So, I had actually started watching the anime last week and became a fan instantly. I have never had an anime to make me laugh so hard and keep me up until two in the morning. I think it only took one single episode to seriously fall in love with Genos. I had actually created a character for a different story I was working on, but never got the chance to use her. So, with some little modifications to Hisami.
Now, on with the story! ^-^
City A was busting at the seams with people, each person was heading to a particular destination. No one knew where the other was going, they just knew they had some place to be. For one young woman, she knew where she was heading, heading to a place that only the strongest and bravest people come together; Hero Association.
Her long black hair swayed in the wind, her red wine eyes scanned the area and the building that stood right before her.
The young woman stared up at the tall building, cocking her head to the side. The building was at least fifty stories tall, wondering what the hell could just be lingering on every single floor. Gripping the bag that was slung across her shoulders, she took a deep breath and started to head in toward the building. Stepping right through the double doors, she slowly strolled in up to the front desk, where a young woman sat at the front desk, typing away at the computer as fast as she could, while talking on the phone.
"Uh excuse me, miss?"
The receptionist glanced away from her laptop and up toward the black headed woman, her hand hitting the off button on the side of her head set. "Welcome to the Hero Association, how can I help you?"
"Hello, my name if Hisami, I was called in to talk about my rank and placement." Hisami bowed.
"Hisami, you say?" Looking through the list she had in front of her, tapping her pen in confusion. "Miss, I don't see your name on the list, are you sure that you aren't mistaken for a different day or got the message wrong."
Hisami shook her head no, biting the bottom of her lip. "No Ma'am…I was told by two members of the association to meet with Mr. McCoy today, at exactly noon."
"Oh, I did see Mr. McCoy come in for a meeting…let me check one more place right quick." The receptionist turns around, pulling a black book out and flipped through a pages, "Miss Hisami, what is your last name?"
Fearing that was going to next question, she automatically knew how this was going to go down.
Hisami lowered her head a little, rubbing her right temple in annoyance as she spoke in a low voice, hoping that no one but the receptionist would hear her. "My last name is Hebi."
She watched as her finger stopped in the middle of the black book, tapping her finger somewhere on the page that she was staring at. Her eyes moved up from the page that she had been staring at and looked up at her, giving her a smile.
"Oh, I do apologize, Miss. Hebi, here you are. It was under "Miss Hisa Hebi", he had reminded me that you were visiting him today." Writing something down in the black book, she closed it shut and handed her a badge, holding her hand out toward the elevator. "Take the elevator all the way to the forty-second floor and it will open up directly to the conference room where he is waiting. I'm sorry for not noticing sooner that you were…"
"Terribly sorry to interrupt you, but I best be getting up there. I hope you understand, I just don't want to keep him waiting." Hisami hurriedly interrupted before the lady had time to finish her sentence. Giving her a slight bow, she proceeded to hurry towards the elevators. Hitting the button as fast as she could, she wasn't exactly in the mood to be hit with a bunch of questions about her brother. Slipping into the elevator and held down the "close" button, hoping it would just hurry the hell up and close.
Hitting the button for the 42nd floor, Hisami rested against the wall as the elevator jolted upwards. Watching at the numbers slowly change with each passing floor, Hisami couldn't help but turn around and look at the full wall mirror that stood behind her.
"Guess father would be upset if I made a pretty bad first impression…" Hisami muttered as she took a black ribbon from her bag, tying her hair up into a high pony tail. Smoothing out the wrinkles of her black dress, the hem of the dress stopped only inches above her knees. Bending down onto her knee, she started retying the laces of her black ankle boots.
"With over 11,000 candidates applying…and only two people passed the exams. Must be the reason why they were so eager to get me on bored." Hisami sighed, thinking back to the first meeting the prior.
City F, Hebi household, one-week prior
The house was a decent size, two story house that sat in the middle of a quiet and safe neighborhood of City-F. At the back of the house sat a rather big garden, with a huge koi pound sitting against the wall. A young woman stood in the back of the garden, wearing only gray pants and boots; a beige leather, sleeveless jacket with light-beige details; brown gloves and had a sarashi tied around her chest and hips. She stood in front of a target that was hanging down near the back, each hand held a smoking semi-automatic hand gun.
Dropping the guns onto the ground, she grabbed the black and red spear that had a bow tied around the end of the rode and base of the blade.
Spinning the spear in her right hand, she shifted around, placing her left hand onto the pole, thrusting forward at decent speed. Spinning the spear once again, she moved to thrust to her side and behind her. Causing the bamboo tree that stood behind her, fall over onto the ground, a sweat drop appeared at the front of her head, a nervous laugh escaped from her throat.
