Vigilante of Tomorrow

The quiet of a Sunday night in the village of Shibayashi, on the outskirts of Greater Tokyo, was shattered by the crackling of a fire and the smell of burning. For sixteen-year-old Hideo Isamukhiro, that evening marked the dividing line between his familiar life and the new day that would radically change it. Returning from an evening workout at the gym, he saw his house completely engulfed in flames, illuminating the sky and the field nearby. He rushed forward, roaring, trying to break through the line of firefighters and neighbors. "Mom! Dad!" His desperate cry was drowned out by the roar of the fire. Several men barely held him back, clasping him from behind. Hideo thrashed like an animal in a trap, feeling the heat scorching his face and his long black hair fluttering in the scorching air. He watched as the roof collapsed, burying everything he loved. At 12:05 a.m., when Monday began, a police officer in a soot-stained uniform told him in dry, formal terms, “Shinji and Kiku Isamuhiro were killed in a planned arson attack, and that note we found near the house most likely belongs to the Yakuza from Tokyo.” I’m very sorry for Hideo, but our club can’t do anything to them. Hideo’s world shrank to a point—a point of hatred, and that note, left either as a mockery or as a warning from the Yakuza gang, read: “The gang will always remember the past, bastard.” Life, despite everything, went on. His eighteen-year-old sister, Ren, herself still almost a child, took guardianship over him without a second thought. She settled him in her modest apartment in the business district. Shibuya, not far from his new school. Ren had always been kind, independent, and loved her family; she tried to mend the hole in his soul with care, hot dinners, and quiet support. Hideo saw her hiding her tears and hated himself for being unable to do anything on that fateful day. It was this hatred that forged a new identity within him. By day, he was Hideo Isamuhiro, the quiet, awkward guy in his class, but by night, he became a vigilante hero searching for those yakuza killers.