The Desuna Residence

Kaden kept checking back occasionally, to see if any heroes had followed them, but the streets were empty. He suspected that they must all be busy with Shisu and his team now, which is why they didn’t have time to chase them. The first and only time he ever wanted to be appreciative of Shisu.

After a while of running, they reached Haido, out of breath. Upon seeing them with the sapphire, she ran forward with open arms. In a small moment of confusion, Satoku stretched his arms out, expecting a hug. Instead, Haido ran straight past him and embraced Kaito. Amene giggled at the situation that just unfolded.

“You did it!” Haido cried out. “Oh, I’m so proud of you!”

She turned around and looked at the others.

“Oh, and all of you too, I guess.” She quickly mumbled, in a much less enthusiastic tone.

“Ah, it’s alright,” Satoku told Haido, seemingly slightly hurt after having not received a hug, “Kaito was the real star tonight! He was awesome!”

Kaito turned slightly pink, and attempted to hide his face in his clothes. Which was much harder to do than he anticipated, with Haido hugging him so tightly.

“What exactly is your power, Kaito?” Amene asked, having returned to her dreamy state. “I heard roars from outside, it was quite worrying.”

She, of course, had not been there when Kaito used it.

“I can turn into…” Kaito said hesitantly, “into a monster.”

Haido noticeably squeezed him more tightly.

“Why haven’t you ever shown it before?” Satoku asked cluelessly.

Kaden nudged him in the ribs, but Satoku didn't seem to notice.

Kaito whimpered for a moment, before continuing.

“I was afraid.” He told everyone decisively. “The only reason I could today was–”

He stopped for a moment and looked into Haido’s eyes.

“Well, when I fainted the before, I remembered something. It wasn’t a good memory, but it made me realise… Realise that I wasn’t alone. That I didn’t have to be afraid. That’s why I wanted all of you to believe I was strong.”

He looked around at everyone, and stopped at Kaden.

“But, you’re the one that made me believe it myself, Kaden. Thank you…”

Kaito pulled himself from Haido, and wrapped his arms slowly around Kaden. Haido shot a furious look at him, silently wording,

“Just this once.”

“You were amazing, Kaito.” Kaden said softly, giving him a warm smile.

“That's what I said.” Moped a hurt Satoku, too quietly for anyone to hear.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Haido said bluntly, pulling Kaito back and embracing him.

After they told Haido a detailed recount of everything that happened, they set off to where they had planned to spend the night.

Besides Kaden, Amene was the only one that still lived with her parents. After Kaden told Satoku multiple times that his place wasn’t an option, they decided that Amene’s would be the best. Luckily it wasn’t too far away from the museum, though they had to take some back routes, as to not be seen with the sapphire. Quietly they celebrated on their way there, recounting moments again, and laughing at how Shisu must feel now.

Eventually, they reached a street with huge, fancy looking houses. Every one of them was guarded with high-tech seeming gates, but all the gardens were well-kept, with figured bushes and beautiful flowers.

There was one building with a big fountain in the front yard, decorated with various animals. Another with various statues of important historical figures, and another with a huge variety of expensive looking cars.

Kaden’s eyes landed on a particularly big building. The white marble, shining in the moonlight. He wondered what it must be like to live in a mansion such as these, as he walked through the street. When he looked around, to his surprise, the others were not walking with him anymore. They had stopped next to Amene, in front of the big marble mansion.

Amene used some sort of key card to open the gate, and they all went through.

“You coming, dude?” Satoku called to Kaden, who stood there stunned.

He quickly jogged over to join the others, still gawping at the giant building, he was now approaching.

The inside looked even bigger than the outside. There was a big set of stairs, leading to the second floor, and a diamond chandelier high up on the ceiling. There were fancy clocks, and cabinets, and paintings.

Kaden’s mouth fell open.

“Amene, you’re…” He stammered.

She looked at him and slightly tilted her head like a confused puppy.

“Well, rich.” He proceeded awkwardly.

“I’m not.” Amene replied, deep in thought.

“My parents are, though. Big shot villains.” She added casually.

Kaden got a bit nervous at the thought of being in a “big shot villain” mansion, but surely they wouldn’t attack one of their daughter’s friends, right?

“They’re rarely home.” Amene giggled, seeing the look on Kaden’s face.

They decided to explore the mansion, before heading to bed. Kaden was particularly interested in the music room, which was filled with all kinds of instruments, some of which he had never even heard of. Though he himself wasn’t that musically inclined, it turned out that Amene could play a bunch of them, and to everyone’s surprise, Haido played a nice tune on the piano.

