is meant for cutting down one’s enemies within one blow. Katorasu didn’t wish to do that anymore, he would rather much prefer to use only his body to settle fights. The sword would be overkill anyway, even then who was he to play judge, jury, and executioner against the random petty crooks and thieves he went up against. A small beatdown would suffice. Truth be told, he only kept the sword around as a reminder of where he came from and to never fall back down into it. Taking a long sigh, he placed the sword—dubbed Ekibyō—back into its scabbard and underneath his bed. Pestilence in a box.
Downstairs, Jamie Porter had just opened up his tailor shop for the day. Switching over the sign from closed to open, he proceeded to head to his station for the next few hours. The border collie was trying to hold himself back from heading up to Katorasu’s apartment and knocking down his door, wanting to see if he had damaged any of his clothing in any way again. The canine loved his handiwork, so it did hurt him a bit to see that the hedgehog was so careless with it two nights ago. As if being summoned by the small-sized Brit, Jamie heard the nephalem begin to noisily step down the stairs and make his way into the tailor shop.
Nonchalantly walking in, as Jamie started to open his mouth, he already started to cover his base, “I didn’t get anything damaged last night. Nothing happened at all.” He smiled, rather happy.
“Otherwise you would’ve gone and let my hard work get ruined, again?” Jamie snapped, rolling his eyes at the emerald hedgehog.
“Jeez, way to make your tenant feel down,” He walked closer to the desk that Jamie stood behind, Kato slyly placed a hand on the desk in a suave manner, “Especially… since he just found out about a lead of some big shots coming in, and where they’re gonna be setting up.” His smile became a rather proud one.
Staring rather stone-faced at the hedgehog, the border collie then went on to ask, “What are you going to do about it?”
“Well, when they settle in and they’re all nice and cozy… wham!” He quickly palmed his fist, loudly, “That’s when I hit ‘em!”
“Then what?” Jamie’s expression never faltered, even when the unnecessary smack rang out.
“Well, I’ll let the cops know where to find them and let them know that it was all me. That I did their jobs for them.” He smiled, a little too smug for a simple plan.
“If you go after them so soon, you would be back to square one. With nothing to do but go out on patrol and sit on rooftops every night.” He responded, before looking over at the entrance of his shop, watching as someone passed by the glass windows and door.
“Didn’t think of it like that. So, I should just let them do their thing?” Katorasu asked, curious where this was going.
“Let them get more established, they would be sending more men and spending more resources. Hitting them as soon as possible would barely hurt them, it would force them back out of the city, however. If you were to somehow learn about their goals, you could intervene whenever they try and put them into action. Dwindling their resources and men at each turn. I’ll assume you know where they’re setting themselves up, right?” Jamie asked.
The hedgehog nodded, “Yeah, they’ll actually be in my area of patrol too. But aside from that, I shouldn’t barge in and take them all down?”
“No, that would alert them that they’ve already been found out. Forcing them to either find a new place or to back out of the city entirely. If you were to just hit their operations instead of the source, over time that would affect them more than striking the base first.” The canine, while keeping his eye on the front door, explained.
“You’re a bit too tactical for a tailor shop owner.” Kato had mused.
“I don’t ask about your background, don’t ask about mine.” Jamie snapped back, lightly though.
“Jeez, didn’t know that was the rule behind backstories.” The nephalem snarked.
“It’s common courtesy. You dolt.” The British male responded, taking in a breath during the pause.
“I’m not really an expert on courtesy. Unless offering food counts, if that’s the case then I’ve got some leftover burgers from last night if you want some.” He asked, leaning forward onto the table that Jamie stood behind. Katorasu was casually propping his elbows on it.
“I don’t eat commoner food.” Jamie rolled his eyes.
“Wow, didn’t know you were royalty.” A chuckle left the emerald rogue’s lips.
“It’s called having good taste. Besides, you know how fattening those things are?” The canine asked, with a side glance at the hedgehog.
He shrugged, “Not really, I don’t gain anything from them. Probably ‘cause I burn all of it with how much I move during a patrol. That and I guess I have a high metabolism. Maybe that mist thing I do has something to do with it?”
After that, there was a small bout of silence between the pair. Now with Kato looking at the door as well, watching as a pair of mother and child walked by.
“You’re very strange, Katorasu.” The canine broke the silence with an obvious observation, still looking forward.
“Aren’t we all?” He remarked.
“No.”
The pair didn’t speak again after that, there wasn’t much to say or talk about. They were wholly different from each other, red and blue, yin and yang. While the nephalem did want to try and spark up a friendship with the smaller male, he felt that to do so would mean to mention a bit of his past so he could learn about Jamie’s. Something that he never had done before with anyone. He wasn’t even sure how much of his past to spill and what to say to not allude to something darker behind the hedgehog. Katorasu also didn’t know what time would be good, sure he could say something right now but what could he say without ruining whatever vibe Jamie had?