"Father is so going to be so pissed…"
Her eyes glanced to the side, watching as the sliding door open and older woman with fading black hair and blue colored eyes, wearing a simple black dress that matched her hair. Holding her hand out toward the door, smiling. "Hisa, two men from the Hero Association are here to speak with you about you joining the association."
Groaning slightly, Hisami wiped the sweat off her head as she headed toward the door, handing her spear to the older woman. "Oh joy, I bet father sent them to speak with me."
"Now now, Hisa, just speak with them, you may have gotten in on your own merits."
"Kind of hard when the last time I put my application in was over a year ago and got denied, but knowing father and the influence he has over the association when it comes to candidates, he probably pulled strings and talked them into it. You know how he gets, Ms. Miya. Especially when he doesn't get his way, then he just gets crabby." Hisami muttered as she stepped into the house.
Miya just sighed as she watched her walk inside of the house. Not exactly knowing what the situation was going on at hand, she knew that whatever he did, he did it for her out of love and wanting to make her happy. Looking back out into the garden, she saw where the bamboo tree was once sitting, was now laying in the middle of the garden. Shaking her head in frustration, she knew damn well that he was not going to be happy when he got back home. It took him forever to get that tree to grow and not that it finally had, Hisami goes and makes it fall down.
"Well…at least she had the silencers on her guns today; don't think the police would be happy to get a call about gun shots and come all the way out here to find Hisa practicing again…" Sighing in relief as she went and cleaned up the yard.
She had a good idea that her father had sent them there to talk to her; he'd been begging to get her to join the Hero Association and got pissed off when she failed, then started to beg her once again. Heading down the hallway, she could hear the two men talk, but their voice was so low that she was unable to make out what they were both saying. The probability of them talking about her was high, but they could've been talking about something else. She knew they were not that stupid to get caught talking about something that they probably didn't want her to know.
Opening the door into the living room, she saw both men jump straight up as soon as she walked in and bowed. Hisami gave them a small bow and waved for the two to sit down, as she sat down right across from. One of the men had black hair with a stubby beard, the other man had brown hair, wearing silver-rounded glasses and he was at least five so years younger than the man he sat next to.
"I'm glad that you could sit down and speak with us today. My name is Tenchi Sato, and this is Rikiya Shirow. "
"Well, when you randomly show up at my house, you really don't leave me with much of an option."
The two men looked at one another; each could hear the bitterness in her voice. The other man took a deep breath and nodded his head.
"We know this is inconvenience, but Mr. McCoy would like to speak with you."
"What is this about? My application was put in over a year ago and I failed the exam, so what exactly is the issue at hand?" Hisami narrowed her eyes at the two, not knowing exactly where they were going with this whole situation.
"Well you see, Miss Hebi— "
"Hisami."
"Yes, Hisami. We had over 11,000 applicants apply this go around, the highest we have ever had at the association, but there is one issue." Rikiya spoke.
Hisami's eyes widen when he told her how many people had applied, "Holy hell, over 11,000 candidates?! No wonder why he seemed pissed off when he came home last week, he said something about having two jackasses who had no clue who he was and did not care in his orientation class. Poor guy probably over burden." Hisami snickered at the thought. Though, she knew deep down that if any one of them pissed her father off, especially if they didn't listen to him, he will be mad and they would be in for a world of hurt.
"Damn, that's a lot of people, but I don't see what that has to deal with me."
"The truth is, out of the 11,493 people…only two were accepted." Tenchi coughed.
Hisami blinked with a deadpan expression as she tried to take in exactly what he had told her. Over 11,000 people…and only two had passed. What in the living hell were they giving them as a test? "Just what the hell are they doing now? I don't even remember the test being that difficult…I just suck at essays and I hate working out." Hisami muttered. Not practically caring if they heard her or not.
"Same test as you took, it's just everyone thinks they can be a hero and when put to the test, they aren't the hero that we are looking for." Rikiya stated.
"So, what does this have to do with me?"
"You see Hisami; we are in need of a few people joining to even up the numbers. The association is taking into consideration all of the training you've done this year, and based off what your father has bragged about; you are more than capable than enough to be a Hero." Tenchi explained.
Hisami bit the bottom of her lip, she knew all along that it was because of him, it was always because of him. They weren't coming to her because she was proving herself, they weren't going to see how she really was. They were just going to take her father's word and run as far as they could with it. Of course, she really couldn't blame them, he could be a pain in the ass when things didn't go his way.
Watching as the two stood up to leave, Tenchi handed the young woman a card with a time and date on it, "Here, you will meet with Mr. McCoy, who is the chief of operations of the Z City Hero association Branch. He will meet with you at the Main Headquarters in A City, noon this coming Friday. Please, try and not to be late."
