I’m not a hero

After burying his friend's body and paying all respects to her at her improvised eternal bed, Ano set out to seek revenge. That night was the only possible night on which he could execute his revenge on the person who had done this to his friend. The reason for that is that, for practical reasons, the recordings and files of the suburban districts were erased as soon as the clock struck midnight.

The young boy got on his motorcycle and returned to the scene in less than 20 minutes. Considering that nighttime traffic was denser than daytime traffic, Ano ran several traffic lights, signs, and even endangered the lives of pedestrians. Fortunately, this would not bring him any consequences as he had installed a wave disruptor on his Z-910 that allowed him to spoof speed camera images and data.

It was 11:54 pm when Ano returned to the scene. He had 6 minutes to break into the system and gain access to the footage from the old security camera down the street. It took him two minutes to break through the firewall and view the video.

It's a good thing that the government security is terrible.

In the video, a man in his 30s could be seen. No hair, a dark blue suit, brown shoes, and a cranial modification, probably a virtual memory space. The man continued to the left and got lost in the alley. Ano was supposed to follow him toward the next security camera so he could track him before the recordings were deleted. But then, the young boy saw it. Hana's last moments of life.

Hana…-chan…

Ano was petrified. What he was seeing was the last breath of life that Hana left in the world, captured by a camera and not by himself. The young boy felt so overwhelmed and helpless that as soon as he thought of downloading the video, it was too late and he had to go to the next camera in order to follow the man's trail.

Should I download it? Fuck!! I’m running out of time!! Sorry Hana…

The boy yanked the cable out of the camera with such force that he destroyed it, knocking it to the ground. As he ran down the long, narrow alley to the next camera, the images of his friend that he had just seen danced in his head. Images of Hana dancing, smiling, jumping and suddenly succumbing against the concrete of that cold street where he found her invaded his mind.

I’ll make you pay for what you did!! I swear on everything that's sacred in the world!!

He arrived at the next camera, but he had not much time left. However, he was able to arrive in time to see how the hairless man entered the bar just across the street. At that very moment, at 00:00, the boy officially turned 16.

Crap!! The recordings are being deleted one after another now. I need to get info from that club.

With the intention of getting information, the young boy changed his clothes with the holographic device he developed a few days ago. Being a prototype, the most he could get was a realistic color change on his clothes.

The fewer clues, the better.

The place where he was about to enter was a nightclub, also known as a joint in Neo Shibuya. A bar where many people from the night world went to have fun, drink alcohol and take illegal substances. Because of this, the place was quite dark despite the violet and blue rays of light flying everywhere. This fact helped to make it extremely difficult to identify people by their faces. The clothes, however, were easy to remember.

He entered the bar drenched by the rain. It was his first time in a bar, and just as he was about to look for information about the man, he saw him.

*♪♪Boya, boya. Liking the hoya. Seeing the way you do it. Give it the skit’it.♪♪*

He could not believe his eyes. It was the man in the blue suit. He hadn't moved from the place in hours. He was drinking in the company of women just a few meters away from where he had murdered a 14-year-old girl. Ano was furious, so furious that he clenched his fist so hard that he began to bleed from digging in his own fingernails.

YOU SCUM!! Enjoying your time a few meters away from where you assassinated Hana… I’ll make you pay!!

The young boy had to calm down. There were too many people. He had to wait and contain his rage. Fortunately, he had already turned 16 and was allowed to enter any nightclub from then on. It was not unusual for a 16-year-old to go out partying on the night of his birthday.

In just a few minutes, Ano thought of a strategy that would leave his target unprotected and at his mercy. The young inventor turned to one of the girls working there.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY BOXES AVAILABLE FOR A PRIVATE DANCE!?"

"SURE. LET'S GO TO BOX 4, CUTIE!"

*♪♪Boya, boya. Liking the hoya. Seeing the way you do it. Give it the skit’it.♪♪*

The volume of the music was such that you had to shout to be able to speak. Things were different in those soundproof boxes. It was a perfect place to talk.

