Grasp Their Hearts Within Your Fist

Upon the opening of the Izanagi Agency, using the former connections the Shie Hassaikai had in the underworld, they began to hire current and former vigilantes into their staff as well as established a secure information network which was lead by Nemoto and Irinaka, two profesionals when it came to information gathering.

With the more battle oriented vigilantes doing the security work; guarding, escorting, and watching over clients, the information branch was in charge of acquiring various intell for the clients, be it simple things like high society gossip and acquiring evidence of a client's partner's infidelity, to more serious ones such as business and government secrets.

Oh, how dirty this society is, they later realized after they were repeatedly commissioned to investigate the secret affairs of the HPSC by a certain mouse-dog-bear creature.

But, it seemed that not all people welcomed their existence as soon enough, several government officials turned up in their doorstep to conduct investigations.

Though, they were quickly turned away and suppressed, making them confused.

Initially, they were ordered by one of their superiors to investigate the Izanagi Agency in suspicion of them breaking into and spying on multiple government facilities as well as harboring vigilantes, only for that superior to immediately be demoted and their case to be halted.

Needless to say, the investigation was over before it even began, and the Izanagi managed to remain untouched in this whole ordeal.

Of course, all this was thanks to the safety net the Monoma's laid out beforehand.

Truly, one must never cross an experienced politician.

...

On one particular day, classes had ended one hour earlier than usual in order to make time for students to choose a club to join, but as all students left their classrooms, two people stayed back, gazing at the chalk board in silence.

Saraba - 12

Monoma - 7

Pachinko - 6

"And thus, for the seventh year in a row, I, Saraba Kino, have been voted for class representative, with Monoma Neito as my vice." Saraba narrated with a serious tone, before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Hah! Sucks to be you, eh, Monoma!"

"Whatever." Rolling his eyes, Monoma headed out of the classroom with his bag. "You coming or not? We still have to choose our after-school clubs."

"You just have to accept that I will always have more talent! More charisma! And far more friends than you! Yes, it is me! I am the best!" Saraba dramatically threw bits of golden foil into the air.

"Yes, and you are also the main reason why people say I have an inferiority complex. Now, please shut up." Monoma rubbed the bridge of his nose, begging to disappear on the spot.

Today, Saraba once again proved that she didn't need a quirk to be acknowledged by others. By just proving her ability to rise above everyone else in all aspects, she quickly gained the respect of the other students who viewed her as an inspiration.

Although they were delayed for a bit, eventually, they caught up with Lee and Gaara who had been visiting every club in the school without really being interested in joining any of them.

Eventually, they ended up in the archery field where the Kyudo club practiced. Apparently, this club had one of the fewest members in the school, with more students interested in the more famous sports rather than the old and traditional Japanese archery.

But, it was exactly this elegant, refined, and calming sport which attracted the four to it. In the end, the all decided to join the Kyudo club together upon the pleasant surprise of the club president.

With practice sessions set everyday after their classes, they each recieved their respective uniforms and went to try them on.

"You know, if you continue squatting like that, I might start to believe that you're really a yakuza." Monoma said to Gaara who was squatting in the changing room, having already finished changing in record time due to him being used to wearing traditional clothing in the Shie Hassaikai.

From the side, Lee coughed in amusement. "I mean, he really is a yakuza though. Technically."

Though, whether Monoma believed Lee's words or not, it was all clear to see.

"Hey, have you heard of what the girls in our grade year call you guys, by the way?" Saraba suddenly asked, entering the boy's changing room as she secured her hakama on her waist.

"No? Do we need to?" Monoma asked in confusion, not bothering to berate Saraba for intruding. What she ends up seeing if she keeps on doing this in the future is her problem.

"You don't really have to but, it's really funny. I almost died laughing when I first heard it." Saraba smiled in a fox-like manner, her eyes turning into mirthful slits.

"Why?" Gaara asked in concern as he helped Lee tie the string on his Kyudo-gi.

"I mean, when the whole grade year calls my three friends 'The Three Horsemen of Gap Moe', of course I'd find that hilarious!" Saraba snorted in amusement as the three boys looked at her in confusion.

"The what now?" Monoma voiced out their thoughts.

Immediately, Saraba lit up, looking as though she had been waiting for this exact moment to come.

"First! Sabakuno Gaara." Saraba began to list them one by one. "Looks like an emotionless pretty boy but is actually a kuudere cinnamon roll."

"I- um... What's a kuudere? And, a cinnamon roll? Isn't that the sweet bread Lee ate one time?" Gaara was in absolute confusion. Did people really see him as some type of food?

"You have just proven my point." Saraba pointed out with her arms crossed on her chest.

"UwU." Lee grinned as he poked Gaara's cheek.

"Please never do that again." Monoma shuddered.

"Second! Hiryu Rin!" Saraba looked at Lee up and down, starting from his multi-colored hair to the careless way he wore his clothes. At the age of twelve, Lee towered over most of his pears by at least a few inches. "Looks like a delinquent but is actually really nice and a good student."