Hisami took the card and watched the two leave the leaving room, hearing the front door creak open and slam shut. Staring down at the card in her hand, a part of her was tempting to rip it up, the other part was curious on what the hell was going on. It was obvious they weren't giving her a choice in the matter, she was told what time and where to meet with one of the head guys. Her father has basically put her in the situation, and he probably doesn't regret either.
"This better be worth my time…"
Shaking her head as she tried to get rid of the thoughts from the previous week filled her head, standing up from tying her boots. The elevator was currently on the 40th floor, which left little to no time to mentally prepare her for what lied in store for her. Knowing he was going to ask her questions about her last exam and what had gone wrong, how she's improved from over the year, what's changed about her, and most importantly; can she really do this?
"You got this Hisa, just take a deep breath and relax. Let's just hope it's just him and that father isn't in there with him." She muttered to herself, watching at the elevator went from the 41st floor to the 42nd floor, which she heard that ding sound, letting her and the man waiting for her know that she had arrived.
As the doors slowly opened up, massive amount of light started to make its way into the elevator, completely blinding Hisami for a split second. Stepping off the elevator with her eyes still squinted; she heard a voice speaking to her.
"Ah, Miss. Hebi, I'm so pleased that you could join us today. Please, have a seat in the chair that is directly in front of you." The man who had spoken out to her had a bit of a rudeness in his tone. He was the one who wanted to do this, so why the hell was he being so rude to her?
There was something off about the meeting. First off, the room was nearly completely dark besides the few bright lights that were on in the room behind them. It was supposed to be with just Mr. McCoy, but there sat in front of her were three other people, all wearing business suits. Hisami carefully sat down in the seat that sat before the four, taking in every detail about them.
The very man in front of her, the one who was a total rude jackass, was none other Mr. McCoy. The very man who makes the police chief beg for help when Monsters get out of hand, as if he was royal dictator. His look reminded Hisami of how a villain is portrayed; a muscular grumpy old ass man, who wore an eye patch over his right and wore glasses on top of that. Whoever told him that wearing an eye patch under glasses was good idea, was either lying or wanted him to look like a total ass.
The two men on McCoy's side were simple enough men, as they looked like two middle-aged business men who did not want to be there. The one on the right kept checking his phone every couple of minutes, as if he's waiting for this "super important" text message to come along, so he could get the hell out of there. The man on the left was no better, he kept yawning as he laid his head on his hand. Hisami rolled her eyes at the two of them, knowing they were getting paid serious dollars to act like they have the hardest job there is.
Now, for the woman sitting at the very end of the table, that was the one who caught Hisami's attention.
She looked just like the other two business men, but she didn't bother looking at her phone or act like she was about to fall asleep. She'd glance over from time to time at the other three men, shaking her head a little, as if she was disapproving of their behavior. If she wasn't glancing at them, she was staring directly ahead at Hisami, sizing her up from what she could at least get based off her looks. Out of all the things on this woman, the blue tattoo under her right eye was what really caught her attention.
"Don't know why I'm surprised, I should've figured it was going to take more than one head of the Hero's Association to make an expectation for someone who's failed the test a year ago." Hisami sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon for her.
McCoy had been staring down at a file that was laying out in front of him, taking in all the information he was reading. It was no doubt about her, but she couldn't help but be a little curious on what the hell it had said about her. Probably belittle her on her last exam and that she would never come close to out ranking her father. Hell, they probably threw in how he probably threw a big fit about how she didn't pass and it was their fault that she failed.
"Are you fully aware of the situation going on right now, Miss. Hebi?"
"Yes, McCoy I am very aware of what is going. I was informed that there were over 11,000 candidates for the Hero Exam, but out of all of them…only two actually passed. Am I correct, sir?"
"Indeed you are. Now, do you know why we called you today?"
"I only know a little bit, sir. I was told that the numbers were needing to be evened out and that even though I failed the exam last year, it has been shown with all the training I have done this year that I am more than qualified to become a hero. I have no doubt in my mind that I could step outside of this building right now and deal with a disaster level tiger without breaking a single sweat. I could handle a demon while breaking a sweat and it may be a tough fight, but I could still win." Hisami snickered, even though she was a tad bit full of herself at the end there. She could take on a demon, but it would be a very close call on if she could win depending on how powerful the monster is.
"You failed the previous exam with 48, you got had gotten a 33 on the physical and a 15 on the written exam. Tell me, what caused you to fell last time?"
