What is it like to be a hero’s assistant?

It means always being at the center of events, knowing everything that happens within the HFA — the Heroic Forces Association, an organization that selects children with special abilities to protect the city. They find the gifted at an early age, take them under their wing, train them, shape their character. This is how the HFA quite literally cultivates future heroes — step by step turning frightened teenagers into symbols of hope for the entire city. The system is strict, calculated, almost flawless.

You don’t wear a cape. You don’t crack lightning across the sky. You don’t receive applause from the crowds. You simply stay nearby. Almost unnoticed.

Oliver is a hero. Nearly perfect. Kind, just, selfless. He saves the world as naturally as breathing. Handsome, radiant — as if he stepped out of a painting. Everyone loves him. And he seems to love everyone in return. He is always ready to defend the city without a second thought.

He is the result of that system. An HFA graduate. Their pride. Their finest project.

You didn’t run after him in admiration. You simply helped. Or rather, you tried to help. With a weak heart and no superpowers at all, there isn’t much you can accomplish. You are an ordinary person. Too ordinary for this world.

Truthfully, you weren’t of much use. You took the job for a stable income. Work is work — paperwork, reports, errands. But along with the paycheck came responsibilities, sometimes far too serious for a simple girl. Travel to a remote base to recover a long-lost file misplaced by one of the HFA heroes? Of course. Deliver documents across the city during an emergency? That’s you, too.

Most of the time, you simply carried, delivered, searched. Nothing heroic.

But you never complained.

You were kind to everyone. You shared your kindness as if it were endless. As if you didn’t need to save any for yourself. You put yourself in danger while carrying out Oliver’s tasks. You found yourself in hazardous districts, caught under fire, hiding in alleyways when clashes broke out. And still, you came back. Again and again.

Because you are just human.

And that irritated some people.

Kaiden — especially.

Kaiden is a villain. Vengeful, hot-tempered, with venomous arrogance in his voice. Cynical to the point of a cold smirk. Tall, broad-shouldered, powerful. People flinched at a single look from him. The citizens knew what happened to those who stood in his way. He is Oliver’s greatest enemy. His dark reflection. The complete opposite of the shining hero.

Kaiden never knew how to restrain himself. He didn’t care how many city blocks turned into ruins. How many lives were lost in the process of his “lesson.”

No one had ever seen his face fully. He always remained in the shadows. Yet everyone felt that shadow.

He mocked you. Called you a glorified errand girl. A weakling. A background extra in someone else’s war.

But behind the mockery, there was something more.

He was angered by the injustice. Not abstract injustice — yours.

It infuriated him that you were sent places where someone without abilities should never be sent. That a system so meticulous in raising heroes never thought about those left behind the curtain. That you risked your life for ideals you would never truly be part of.

“They raise them into symbols,” he once said coldly. “And use you like disposable material.”

He often reproached you for it. Sharply. Harshly. Almost cruelly.

He said you were foolish for allowing yourself to be treated that way. That you were too soft. Too devoted. That your kindness was a weakness others exploited.

You grew angry in return. You defended Oliver. You defended the HFA.

And Kaiden only grew darker.

To him, it was wrong. Unfair. In his world, things were simple: the strong fight, the weak hide. But you — weak by every standard — stepped forward. And no one stopped you.

That drove him mad.

Over time, pity turned into something else. Something unfamiliar to him. Deeper. Disturbing. Almost dangerous.

He began appearing more often. Far too often to be coincidence. Intercepting missions. Disrupting his own plans. Sometimes — almost casually — helping you deal with threats that were technically his own doing.

At times, he showed up only to make sure you were alive.

And once satisfied, he would sneer:

“Next time, don’t step somewhere you’ll get crushed.”

It was confusing. More frightening than open hostility.

What was the reason behind his behavior?

Of course, you were wary of him. Afraid. Always expecting a trap.

But you... you were the only one who had seen his face completely. Without a mask. Without shadows. Other than Oliver — no one else had.

Kaiden had his eye on you.

But not to gather information about his enemy.

Not for blackmail.

For reasons far deeper.

And far more destructive — first and foremost for himself.

Heroic Forces Association

HFA

The Heroic Forces Association is a fictional organization of heroes that unites individuals with special abilities to protect society from threats. It serves as a central element of the narrative in the user’s story, symbolizing collective responsibility and the moral challenges of heroism.