In front of his own house door, Fuse—who had just returned from his victory feast—casually tossed aside the shopping bag containing his new clothes.
Bruk. The soft scrape of the paper bag against the porch floor broke the quiet night.
But before his hand could reach the doorknob, his ears suddenly caught a sound.
It was a heavy, panicked growl, followed by rapid, frantic barking.
It was clearly not the bark of a dog begging for food or greeting its owner. It was a warning bark—an alarm that danger was near!
And the sound came from the neighbor's house!
In an instant, Fuse's instincts took over. Fatigue and fullness vanished. He spun on his heel and sprinted. His steps were long and silent, crossing his small yard in a flash and leaping over the low hedge fence with a light push.
He landed in the neighbor's yard. His sharp eyes swept the area, and immediately he saw what was wrong. The front door of the traditional wooden house stood wide open, swallowing moonlight into the dark hallway.
The barking grew louder.
In the yard, a chubby Shiba Inu was desperately tugging at its chain, growling and barking toward the open door.
Fuse ran closer, breathing slightly ragged—hosh… hosh. He stopped briefly beside the dog, wiping the thin sweat that had suddenly appeared on his forehead. His eyes locked on the dog, staring at it sharply.
The Shiba Inu briefly noticed Fuse's presence. Its ears twitched, but the animal chose to ignore him.
Seeing the dog not baring its teeth at him, Fuse let out a small sigh. He won't attack me, right? Everything would be annoying if I had to fight the neighbor's dog. Hopefully not… besides, he should recognize my scent!
Instead of attacking Fuse, the dog kept its gaze fixed inside the house, its chubby body trembling with rage and fear.
Fuse followed its line of sight, sharpening his focus through the darkness beyond the door.
From outside, the open door provided a clear frame to see what was happening inside.
In the genkan hallway, under the dim lamp light, stood a tall, skinny figure. The person wore all black, a medical mask covering half their face, and a hoodie with the hood pulled low to hide their identity.
A large, heavy-looking backpack hung on their back. In one hand they held a big black trash bag—the kind used for garbage disposal—but it looked swollen and stiff.
The burglar was half-bent, dirty shoes dirtying the wooden floor, preparing to flee through the front door.
The black bag in their hand looked heavy, and every movement produced a faint clinking sound from inside.
Meanwhile, right behind the burglar, slumped on the floor was the kind elderly woman who was his neighbor. The old woman had fallen with her knees awkwardly bent on the hard wooden floor. Her wrinkled face was as pale as old parchment. She stared at the black-clad figure in disbelief.
Her frail body shook violently, cold sweat soaking her temples and neck. Her mouth was open as if trying to scream for help, but the sound was trapped in her throat. Her trembling hands tried to rise to cover her own mouth.
Fuse narrowed his red eyes, processing the scene in a split second. A burglar?
The burglar was just about to step their left foot out the door when they looked up. Their eyes widened in shock behind the shadow of the hood upon seeing Fuse standing calmly in the middle of the yard, blocking their escape route.
Fuse crossed his arms over his chest, standing very casually, ignoring the tension that filled the air.
"How bold of you to steal in this neighborhood, little rat," Fuse said, his voice flowing calmly, cold, and slicing the night air like an ice blade. "Stealing when you should have realized that I, the center of this world, breathe under the same sky as you. That is a fatal tactical mistake."
The burglar staggered back a step, the bag in their hand clinking in panic.
Fuse lowered his arms and took one step forward. "But… I am a kind-hearted and very forgiving person," he continued in a thickly mocking tone. "So I'll give you one golden chance."
He extended his hand, palm facing up. "Put down everything you stole from that old woman, kneel on the floor, and surrender to the justice standing before you."
The burglar stared at Fuse for a moment. Eyes behind the mask flashed with anger and panic. They clicked their tongue harshly. "Tch!"
Without saying a word, the burglar immediately turned around. They realized the front door was blocked by this strange youth whose aura felt dangerous.
If they couldn't escape through the main door, they had to find another way out!
Maybe the back window or the kitchen door. They just had to run!
Seeing that response, Fuse only shrugged dramatically and shook his head slowly.
"Why are all villains so stubborn?" Fuse muttered, pretending to be disappointed. "I already offered a scenario where you wouldn't have to embarrass yourself."
Before the burglar could take their right foot to flee deeper into the house, Fuse had already swung his right hand forward in one elegant, fast swipe.