Hisami scuffed slightly at the question, "I had gone out drinking the night before and was completely hungover the following morning. I wasn't exactly in the right mindset when I was writing the essay, at least by the time the physical exam came around I was feeling slightly better, but if I wasn't feeling I was going to throw up the entire time, I probably would've at least gotten a 40 on the physical exam."
Each of the board members gave her a deadpan look, trying to mentally register what she had told them. They couldn't believe it, not once in the last three years, had they had someone who failed the exam because they were drunk, at least, to their knowledge. Probably not something a lot of people would be proud to admit.
"O-Okay…then tell us—hold that thought, " The man on the right held up his finger as he pulled out his phone from his pocket and started to text someone. Hisami rolled her eyes, taping her foot as she waited on him to finish so he could ask his question. If there was one thing she hated, it was people would start talking, but then get distracted and never finish what they were going to say.
"Mr. Sedou, are you finish? I would like to get to my other meetings sometime today." McCoy growled.
"Oh! Yes sir, "He slammed his phone shut and bowed his head towards Hisami, "I'm terribly sorry for stopping in the middle of my sentence. You will have to forgive me, madam."
"Uh…it's fine."
"My question to you is, what do you think it means to be a hero?"
"Shit…they would ask me this."
Hisami groaned a little as she thought about the question, rubbing both her temples as she tried to form the words together in her head. Knowing damn well that there was no way that she would be able to come up with something off the top of her head. She knew she didn't have much of a choice, so she stood up and gave them a nervous laugh. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen and paper I could borrow? It's a lot easier for me to write it down than just tell you."
It was obvious that McCoy was annoyed by this, figuring it was going to take longer for her to write it out then tell them, but the last thing he wanted was for her brother to march in there and cause a huge fit. Flipping the back of a piece of paper, he pushed it towards her along with a pen. Hisami bent over the desk and started to write as fast as she could, because, she wouldn't admit to anyone, but in spare time she was a writer…a fiction writer. So writing very quickly and writing the first things that came to her mind on particular subjects were what she did best.
They watched as the pen moved rapidly across the paper, impressed on how someone could form words so quickly without taking a second to even think about the question. The pen only stopped a few times to tap her chin as she quickly thought about what she was going to write. Not once did she glance at clock, knowing damn well that the second she did she would probably freak out about how long it was taking.
"Just about done…" Hisami muttered as she scribbled on the bottom part of the page, trying to write slightly smaller so she could finish what she had already formed in her brain. The last few words were written very small on the very bottom of the page and as tempting as it was to write on the other side of the page, it probably wasn't ideal for her to do. They probably wouldn't like that, as up tight as they were.
"All done!" Hisami grinned as she pushed the paper towards McCoy and sat back down in her seat. A smug expression crept across her face as she heard him read her essay out loud for the others.
When you were a child, were you inspired by stories of knights, supermen, and courageous men and women who did wonderful things and changed the world around them? They were your heroes. You looked up them, didn't you? Weren't you inspired by their courage and hoped you could grow up brave and strong? Weren't you thrilled by their exploits and their charisma?
What does it mean to be a hero? Is it someone fulfilling an ambition at great personal and physical struggle or it someone doing something for the good of mankind?
The truth is that we look up to people who make a difference to our lives while at the same time overcoming personal struggle and hardship to achieve that goal. We admire their bravery and dedication; we aspire to be a courageous and focused as they are to achieve what they set out to do.
So being a hero isn't necessarily about achievement only. It's the effect that their achievement has on the rest of us and what we can learn from the struggle and hardship they underwent. They are people who demonstrate high standards of character and dedication and who inspire us to achieve the highest that we can in order to emulate them.
So you can achieve great things like win a gold medal by being fast on your feet and become an icon. Or you can achieve great things through strength of character and perseverance, and become a hero. You can doubt your ability to complete the journey, but having the strength of character and purpose to overcome your own fears about completing it—that's the stuff of heroes.
That's what inspires others—that you falter and doubt your ability to carry on, but that you then pick yourself up again stronger than before, doubly committed to your goal, and you press on to the end.
All four of them looked at one another, each were trying to digest what she had written. McCoy nodded his head and looked back at Hisami, eyeing her over with his cold eye. Linking his hands together, he held them to his face, his next words were cold as ice. "I'm only going to say this once; the only reason you are being given this opportunity is because of your father. He's pushed the last few months about us making an exception, especially after this little issue we had come up with the latest registration, he wasn't thrilled with the only two that had passed. He was…very smug to the point of being childish about what happened, which caused the rest of the bored to finally cave in and give in his request to shut him up." It was obvious when he spoke of her brother, he got slightly bitter toward the end there.
