Heroine

There was a time before it all fell apart, before VR and the city, when things were still simple.

After all, what was so complicated about a daughter sitting on her mother's lap, head pressed up against her chest? Aoi would listen to her heartbeat, how her chest expanded and contracted with air, and back then she never could have imagined that one day it would all be over. Her body was too mangled for the casket to stay open, but in hindsight Aoi was thankful she never saw her mother's corpse. That way, she could still remember her like this:

The two of them were in the living room, Aoi crying into her chest. Above her, her mother hummed softly and ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. Sometimes she could still feel her mother's neatly trimmed fingernails lightly grazing her scalp. Other times she could even hear her voice, the whispered affirmation that that those playground bullies and the school administration knew nothing, that she was a divine expression of the universe, her perfect and precious daughter.

You came straight from heaven, my little angel.

Aoi never forgot those words. How could she? They became her mask.

"Hey—hey! Are you all right? Class is over, you know."

Someone was shaking her shoulder; Aoi snapped out of her reverie. She turned and saw a rather plain looking boy starting down at her. As was the case with most people, his body language gave everything away. His eyebrows were knitted together, so: his concern was probably genuine. He was bend forward slightly, so: he was trying to make himself smaller, less imposing. His half-open backpack was dangling from his elbow, so: approaching her was a last minute decision. He was clutching his books to his chest, so: he was trying to protect himself in case she reacted badly to his concern.

Aoi looked around, and saw that most of her classmates had already left for the day. "I see. Thank you for letting me know."

She really was grateful. It wouldn't be the first time she became so lost in her thoughts that she missed dismissal, only to be "woken up" by her disgruntled teacher or a passing janitor. She stood up, smoothed out her skirt, and began packing he books into her knapsack. She expected the boy to take his leave, but he only stood awkwardly by her side. She ignored him (best not to give desperate boys the time of day), but she heard him gasp when she put away her last notebook, revealing her duel disk underneath. "Wow, you have the latest model!"

She didn't go on the defensive, not immediately. It would be stupid of him to try and rob her on school grounds (and she knew she could take him if anything). "I do."

"That just came out two weeks ago, right? I heard people waited in line for days just to put their orders in, and most of them haven't even shipped out yet."

"Yeah, well," she put her duel disk away, and turned to leave. "I just got lucky."

"Hey, um—wait!"

Aoi paused. The boy was beginning to get annoying. "What?"

"My name is Kimijima Makoto. What's your name?"

"Zaizen Aoi."

"Wow, that's such a pretty name—"

"What do you want from me?"

Makoto was a few inches taller than her, but he still backed away. "Nothing, I just—"

"So what is this? What are you trying to do?"

"I… I just…" he looked away, nose crinkling. What was that, disgust? Embarrassment? "We're already a month into the school year, and I never see you talking to anyone. I thought you could use a friend."

Aoi smiled, teeth bared. "Oh, a friend? Is that it? A friend. A friend."

"If you don't want to that's fine—"

"How do you know I would make a good friend? How do you know I wouldn't sell you out or rob you blind first chance I got? How do you know what my intentions are? You don't. You can't." She laughed shortly. "You don't know the first thing about me."

Makoto smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. She could sense something akin to disappointment lurking in them. "I'm sorry for trying to see the best in people."

He turned, and Aoi stood there until she saw him leave. He left through the back exit; so she would leave through the front. That way, the chances of them crossing paths would be minimized; if she by chance saw him on her way home, she would know it was because he had been following her.

'See the best in people.' What a charmed life he must lead.

She made it home without incident. As usual, the first thing she did was check Link Vrains.

She wasn't as technologically savvy as Akira or some of the other kids she went to school with. Den City Middle School offered electives in both computer science and business, and she opted for business; she continued to pursue the program in high school. Her brother had been so sure she'd switch over to computer science, considering their mission; but when he asked her about it, she simply smiled and told him she wanted to know her enemy as she knew herself.

Besides, it didn't take a technological expert to tell when something shady was happening in Link Vrains. The message boards were alive with talk about the Knights of Hanoi, who'd apparently gone on the offensive while she was at school. Playmaker—the famed vigilante—was taking them on, and he could knock himself out with that for all Aoi cared. That was his mission, and it was totally separate from hers.

She was more interested in the implications behind the Knight's spike in activity. They couldn't do much when SOL's firewalls were up and running, which could only mean there was a security breach. And in the midst of that chaos Akira could get to information he otherwise wouldn't be privy to. With that, she knew all she had to do was wait for her brother to get home and share with her whatever data he managed to steal.

So Aoi sat back in her seat. Hardly interested in watching Playmaker take another Knight down, she allowed her mind to wander.