At that moment, the small metal pieces he had secretly prepared around the yard earlier—rusty nails from the fence, loose bolts from a junk bicycle in the corner, and a few coins he always carried—immediately flew and shot toward the burglar.
"Lucky for you this isn't my house," Fuse's voice echoed along with the whistle of the metals. "If this were my house, I would have caught you in a very brutal and humiliating way, then shown the whole world that petty crimes like this in front of me are nothing but a circus show."
A sharp smile adorned Fuse's lips.
Of course, he had the ability and power to rip the roof off the house or control the steel frame inside the walls to crush the burglar like a soda can.
However, aside from large-scale power being useless in a cramped space, it would also destroy the neighbor's house. Falling debris could be very dangerous for both of them—both the burglar and, most importantly, the elderly neighbor.
Using giant attacks would also be too conspicuous and would definitely cause a massive commotion in this quiet neighborhood. Police would come, reporters might sniff around, and his night rest would be ruined.
Besides, even though the person in front of him was a thief and criminal threatening the peace of his area, he had no intention of killing them.
He was a hero, not a street executioner!
At that moment, the small metals shot through the air at lethal speed, targeting the burglar's joints in their legs and arms.
The burglar glanced back when they heard the sound of sliced air. Their eyes widened in terror seeing the metal projectiles flying toward them like bullets.
By reflex, they dropped to the floor, rolling roughly, dodging the first attack. Klang! Ting! Several nails embedded in the wooden wall where the burglar's head had been a second earlier.
Fuse didn't bother chasing inside. He didn't move an inch from where he stood on the front porch. He simply stood there like an orchestra conductor, waving his fingers in the night air.
The burglar had just risen with difficulty, staring at Fuse in the doorway with ragged breath, then glanced at the small metals that had stopped embedding in the wall and were now turning back toward them at high speed.
The second attack came. The metals swept like an angry swarm of iron bees.
The burglar twisted their body, ducked, and leaped sideways, dodging the attack with great effort and very awkward movements. Their breathing sounded ragged behind the mask.
But before they could sigh in relief, the next metals that had missed earlier also veered sharply in the air, curving into an arc and chasing them again.
The burglar was shocked. Their eyes narrowed, realizing the objects were controlled with terrifying accuracy.
They were sure they couldn't keep dodging in such a cramped space!
In desperation, the burglar released the large backpack hanging on their shoulder, pulling it in front of their chest and face, gripping the straps tightly, trying to block the sharp metals aiming at them.
The thick canvas backpack became the burglar's shield!
However, right when the metals were only centimeters away and nearly touching the bag's fabric, the nails and bolts suddenly stopped floating in the air. Frozen.
Fuse smiled from the doorway.
"A very pitiful and futile effort," Fuse mocked, his voice calm yet echoing in the hallway. "Did you think a cheap cloth backpack could be a decent shield?"
Fuse shook his head slowly. "I would feel very ashamed of myself if I even had the stupid thought of using a limp backpack as a shield to block iron projectiles moving at bullet speed."
"But you know, I already said, didn't I?" Fuse tilted his head slightly. "I'm a very kind person."
"So I won't embarrass you by piercing your pathetic bag."
With one light snap of Fuse's finger, the metals floating frozen suddenly veered sharply sideways at a 90-degree angle.
Then, in the blink of an eye, from the bag's blind spot, the metals dived toward the burglar and slammed hard into the side of their ribs and knee.
"Ugh!"
The burglar jolted and their eyes widened. They let out a stifled groan. Sharp and blunt pain hit their nerves from the solid metal impact.
Their grip on the backpack weakened. They released it, and the bag fell to the wooden floor with a heavy bruk.
Both of the burglar's knees buckled, losing their support. They fell to their knees on the floor, body curling to endure the pain in their ribs.
Seeing their prey fallen, Fuse casually flicked his sleeve. Slowly, he began stepping through the front door, entering the house.
The sound of his shoes was slow and rhythmic. Tak. Tak. Tak.
The burglar was still looking down, clutching their throbbing knee. Their breathing was ragged behind the mask.
Slowly, in their downward gaze, they saw a dark shadow stretching across the wooden floor, creeping closer. The shadow swallowed the dim lamp light above them.
Slowly, the shadow grew larger, covering their body, enveloping them in real darkness and intimidation.
The burglar's eyes trembled violently behind the mask.
Very slowly and shakily, the burglar lifted their head.
There, towering before them, they saw the youth's figure.