Like that was a big surprise to her, she heard it once last week, she knew she would hear it again today. The fact he told her that she was only here because of her father was absolute bullshit. Well, fine, it was partially bullshit, as he did have an influence in the decision, but she was still strong enough to prove that she belonged there. Balling her hands into fist, she decided to do the one thing she knew that either get her kicked out or gain approval. Quickly standing up to the point of knocking her chair backyards, Hisami folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
"I suggest you listen well and carefully; I have no doubt my father influenced this decision, I've known that straight from the beginning when the two men came to my house last week. I don't want my father's status being the only reason I get accepted, I refuse to be known as the girl who was brought in because of her father. After today, I will show you that I am fully one-hundred percent able to be a hero with my own strength, not my father's, not anyone else's, but my own abilities." Every single she said dropped with venom. It was one thing when you talked about her own strength and weakness, but it was totally something else when you brought her father into the conversation.
"Why you little…" McCoy growled, he was not an easy man to please, he surely wasn't exactly pleased with the way she had spoken to him. He had it in his mind that he should just toss her out the building now and make it where she would never be a hero for as he was alive and in charge.
"Anyway..." The woman at the end coughed, trying to prevent an all-out war between the two. Giving the young woman her full attention, she glanced down at the paper that was laid out in front of her, "Now, I won't the first to admit that this is far from standard procedure, as I'm the only person from the executive board of directors, so they left me and the other three in charge in making the decision. I have no doubt in your ability, the reports over the past year of your training in hand to hand combat, with extensive knowledge and use of firearms and weapons."
"Ms. Etsuko will agree with me on this then. Your essay was beyond excellent, very well done Ms. Hebi. I do believe that we would be making a horrendous mistake to not let you join the Hero Association. Of course, I feel like putting you in Class C would not be best for your skill set."
"I agree with you, Mr. Sedou, but it's up between Mr. McCoy and Mr. Katou on what class and rank you will be placed in."
Hisami turned her attention over to McCoy and Katou, who were leaned over to one another, whispering about just where to put her. She dragged her bottom lip through her teeth as she waited on an answer. She could feel the tension rise between the two men, anything that Katou would suggest, McCoy would quickly strike him down and glare over toward her. This went on for a few minutes, causing the other two to glance over at one another and toward me, shrugging their shoulders. They had no clue what the hell the hell was being said.
"Yeesh, McCoy sure hates me, father probably pissed him off, but my last comment probably didn't go well with him." Hisami noticed she was getting another glare from him, he must've rejected another suggestion. "He's about to enter retirement if he doesn't stop glaring at me."
Both men glared at one another, signaling that they were in a standoff with one another. Hisami was starting to getting antsy sitting in her chair as she watched the two. Her fate stuck in between the hands of the bored guy and the angry asshat who three-fourths away from being six feet under. Secretly glad that her father wasn't here, as he would probably be yelling at them to hurry up and make a decision. That man had such a short temper, that sometimes never worked out for her, especially if she was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing something.
Like, getting drunk the night before the Hero Exam. Hisami didn't get to live that one down for an entire two months.
After five minutes of silence, McCoy coughed to gather everyone's attention. Rubbing his temples with his fingers, he let out a sigh as he stared down the young woman. "After arguing with Mr. Katou about where we should place you, we have finally come to an agreement on where you would be best fit in your current state. After going over your strengths and weakness, we have determined it would be best suited you be a B-Class hero rank 90. Since we are making an exception for you, there will be a restriction in the first month of being a hero; Even though you are a B-Class, you will have to preform weekly heroic activities or you will be kicked out of the association as someone who was C-Class hero."
Hisami's eye twitched once she was told about the restriction; it was official, the old bastard was out to get her and that was exactly how he was going to do it. Biting down the side of her cheek, she knew she just needed to nod her head and smile, no reason to give him a bigger reason to hate her and make her life miserable.
"I understand, thank you for this wonderful opportunity."
"We know you'll do well, Ms. Hebi. It's in your blood too." Katou gave her a reassuring smile, it was obvious he wasn't fond of the restriction placed on her, as he's been glaring at McCoy since their conversation. He stood up to hand her the sheet of paper that told her what class she was in and what rank she was, along with the handbook.
Hisami bowed her head, taking the items from Katou and turned for the elevator, she wanted to get the hell out of there as fast as she could. As she hit the elevator button, she heard McCoy call out toward her for one last time.
"A word of advice Miss. Hebi; don't get too cocky in being a B-class hero and do know we are watching you. The slightest mistake that you make, I will know and I won't hesitate to get you kicked out of the association."
