Chapter 13: The [Shadow] Organization
The [Shadow] Organization, currently the largest superpower criminal organization active throughout Neon, is known for its powerful executives and leader, as well as its secretive and cautious methods. Consequently, the Heroes Association possesses very little information about the [Shadow] Organization. It has only been able to deduce the existence of this powerful dark organization from the fragmented accounts of small organizations that have been dismantled.
Unfortunately, Su Jun’s previous self, Kazumi Shimizu, had a significant connection to this massive dark organization.
According to the information passed down through memories, Kazumi Shimizu’s father, Masato Shimizu, and mother, Reiko Shimizu, were both ordinary researchers within the dark organization known as [Shadow].
During a surprise raid by the Heroes Association, they were caught in the crossfire of a battle between heroes and lost their lives, leaving Kazumi Shimizu with only a dilapidated house.
Of course, all of this was obtained from the personal effects of his parents given by a man in black. From his childhood memories, his parents were always mysteriously leaving early and returning late, leaving him in daycare. They would only return home very late, and as he got a bit older, they wouldn’t come home at all, sometimes for days.
The isolation and lack of parental affection from a young age naturally shaped Kazumi Shimizu’s cold personality. However, Su Jun, who truly understood Kazumi Shimizu’s inner self, knew that this was merely a shield created by the neglected child.
Lacking proper education and guidance, Kazumi Shimizu didn’t even know how to communicate with outsiders, resorting to wearing a cold mask and emitting an aura of “stay away” to ward off anyone who tried to get close.
[This might be why she ended up with Sato Shinichi…]
Recalling the blond young man’s ever-passionate, sun-like warmth and friendly energy that warmed everyone around him, Su Jun realized that this was what Kazumi Shimizu truly yearned for!
“Wait?! Why am I thinking about him again?!”
Shaking her head in annoyance, Su Jun lamented how this girlish body could easily lead her thoughts astray.
Pulling her mind back to the room, she picked up the remote by the bedside and lowered the volume of the old television that was broadcasting the news. It seemed to be reporting on how a new hero star and veteran hero Kimori Kage had collaborated to dismantle a villain’s hideout that afternoon. The blond strongman named Takeru Kamikami was also enthusiastically giving a thumbs-up to the camera.
With a burst of energy, Su Jun sat up and looked at the sinister coffin emitting black mist in her room. This was the ability Kazumi Shimizu had awakened on her fourteenth birthday.
According to the theories in “Human Superpower Research,” the optimal age for awakening one’s superpower is between 10 and 12 years old. At this stage, one’s mental activity level largely determines the future potential of their abilities.
This is also why Shikoku High School has a junior high division. By providing the best education and guidance from the moment of awakening, students are already at a significant advantage from the starting line.
Psychics like Kazumi Shimizu are generally referred to as late bloomers, also known as “lifeforce psychics.” They usually awaken relatively useless abilities or ones with no evolutionary potential.
The ability to spit just enough to wash a bowl, or for flames to emerge from one’s fingers, merely enough to light a cigarette – these abilities, while offering a strange convenience to daily life, still rendered them ordinary people in other aspects.
However, there are always exceptions within any species. Kazumi Shimizu’s late-blooming ability was not as weak as one might imagine. However, having experienced such a difficult childhood, Kazumi Shimizu’s greatest wish now was to live a peaceful life.
She aimed to get into a good university based on her decent grades, find a stable nine-to-five public job, not too demanding, not requiring excessive effort, just enough to support herself. When she got a bit older, she would find an ordinary, unremarkable man who could accept her cold personality, get married, and perhaps skip having children, not wanting her own child to endure the same tragedy she had. Then, she would peacefully grow old and die alongside her husband.
It was hard to imagine that this was the wish of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl. Aside from a slight yearning for romance, she had lost interest in life. Having never experienced love, Kazumi Shimizu naturally didn’t know how to love life or the world.
She thought her later life would be so uneventful. However, when she was accepted into the nation’s best school, Shikoku High School, but couldn’t even afford a fraction of the tuition, the man in black who had delivered her parents’ belongings suddenly appeared.
Kazumi Shimizu, who thought her intellect was one of her few advantages, ultimately found that money was sometimes more important than anything else. Her deceased parents hadn’t left her much money, certainly not enough to attend the nation’s best high school.
The man in black simply stated his purpose: as an orphan of the organization, he had been responsible for Kazumi Shimizu’s upbringing until she came of age, but that was all. He couldn’t afford to pay for her to attend the expensive Shikoku High School.
However, as someone who had been observing Kazumi Shimizu, the man in black truly knew her abilities. Although they indeed fit the description of extremely weak abilities typical of late bloomers, they were exceptionally useful in a certain way.
Thus, he reached an agreement with Kazumi Shimizu: he was willing to personally sponsor all her future tuition and living expenses, but in return, Kazumi Shimizu had to join the [Shadow] Organization and become his subordinate, assisting him in certain operations.
In the end, wanting to complete her education, Kazumi Shimizu agreed to the man in black’s offer, joining the [Shadow] Organization as a proud peripheral member, codenamed 247.
“I’m telling you, sister, if you want a peaceful life, don’t get involved with these strange dark organizations! These things are ticking time bombs, no matter how you look at it!”
Frantically scratching her head, Su Jun, having accepted Kazumi Shimizu’s memories, could understand her thirst for knowledge as a top student. It was indeed an amount that couldn’t be raised in a short period, so she eventually compromised in the face of money.
She stood up and walked towards the coffin, which was taller than herself. Although she knew about her ability from her memories, she couldn’t help but want to actually touch this thing called a superpower in this world.