The youth approached with both hands casually in his pants pockets. His dark red hair was slightly blown by the night wind entering through the open door, fluttering gently like a small flame.
Slowly, the burglar's gaze rose to Fuse's face.
It was a handsome, proportional face, emotionless, but the pair of red eyes was so cold. Those eyes stared straight down at them, not with hatred, but with an empty gaze as if looking at a lifeless piece of trash ruining the view.
Outside, right behind Fuse, the fading lamp light seemed to illuminate his back, creating the illusion of a dark and threatening halo, framing his silhouette like the angel of death descending to collect a soul.
The burglar trembled uncontrollably. They forced themselves to retreat, slowly sitting their butt on the floor, dragging their body backward little by little away from Fuse. They didn't dare stand.
They kept dragging themselves back, panicking, until finally their back hit a wooden buffet cabinet in the hallway and could retreat no further.
They were truly cornered.
Fuse stopped his steps exactly two meters in front of the burglar.
He stared at the terrified burglar, then smiled thinly. A smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Why are you backing away?" Fuse asked softly.
"Are you scared?" Fuse tilted his head slightly.
At this moment when tension froze the air, his neighbor—the elderly woman who had been trembling on the floor near the living room—suddenly broke the silence. She forced her voice out of her dry throat.
"Fuse-chan…!" she called, her voice trembling violently. Tears of fear and relief pooled in her eyes, making the wrinkles on her face look wet. But because of her weak legs and lingering fear, she didn't stand immediately. She only sat curled up.
Fuse didn't turn fully, but he smiled warmly, glancing at his neighbor from the corner of his eye.
"It's okay now, Granny," Fuse said soothingly, his arrogant tone vanishing instantly, replaced by the sympathy of a kind neighbor. "I'm here. The nightmare is over."
The cornered burglar's eyes moved wildly, staring at Fuse who was momentarily distracted comforting the old woman, then at the helpless elderly woman sitting there.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the burglar gathered their remaining strength, pushed off the cabinet, and leaped straight toward the old woman!
Fuse narrowed his eyes instantly. At the same time, killing intent flashed in his red irises. He immediately swung two fingers toward the burglar with a very sharp motion.
The small metals that had fallen to the floor earlier immediately rose and shot through the air, flying to surround the burglar. The sharp metals floated and aimed at vital points: the neck, the back of the head where the brain was, and directly at the back of the heart.
But… all the metals suddenly stopped in the air. Frozen only millimeters from the burglar's skin and clothes.
The world inside the hallway seemed to freeze, halted by a clock hand that no longer ticked.
Fuse let out a long sigh, white steam escaping his nose. "Such a cowardly tactic."
In the reflection of Fuse's red eyes, the burglar had quickly positioned themselves, kneeling right behind the old woman, wrapping one strong, rough arm around her neck, holding her in a threatening chokehold.
Meanwhile, the burglar's other free hand stretched forward. Their fingers, covered in thin leather gloves, nearly touched the old woman's wrinkled cheek and face.
"Let me go right now, or this old hag won't survive!" the burglar threatened. Their voice was hoarse and panicked, shouting behind the mask, eyes staring wildly at the sharp metals threatening their life from behind.
Their free hand moved even closer to the old woman's face, fingers tensing.
The old woman trembled harder, tears now flowing freely, unable to speak under the strong arm wrapped around her neck.
Fuse narrowed his eyes in a split second, but then a crooked smile etched on his face.
"Heh," Fuse snorted softly. "Don't try to threaten me with this cheap act. What exactly can you do with your empty hand? Choke her? I can pierce your skull with a nail before you manage to press her throat any deeper."
Fuse casually played his hand in the air, and the nails around the burglar's neck shifted slightly closer, giving a real physical threat.
"Even if you manage to escape with her as a hostage… do you think you'll be free?" Fuse continued, his tone bored. "You'll be chased by pro heroes across the entire block. Helicopters will search for you. You're only delaying your arrest."
"You think I'm stupid, huh?!" the burglar narrowed their eyes sharply. They moved the hand on the old woman's face.
"So you think you're smart?" Fuse let out a heavy sigh, as if tired of facing human stupidity. He slowly raised both hands upward, level with his ears. "Fine. Let's play by your boring rules. Go ahead."
Seeing the dangerous youth's surrendering gesture, the burglar swallowed hard, not believing their luck. They slowly began to move backward.
The burglar and the hostage elderly woman slowly stood, their movements awkward because they had to maintain the chokehold.