Balling her fist up, her head toward him with her eyes shifting directly onto him. The old geezer had the balls to threaten her, especially in front of an executive board member. This was the start of it, he was hoping to get her riled up before she even had a chance to walk out of the building.
Ding.
Elevator doors opening, causing the young woman to tear away her gaze from McCoy. A cold shiver ran down her spine, as she kept her back towards them until she could hear the doors close together. Once she turned back towards the wall, she leaned against and sighed. It felt great being an official hero, but deep down she was seriously pissed that he was going to make her restriction like she was a C-class hero.
"Whatever...I'll prove that old bag of bones is wrong, he'll learn not to underestimate me or my father."
Buzz Buzz…
Feeling the slight vibration coming from inside the small pocket that lined the bottom of her dress. Pulling her phone out from her pocket, she flipped it open to see who had texted her.
"How did the meeting go, Hisa? What class and rank did you get placed in?"
"Father sure has good timing…"
"Hey dad, the meeting could've gone better than expected, I don't exactly think Mr. McCoy likes me all that much. I'm a B-Class hero, but my rank is 90."
Closing her phone, she laid back against the railing again and closed her eyes. She knew that this was also her chance to move out of her father's home and be out on her own finally. The exact question was, where in the hell would she live at anyway? If she had to pick a city, it would need to be somewhere with monsters so she could meet that stupid weekly quota she was given. City F was fairly quiet for the most part, so there was no point in remaining in that city. Father did say that the news had talked about how lately City B and City D were a hot zone for monsters lately, but with those cities being so close HQ that there was a strong chance there was multiple heroes that lived in the city or close that they could be called on rather quickly.
"Wasn't there another city that was a hot zone for monsters…."
Flipping her phone back open, she opened up the web, searching the internet for what the other city was for frequent monster attacks. Scrolling through, she started to read through the news article that had popped up, talking about the recent events going on currently in the cities.
Mysterious monsters appearing in the abandon area of City Z.
Area in City Z sustained damaged after wanted fugitive, known as Speed-o-Sound Sonic, threw several exploding shuriken into buildings, causing four fatalities and thirty-seven people injured. Class-C Hero Tanktop Tiger was injured in the attack, but was stopped by another C-Class hero.
There is a currently a bank robbery in progress at the Justice National Bank in City V.
Hero Association has issued disaster warning for City Z; the city is currently under threat level tiger.
"I guess I found the perfect city for me to live in…dad is going to be so pissed." Hisami muttered as she watched the elevator finally hitting the ground floor. Walking out, she noticed the receptionist from earlier was still there. Heading toward the desk, Hisami rubbed the back of her head with a smile, "I wanted to apologize for earlier, I did not mean to interrupt you."
"Oh no, it's no problem, Miss. Hebi. I saw where you were added to the hero registry, congratulations on becoming a B-Class hero."
"Thanks, say, I have a question. I decided I was going to move to City Z, but I wasn't sure where the best area to move too. I heard the city was a really big city, do you happen to know any good places to live at?"
Biting her lower lip, the receptionist started to type on her computer, obviously looking at apartments for the young woman. Taping her mouse as she waited for it loud, she knew there was a couple of places to live, but they were all fairly expensive, something an S-Class or A-Class could afford, but being in the low rankings of B-Class, she probably be struggling depending on the month. Knowing there was particular place available with very cheap rent, but it came at a high price.
"I do know one apartment complex that is very affordable on rent, and near the center of City Z, but the location comes at a high cost…"
"Eh? What could be the problem?"
"Well the apartment complex is located in the uninhabited zone…due to the destruction of a lot of the buildings there and the increase in monsters, the only people that live in that zone our two heroes, so you wouldn't be alone if something were to happen." The receptionist explained as she printed out the information and locating for the apartment.
"Absolutely no people and some monsters lurking? I think I can manage, thanks again for the help." Hisami took the paper, reading it over.
"Glad to help, if you do need anything else, don't hesitate to ask me. My name is Misa, so call me anytime you have questions." Misa heard the phone ring and answered it right quick, holding her hand over the microphone. "I do hope you have a good day, Miss. Hebi."
Not wanting to interrupt Misa's phone conversation, she gave her a small bow and started to leave the building. Thankful for the information at hand, she pulled her out to call the landlord, but saw there was a text message waiting for her attention. Stopping just outside the sliding glass doors, she opened up her messaged and read it over.
"He's a jackass, don't worry about him, if he gives you a hard time let me know and I'll show him not to mess with my child. B-Class huh? Not bad honey, rank is on the low side, but at least you aren't a C-Class hero. Don't worry, one day you may get to surpass me in rank when you finally reach A-Class."
