Time For Some (Quiet) Heroics

[the_civilian]

Who| Miku Hinasaki and Tadashi Hamada
What| Helping out with some cold cases
Where| Cosmopolis, Earth
When| Before "Through the Looking Glass"
Warnings/Notes| Blood, violence

Not everything the Legionnaires do has to be a huge fight against something that might destroy a world or two. Sometimes it's a matter of taking advantage of the new powers they have to do some good.

Which is why Miku is here on Earth now, with an omnicom full of files from the SciCops' cold case drawer. Tadashi is mostly here because he's a big believer in the buddy system and in helping out where he can.

Cosmopolis is an old port city, going all the way back to a time where when people said 'port' they meant 'sea port' instead of 'space port'. It doesn't smell quite the same way that San Fransokyo did, but it's familiar enough to make Tadashi a little homesick.

"Is this the place?"

Comments

[the_civilian]

"We can."

Tadashi offered her a hand to pull her to her feet.

"Let me know if it does get to be too much," he added with a lopsided smile. "I'm an older brother, I can be a little over-bearing sometimes, but it's just because I worry."

[ghost_bait]

She was still a little unsteady, swaying into Tadashi and quickly away again. "I will. I used to think having experience with something like this before would make it easier, but..."

Miku smoothed out her skirt and turned to Tadashi with a little smile, despite how pale she still looked. "I know all about older brothers, I used to have one."

[the_civilian]

"I just wish I could help more," Tadashi said. "If you think of anything I can do to help, let me know."

He winced at the second part. Way to go Hamada, you enormous dump truck.

"I'm sorry," he said, on the basis that it was generally a good idea to apologize when you'd shoved your foot in your mouth and accidentally brought up someone's dead relatives.

[ghost_bait]

Miku shook her head, "There isn't anything to apologize for. I do not exactly broadcast my family situation at home. And it was a while ago, it's OK."

It wasn't, but Miku wasn't about to burst his bubble where Mafuyu was concerned. She had plenty of time to chew on that and her survivor's guilt on her own. "I think I can make it out of here without falling down. Shall we go to the next location?"

[the_civilian]

Tadashi swallowed his own arguments about whether or not 'it' was 'okay'. He didn't know the situation, he reminded himself, and he didn't know Miku all that well yet. Maybe she just didn't really want to talk about her dead brother with him. He should just accept her at her word and move on, especially since they were trying to solve a murder instead of doing peer grief-counseling. Offer her the opportunity to talk about it with him later, if she wanted.

"Sure," he answered, glancing around to make sure they hadn't left anything behind. "If I recall the map right, it's not too terribly far from here. I'm not sure if we'd get more attention walking or flying, though."

(And wasn't that just a phrase he'd never expected to hear himself say?)

[ghost_bait]

"Walking, probably. They expect Legionnaires to fly, don't they?" Then again, she was very pink. "Either way, someone's going to see, don't you think?"

The world was starting to tilt in the right direction again. The tiredness was very annoying, but at least it meant that the experience didn't drain her as much as she thought.

[the_civilian]

"True," Tadashi agreed, holding the door out into the hall open for her. "But the chances of most people deciding that we're just really dedicated cosplayers seems unlikely."

He could entertain a few autograph seekers though, if it meant that Miku didn't fly head first into a building or crash into the ground while she was still unsteady, though.

[ghost_bait]

"Why don't we decide what to do when we get to the street?" She smiled, "They may mistake me for a dedicated cosplayer, but you look much more heroic than I do." Miku praised him as they walked out on the street.

"Though it may be your height. Heroic people are always very tall." Even Kubo would likely grow much taller than Miku would.

[the_civilian]

Tadashi laughed.

"I don't know about 'heroic'," he said, "but they might recognize me by what I have been assured is an incredibly dorky helmet."

He knocked on said helmet lightly with his knuckles.

"Besides, being short just means that your heroic-ness is compressed, like foam in a fire extinguisher. It just makes it that much more impressive when it comes out."

[ghost_bait]

"It is a little... well, you're flying safely, I suppose..." Miku looked down at her feet and sighed. "Let's fly, then. Just... please don't let me fly into the side of a building, or anything like that."

[the_civilian]

Tadashi laughed again.

"No, no, you don't have to spare my feelings, I know it looks dorky," he said. "I just had to watch too many safety videos to get my scooter license to feel comfortable flying around at the speeds we do without something providing padding for my skull."

He hopped a little to get airborne, but only a foot or so.

"I promise not to let you fly into a building," he agreed. "Or fall, or anything like that."

[ghost_bait]

She hopped up beside him and wobbled slightly. "Maybe a different, matchy helmet?" she suggested with a little smile. They started off towards the next location and Miku kept her eye on the ground. There was a lot of movement below, people going through their daily lives.

It was nice to watch, but she also had to keep her eyes on Tadashi, as he knew where they were going and also she didn't want to run into anything.