With nothing but Kato’s footsteps breaking the silence, the ebony vigilante retreated up the stairs and up into his apartment. While it was a good thing that he left, as the sound of the tailor shop’s bell had just rung, it wasn’t because he would’ve been seen by someone. It was because he felt maybe Jamie had gotten tired of his presence, for today at least. The two never really had a positive interaction, at least one that wasn’t one-sided. Most of the time it felt rather neutral, only becoming negative if the question of the state of Kato’s clothing popped up in mid-conversation. Maybe it was because of Kato’s personality or the lack of backstory that he gave the smaller being.
Turning on the square-shaped tv that sat on an old coffee table, the nephalem looked over at his bed and the digital clock on the end table. He had hours left to go before he could leave for patrol. Sighing aloud, he began to flick through the various public channels as he laid down across the length of his couch. Previously, he had thought about maybe going outside wouldn’t have been such a bad idea. What if, though, if someone—anyone— recognized him? The chances would be slim yes, but what if? The police certainly know about him, which was mostly due to his cockiness, despite the abundance of black and green male hedgehogs in the city. While yes he could evade a random patrolling police car easily, it would have to be done without the use of his powers. Otherwise, the people around him would see that a person in public just used his abilities. They would report him to the police, public knowledge of him would spread through the news: a super-powered Möbian who defied the act that the government placed on the usage of powers is a story too good to pass up. It would then spread to GUN as well, he knew about how the organization would send Agents to detain vigilantes such as himself. While he did fear for his security, Kato could easily evade whatever they could throw at him. He would never be able to stop running though.
That and how Jamie’s line of clothing was well-known throughout Station Square, so Katorasu walking around in custom-designed clothing would catch the eye of enthusiasts. Attention, while it was something Kato craved, would not be good right now until he somehow proved himself to everyone.
Jamie though, what would happen to him in that fictional scenario that Katorasu had made up? He would be seen as a partner in all of this. Possibly jailed as a result. Just that thought alone added more pressure on the nephalem’s mind. This game he was playing had such high stakes on the table, with only a vague reward somehow at the end of it all.
Kicking off his shoes, the black hedgehog was now lying across his couch while flicking through various channels that were either filled with white noise and static or were those jewelry auctions. Eventually giving up on finding anything interesting to watch, he shut off the tv and stared tiredly at the dark-tinted reflection of himself on the couch. He was exhausted from the self-induced stress that he placed on himself. He had no real routine during the day, one that he stuck to at least, aside from trying out various hobbies that he could find fun or exercising vigorously for some time. So, he had no problems with taking a nap to clear his mind.
Shutting his citrine eyes closed, the nephalem slowly began to drift off to sleep with no dreams and no nightmares. The former he was fine without having as long as the latter didn’t occur in any sort of capacity.
Opening his eyes again after a peaceful sleep, the nephalem first noticed that there was no more sunlight peering in through the curtain windows in his apartment. Had he slept that long? Taking another look at the digital clock, he indeed slept longer than he wanted to. Granted, he didn’t feel too bad as he had nothing important to do today. Though that was the case for most of his days. Taking another glance at the clock, he realized it was almost time to go out on his nightly patrol. Quickly getting up from the couch, the nephalem began to move towards his closet to swap into his “hero” outfit.
After doing so, except for fixing his quills into a ponytail, he was already on his way down the stairs so he could go and hang out with Jamie for the remainder of the hour before he would close up shop. Taking a peek into the tailor shop, to make sure no one was there aside from Jamie, the nephalem strolled right in.
The small border collie gave a side glance to the bombastic vigilante, “Heading out, again?” He asked.
“You know it.” The hedgehog responded, in his usual chill and confident tone. “How was business?”
“Nothing too different from other days; I sold a few articles of clothing, orders for custom clothing, tailoring. Nothing you would find interesting.” He responded, Jamie’s straight posture was now becoming more relaxed. After a small bout of silence, he added, “Thank you for asking though.” Jamie had turned a bit to face the taller being.
“Yeah, no problem,” Katorasu said, now fixing his quills for the night ahead of him.
Without saying anything, the British canine went to the back of his store to begin turning off all the lights in it. Katorasu, who was looking slightly at the ground as he finished styling his quills into a ponytail, heard the bell in the store ring. His heart dropped in an instant. He had half a mind to poof into mist right then and there, though he held himself back as that would completely expose him and pin him as a highly suspect individual. At least to whoever had just entered the shop. He was already in the deep end now, he might as well take a look at the person.