Kaito had stumbled into a secret armoury, and called for Haido, who started excitedly trying out various weapons. Meanwhile, he nervously and carefully put everything back where Haido had grabbed them, after she was done with them.

Satoku had found the gym. He decided it was a good idea to see what would happen if he used his power on the treadmill, and ended up promptly breaking it. Amene said it was fine, since her parents were rich, but Satoku insisted on paying for it.

Amene showed Kaden her favourite spot, the indoor pool, which he didn’t find all that surprising, considering her water powers. Kaden opted out of taking a swim, to the disappointment of Amene, and let her soak in the water alone.

Kaito, Haido and Satoku continued to excitedly explore the mansion, but before Kaden had time to gawp at the various statues in the lounge, he remembered that he meant to do something when they arrived here. In all the excitement of getting the sapphire, and exploring the giant house, he almost forgot about it.

He hurried upstairs and found a bathroom, which was about the size of his living room. He quickly filled the sink with water and called for the hand.

“Again?! Can’t you let a hand sleep in peace?!” The hand yelled out.

“S-sorry,” Kaden said quickly, “I just wanted to thank you for before.”

“Hm, well then. I suppose that’s alright.” The hand irritably said.

For an awkward moment, they were both quiet.

“Well, get on with it, kid!” The hand exclaimed, annoyed.

“Well, uhm, thank you…” Kaden mumbled.

“Would that be all?” The hand asked grumpily in return.

Kaden thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Do hands need sleep?”

The hand peered at him.

“I’m going now.” It said grumpily.

“No wait!” Kaden called, before it could dive back underwater. “Do you have a name? It feels weird just calling you hand.”

“I am a hand, kid.” The hand replied judgingly. “Why would you call me any differently?”

Kaden hesitated for a moment. He supposed it was right, but he wanted to address it properly, it having saved his skin as many times as it did.

“What about Shiro, then?” Kaden asked. “See it as a nickname. You’re basically an honorary member of team Not-So-Bad now, so…”

The hand looked slightly taken aback, but then made a begrudging nodding motion.

“Nice to meet you Shiro, I’m Kaden.” Kaden said happily, extending his hand.

Shiro turned slightly red.

“No need to be so formal ki– I mean Kaden.” It said, in a slightly friendlier tone. “Also, team Not-So-Bad is a terrible name.”

At that moment, the door handle turned, upon which Shiro quickly dove underwater again. There was a faint “See you later then!” before it disappeared.

“Ah, there you are.” Amene said from the door opening.

Kaden looked from the empty sink, to Amene. He had hoped to introduce Shiro to the others after that, but it seemed Shiro had different plans. Kaden pulled out the sink stopper and watched the water drain.

“What are you doing over there?” Amene asked, while walking up to Kaden.

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing…” Kaden responded, absent-mindedly.

“Ah, I see.” She said contemplating, putting her finger to her mouth. “I like to do nothing too sometimes. It clears the head.”

It was quiet for a moment, until Kaden broke the silence once more.

“Your house is…” He started, thinking on what to say exactly.

He was only trying to make the quiet less awkward, but he did not plan his sentence ahead. In the end, he settled on,

“Big.”

“It’s not my house.” Amene corrected him hazily.

“Right, your parents’ house.”

Another awkward silence.

“What kind of villains are your parents’ exactly?” Kaden asked hesitantly.

“I…” Amene said softly, “I don’t like talking about them.”

“Ah! Sorry!” Kaden said quickly.

Amene shook her head.

“I am happy that all of you are here.” She said suddenly, her voice shaking a little.

Kaden looked at her. Her eyes seemed to twinkle more than usual.

“It must get lonely, in such a big place.” He said.

For a moment, it looked as if Amene’s lip began to quiver, but then, as if Kaden had just imagined it, her expression was back to her usual hazy half-smile. Kaden looked deeper into her eyes, but Amene’s expression did not change again, nor did she even react to it. It was like she was back in her own dream world.

“We should come visit more often.” Kaden then said, giving her a comforting smile.

“Yes!” Amene said excitedly, and a little louder than she probably expected.

Her ears turned pink, and she quickly looked away from Kaden.

“Are you done yet, I’m tired.” Haido said grumpily, walking into the room.

Both Amene and Kaden looked in her direction, startled.

It seemed like the fatigue from that night was waiting for its cue, because it came rushing into Kaden after Haido mentioned the word “tired”.

“We should get ready for bed.” Kaden yawned.

Haido made a gesture, as if to say “That's what I just said”.

After everyone got ready, Amene brought them to a guest room, which to Kaden looked more like a small house, within the mansion. He and Satoku shared this room, while Kaito and Haido took the one opposite theirs.