They walked unsteadily, dragging their steps backward, slowly heading toward the still-gaping exit door, while the burglar's eyes kept watching Fuse warily as he stood motionless.
Fuse also slowly turned his body, following their movement. His red eyes never left them, but both hands remained raised high.
Less than a minute later, the burglar finally managed to cross the threshold. They were already outside the house, night air greeting them, and they continued backing away across the yard.
The Shiba Inu's barking sounded again, louder than before. But the dog quickly fell silent, whimpering softly, when instinct told it that its owner, the old woman, was being threatened.
When they were right in the middle of the open yard, near the boundary fence, the burglar felt slightly safer. The distance between them and Fuse, who was still in the doorway, felt far enough. They intended to release the old woman and run as fast as possible into the night.
However, the exact moment they loosened their grip on the old woman's neck, they froze and jolted in shock.
The large black plastic bag they had thrown to the genkan floor and left inside the house suddenly shook violently on its own!
The burglar narrowed their eyes, extremely suspicious, staring sharply at Fuse in the doorway.
But Fuse remained in the same position. He still held both hands high. He also didn't move an inch from where he stood on the wooden floor. His face was flat, and he wasn't swinging his hands.
After pausing long enough, the burglar concluded it was probably just residual magnetism or wind. They decided not to care about their stolen goods. Right now their life was far more important!
They took another step backward, moving away from the old woman to then turn and run.
They even planned to throw the old woman aside to hinder Fuse's pursuit.
At that moment, the large black bag suddenly flew out of the house on its own, soaring through the door and shooting toward the yard!
The burglar sighed, thinking Fuse was throwing away the evidence.
But when they looked more clearly, the burglar's eyes instantly widened seeing this with both eyes.
The large, heavy black bag… had stopped in the air!
Floating right between them and Fuse. Without a single hand holding it. The bag was floating.
The burglar immediately shifted their gaze to Fuse in the doorway. They realized Fuse was still in the exact same position, hands raised. But what was different now was… Fuse was now smiling widely!
The burglar's eyes bulged. At that moment, they couldn't help but realize one thing. And that was their mistake!
They realized the cause of this situation was none other than the red-haired youth. The object wasn't moving by itself. It was being controlled—without needing hand movements! The youth had tricked them!
Knowing that, the burglar immediately leaned forward, about to lunge back toward the old woman.
They intended to grab and threaten her again as a hostage!
But before their leg muscles could push their body forward… they saw a large black shadow covering their vision.
The large black bag full of stolen goods that had been floating had already shot forward and flew straight toward their face at extraordinary speed!
The burglar couldn't help but be shocked, unable to raise their hands to block it.
BAM!
The large, heavy black bag slammed hard into the burglar's face. The sound of metal, gold, silver, and valuables clashing inside the bag struck their nose and forehead.
The burglar was instantly thrown backward.
They lost balance, their feet tripped over a stone, and they fell flat on their back, hitting the hard yard ground with a rough debam.
Their head felt excruciating pain, as if hit by a brick. Their vision slowly blurred, the world spinning around them, and their ears rang. They felt blood flowing from their nose behind the mask.
With their fading consciousness, they slowly tried to rise, supporting their body with trembling hands.
Damn! I failed! At least… I have to escape! their mind screamed in despair.
They had managed to rise unsteadily, forcing their legs to run through the dizziness.
However, the moment they took their first step to flee, a single 100-yen coin that had been silently floating and hiding near the roof of the house suddenly stopped spinning.
The silver metal coin seemed to have eyes that stared sharply at the burglar, who had now crossed the yard fence and was about to successfully escape into the quiet street.
At the second when that freedom was almost within the burglar's grasp, the coin suddenly shot through the night air with extreme speed—Zing!—straight at its target.
TAK!
The metal coin struck the back of the burglar's skull with mathematical precision and force, like the strike of a judge's gavel.
The burglar felt a piercing sharp pain explode at the back of their head. Their steps died instantly. Their body swayed forward, no longer able to support its weight, and collapsed face-first onto the asphalt with a harsh thud.
Their vision grew blurrier, pulled into a vortex of darkness.
Their consciousness faded quickly, pain replaced by emptiness.
Thus, their eyes closed tightly.
The burglar had passed out completely!
In the doorway, Fuse—who had been standing motionless, frozen like a statue—suddenly moved casually. He lowered both hands that had been raised, slipped them back into his pockets, and let out a long sigh.
"It turns out intelligence is sharper than concrete nails," he murmured in satisfaction to himself.