Hisami groaned at his message, she figured that he would've said something like that. B-Class was great, but not good enough for him, she was expected to do better and be in the A-Class at least. Shrugging her shoulders, she switched over to the dialing screen and started to dial and call the number that was on the paper for the apartments.
"Hello? Hi, yes, I am calling about the one apartment being available in Z City."
Hisami folded the paper and placed it into her bag, as she headed for the train station, nodding her head as she listened to the man on the other line speak. "Yes, I am fully aware that the apartment in the uninhabited zone...yes I am aware there are two others living there, and that's fine."
Rolling her eyes as the man spoke about all the issues and other problems going on, which quite frankly, she really didn't care. "When I get to my house, I'll wire at least six months' worth of rent to your account if you can text me the account number to wire it too…yes…yes…"
"Oh my god, just shut up already!" She mentally screamed as she started to rant and rave about the other guy. Apparently the impression she received was that he was an absentminded dumbass who was often late on rent by a single day and would complain to him every single time there was damage to the apartment from a monster. The other guy who had moved in wasn't so bad, friendly, but weird.
"Gotcha…so the water and electricity is still on? Good, I can just call them in the morning and get things switched over…do you mind if you just drop the keys off under a mat at the door…yeah, I'm having my stuff sent straight there today."
Swirling her finger in circles as he kept talking, as all she was needing was the conformation that it was alright to move in. Of course, the second she said she have half of the year's rent sent to him, he was very interested. Money sure talks.
"Great, thank you much. Just text me that information and I'll have the money wired by this evening."
Hisami pulled the phone from her ear, a grin crept across her face as she dialed her house. She had stuff in storage at the house for when she bought a place, so she was only going to need a small help in moving all her things.
"Hey, Ms. Miya, it's Hisa. The meeting? It went…alright, I'll tell you about once I get home. Quick question, do you mind getting your son to help me move my stuff to my new apartment this afternoon?"
Stepping onto the train, the young hero took a seat as she pulled the flyer for the apartment back out of her bag. "Wonderful, I'll text you the address so he can go on ahead and get it moved. Basically everything is packed, I'll throw my clothes into a bag when I get to the house and place my TV and laptop in the front seat for him…alright, well I'm on the train, so I'll see you when I get home."
Pulling her phone from her ear, she went ahead and texted the address to the apartment so her stuff could be there once she arrived after doing some grocery shopping in City Z. A smile started to come across her face as she shoved everything back into her bag, looking out the train window.
"Hmmm...you know what, I think I'm in the mood to make Chicken Yakisoba tonight for dinner."
"Wow, that was some special they had going tonight. I can't believe the vegetables and chicken were half the price. This is going to be delicious!" Hisami grinned as she walked out of the store and toward the general area where her new apartment was located. Having the directions ready on her phone, she would occasionally glance down at it to make sure she was going the right way.
The market was thankfully not that far away from the apartment, so it would make getting grocery's and anything else she needed convenient. It was obvious on the way to the uninhabited zone that the amount of lighting there was had dramatically decreased, with the last light being over the gate that lead into the place she needed to go. Thankfully the gate was already slightly pushed open, making it easy for her to just slip on through. The last thing she wanted to do was to make any kind of noise, especially as it started to get dark outside. If monsters lurked during the day here, there's a guarantee that they are lurking also at night.
Hisami was taking in the abandon and destroyed buildings all around her, eyes widen in amazement. It was obvious that there was a reason for them not rebuilding this part of the city, everything was almost practically destroyed. If the building wasn't destroyed, it was completely abandon, with no signs of life around. The streets were filled debris from broken buildings and trash that have made their way to the streets from people fleeing and leaving stuff behind.
Taking a left around the corner, she saw there was a small light coming from the last window on the right, coming from the third floor apartment, signaling that must be her apartment building.
"Guess Genji left the lights on for me in case it was dark by the time I got here…" She smiled slightly at the kind jester as she made her way to the apartment building. At least the building wasn't too far deep into the Uninhabited Zone, but it was unusual that the building was in pretty good shape. Closing her phone, she shoved it into her bag as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. Slowly cursing herself for choosing a third story apartment to live in, because, she wasn't one for climbing stairs.
There were only six apartments on that floor and hers was the last door on the right. Noticing there was a small mat laid in front of the door, she bent down to lift it up to find two sets of keys lying underneath, just like she asked the landlord.
Slipping one key into her bag and unlocking the door with the other key, she pushed it open with her free hand. Her face slightly paling as she saw the apartment in front of her, then it finally hit her.
"No wonder it was only 45000 yen a month…this place is so small!"