"Are you going to continue pursuing business in college? Perhaps open a company of your own someday?"

Aoi left unsaid that she wasn't sure she even wanted to go to college, and ignored the hopeful edge in her brother's voice. If she went into business for herself, she would be her own boss and yet still be walking in the footsteps of another: their father.

Or rather, his father. Her stepfather had been a self-made business man, the sort of success story politicians used to disparage the poor. She admired his gumption, but had little desire to reach his level of success. The cost was too great.

She had so many clear memories of her mother, but her stepfather was a blur of purple and grey. She couldn't ever recall sitting on his lap, or coloring with him, or riding on his shoulders. What stayed in her memory was his wife peaking out behind the curtains of her bedroom window, sleep deprived, waiting for her husband to come home. What stayed was his callous dismissal of every emotional need his son had. What stayed was the way he towered so far above her that he eclipsed the sun.

LUNA Industries was his great love. Before the car crash she remembered her brother, in a moment of frustration, huffing that they could all disappear and his father would be okay as long as LUNA remained intact. And in hindsight she knew he was probably right, but that didn't make what happened to him any more acceptable.

It was easy to block out everyone at school, but her brother was another matter. She could almost sense his presence in the elevator, and lifted from her daydream entirely when she heard him striding down the hallway. He was going faster than usual, which meant he must have stolen something particularly useful.

Her brother unlocked the front door, and their robomaid rushed over to welcome him home. Aoi turned to greet her brother, but all she was was him grabbing her blazer of the coat rack and tossing it at her. "Come."

"Wait—what? Where are we going?"

"Ema's warehouse."

Aoi's chest felt tight. Usually she and Akira did their work at home. They had only gone to Ema's warehouse one other time, and that was the day he finally sat her down and showed her what SOL Technologies had done to them and their lives. She knew what he found had to be especially damning.

So she got up, and followed him out the door.

Aoi didn't want to live in a world without Akira—but she could still picture it, because it almost happened.

They were homeless for a period of six months before they managed to save enough to rent a tenement flat. But the truth was they would've had enough in three, had The Ugly-Awful not happened.

That's what Aoi called it in her mind, "The Ugly-Awful", like she was still only six and on the verge of losing her brother. They'd taken to sleeping on rooftops after too many violent encounters down below, and Aoi could remember how she loved being so close to the sky. Her brother would lay her down by the wall adjacent from the entrance. When it was warm, he'd fold up his blazer and place it under her head; when it was cold, he'd drape it over her body. And then he'd lie down next to her, where he'd connect constellations with his fingers for her until she fell asleep.

One night, she had a nightmare. She saw a scene of woodland creatures frolicking together in an open, sunny field—but what ruined the otherwise pleasant scene was the shouting and commotion in the background, totally out-of-step with what she was seeing. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was on the precipice of some great and terrible end.

And then—a voice. The only one that mattered. She couldn't make out what her brother was saying, but he sounded so panicked that she could only surge back up to consciousness to meet him.

The first coherent thing she heard was her brother whispering, tone pinched with pain. "Please… please stop…"

"You know how to make it stop. Where's the money?"

Whatever nonverbal gesture Akira made was enough for him to get hit again; she heard him cry out in pain and fall to a heap on the ground. "I saw you leaving that yakuza headquarters, putting that fat wad into your jacket. Now tell me where it is!"

Aoi peered out from behind the entranceway, which shielded her from his line of vision. There she saw a man towering over her brother, cold and imposing as their father had been. The blazer? He wants the blazer?

He lifted Akira off the ground. They were standing so close to the edge. "I swear to god, I'll throw you over."

Without thinking she sprinted out from behind the wall. "Brother, no!"

He turned to look at her. Ten years had passed, and Aoi could still remember how her brother's eyes shown black in the moonlight, his skin wilted to the pallor of the dead. "Aoi!"

"There it is!" He turned to Akira. "So you lied to me. All right, here's whats going to happen." She could hear the smirk in his voice. "You're going over no matter what. But if you want me to play nice with your sis here, I suggest you give me what I'm asking for."

For the first time since he'd entered her life, Aoi imagined a world without her brother. Her wonderful brother, who read her stories, and brushed her hair, and painted her nails. If he died, the sky just wouldn't be blue anymore. Every star in the sky would fall, because they were only there for him to connect with his fingers anyway. Without him she was nobody's sister, just like she was nobody's daughter. She wouldn't exist anymore, she wouldn't—

"Aoi…" her brother whispered. It scared her how wide his eyes had gotten, pupils so constricted that she could only see the raw, cold pink of his irises. "The blazer. Give him the blazer."

But she could never sign his death warrant. Aoi turned on her heel and ran.

