A tale of ambitions and desires [Kenshin - Saga Conclusion]

It was rather fortunate that Kenshin was quite willing to accept her invitation, and when the bell of the intercom rang Elise was quick to get out of her seat and approach the device on the wall. She knew all too well she had to be careful, but a peek through the camera showed it was Kenshin, and soon her voice resounded from the intercom. "I'll open up in a moment Kenshin~" and with a soft click sound the door opened to the lobby, and from the staircase up above he could see a familiar shade of pink locks underneath a large hoodie. "Over here~" Elise called out to him, waiting for Kenshin to climb the staircase and once they were inside and she locked the door behind him, she pulled off the hoodie and smiled kindly at him.

"It is good to see you again Kenshin~" Elise mused in greeting, a gentle pat on his shoulder following as she gestured for him to follow her further inside. "Thank you for accepting my invitation~ To be honest, I don't really know anyone else I could rely on in a time like this." She sighed softly while walking into the living room of the appartment. "Do you want something to drink?" As she waited for him to answer her, she approached the fridge, pulling out a bottle of apple juice for herself, and if Kenshin had said anything on her offer, would have given him a drink also, after which she would take a seat on one of the sofas, a small table between it and another sofa which was formed in a U-formation. "Still feels awkward, no longer being at U.A..." She sighed briefly and shook her head lightly.

"Say Kenshin, you're pretty strong, but never enrolled into the hero academy. Why exactly is that?" She tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion as she continued. "You look like the kind of guy who would fit with someone like Tetsu~ strong, kind, honorable and just." She smiled quietly at him, seemingly complimenting him. "But sadly during my time there I realized the definition of a hero has become rather broad in the eyes of society... and that is not to mention about the other problem that I recently discovered."

She leaned back into the sofa and closed her eyes. "Which led me to be forced to lie low here, away from my beloved Tetsu... it's all so frustrating..."

Elise smiled briefly at Kenshin's greeting, it always was pleasant to meet a friend again, and in those troubled times she had those experiences way less than she actually liked. As she filled a glass with water for Kenshin, it took her a bit to figure out the right way to approach it. Kenshin's reaction was anticipated, but when he decided to explain more about the reasoning behind why he had never enrolled, she started to understand she had made the right choice by talking to Kenshin about it.

Certainly, the initial explanation was amusing, but when the serious side of his answer came, she nodded her head lightly in agreement. "I understand entirely what you mean." Elise began, taking a brief sip from her glass of apple juice, after which she continued speaking. "During my time at the hero academy, I was forced to realize just how flawed the current hero program is. Take for example the extremely competitive nature of it? Students are more blinded by this search for more power, believing that strength is the most important factor of what makes you a hero. In their search for power they become blind to what is truly important. The virtues and responsibilities that true heroism carry with it." She sighed for a moment, shaking her head slightly as she spoke, her tone clearly betraying the hint of disappointment in her voice. "If anything, this program is training glorified peacekeepers, and only a few remember the importance of what a hero truly is meant to be."

She placed her glass back on the table, and soon continued her explanation. "However, that isn't the sole problem about the program. It is also found in the nature of the laws, the regulations forced upon us. Certainly, there are some things that should never be done, but at the same time... Take for example this regulation that says every villain has to be taken into captivity, to be judged by a court at a later timer? That certainly did us wonders when the likes of Thunder Shock and Abbadon just walk out of their imprisonment, now terrorizing Japan once more as if nothing changed. I just... struggle with this idea of letting such dangerous villains be given an opportunity to just continue their reign of evil."

She smiled weakly at Kenshin, nodding her head slightly at his words. "Sometimes I feel that certain Vigilantes who stick to their creeds, are more 'hero' than the pro-heroes are..." Yet there was another matter that required an explanation also. "About why I left the school... I shouldn't need to tell this, but make sure not a single person learns about what I'm about to tell you."

She leaned a bit forward, taking a deep breath as she decided on where to start her story. "Before my departure I used to be the head of the school's disciplinary committee and worked directly under a certain pro-hero, similar to a sidekick. You likely didn't hear much about him before, but his alias was 'Spymaster'. He was a pro-hero who the government used for more 'sensitive' and dangerous missions. Rescuing an important hostage, finding evidence of a villain group's involvement in certain matters. Simply said, he was a spy for the government, although in truth he was a shinobi."

She waited a bit for the news to sink in for Kenshin upon which she continued speaking. "As his apprentice, I was being trained to become his successor. Then last month, during the events in Shinagawa my master was given a mission. We were tasked with rescuing an engineer who was kidnapped during Semper Fi, and who the government believed to contain intel surrounding the villains responsible for the auctioned goods at Shinagawa. But something felt off to my master. Too little info, just a location where they would be keeping the hostage. As a precaution, he took me along..."

She reached for her glass, yet at the words that followed, he could likely notice the subtle shiver of her hand, she clearly was struggling with the memory. "Our infiltration was flawless, but as we rescued the hostage and found a laptop belonging to the villains, we were discovered by a mercenary, a villainous man who was had a personal feud with my master, the shinobi 'Taskmaster'. While my master covered my escape I escorted the hostage to safety, dropping him at a safe place under the protection of people I trust, but after that I ignored the orders of my master and returned to the place they were fighting at."