He then walked casually toward his neighbor, who was still trembling on the yard floor.
"Are you all right?" Fuse asked gently, his arrogant tone vanishing instantly, replaced by the sympathy of a kind neighbor.
He scanned the old woman's entire body from top to bottom, making sure there were no scratches or bruising from choking, and nodded to himself, certain she had no physical injuries.
"Thank you, Fuse-chan. Oh, thank you so much," the old woman seemed to cry, tears wetting her wrinkled cheeks. She wiped her tears with her sleeve. "I was so scared… I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't been here."
Fuse, who was always used to praise, for some reason felt slightly awkward this time facing the fragile tears of an old woman. He was unsure how to react to this emotional situation. He only scratched his cheek with one finger, smiling awkwardly.
"Ah, yes. No need to thank me. That's already my duty," he said simply.
Then, because he didn't know what else to say to comfort his still-shocked neighbor, Fuse chose to shift focus. Instead of helping her stand, he walked past the old woman toward the unconscious burglar lying on the asphalt.
He stopped near the helpless body and sighed.
From the beginning, when he analyzed the situation in the hallway earlier, Fuse had already guessed and made deductions. This burglar acted with great confidence. They must have had a fairly dangerous Quirk as their ace card, if they dared to act recklessly alone to sneak into and steal from an occupied house without any accomplices behind the scenes.
Only, Fuse still didn't know what kind of Quirk the burglar actually had, and how it was activated.
With that assumption and lack of information, he intended to trick his opponent. Make the burglar believe with absolute certainty that Fuse's Quirk had an absolute requirement: he could only control metal when he performed hand-swinging gestures. So from the start, Fuse deliberately exaggerated his physical movements, swinging his hands dramatically as if all the metals he controlled and fired absolutely needed to be activated that way.
That turned out to be a genius bluffing move. The tactic successfully entered the criminal's mind and made the burglar let their guard down in the final seconds when they thought Fuse had surrendered by raising his hands!
Fuse also, of course, had known from the beginning that the contents of the large black bag were definitely the old woman's valuables. Considering the bag's weight and sound, it surely contained gold, jewelry, and other metal objects.
Moreover, there was the clinking sound of metal colliding inside every time the bag moved.
So it was certain, by the physics of his Quirk, there was metal in there that he could manipulate.
Besides, even though he couldn't see inside the pitch-black bag, he could feel the essence of the metal inside through his magnetic resonance, as if the pile of metal was screaming at him to be controlled.
Therefore, from the start Fuse had intended to use the stolen goods themselves as a secret weapon at the right moments—especially when the burglar released it and felt safe.
As for the moment when the burglar took the old woman hostage and threatened her life with their touch, Fuse had to admit he was slightly surprised. However, the hostage scenario was still within his calculations. So he wasn't too panicked or lost his composure facing the threat. And precisely because of that threat, Fuse's analytical mind became certain of one thing: the burglar indeed had a dangerous Quirk that could probably threaten life or paralyze someone instantly! Moreover, its activation was clearly by touching the target's body with their fingers!
That was why Fuse decided to swallow his ego for a moment and play it safe by raising his hands when the burglar successfully took the neighbor hostage.
Attacking brutally at close range could risk making the criminal reflexively activate their Quirk on the old woman.
Fuse looked at the old woman who was still sobbing softly in the distance. Sorry, Granny, he thought with slight regret for using his neighbor as bait in his scenario. But sometimes drama needs a little tension spice so the climax feels sweeter.
Fuse stared again at the still-unconscious burglar snoring on the asphalt.
At that moment, he raised his finger slightly. A long iron pipe from an old clothesline lying in the neighbor's yard suddenly floated closer. The pipe bent, twisted, and coiled as if becoming wire rope, binding the burglar's arms and legs tightly behind their back in an uncomfortable position, ensuring they couldn't escape even if they woke up.
Fuse wiped and clapped his palms together several times.
Then, calmly he took his smartphone from his pocket. His finger typed the emergency number and called the police.
After calling the police, he was about to put the phone back in his pocket when he suddenly stopped. He opened the screen again but took no further action; instead his finger hovered momentarily over the screen.
His red eyes gleamed under the streetlight.
Not long after, his finger pressed another number, typing a different contact.
He called the nearest pro heroes' emergency number.
…
A/N: It's been a week since I updated the previous chapter. Sorry. Too many things I had to finish IRL. Now it's calmer so I can update as usual. Thank you for always waiting.
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