She was a hedgehog, which wasn’t so much of a surprise as hedgehogs were predominant in the Möbian species. Similar to the nephalem, she had fur just as dark as his and streaks of blue in her hair similar to the green in Kato’s quills. Interestingly, her outfit, while not as loud as Katorasu’s, bore some similarities to the male’s attire.
The female, who had scanned the room from left to right when first entering, soon locked eyes with the nephalem. Kato became rather sheepish when his golden eyes met her turquoise irises. “Excuse me,” She began with, approaching Katorasu now, who stood behind the counter still, “I know it’s rather late, but I was hoping you could help me—“
“Oh, oh no! I don’t work here. Yeah, I— uh— live upstairs!” He quickly explained his situation. “The guy you’re looking for is actually closing down shop.”
Stepping out into the remaining lights in the shop, Jamie seemed to quickly take in the appearance of the last customer of the night, “Normally, I would tell anyone at this time that the shop is closed. I’m feeling a bit generous tonight though. So, how may I help you?”
Katorasu, who had no reason to be there, stood by and watched the ongoing exchange. Truth be told, he seemed to take an interest in the female. She didn’t seem to care that there was this strange looking hedgehog in the room with them, though she did give him a curious look at the beginning. This wasn’t some random infatuation he developed with her. She was just… interesting to him, her sharing the same fashion choices and glossing over his existence seemed to suggest that she had her own story going on. There was also something about those eyes of hers. Either she was like Kato or maybe she was one of the stranger ones, though she didn’t act like it though, at least not like Kato. She seemed to be more mature than he was, which isn’t hard at all. Still, though, he couldn’t help but feel a sudden connection to her. All of that seemed to distract the nephalem from the worries he had just moments prior.
Jamie and the stranger, meanwhile, were talking business with each other.
“Do you think you could have my coat patched up by tomorrow night?” She questioned, handing the canine the aforementioned piece of clothing. It shared a similar look to her hair: black with hints of blue within it.
“I have several other orders before this, it may take longer to get to it.” He began to respond, assessing the damage to the coat. It was like someone had stabbed it several times, though Jamie kept that comparison to himself.
Immediately following that, the female hedgehog placed a small stack of bills on the counter. “How about now?” She asked.
Jamie, looking down at the extra money he had been given, nodded in response. “I’ll have it done first thing tomorrow, it’ll be ready by tomorrow night.”
“Thank you.” The female bowed slightly, before turning to make her way to the door, she wore only a white t-shirt on her torso now.
“Can I put a name to the coat?” Jamie asked, right as the mysterious hedgehog grabbed a hold of the door handle.
Looking over her shoulder, she responded, “Althaea.” With that, she opened the door wide enough for her to move on through as it slowly closed behind her, the bell ringing as it did so. Katorasu could’ve sworn she gave one last look at him.
Now walking over to Jamie, he asked, “She looked pretty strange.”
“Strange? Yes. Stranger than you? Hardly.” Jamie asked, jotting down the name of the cobalt-streaked hedgehog in a little notebook. It was used to keep track of orders.
After all that was done, the canine continued to close up shop. The nephalem simply watching and standing idly by as he did so, digging his hands into his pockets in the meanwhile.
“I wonder what her deal is?” He spoke, letting his thoughts be known.
“I’m sure you can ask her tomorrow night, maybe get her number as well.” Jamie sarcastically remarked.
“Maybe, I do wanna follow up on that after I’m done checking out the new baddies rolling into town.” He responded, walking over to the entrance of the shop, seeming to wait for Jamie. The aforementioned male was making his way over to the door, having just grabbed a rather unique umbrella, “Hey, you’ve been getting me to think lately,” Katorasu began, “So, I just wanna come clear. I don’t really do this all for the fun of it or just because I can with these powers I’ve got. I do it… because I really messed up somewhere in my life. I can’t say sorry either, as it’s been too long. I do this so I can redeem myself. I want to make a difference, I’m not gonna let anyone stop me, not even GUN.”
Jamie, with his finger on the light switch, looked up at the hedgehog, “I understand, it’s not easy living with a past that haunts us. It’s partially the reason why I opened up this shop in the first place.” Jamie admitted.
“Yeah, it’s not.” Kato looked off towards the ground for a moment, before looking back at Jamie to smile at him, “Just thought you should know that much about me, haven’t really told anyone about anything before.”
“Thank you for sharing that much with me.” Surprisingly, the border collie smiled back.
Opening the door for him, the nephalem said, “Goodnight, Jamie. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Goodnight to you too,” He responded, stepping out of the door before Kato himself followed. After the two were outside for a few seconds, Jamie had opened up his umbrella and turned to the nephalem, “Good luck out there, I hope you’re able to be the hero you wish to be.” With that, the Brit began his walk home.
Only able to mouth the words, Kato responded with, “Thank you.” With that goodbye, he set off for another night of patrolling.