The bed he was supposed to sleep in was about three times the size of his own, at home. Kaden couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of jealousy. Laying down on it felt like sinking into a warm fluffy cloud, which was so comfortable that even the loud snoring of Satoku couldn’t keep his eyes open.

Kaden dreamt that he was holding the King’s Sapphire, except now it was about the size of his body. He was proudly showing it off to the teachers, Phantleman, and the rest of his class. Shisu fell to his knees in front of Kaden, and bowed apologetically. The rest of Shisu’s team followed, and did the same. Kaden laughed at them.

Then suddenly, they had vanished. The sapphire became heavier and heavier, to the point where Kaden had to drag it forward.

“Kaden?” A soft female voice called out.

Kaden turned around and saw his mother. He felt a sudden stinging feeling in his chest.

“It’s not what you think!” He yelled out, but no sound came from his mouth.

He clawed at his chest. He needed the stinging feeling to go away, but it only kept getting worse. Kaden felt the coin symbol on his chest. It felt cold, but at the same time burning.

He peeled it off and looked at it. Somehow he knew that the D imprinted on it now stood for disappointment, instead of Duplex.

He looked up once more and saw his father charging at him, getting bigger the further he got.

“No, please!” Kaden yelled out, before waking up with a shock.

When Kaden looked around the room, he remembered that he was not home, but instead at Amene’s place. He also noticed that nobody was there. He laid back down and let out a deep sigh. He didn’t remember exactly what he had dreamed about, he just knew it was unpleasant. Once he calmed down, he slowly rolled out of bed.

Kaden ran into Haido when he stepped out of the room. Her hair, though still a bit spiky, was down, which made her look like an almost completely different person. She was still in her pyjamas, so Kaden almost didn’t recognise her.

“Morning.” Kaden said, and waved at her awkwardly.

She looked him up and down, then lifted her hand ever so slightly, in a feeble attempt to wave back at him. Kaden watched her as she shuffled downstairs sleepily.

He also decided to head downstairs. He could hear the television from the giant living room, and decided to see who else was up. When he arrived, he saw that Satoku was sitting on a big couch in, watching the news, and Haido had entered the restaurant-like kitchen attached to it.

“Kaden! Come, come, they’re talking about the heists!” Satoku yelled excitedly.

“How can you be so energetic in the morning?” Groaned Haido, who was busy tying her hair into the sloppily made buns she usually has.

Kaden joined Satoku on the couch and tried to focus on the TV, through his drowsiness.

“… This ancient artefact is estimated to be worth millions…” A female news reporter said. “… This was one of three thefts, performed last night. It seems the notorious thief 'Phantleman' could be behind these crimes, as his calling card was found on one of these crime scenes, stating that it was the work of him and his new partner ‘Phanboy’.” The woman continued.

Kaito and Amene now also joined them in the room.

“Lastly, the King’s Sapphire has been stolen from our local museum, by a group known as ‘Team Not-So-Bad’. Terrible name, if you ask me. That aside, this calling card was found at the scene of the crime.”

A picture of the calling card that Kaden had put there, was shown on the screen. Satoku made excited noises and pointed at the TV, seemingly disregarding the comment on their team name. Kaden himself couldn’t help but contain a smile. Now that it was the following day, it had seemed so distant, but they had really done it.

“I’m getting news that one of the heroes on the scene managed to get a picture.”

Kaden’s smile quickly faded as they showed a picture of team Not-So-Bad bowing, on TV. How could they have been so stupid to do that? But no, it would be impossible to know it was him, right? He was wearing his villain costume to hide his identity after all.

“It is, as of now, still unclear if this group is connected in any way to the villain Phantleman. Heroes are still pursuing these criminals, as many of them have been attacked. One heavily injured and two killed.”

Kaden’s heart sank. Shisu couldn’t have. He knew that Shisu was strong, but he couldn’t have even touched his father. Nobody was stronger than him.

“Furthermore, the leading investigator has spoken out, and said that the villains Duplex and Nobiagiri are especially dangerous. The latter of which is to blame for the deaths of the hero Jobu and the hero Globe.”

Kaden let out a quivering breath.

“I gotta go.” He said in a croaky voice, absent-mindedly heading to the door.

“Hey, what’s wrong dude?” Satoku called after him.

Kaden ignored him. His mind was racing. He was only half aware of what the reporter was saying. He had to make sure his father was okay. He had to see him.

Kaden quickly gathered his stuff, and almost ran into Amene.

“What about your breakfast?” Amene said worriedly, walking into the room with two bowls of cereal.

Kaden looked at her and the bowls for a moment.

“S-sorry.” He said, before heading out.