Hyoga Akatsuki | Sent to Investagte

The air along the California coast carried a strange weight—salt and rot and the green smell of overgrown things. Hyoga stood at the railing of the Perseus, watching the treeline where civilization had once stood. Any ruins were hidden beneath layers of vegetation, metal skeletons of buildings swallowed by roots and time, worn down to nothing.

So this is the new world. Concrete reclaimed by earth. How fitting.

Footsteps approached from behind. Light, deliberate. Senku.

"Hyoga. Got a job for you."

Hyoga turned his head just enough to acknowledge him without fully breaking his gaze from the shore. "I assumed as much. You rarely come to me for conversation."

"There've been signs," Senku said, crossing his arms. He nodded toward the tree line. "Tracks near the beach. Not animal. Someone's been watching us since we dropped anchor. Could be local. Could be one of Xeno's scouts."

The old scientist's reach extends further than I'd anticipated. Or perhaps we've stumbled upon something else entirely.

"And you want me to investigate."

"Your senses are sharper than most of the crew's, and you move quieter than anyone except maybe Ukyo. But Ukyo's needed here for perimeter watch. You're the best option for a solo recon." Senku's sharp eyes met Hyoga's. "Don't engage unless you're sure. I want information first, not a fight."

Hyoga's lips curled slightly beneath his mask. "You trust me to gather intelligence without shedding blood?"

"I trust you to make the tactical choice that benefits the Kingdom." Senku paused. "You've been reliable so far. Don't prove me wrong now."

A long silence settled between them. Hyoga dipped his head once.

"I'll leave at dusk. The shadows will favor me."

Senku nodded and turned away, already calling out orders to Ryusui about anchoring procedures. Hyoga remained at the railing a moment longer, his purple eyes scanning the treeline with renewed focus.

Whoever you are, watching us from those shadows... I wonder if you're worth my time, or merely a footnote in this new world.

.

The late afternoon air was still, broken only by the quiet rustling of wind through the trees.

A narrow trail cut through the wilderness, though it had clearly not been used recently. Grass had begun reclaiming the edges, and fallen leaves lay undisturbed across most of the path.

Most of it.

Senku crouched near the ground, examining a patch of disturbed earth with keen interest.

“Well now,” he murmured, adjusting the position of a small twig with the tip of his finger. “That’s definitely not natural.”

A short distance away, Hyoga stood quietly with his spear resting against his shoulder, watching the scientist work with patient calm.

“You have discovered something,” Hyoga said.

Senku gestured toward the ground. “Tracks.”

Hyoga stepped closer, his gaze lowering as he studied the faint impressions left in the soil.

They were subtle. But not subtle enough.

“Recent,” Hyoga observed.

“Exactly,” Senku replied with a grin. “And unless one of our people suddenly decided to start sneaking around like a ninja, that means we’ve got company.”

Hyoga straightened slightly, eyes narrowing as he considered the direction the tracks traveled.

“A stranger wandering nearby,” he said.

Senku stood and dusted his hands off. “Ten billion percent.”

He folded his arms, expression thoughtful. “Could be someone revived recently. Could be someone scouting. Could be trouble.”

A beat passed before he glanced at Hyoga.

“So I figured I’d send the guy who’s best at reading people.”

Hyoga regarded him calmly. “You trust my judgment in this matter.”

Senku smirked. “You’re observant, strong, and just paranoid enough to not get caught off guard.”

A faint pause followed.

Then Hyoga inclined his head slightly. “A fair evaluation.”

He turned toward the direction of the tracks.

Senku called after him casually. “If it turns out they’re friendly, try not to scare them too badly.”

Hyoga paused briefly.

“I make no promises.”

With that, he stepped into the wilderness and followed the trail.

The air was quiet, save for the occasional whisper of wind through the trees. Sunlight dappled the uneven ground, highlighting small disturbances: a bent twig here, a crushed patch of grass there.

Hyoga moved silently, blending into the shadows with the ease of someone who had been trained to notice everything and reveal nothing. Every step was deliberate, calculated, minimal.

Ahead, subtle signs betrayed the presence of another: footprints partially obscured by fallen leaves, small twigs broken along an unnatural path, faint hints of movement in the undergrowth. Someone was moving through the area—and Hyoga knew it.

For several minutes he followed at a distance. Not close enough to be noticed, but close enough to study.

• The rhythm of their steps.
• The way their weight shifted with each stride.
• How they adjusted to the terrain.

Every detail told him something about the person, though nothing yet revealed their intentions.

Hyoga paused behind a cluster of trees, lowering his cloak slightly to obscure the slight shimmer of the spear resting against his shoulder. He observed silently as the figure moved through a small clearing.