[A Week Later]
'Kanzaki Ramen Shop'
"Jin! Package for Takigawa-san is ready! Deliver it quick!" shouted Fuyumi as she put some boxes into a bag.
Hearing her shout, a man hurriedly came from the shop's kitchen. There was nothing uncommon about him except the weird black and grey mask on his head. The man quickly picked up the bag, "Okay, boss-lady, I will be off now," said the man and ran out of the shop.
'How often did I have to tell him not to call me that... It sounds like some 40-year-old fat lady,' thought Fuyumi as she pinched her nose bridge with closed eyes.
She checked the time on the wall clock, which was about 8 PM; she then checked the order list, and all the orders were done. So now was dinner time.
"Shido! Dinner Time!" shouted Fuyumi.
"Okay! Call the kids and the others!" a shout came back from the kitchen.
Fuyumi took out her phone and sent 'It's Dinner Time' on a group chat. Soon after the message was sent, two people entered the shop.
"Sorry for the intrusion," *2 said the man with white hair and beard, and a little girl with their head slightly bowed.
"You don't have to be so formal, Danjuro-san, Manami-san... We are neighbors now," said Fuyumi with a bright and warm smile as she welcomed the two. The two guests made their way toward the dining room of Kanzaki Residence.
Then a man with a large build and a big scar on his face entered the shop. "Hello, Fuyumi..." greeted the man with a plain front.
"Hello, Oguro-san. Shido is waiting inside," greeted the man back with the same smile she gave to Danjuro and Manami. This brought a small smile to his face. He then walked inside the dining room.
Not long after Iwao came a woman around Fuyumi's height with a more curvaceous body than her. The woman had bicolor (mixture of dark blue and pink) hair. The welcoming expression on Fuyumi's face vanished the moment this woman entered the shop. She walked toward the dining room without even saying something to Fuyumi.
"I don't think I invited you..." said Fuyumi, stopping Kaina in her tracks.
"A family member doesn't need an invitation for family dinner, don't they?" said Kaina with a smug smile.
"I don't recognize you as a family member--"
"You don't need to... The world accepts me as his family, and that's all I need," Kaina interjected and pulled out an identity card. On the card, 'Kaina Kanzaki' was written in front of [Name].
'The US Government gave her a new identity... and now she is a long distant sister of Shido. Who would've thought she would change her identity like that...' Fuyumi internally gritted her teeth.
"Now, if you would excuse me... I have a family dinner to attend," said Kaina smugly and went inside the dining room, leaving a grumbling Fuyumi on the counter.
A week prior, two ladies haven't even heard of each other's names, but they are acting as life-long rivals a week later. One may ask what the cause of this strife is and the answer was their first meeting was horrendous.
On the day of Night Raid's arrival in Japan, Shido told Fuyumi about his plans to invite his teammates for dinner. Fuyumi agreed and waited outside the home after the dinner was ready. When the car stopped outside Shido's house, and everyone came out, this woman, Kaina, was clinging to Shido as if her life depended on it. Literally, half of her body was leaning on Shido. This was enough for Fuyumi to go full rampage mode, but Shido explained to her about their relationship and how they are something like a brother and sister.
To add salt to Fuyumi's wounds, Kaina pulled out her new identity card and showed everyone her new identity as Kaina Kanzaki. This woman who came out of nowhere has Shido's surname on her Name before her... the future wife of Shido. This act pushed Kaina to the enemy zone in Fuyumi's book. The irritation on Fuyumi's face was not left undetected by Kaina.
After that, Kaina made it a habit of pulling out her identity card in front of Fuyumi just to annoy her.
[Dining Room, 8 PM]
Everyone was sitting at the dining table and eating from their plates while their attention was entirely on the TV instead of the food. On TV, they were watching an American news channel where the reporter was standing in front of a huge crowd wearing a black belted shirt dress.
Reporter: Today, we, like many other people that you can see here, are gathered to mourn the martyrdom of Night Slash, Knuckleduster, La Brava, Mr. Fantastic, & Nova, who sacrificed their lives to save the city of Los Angeles and it's people from the vile supervillain Genesis. They were called Vigilantes, but their last act to protect the people made them the epitome of heroes. The heroes saved the people standing behind me, in some way or another during the attack of Genesis.
Ms. Star and Stripes and Mr. Captain Celebrity will be coming here soon along with US Officials to pay their respects, and they will share the details of the attack in a press conference after the funeral.
...
Star & Stripes: What we saw, and the people of Los Angeles went through in the last three days was unpredictable and unprecedented. Genesis, a single villain, was able to attack the President of the United States of America, Take a big city like Los Angeles as a hostage, and then plan an insurrection around the country. It showed how strong he was in leading an army of insurrectionists, but then there was his strength... We all saw his show of power during the attack on LA.
With that much power, he might've easily won. But as strong the evil was, a stronger good was born. And our venerable President Valdis introduced the hero Night Slash to the world. From the day of his start, he took on the job of fighting the evil known as Genesis. And then, two days later, he saved Los Angeles by shouldering a nuclear weapon on his back to the space... sacrificing himself in the process. Maybe the evil was too strong that the good had to sacrifice itself. But not only him... Some unsung heroes fought the evil alongside Night Slash. They were Knuckleduster, Mr. Fantastic, La Brava, and Nova.