"Bitch!" The man threw Akira onto the ground and ran after Aoi. She sprinted across the tenement buildings, mindlessly dodging the complex system of wires that laid sprawled across each rooftop. She could hear giant footsteps looming behind her, as well as her brothers hobbled gait as he trailed behind them screaming her name.

She could see that they were approaching the end of the block, and she knew she'd never make it across if she tried to jump. The blazer. The blazer. I gotta get rid of the blazer!

She took hold of the sleeve of her brother's jacket, swung it over her head, and tossed it towards the edge as hard as she could. It fell over.

The giant footsteps stopped. "You little cunt!"

She looked over her shoulder and saw the man sprint over to the edge of the roof, where he stepped over and frantically began to climb down the fire escape. And in that brief moment of relief she tripped over one of the wires, landing hard on her face.

Pain blossomed from her upper lip, a metallic taste filling her mouth. She immediately began to cry.

She could hear her brother approaching her from behind. "Aoi!"

He fell down to his knees and threw his arms around her, shielding her with his body. The proximity to safety only made her cry harder, blood dripping from her mouth in long, slimy strands. Above her, her brother buried his face in her hair, and apologized over and over. "I'm sorry Aoi. Aoi, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

"Remember all those years ago on the rooftop? Why'd you risk your life over that bit of money we had? It wasn't even that much."

"Mostly because I was young and stupid… but it wasn't about the money. Not really. What I earned represented hope, and stability, and getting you off the streets. It felt like that man was asking me to give your future away. Does that make sense?"

"… yes, brother. I understand."

She certainly did. But it still scared her to know that to her brother, her future was worth dying for.

"What are you daydreaming about?"

"Hm?" She looked at her brother, who'd just turned right into the warehouse district. Despite his inquiry, his expression remained as impassive as ever. Aoi shrugged. "Nothing."

Tension gathered between his eyebrows. "That's what you always say. Why don't you ever want to tell me?"

Aoi turned away from him, staring pointedly out the window. "It's of no importance."

"All your thoughts are important to me."

The lack of meaningful inflection in his voice made her doubt that. She crossed her arms over her midsection. "Maybe later. We have work to do, don't we?"

"That's true." Akira pulled up behind Ema's warehouse, turned the ignition off, and turned to face Aoi. "But I'm going to hold you to that. You worry me sometimes. It's like you live with your head buried in the past."

She turned to look at Akira. His eyes were wide, so: he was feeling more vulnerable than usual. His hands were still clenched right around the steering wheel, so: he was uncomfortable. He was frowning a bit, so: he was worried. About her response? About her? She nodded slowly, careful to meet his eyes. "Yes, brother. I promise I will."

"Good. Let's go."

They both exited the car—the cheap, outdated model Akira bought specifically so they could remain inconspicuous. "Will she be here today?" Aoi asked.

"No, but she said we could work here. She's off treasure hunting for a client." He held up his hand, stopping her before she could ask. "Don't worry. Not SOL."

Aoi breathed a sigh of relief. She wished her brother would make better friends.

They entered the warehouse and turned left, down the narrow, dimly lit hallway that lead to the only computer in the room. Aoi sat down in front of it, turning it on. Above her, Akira pulled out a data card and entered into it's slot on the monitor; he searched through what appeared to be mundane files. "What did you find?"

Akira sighed heavily. "Looks like we aren't the only ones SOL has victimized over the years."

He pulled up a file and opened it. Immediately, the written account of an incident titled the "Hanoi Project" popped up:

It seemed that ten years ago, a SOL researcher named Kogami Kiyoshi kidnapped six children and held them in confinement in the middle of the forest. They were forced to duel in the Link Vrains prototype, where they were shocked and denied sustenance whenever they lost. They were released six months later, after a whistleblower alerted the authorities to the experiment. Dr. Kogami died three years later.

Aoi sat back in her seat, stunned. "That's horrible. What kind of man would do that to children?"

Akira placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her forward. "Read the fine print."

Beneath the main account was a disclaimer in typing so small that Aoi had to lean in close to read it:

SOL Technologies did not authorize the Hanoi Project. Kogami Kiyoshi acted on his own volition. His employment at SOL Technologies was immediately terminated once his actions came to light.

Aoi laughed shortly. "Oh, I see. So SOL put him up to it."

"Of course. And this incident coming to light would destroy SOL Technologies."

The very thought of that sent a shiver of delight up Aoi's spine. All they needed to do was find proof of their involvement. "You know… the name of this incident is interesting. 'Hanoi Project.' Almost like…"

Akira smirked. "I considered it. It'd certainly explain their lackluster response whenever the Knights manage to break through SOL's firewalls."

She swirled around in her chair to face Akira. "I think it's worth investigating."