In front of her was a small living room with a table, desk, dresser, and TV stand. Secretly thankful that she brought her spare futon with her or she would have to sleep bare floor. To the left of the entrance there was a tiny kitchen with everything she need and the stuff she had brought was all out and put away nice and neatly. Then right across the hall there was a small bathroom, sadly it was just a tub and not a standalone shower. Next to the bathroom there was a small closet for where she could place some of her clothes and other things she needed to store away.
"Well…I can't back out now, I already paid for the next months. Man…this sucks." Hisami groaned as she placed the bags on the kitchen counter. Opening the cabinet door, she started to put away her excess ingredients, as she grabbed for the pots she needed to cook her dinner. When she went to open the refrigerator door, saw noticed there was a small note taped to the freezer door.
Hope you made it in safe, I put all your stuff away like mom told me the way you liked it. Not going to lie, this place is really small and it's creepy as hell outside. Hope your neighbors are nice, I heard someone yelling next door earlier…don't know if they were being murdered or what, so I didn't bother introducing myself. Please, be careful and mom said to call your dad, he got crabby when he never heard back from you.
Don't party too much,
Sincerely, Genji
P.S. I bought you a nice bottle of plum flavored sake, it's sitting on top of the refrigerator. Enjoy!
"Well…guess I could get drunk tonight to forget about that bag of bones and this crappy apartment."
Leaving the note on the door, she turned her attention back toward the stove and the food she needed to cut up. Cooking and stirring the chicken and garlic in the canola and sesame oil, she added the Chile paste into the chicken. Humming as she stirred it, she started to the soy sauce, letting it cook for a couple of minutes. As that cooked, she got the skillet out and poured in the oil, heating it heat up as she poured the chicken and sauce into a bowl.
Once the oil was done heating, she added and cabbage, onion, carrots, sand salt into the mix. Once the cabbage had wilted, she added her chicken into the mixture, proceeding to add the noodles to cook. Once they were all cooked, she topped it off pickled ginger to give it that added flavored.
She went to pull down her bowl, but her ears started to pick up the sound of faint voices coming through the wall where her bathroom sat. Thankfully the walls were not thin, as she was unable to hear the conversation going on, that was probably the only good thing about the apartment.
Glancing between the food she had just made and the wall separating her from her neighbors. She bit her lip as thought over the number of serranoes that could happen. She could just ignore her new neighbors and eat her dinner and drink her sake in peace and quiet. If she did that, she could just introduce herself whenever she saw them outside of the building or out in the city. It wouldn't be a lie to say that she was trying to get settle in. On the other hand, being the nice lady she is, she could pack the food up in a container and take it over next door, introduce herself. It would be helpful to get to know some of the other heroes, especially if she were to ever need their help. They could either welcome her inside and she could get to know the two or they could just choose to ignore her and not be very welcoming at all.
Glancing up at the clock, noticing it was only just a few minutes after 7'o clock, she deciding to go with her better judgment and pulled out two big containers, scooping little over half of what she made for dinner.
"Well, I sure hope they like Chicken Yakisoba…"
Popping the tops onto both containers, she walked to the door slipping on her boots, nabbing the containers off the table and slipped out the front door. Walking out to the door just next door to her, she took a deep breath and knocked the door twice.
Hisami took a deep breath, as she heard the door unlock and was slightly startled by appearance of a bald headed man appearing from around the corner of the door. He raised an eyebrow up at her and down at the food, back up at her and back down at the food in her hand. Cocking her head to side, she couldn't tell what the hell he was thinking, as his slightly intrigued expression turned into deadpan expression as he tore the food from her hands and turned to go back inside of the apartment.
"Hey Genos, dinner finally arrived." He yelled as he closed the door behind him.
The wind blew as the young hero stood there, trying to comprehend on what the hell just went down. That was one thing she was not counting on; someone opening the door, stealing the food she had, and shutting it right in her face.
Her eye started to twitch in annoyance as she replayed what had happened over again. Balling her fist up as she listened in on conversation that was taking part behind the door that had just been shut in her face.
"Master, we did not order dinner since no one delivers to these parts."
"Huh? There was a knock at the door and the delivery girl was standing at the door holding two portable containers full of food."
"Master…did you even ask who she was?"
She was ready to punch the guy square dead in the face when she heard him starting to unlock the front door again. Once again, she was startled by the bald headed guy as he poked his out the door again, giving her the same deadpan expression he had when he took the food from her.
"Huh. Who are you?"
Hooray! I finally finished this chapter, it had taken me over a week to write this. I have so many ideas for the story after she first meets everyone, but writing it up to then was a pain in the ass. I hope y'all enjoy the story! ^-^