She took a shaky breath and spoke softly. "They were even-matched, but my master had seen an opportunity to try to defeat his opponent, and in an instinctive attempt to help my master I tried to restrain the Taskmaster... only to fall for a trap. He injected some poison into my slime, and for a short period I lost my ability to activate my quirk, but during that time he was able to deliver a lethal injury to my master, who used the last of his strength to restrain him... In the end, I was forced to kill the man, else I wouldn't have been talking to you right now."

Her head hung low, her hand balled up in a fist. "After my master died from his injuries I and my guardian, the Principal investigated the intel associated with the laptop, and discovered that Taskmaster was working for a crime organization called the Plutocracy, and... that an inside agent in the government leaked the details of Spymaster's mission... Do you understand why this problem is so severe Kenshin? Spymaster's missions were a highly classified secret. Meaning the villains have a spy among some of the most influential people in the government..."

She took another sip from her glass, thinking for a bit as she looked at Kenshin. "That is why I was forced to lie low, so that they wouldn't discover that Spymaster had an apprentice, who is aware of this phantom lurking in the government. Of course, you know me... I don't plan to sit idle, but for me to discover who this individual is, and force off their mask requires a lot of preparations, and the right people, which takes time..."

Indeed, it was tragic that the hero program was so flawed. Even Elise initially felt a mixture of frustration and sorrow when she had learned about the true nature of the next generation of 'heroes'. It was for that reason that Elise grown to compare them to glorified peacekeepers rather than heroes. Quite a fair amount of the students didn't have the right mindset of a hero, no they didn't even deserve to be called heroes. Elise sighed audibly as she spoke. "It is a sad truth, but the hero program has commercialized the role of a hero. If you ask what a hero truly is, a majority of the students won't be able to give you a satisfactory response. They consider their strength and popularity the most important things, and helping people is merely an afterthought, a pleasant consequence of their work." She smiled sorrowfully at the words she spoke. "That is why I worry about people like Tetsu, those who try to uphold the virtues of heroism. It is a noble endeavor, to try to follow that ideal, but it is also dangerous. Villains often have no honor, they will do everything they can to exploit you, and a noble hero like Tetsu her virtues would be turned against her. That is why I'm not a hero, the reason I took the path of a shinobi. I want my beloved knight to stand in the light, and leave those dark deeds to me to handle. And yet, after this mission I can't help but worry..."


She paused, looking straight into Kenshin's eyes. "Have you... ever killed someone Kenshin? It is a terrifying sensation. The knowledge that once you do the act, you will end a person's existence. That person might be evil, the worst scum among villains but often it has consequences. You might have made a family lose their father, or disturbed the chain of command in a crime syndicate, just for his replacement to become worse. The act of killing someone is a difficult burden to bear, a responsibility that can crush you."

She raised a hand upwards, looking at it briefly as she spoke softly. "But what terrifies me the most is the lingering revelation. The fact that even knowing this consequence, despite this burden that fills me with guilt and regret, I know my body wouldn't hesitate to claim another life if it meant protecting myself or Tetsu. How can such a person possibly be considered a hero?"

Indeed, it seemed Kenshin shared her thought, judging from his expression when they discussed the law and the fundamental problem that was found in the treatment villains received. "I worry at times like this, the fact the government's prisons clearly aren't meant to handle issues like this, either there needs to be a specialized facility to imprison those demons, or we need to get rid of them once they are beaten. But we can't allow more innocent people to die because the government is incapable of dealing with this threat"

Kenshin's promise to not say a word was reassuring as she continued to explain the events that had transpired that night during the events at Shinagawa.

Elise nodded her head somberly. "Indeed, it still feels like a horrible nightmare that I am waiting to wake up from." However, Kenshin's desire to help her made Elise smile briefly at him. "I am not certain yet to be honest. Currently my network is too small to catch this traitor. If I want to do this I need to expand my influence. I already am taking some precautions, for example I am preparing to meet a member of Nakano's Police Department, hoping to gain an ally within their ranks, and I been trying to figure out a method to gain a foot inside the door of the government so I can peek inside their own ranks. With the help of Tetsu and the U.A Principal I can be sure they will notice any awkward movements among the pro heroes, but... unfortunately I don't really have any contact among the vigilantes."

Elise went quiet for a moment, a hand raised to her chin as she mused softly. "It is only reasonable to assume the Plutocracy tried to get someone hidden among them, after all heroes aren't their only enemy. I feel there might be a bit of a network on their side, simply said someone trying to whisper intel from the vigilantes their activities into the ears of the villains. Take for example the rescue efforts of Haru-chan, I heard all the villains got away from a raid organized by some vigilantes, doesn't that strike you as odd?" She shook her head lightly as she continued.

"But I can't join their ranks myself, that would be too obvious. I need to meet someone they trust, someone they know and consider their ally. Only then can I start weaving my own trap to track down this traitor that led to my master's death. After all, this type of work is the duty of the one called Spymaster."

She reached with a hand for her glass of apple juice, taking a little sip from it. "But like I said, a task like this requires time and careful preparations. I'd likely have only a single chance to catch him, and if I'm wrong about his identity, it would be a total bust, the spy would be alerted and the consequences severe to say the least. In all honesty, it terrifies me Kenshin, even now I don't understand how someone like me got involved in this mess."

She smiled sorrowfully, a hand raising to the back of her neck as she chuckled weakly. "Then again, you know me well enough, I'm not the type to sit idle when I learned about something like this. Tetsu might be in danger someday if this spy continues their work, and whether it's revenge or justice, that traitor has to pay for his treason. I won't allow anyone else to die like my master did..."