You are reading story MHA: ‘Serene’ Life in Another World. at novel35.com
They were all part of Night Raid, a Vigilante Group from Japan. They may be considered criminals or vigilantes in Japan, but their actions here in America have shown us that they were heroes. They sacrificed their lives for people they didn't know about, for a country to which they didn't belong. That's greatness... and I don't think we would ever be able to reach that level.
Today we are here to pay them our respects and thank them for what they did for us... But to truly pay them our respects, we need to work hard... work hard to rebuild this scarred city... work hard to prepare ourselves... to fight the evil so that no more Night Raid have to sacrifice their lives for our sake. To engrave Night Slash's and his teammates' sacrifice for the people of LA, we've decided to build a statue of them in the center of the newly-built Downtown, LA.
Thank You.
After completing her speech, Star & Stripes walked off the podium and attended the press conference along with other US Officials where the questions centered around healing LA, the source of the Nuclear Weapon that was fired during Genesis' attack, the future direction of Homeland Security after this attack, etc.
All answers given to the media were simple optimistic lines, but there was one lie too. When the question of Nuclear Weapon came, Star & Stripes answered the missile was of Genesis bought from terrorists. The Media seemed satisfied with that, and no one asked a follow-up question 'How come the terrorists are strong enough to procure a nuclear warhead?' And that was bound to happen because all the reporters in the conference were given the questions they were supposed to 'ask'.
Caster Rogers was arrested for firing a nuclear warhead at LA along with the Generals who seconded the motion. But the case of President Valdis was much more complex. President Valdis was missing since the attack on LA. He was last seen in the hospital he was admitted to, but after that, there have been no signs of him. It was like he vaporized in thin air.
In the insurrection, QWO (Quirkless Welfare Organization), founded by Valdis, played a significant role. Everyone thought President Valdis was involved in the insurrection and fled the moment the insurrection failed. But after a thorough investigation and interrogation, it was found that President Valdis was wholly innocent and uninvolved with the insurrection.
Now clueless about President Valdis, the US Officials decided to keep the case under the rugs otherwise the public would descend into chaos if the news of the President's disappearance spreads out. And thus, the Officials had to take such a step to cover everything and give the citizens a fake sense of calm. To end the press conference on an emotional side, Star and Stripes did something unexpected.
Star & Stripes: Before ending, I would like to share something that our Space-Hero, Stargaze found near the detonation location in the space.
She proceeded and took out a half-broken helmet. The helmet may be split in half but it was more than enough to recognize to whom the helmet belonged. It was Night Slash's.
"Stargaze was asked to investigate the detonation location. The chances of finding anything were near zero but he found this... And there is more than just a damaged helmet. There is a voice recorder inside and there was a recorded message that means this broken helmet actually contains the last words of Night Slash." She then pressed the button and Night Slash's voice came out of the broken helmet.
:: I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble. And finally gets us to die with pride. Even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want most, even our dreams
I don't know what life holds in store for me, but I will never forget these words. With great power comes great responsibilities. This is me fulfilling my duty. This is my gift... my curse---
*BOOM*::
"It's weird seeing people mourning over my deaths while I am still alive," said Shido as he ate the katsu.
The teammates nodded, as they related to what he said. Fuyumi picked her empty rice bowl off the table and picked up the kid's plates as well. After placing the dishes in the sink, she proceeded to take the kids back to the bedroom while the Night Raid stayed in the dining room.
"Can't believe you said those lines as your final words... It was cringe," said Iwao (Knuckleduster).
"I just wanted to make the death more impactful, so I purposely recorded that and threw the damaged helmet off in the space. I had to do it... even if it was cringe, but let's put that aside and tell how is the work going on," said Shido (Night Slash).
"Well, the bar will be completed in 2 days," said Iwao (Knuckleduster).
"What about you two?" Shido asked Danjuro (Mr. Fantastic) and Manami (La Brava).
"The cafe's construction is done and now we just need to order the machines and equipment... Then we are all set for the opening!" exclaimed Manami (La Brava). Shido nodded and then turned to Kaina (Nova/Lady Nagant).
"Any lead on what you want to do?"
"Yeah, Since you all are shop owners now... I was thinking of opening my own shop. I was thinking of opening an Arcade," said Kaina with a smile. "Well, whatever suits you..." said Shido.
Everyone other than Shido soon left for their own new homes adjacent to Kanzaki Residence. After the Night Raid arrived in Japan, They discussed what happened in America. When Shido came to know about the AVL's decision to clear everyone's record, he suggested everyone to come to Musutafu and live as neighbors and start a new chapter in their life. There was some resistance from Knuckleduster but Shido somehow convinced him.
Fuyumi returned after putting the kids to sleep and then went to the kitchen only to find Shido washing the dishes. She walked to his side and started helping him wash the dishes. While washing the dishes, there was a simple silence between the two which was enjoyed by them but soon Fuyumi remembered something which broke the vibe. She turned to Shido,
"Shido... Tomorrow is my High School Reunion! You are coming, right?"