"GREAT, BUT COME OVER IN 30 MINUTES. I WANT TO TALK TO A FRIEND FIRST. CAN YOU TELL THE BALD GUY AT THAT TABLE OVER THERE SURROUNDED BY THOSE FOUR BEAUTIES THAT HE HAS A FREE PRIVATE DANCE IN BOX 4? HE'S MY FRIEND, AND I WANT TO SURPRISE HIM FOR HIS BIRTHDAY."

The woman, without hesitation, went to the guy. Ano, without wasting a second, went to box 4. He would wait for his prey in there.

****

"YOU HAVE A PRIVATE DANCE IN BOX 4, STALLION!" The woman said to the bald man.

The man, without hesitation, got up, cleaned his nose and headed towards his fateful destination. He opened the door and as he raised his arms, he shouted.

"Alright, where's that girl from the private dance!!!"

Ano, who was waiting for him behind the door, grabbed him by the collar of his suit and threw him to the floor. He closed the door and started pointing the folding pistol he had created a few days ago towards the bald man.

The man, who was more machine than human due to all the modifications he had, saw from the ground how a guy was pointing what looked like a gun at him, so he raised his hands out of instinct and stood up.

"Come on, man, take it easy. I've already paid off all my debts. You don't need to keep doing this, okay? Talk to Ogura, he knows everything is settled."

"OGURA DOESN'T SEND ME! ASSHOLE!"

The young boy was still shouting even though he was in a place where there was no noise at all.

"Oh okay. So what do you want then? Nice textile hologram you got there partner. Hahahaha."

The place where they were was different. Not only was there no noise, but the visibility was perfect. Unfortunately, Ano's textile hologram had gotten wet, and the performance was terrible. However, this was only appreciable in a well-lit place.

"SIT DOWN, YOU SCUM!!!" The young boy exclaimed rabidly.

Ano pounced on Hana's killer and threw him against the couch there was in the box the same way he did when he came through the door.

"God!!! Is it part of your religion to grab people and throw them away? I think I kinda like it. Hahahahahaha." Joked the man.

"I've seen you giving a pink drug to a little girl on the next street. You're going to tell me everything you know now. BEFORE I SHOOT YOU!"

"Hey man! Calm down, will you? All I know is that some strange guy gave me a vial of pink liquid and told me to give it to a little girl with a scrunchie with a star on it down the street. I didn't hurt anyone."

You haven't hurt anyone? Doesn't he know what he has done?

"Are you sure about that?"

"Dude! You're pointing a gun at me in a soundproof room. I almost pissed my pants from how scared I am. Why would I lie to you?"

The young inventor insisted, and as he continued to point at the scared man, he took two steps toward his frightened target. A strange purple shadow that no one could see began to manifest on the boy's arm until it covered him completely.

"Describe the man who gave you the vial."

*CLACK*

Ano drew back the firing pin of his folding pistol. Only one bullet was available. He had to be careful if he was going to shoot.

"Easy, easy, easy, buddy..." the assassin tried to back up, but the couch was acting as a stopper. "He was an old man, about 185 centimeters. 60 years old or so. He was bald, friar-style, and looked like a guy with money. He paid me not to say anything, but the guy sent me the funds from an anonymous account. Look." The criminal showed the boy the transaction data.

"100,000 yen?" Ano said enraged. "THAT'S WHAT AN INNOCENT GIRL'S LIFE IS WORTH TO YOU?!!!!"

"Nonono, you're wrong! Look, I'm really sorry, I was doing it for my children, I have a lot of debts to pay and I'd like them to eat something once in a while."

The desperate man was trying to negotiate any way he could with what for him was a young idiot.

"Hey look here, I have 20,000 yen." He pulled a wad of bills out of his shirt pocket. “They're all yours if you let me go."

Ano knew this man was lying. As far as he knew, people used to resort to sad stories to get to the hearts of others. And when that failed, they resorted to money. If he had offered the money before he told that story about having a family, Ano might have believed him.

“Come on, man, I've told you everything I know. Put the gun down and walk away. I'll pretend none of this ever happened and forget about it. My arms hurt from holding them up for so long. Plus I've gotten so much stuff in that I don't even know if you're real. Hahahaha.”

"We're done. You can put your hands down if you are so tired." Said the young boy.

The man lowered his hands as Ano turned around and prepared to leave. Unknown to the young boy was that this guy had had a real gun hidden in the back of his waistband all this time.

*BANG*