Lee? A delinquent? Gaara nearly choked. That would probably never happen.

"Well, my parents are gangsters... Does that make me a delinquent? In the first place, can delinquency be inherited?" Lee appeared thoughtful.

"Bro, shut your mouth for a bit while I refresh my brain." Monoma turned to face the wall, refusing to look at his friends in the face as he began to regret his life decisions.

Having no regard for Monoma's mental state, Saraba continued on.

"Third! Monoma Neito. He has the looks of a perfect Prince Charming from a shojo manga. But, only if he closes his mouth." Saraba started grinning maniacally. "Because, once he opens it, the only thing that comes out are insults. Plus, he's too competitive for his own good."

"Saraba. I'll give you to the count of three." Monoma said darkly from his wall. "If I still see you in this room by three, you're dead."

And that was all it took for chaos to ensue.

Ten minutes later, in the practice area.

All four sat next to each other normally, as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. Each of them were told to sit at the side and watch the older students practice in silence, but Monoma could only keep quiet for a maximum of eight minutes before he'd start to feel uncomfortable.

So, while the older students were busy, he decided to take his chances and speak. "If you could do one thing without being scolded, what would you do?"

Saraba raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I'd get piercings. I'm tired of being a good student all the time. I wanna try being a rebellious kid too."

"Why piercings?" Lee tilted his head, wincing as he thought back to Pain and the Six Paths. "If you just want to be rebellious, wouldn't dressing inappropriately or getting a tattoo work too? Kinda like a gyaru."

Gyaru? Gaara imagined Saraba with tanned skin and colorfully dyed hair, wearing short skirts and oversized sweaters. Yeah, he'd rather not.

"I don't know. Piercings just seem cooler to me." Saraba shrugged.

"Hmm. Okay." Monoma said quietly as the older members paused their training.

...

In the break room of the Nighteye Agency, Gaara was quietly watching a video on his phone as he waited for Kurono to return from his work, having decided to visit Kurono in his workplace after not seeing him for a long time.

From his phone, sounds of battle and panic could be heard as heroes fought against a group of villains who attacked a public shopping district. But, strangely enough, the camera wasn't focused on the heroes or the villains, but, instead, it was showing a particular frontline medic who was helping evacuate the injured civilians to safety.

Suddenly, one of the villains escaped from the heroes and headed straight for the cameraman, perhaps hoping to use him as a hostage.

Immediately, the white-haired medic noticed the situation and reacted accordingly, placing himself in front of the cameraman with no hesitation.

"Stay back!" The medic shouted to the civilians as he threw his arms in front of him, and, all of a sudden, the villain froze in his path, unable to move. His body was stuck in a strange mid-run position that seemed to defy gravity.

Upon realizing that the situation had been handled, the heroes quickly took down the other villains and captured them one by one, including the one who was still frozen in place.

With the cameraman safe, he immediately uploaded the video online which immediately garnered much online attention. But what the public was more concerned about was finding out who exactly that medic was and, upon scouring through the public member lists of all the Hero Agencies that participated in the attack, someone finally uncovered his identity.

Working for the Nighteye Agency, the medic was a fresh graduate of Kyoto Medical University who went by the alias of Chronostasis.

Upon gaining sudden widescale fame, the public eventually dubbed him as Chronostasis: The Battle Medic.

As the door to the break room opened, Kurono immediately spotted Gaara sitting alone on one of the chairs.

"Welcome to the 'Apparently we're famous now' club. Want an apple?" Gaara said with a straight face, munching on an apple slice.

...

"Bring it on, Gaara! I know you've been itching to use your Six Paths in an all out battle!"

On the platform behind the temple, two figures were battling in high speed, each blow they dealt on each other producing loud booms and shockwaves which disrupted the airflow of the surrounding space.

"Bring on the full power of your Rinne Sharingan! Because today will be the day that I finally defeat you in battle!" Lee shouted as he blew a large earthen spear away with just a single blow from his Spearpoint Scale Fist, his draconic tail flicking in alert as he kept an eye on his surroundings in case Gaara were to send a Wind Blade from behind again.

Inwardly, he was proud of his friend for having mastered the five nature transformations so quickly, but now, it was time for them to up the difficulty a little.

"And what makes you so confident, Lee? You haven't even landed a hit on me yet!" Gaara said fearlessly, dozens of Stone Arrows floating behind him, ready to shoot at any moment.

"Watch and see!" Lee grinned competitively. "I will show you my full power!"

[Fifth Gate Open]

Gaara's eyes widened in shock, staring in awe as Lee's entire body shifted and grew, elongating into a large serpentine creature which flew high up into the air.

With black and golden scales glinting in the sun, the giant creature reared it's head toward the sky and released a long and powerful roar.

[Full Dragon Transformation]

"I see. If this is what you wish, then I have no choice but to comply!" With a feral grin on his lips, Gaara raised both his hands towards the sky, the Rinne Sharingan on his forehead becoming more apparent.

