The glass jars rattled. Mr. Ogawa's hands trembled. Kenji stood, but the man turned toward him.
"Don't even move, kid. You want your grandpa to live? You stay still."
Gray and Natsu didn't move at first.
Then Natsu's eyes narrowed.
His jaw clenched. "Oh hell no."
Gray stepped in front of him. "Wait. No fire. We'll wreck the shop-"
"He threatened the old guy and his grandson."
"I know, but we're not licensed! If we use our quirks it's vigilantism"
Natsu growled. "But I'm not using my quirk. I'm using my fists to beat up that man."
"...same thing!"
Natsu cracked his knuckles. "No, this is technically assault."
Gray looked to the ceiling in exasperation. "That doesn't even…just don't get caught using the quirk."
Natsu just nodded and leapt in.
The hooded man turned just in time to see Natsu leap over the shelves like a wild animal, his scarf whipping behind him.
"Wha–?!" was all the guy managed before Gray came in from the side, slamming a frozen water bottle onto his wrist mid-swing. The spike misfired, veering off and crashing into a magazine rack that exploded in a confetti of celebrity gossip and instant ramen ads.
"Oops," Gray muttered. "That looked important."
"Less talking, more punching!" Natsu shouted, closing the distance. His fists were clenched, faint trails of steam curling from his knuckles as he channeled just enough fire to enhance his strikes. It was nothing big, no showy flames, just heat and minor propulsion, barely noticeable unless you were up close.
The robber staggered back, raising his arm to fire again, but his foot skidded out from under him with a sharp whoosh.
"What the-?!"
Gray had discreetly frozen the tile floor beneath the guy's boots. "Oops again," he said flatly, though his smirk said otherwise.
The man tried to recover, but his other foot slipped too. He flailed like a newborn deer.
Natsu took advantage, slamming a left hook into the guy's gut while his right hand, still steaming, connected with his shoulder. The man wheezed, but before he could retaliate, Gray slid in low, icing the floor even more to keep him off-balance.
"God, why is this guy's body so tough? My fist hurts." Gray complained.
"I know, it's like hitting a rock." Natsu replied. However, this didn't stop them from their onslaught. They moved in perfect sync now.
Gray froze his knuckles and landed a jab to the side of the guy's face. The ice shattered across the man's face like glass and he reeled from the blow. Natsu ducked under a wild swing and came up with a short, heated uppercut to the ribs.
"Dude, try not to torch the snacks," Gray huffed as he landed another blow.
"I'm not! Look, the chips are fine!" Natsu said, sending a fist to the guy's stomach.
"Who are you kids?!" the man grunted as keeled over a bit. There was a mild amount of steam coming off of his clothing. Some of it was starting to burn.
"Move him away from the counter!" Gray yelled as he tackled the man away, he created a small ice bump, and forced the hooded man to trip over and fall to the ground
The duo continued their assault while he was on the ground.
The hooded man tried to get up to shoot another spike. Natsu appeared in front of him, the smallest burst of flame propelling from the back of his heel as he kicked the man's arm away. The hooded man slipped again and crashed flat on his back with a grunt once again.
"Let's finish this," Natsu said, glancing at Gray.
"Say no more."
Natsu landed a low blow with zero remorse. The guy's eyes bulged. "You dam–"
Before he could even crumple, Gray followed up with a swift, frozen backhand to the face. "Night-night."
The hooded man hit the ground, unconscious and twitching slightly on the iced-over tile floor. Mr. Ogawa was ducked behind the counter, eyes wide. Kenji dropped his console.
"So now what?" Gray asked, catching his breath.
Natsu grabbed the unconscious guy by the leg. "We run?"
"Yup." Gray didn't even hesitate.
The duo bolted out of the store, dragging the limp villain behind them like a sack of trash. The old man and his grandson just stood there, blinking in disbelief as the door jingled shut.
"WAIT-" Gray gasped, panting as they rounded the corner. "Why are we dragging him?!"
"So he doesn't wake up in the store," Natsu replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Gray gave him a deadpan look mid-sprint. "Okay, but why are we still dragging him?! He's huge!"
Natsu was visibly sweating now. "...Oh. Yeah. Wait, I have an idea!"
"That doesn't sound good." Gray replied.
"Trust me, its perfect." Natsu grinned
They stopped just outside a quiet alley. With synchronized groans, they dropped the guy with a thud near a half-full dumpster.
Gray glanced around, then used a quick blast of ice to gently lift the guy and tip him toward the dumpster.
"There. Good enough. This was actually a decent plan."
"Hold up." Natsu knelt and used a flick of heat from his palm to melt the ice trail they'd left behind. "No evidence."
Gray squinted. "You worry about evidence now?"
"Better late than never!"
And with that, the two took off again, sprinting down the sidewalk toward home, breathless with adrenaline and laughter.
Back in the store, Mr. Ogawa blinked. "What just-"
The store was wrecked. Chips on the floor. A spike in the wall. Some inventory was damaged. The boys were gone.
Mr. Ogawa stood outside with Kenji.
Police arrived within minutes after Mr.Ogawa called them. They found the hooded man unconscious nearby the building.
"Thank you for your report, we did find him nearby. For some reason he was a in Dumpster" The police officer stated.
