Heavy footsteps echoed through the empty hallway of the main floor of Endeavor’s agency building. Aldon was the only one left there today while the rest were out on patrol or had already gone home.

  He let out a deep sigh as he pced a pile of paperwork on his desk in the office. He sank into his seat while rubbing his temples. “Out of thirty sidekicks, all the papers are left for me… as always,” he groaned, a hint of annoyance in his voice before starting.

  An hour passed, and Aldon was already done with half. Although he hated doing office work, he always finished everything quickly. Maybe that’s the reason why Endeavor gave him this task every week. Aldon leaned back in his seat and took a picture of the table full of papers, then sent it to his colleague Burnin with the text: "Half done, half to go." It didn’t take long for him to get a reply.

  “Good job, kid! You deserve to take a break!”

  It was funny being called a kid by someone who was only a year older. Still, she had a point, so Aldon allowed himself to close his eyes for a minute—just... a... minute.

  “Give me your hand!” an older-looking kid demanded from his friend.

  “I—I don’t know,” the other kid fidgeted nervously in the spot where he was sitting.

  The two boys were seated in front of one another in the middle of a forest. It was a nice, calm pce.

  “Come on,” the older one whined, grabbing the other boy’s hand himself, knowing that waiting would lead to nothing.

  As their fingers intertwined, both hands were suddenly set on fire. It was a quirk of the older boy, Touya Todoroki—the wielder of Hellfme, with greater firepower than Endeavor himself. The younger boy, Aldon, winced at the sudden warmth. He wanted to escape, but Touya’s grip was strong and prevented him from running away.

  “See? My fmes won’t hurt you…” the older boy gave him a reassuring smile.

  It was a smile filled with confidence and determination, but also worry, care, and… trust. Aldon rexed a little. He was scared; he feared the fire, the pain of burning from inside. It hadn’t been long since his quirk manifested, and upon using it and exceeding his limit, the fire he absorbed had scarred his inner organs for the rest of his life. He had come so close to death’s arms that day.

  “You said you can absorb fmes and manipute them too, right? So now do it!” Touya commanded.

  “But… but…” Aldon protested quietly.

  “Just do it, you big baby. I told you my fmes won’t hurt you… You don’t trust me?” The older one looked sad, hoping to change his friend’s mind. He waited for an answer.

  It was hard for Aldon. The fear was controlling him, but he knew he could trust Touya. With a deep breath, he allowed the veins in his right hand to open, letting the fire crawl its way inside his body. He trembled as the warmth filled him, but… nothing hurt? Aldon chuckled and kept his focus completely on their connected hands, making the fmes flicker upward and separate into sparks shaped like butterflies. They shone around them for a second before fading.

  “Hehe, told you, dummy! Our quirks are compatible; we are meant to be hero partners!” Touya chirped happily.

  Aldon looked at his friend with eyes full of expectation. He smiled brightly at him and nodded. “Mmm!”

  The image of that boy’s face turned blurry as Aldon slowly opened his eyes. He let out a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. Why is it coming back to him now? How long has it even been since then? Ten years? Aldon raised his arm to look at a tattoo decorating his wrist—simple shapes forming a small firefly. It brought back more memories.

  “Hey, Angie!” A familiar face blocked his view, startling him and causing him to fall backward along with the chair he was sitting in. “How did you get inside? The doors were locked!” Aldon groaned as he slowly collected himself from the ground with the help of his friend.

  “Through the window.” The other hero pointed to it with a swift motion. His friend was none other than Hawks—a pro hero who started his own agency at eighteen. Popur, handsome, and funny.

  Aldon and Hawks met by pure coincidence when Aldon visited the Hero Public Safety Commission to tell them about his passion project, his research, and his dream of helping imprisoned vilins and the police during court.

  Aldon got this idea one day after capturing a peace-disturbing vilin. He was tasked with escorting the vilin to the police station when the vilin suddenly began to cry. At first, Aldon thought it was a ploy to appeal to his empathy, but the more they talked, the more he realized this crying vilin was just a broken person—abused and betrayed by his friends, abandoned by his family, with authorities refusing to help. Society had failed him, and he ended up choosing the wrong path. But when he realized that, it was too te to correct his ways. Aldon noted everything and reported it to the police. They had never encountered someone wanting to help a vilin in such a way, especially not a hero, and they didn’t know what to do with the information. Endeavor stood up for Aldon that one time, at least to try and investigate the vilin’s past. All the things the vilin said turned out to be true.

  The court was held a few days after the imprisonment, resulting in very surprising outcomes for everyone. The vilin was pced under medical watch in an asylum. Aldon felt this was his purpose in life. Being a hero never fully suited him or filled him with satisfaction, but now he found his true goal: to help save vilins who had been failed by society. Normal citizens were protected and saved every day by heroes, but Aldon had never really wanted to become a hero in the first pce. He never sought fame or money from being a hero, nor did he want interviews after every mission, posing for photos and giving autographs, or being a sidekick to a hero who only cared about his ranking. Aldon became a hero because of a childhood dream of his friend, but now he felt he had found his path: to be in the background and help others.

  When the Hero Public Safety Commission heard about this, they immediately asked Aldon to come and expin his actions. At first, he saw this as a great opportunity to show them his vision, but he quickly realized how naive he was. They barely listened to him, accused him of many things, and asked if he would excuse even a murderer this way. Aldon wasn’t ready to answer such a question and had to swear to keep his nose out of it, or else jail could very well await him—or something worse.

  The hero was crushed by their words but more determined than ever to continue in secrecy. When Aldon stepped out of the building, he was approached by the Wing Hero, Hawks, who had been in the room earlier, listening.

  Based on what Aldon had seen on TV, he thought Hawks was just another pretty face with a bratty attitude chasing fame, so he initially ignored him. However, Hawks quickly followed and asked about Aldon’s project. He was genuinely interested, so they agreed to go for lunch and spent a few hours discussing Aldon’s pns. After that, they began meeting more often when they were off work, or Hawks would fly over to Aldon’s job or apartment to hang out. They grew closer and became good friends.

  “Wanna take a break and grab some snacks?” Hawks asked with a smile, and Aldon nodded without hesitation. “Or maybe we can go to this one pce… I’m craving some chicken nuggets,” the feathered hero hummed, earning a frown from the shorter male. Aldon was vegan, so it mildly bothered him, but he tolerated it. Hawks grinned and threw his arm around Aldon’s shoulders as they both walked into the busy city.The paperworks can wait.