[Deva Path: Repulsive Push]

It was a mighty battle between a boy and a dragon which shook the earth. And, with a single swift motion, the dragon began to dive headfirst towards the boy, mouth wide open as it let out a loud bellow.

"GAARA!" It roared out, causing the space to vibrate by it's power alone.

"LEE!" Unaffected by the roar, the boy shouted back, using the electro-magnetic force released by the Deva Path to create a repulsive force that would push the Dragon's attack away.

"Saraba!"

And as the two forces were about to clash together in order to decide the final victor, an unrelated third-party suddenly interfered, causing the battle to halt at the last second.

"Before you get mad at me for stopping you, you guys should take a look around you first. Ahem, the bamboo grove specifically." Saraba said cheekily as she threw out peace signs.

"Ah!" Almost immediately, the gigantic dragon crashed onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust as it began to wail in despair. "Granddad is going to kill me!"

The poor bamboo grove which Lao Hu had meticulously grown for 18 years unfortunately weren't spared from the battle as a thick dirt blanket covered them from top to bottom.

"...Sorry." Gaara lowered his head guiltily.

"Anyways, why don't you take a break? I brought yakisoba!" Saraba mediated, raising a paper bag in the air.

"WE brought yakisoba." Monoma snorted, suddenly popping out behind a bush as he rolled his eyes. "I paid for it. She carried it."

Truthfully, the two of them had been watching the fight for some time now but had kept silent, both watching in awe at the true strength of their friends that they had never seen before.

"By the way! What do you think about my Eastern Dragon form, Gaara?" Dragon Lee suddenly asked, raising his head from the ground to proudly show off his red and gold mane, though the wildly wagging tail behind him diminished his majestic aura. "Pretty awesome, right!"

"Mn." Amused, Gaara smiled warmly and decided to humor Lee.

Suddenly, Saraba laughed loudly. "Pfft. What Eastern Dragon? I only see a dog!"

"More like a white-eyed wolf." Monoma muttered under his breath, brows furrowed as he watched Lee acting like a harmless puppy begging for attention. How come no one else realizes how dangerous that guy really is? The moment someone tries to touch what he considers his, he'd immediately bare his teeth and bite.

...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to discuss a very important matter. One which will decide the fate of our class in the eyes of the schoolboard." Saraba stood behind the teacher's desk with a serious expression. "We need to come up with what to do for the school festival."

The entire class sweat-dropped.

Meanwhile, at the back of the class, Monoma rolled his eyes and grabbed his headphones from his bag, opting to tune the class's chaos out of his head by playing a rhythm game.

Seeing this, Lee and Gaara glanced at each other and individually took out their own phones, competing against each other in a Battle Arena game.

"Maybe a horror house?" One boy hesitantly raised his hand after being pushed to speak by his friends.

Almost immediately, another boy countered the suggestion. "I heard that three other classes were already planning on doing that."

"What about a Theatrical Play?" One girl who joined the drama club suggested.

"I'd rather not follow my grandparent's footsteps." Saraba shook her head dramatically. "Plus, class 1-D is already doing it, so..."

Suddenly, one of the girls looked towards Monoma, Lee, and Gaara who were playing with their phones at the back and got an idea. Discretely, she pulled her friend towards her and whispered.

Seemingly intrigued, her friend nodded in agreement before raising her hand. "Hey! Let's do a Maid and Butler Cafe! My family runs a bakery, so we're already pretty much set."

"Great suggestion! I'll write down all the good ones on the board so the whole class can vote for what they like afterwards." Saraba picked up a piece of chalk from the desk. "Anything else?"

As the girl who suggested it sat down, she secretly gave her friend a high five before they both began passing the message of what to vote to their other friends.

Surely enough, with the combined efforts of all the girls and several boys, it was unanimously decided that the class would be doing a Maid and Butler Cafe for the school festival.

Several nights later, in the Shie Hassaikai compound, Chisaki sat in the lounge by himself with a frown.

"Hey, what's up with that big frowny face? Something bad happen?" Entering the room in his pajamas, Kurono sat beside Chisaki, taking advantage of his break from work to have fun with the rest of the Shie Hassaikai since he hadn't come back for so long.

"Next week is Gaara's school festival." Chisaki said somberly, as though he were talking about a life and death battle instead of a festival.

"Okay? What's wrong with it?" Kurono asked in confusion.

"The school stated that attendance from one or more family member is required, so oyabun is asking me to go with him." Chisaki said with a complicated expression. "I'm not even his blood relative."

Ah, so it was the existential crisis of a non-related brother, trying to figure out if he was a brother or not.

"I'm sure it's not that bad. Both of you look similar enough to be able to pass off as brothers anyways..." Kurono pointed out their similar golden eyes. "Except for Gaara's lack of eyebrows."

But, what they didn't know was that Gaara had been spying on their conversation through the golden chains connected to Chisaki from the start.

So, when a blade of sand sneaked into Kurono's room that night to shave his eyebrows off, no one but Gaara knew of what was to come.

The next morning, when a sharp shriek woke everyone in the compound up, another day of bullshit began.