"You see what happened?"
The old man shook his head slowly. "I saw someone take him down, but… I was hiding. I didn't see their faces."
"And your CCTV?"
"Ah. Broken. Static. Old system," he said innocently.
The officers exchanged glances. "He matches the description of a suspect involved in a recent string of armed robberies. We've had trouble tracking him. Witnesses said he easily overpowered most people who tried to intervene and even assaulted several store owners afterward. His body seems to have some kind of quirk-enhanced durability. You were lucky someone was around to stop him. Thank you for calling it in."
"Very lucky," Mr. Ogawa said with a steady nod, his tone calm but grateful.
They took the guy and left.
Outside the store, red and blue lights flashed as the robber, still unconscious, was loaded into the back of a squad car.
One of the officers glanced back at the scorch marks on the pavement near the entrance. "Think Endeavor handled this one? These burns look pretty damn familiar."
His partner snorted, arms crossed. "Yeah, right. What would Endeavor be doing hanging around a corner store in a quiet neighborhood like this? Guy's too busy punching out high-profile villains downtown."
"Fair point," the first officer muttered. "Still… flames?"
"Could be one of the flame guys he recruited. Endeavor's got half the city's fire-based heroes working under him these days. Probably one of them is just passing through."
He looked back toward the store, thoughtful. "Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing. Fast, clean, and didn't wreck the place too bad. Just wish they hadn't vanished before we got here."
"Yeah, well, another mystery hero. At least this guy's off the streets," his partner said, slapping the squad car's side as it pulled away. "Let's hope the rest of these creeps aren't so hard to track down."
—
Kenji looked up at his grandfather. "So… what now?"
Mr. Ogawa didn't answer at first. Instead, he walked over to the old computer behind the counter, the screen still flickering with the last few seconds of the security feed. He sat down with a tired sigh, eyes narrowing slightly as he rewound the footage.
The grainy video played: shelves rattling, a blur of fists, a crash of frozen water and slipping feet, then two boys, faces mostly obscured, pummeling the robber with terrifying coordination. Even without clear evidence, Mr. Ogawa could spot the signs: Natsu's fists glowing faintly, Gray's subtle flashes of frost forming beneath the attacker's feet.
He gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "Troublemakers," he muttered affectionately. But his expression turned serious as he hovered over the delete option. Vigilantism was no joke, and quirks or not, the law didn't look kindly on minors taking matters into their own hands.
He clicked Delete.
Kenji stood quietly nearby, watching.
"Don't mention this to anyone," Mr. Ogawa said firmly without turning around. "Not your friends, not your teachers. No one. Understand?"
Kenji swallowed and nodded. "I won't."
"Good." Mr. Ogawa shut the monitor off. "Those boys… did a good thing. But the world doesn't always reward good things the right way."
Todoroki Household, Night
Gray and Natsu slammed the front door shut and bolted upstairs like their lives depended on it.
Once in their room, Natsu dropped to his knees, clutching his head.
"Dude. We're gonna get arrested."
Gray locked the door, and sat on the floor "Shut up. We just deny everything."
He winced again. "Seriously, though, what the hell was that guy's skin made of? Rock?"
Natsu flopped back on the carpet, still catching his breath. "I was thinking the same thing. My fists are fine, but damn, he was built like a tank."
"Yeah, well… you punch more than I do, gorilla arms," Gray muttered, gently shaking out his hand. He didn't want to directly admit that Natsu was actually physically stronger than him.
Over the next few days… something strange happened.
The house was quiet. Too quiet.
No shouting. No sparring. No sarcastic sniping from opposite ends of the hallway.
Shoto squinted at them one morning during breakfast, chewing his toast slowly. "What did you two do?"
Natsu looked up, blinking innocently. "What do you mean?"
Gray laughed, just a little too quickly. "Nothing! We're just… tired. That's all. Been working hard!"
Shoto raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You two don't get tired. You get grounded. There's a difference."
"Wow, hurtful," Natsu said, whistling to himself as he stared at the wall.
Rei, meanwhile, started getting suspicious. She hadn't heard a single explosion, complaint, or weird crash in days.
They hadn't even tried to sneak snacks before dinner. That was unnatural.
So she crept upstairs and peeked into their room.
They were… doing homework.
Her eyes narrowed instantly.
Something was definitely going on.
--
Next day
Gray and Natsu peeked in the window. Mr. Ogawa looked up. "I can see you, idiots. Get in here."
They shuffled inside, sheepish.
"You two are terrible at being sneaky."
"We just wanted to check if everything's okay," Gray mumbled.
The old man huffed, reached under the counter and handed each of them a fresh red bean pastry.
"Thanks for saving us. And don't worry about the cops. I took care of it. Now stay out of trouble, and next time, let the heroes do the job, got it?"
Natsu blinked. "You're not mad about the store?"
"Are you kidding? It would've been far worse if you didn't help."
Gray chuckled, relief flooding his shoulders.
The boys grinned, biting into the warm snacks.
They walked home under the fading sun, warm pastries in hand.
"That was awesome," Natsu whispered.
"We will be in trouble if anyone finds out."
"But still awesome." Natsu was still reeling.
"Can't wait till we get our license." Gray agreed