Her brother raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I like the idea of you taking on a terrorist group. What would the neighbors think?"

"I'm serious. If the Knights know something about this 'Dr. Kogami', they may be the key to connecting this incident to SOL Tech." She turned back to the computer and pulled up the Link Vrains stream. "The Knights are still wrecking havoc. Excellent."

"And what are you going to do? Go up to one of the Knights and ask, 'excuse me, do you know anything about the Hanoi Project?'"

"Of course not." She got up out of her chair, and put on her duel disk. "I'll duel the information out of them!"

"Aoi—!"

"Into the Vrains!"

One of the perks of having a brother who worked for SOL Technologies was that she could get the latest duel disk before anyone else's even shipped out.

Another perk, at least pertaining to their mission, was that he could get his hands on all sorts of information that could help them destroy the company that murdered their parents.

But the best perk, at least in Blue Angel's opinion, was that he was prohibited from having his own avatar—and so, he could never follow her when she ran off into Link Vrains.

She challenged the first Knight she came across. Reporters immediately flocked over to her, eager to capture the poster girl of Link Vrains taking on the Knights of Hanoi. But she knew that while she would be watching her opponent, everyone else would be watching her—and so, she used every ounce of her charm.

In the real world, Zaizen Aoi was weighed down by what happened to her family. Her towering stepfather: the King of LUNA, killed for the threat he posed as the CEO of SOL's main competitor. Her loving mother: killed alongside him as—and this made her blood boil—"collateral damage". Her beloved brother: beaten and assaulted and nearly thrown off the roof of a building, ravaged by the world in the name of their survival. Herself: unable to get past how her life had been upended all in the name of profit.

Aoi was burdened by all this, but not Blue Angel. That girl was a dream. Her style was all the rage in heaven; the sun rose every day in hopes of seeing her smile; her laughter in VR could make flowers bloom in the real world. And everybody knew it. As soon as she logged into Link Vrains everyone came up to challenge her, for the simple honor of losing at her feet.

The Knights were no different. She would defeat them and get what she needed to get, and she knew that deep down they'd be grateful for the gift of falling to someone as magnificent as her.

In the absence of reporters, cameras and adoring fans, Blue Angel stood above the Hanoi grunt she'd beaten, pressing her boot on the neck of that fortunate Knight. "Kogami Kiyoshi. Do you know anything about him?"

"I… I don't know—"

She applied a bit of pressure on his windpipe. "What do you know about the Hanoi Project?"

"Hanoi Project?"

She knew that voice. She removed her boot from the Knight's neck and turned to see Playmaker emerging from the shadows. His face was two-toned, cast in hard shadows and glaring lights, making him look far older than he probably was. "What do you know about the Hanoi Project?"

She made note of the Knight logging out behind her, but that was okay-something better had come along. Playmaker hands were clenched into fists, and so: he was angry. She could clearly see the dark rings circling his eyes, and so: he was distressed. His back was straight, muscles taut, and so: he was holding something back. Blue Angel almost smirked. It seemed that even the famously stoic vigilante gave everything away—all you had to do was look hard enough. "About the same as you, I imagine."

"I doubt that." He took another step forward. "Why are you investigating it?"

"It may be related to something of importance to me."

He studied her for what felt like a long time. "You mentioned a name earlier, Kogami Kiyoshi. Who is he? How is he related to the Hanoi Project?"

Blue Angel raised an eyebrow. He didn't know…?

"Duel him."

She nearly jumped up in surprise when she heard Akira's voice through her earpiece; she'd almost forgotten he was watching. He went on: "he implied that he knows things about the incident we don't. Duel him on the condition that if you win, he'll tell you everything he knows about the Hanoi Project."

Blue Angel clenched her fist. But how will I know if he's telling the truth, she wanted to ask, but couldn't say so out loud. However, it seemed her brother knew her too well: "Playmaker is probably thinking the same thing, but he still wants to hear what you have to say. Get whatever you can out of him and we'll go from there."

So Blue Angel hardened her mask. She put on her best, most charming smile—the one that could stop rain. Only the best for Playmaker. "Duel me. If you win, I'll tell you all about that man. But same goes for you, okay? When I win, you gotta spill the beans." She winked. "We got a deal?"

"I accept."

So Blue Angel lead him to the tallest rooftop in Link Vrains, where everyone would be sure to see them. She didn't want her beloved fans missing out on the match of the century; and besides, as an angel didn't she belong as close to the sky as she could get? Whether it be the virtual sky or the real one, that was her domain. Aoi was tethered; Blue Angel was free.

She and Playmaker set readied their duel disks, her lovely eyes drilling into his cold ones. She was ready to spread her wings. Like any angel, she'd bring her family peace in heaven.

"Duel!"