Closure: Chapter 1

It was another eventful day, but what can really be expected of a group of superheroes? We were called in early today for a robbery that got out of hand. The robbers freaked out when we arrived on the scene and hijacked a truck with hostages.

I was waiting by the bridge with Blue Rose. Sky High was sent to keep watch on the automobile.

As we heard the skidding rubber, Blue Rose rushed forward and slicked the street with ice, narrowly escaping the path of the vehicle.

The truck slid and rammed into the side of the bridge. The weight shifted just enough that the entire truck rammed through the fence and began to plummet to the earth. I ran after the truck and stopped at the end of the track it left.

Where's Sky High?

I whipped my head around to look for the blue flash that wasn't in the sky as usual. My eyes locked on to him. He was in the sky, but he didn't seem to be making any gestures indicating he would dash forward and save their lives. He was just blankly staring at the road, based on the position of his helmet.

My power was completely useless in this situation. I did all I could. The lid to my helmet flew open and at the top of my lungs I basically screamed, "SKY HIGH! SAVE THE PASSENGERS!"

His head snapped up and his body jolted. He quickly flew in the direction of the passengers but was too late.

The sound of the deafening crash vibrated through my body and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The flying hero began to descend onto the bridge with me. My head whipped around as soon as I heard his feet touch the ground.

Quickly making sure there were no cameras or helicopters on us, I moved over to him and removed my helmet. "What's wrong with you? Hostages just died!" He didn't respond, he didn't even move. My hands jerked the helmet off of his head. "Are you even liste-" I stopped mid sentence.

This usually optimistic face looked blank. The strong jaw line was peppered with unshaven hair. His nose was a faded red color. The sky blue eyes were glossed with a pink film and were framed by the dark bags under his eyes. His gaze was directed forward as if he didn't even know I was there. The man before me was a complete mess.

"Sky-" I was interrupted by a loud cheering that caused us both to avert our eyes. I ran back and looked over the edge of the bridge. Barnaby was holding the truck over his head and Tiger quickly helped unload the passengers. Blue Rose took the chance to apprehend the criminals.

I sighed in relief. "They're safe."

"Hey! They're safe!" I turned around and quickly realized I was talking to myself.

Most of us calmly and collectively went back to our locker rooms to change. I only just took my helmet off when out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hero basically rip open his locker, grab his clothes and run out the door at top speed, scattering random things that fell out along with the clothes.

Why was he in such a hurry?

My eyes were frozen in place for a while before I heard footsteps and snapped out of it, averting my gaze back to my own locker.

Kotetsu came in and opened his locker before looking down at the mess the blond had made not two minutes before.

"Not this again…" Tiger bent over and picked up one of the discarded socks. He looked thoughtfully at the small trail of miscellaneous laundry left behind.

"He does this a lot?" I wondered out loud.

"Umm, lately. He dashes out every day around five o clock, I guess." Tiger paused for a second before he realized something. "Ah! He also seems to be depressed lately now that I think about it…" He brought his hand behind his head to put on his usual hat, adjusted it and then looked at me. His features all softened "Hey…"

I don't know what my expression looked like, but I was just so disheartened.

Why didn't I notice before? I mean, not that I ever really took the opportunity to learn much about Sky High, but why do I feel so bad? Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him.

"Hey! Origami?" My thoughts focused on the man in front of me again. "Are you okay, kid?"

"Do you know where he goes, Kotetsu-san?"

"Huh? Uhh, not exactly. I'm pretty sure it's to meet a girl, though. Sometimes he buys flowers at the front desk before he leaves." He stopped for a bit. "Wait! You don't think this could be related to his attitude lately, do you?"

Tiger, you never fail to amaze me. "I think they're directly related to each other, actually."

"Well, such a high ranking hero losing focus like this is really taking a toll on his points. Maybe we should find out what exactly he's doing?"

"I do too. I don't know much about him, though. Where do you think he would go?"

He looked as if he had an idea. Then his face slowly melted into a deep thoughtful one. "I actually don't have a clue. I really don't know much about Sky High's secret identity… I know! Let's follow him tomorrow!"

"L-Like stalking? That's so sketchy!" I was so taken aback by the term.

"No! Not like stalking! Umm, just think of it as live action photobombing! It's like spying."

"I don't know…"

"It's settled then! We'll meet up here tomorrow and follow Sky High! See ya later!"

And with that, he left.