It all started with a simple wish: to save the one's she loved. It never occurred to her that love could lead to something like this. Oh god, this is all my fault. She covered her red eyes and weapt as the world around her collapsed.

OOOO

Ayano giddly ran to the door as she heard her father's car pull into the driveway. Ayaka chuckled at her daughter's excitement and followed after her. The door opened and Ayano gaped in awe. Standing nervously in front of her father were three younger children, two boys and a girl. "Ayano, meet Kido Tsubomi, Seto Kousuke, and Kano Shuuya. They will be your younger siblings from now on. I trust that you'll be a good big sister for them."

"Of course dad. I'll be the best big sister ever!" Ayano immediately hugged the trio, beaming lovingly at them. The trio exchanged worried glances but allowed Ayano to hug them and lead them up to their rooms. "Tsubomi will be sharing a room with me while Kousuke and Shuuya will be sharing a room down the hall. Hey, let's play. I have a lot of toys we can share." Ayano's excitement faltered when she realized that the other children were nervously whispering to each other, glancing at her distrustfully. Now that she'd calmed down a bit, she noticed something odd. All three kids had red eyes. Kousuke flinched, as if he'd sensed her realization, and the others stiffened as a result. Just from looking into their eyes, she knew that they'd suffered. Shuuya, Tsubomi, and Kousuke sat away from Ayano. She watched in shock as Kousuke began to cry, knowing that she'd noticed his red eyes and thought that they were different than anyone else's she'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry for having these eyes. I'm a monster!" Ayano looked around the room and smiled when she caught sight of her comic book. She brought it over to Kousuke, crouching down in front of him so that they were looking into each other's eyes.

"You have nothing to apologize for. You're not a monster. Your eyes are nothing to be afraid of. Red is the color of a hero, see?" Ayano handed him the comic and Kousuke sniffled.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah." Ayano smiled and Kousuke gave a small smile in return. Just like that, the atmosphere became a little lighter. Now, what should we do? Suddenly, Ayano had an idea. She ran out of the room and quickly returned with a crimson muffler wrapped around her neck. Ayano burst into the room and struck the most heroic pose she could, earning the awe and trust of the red eyed children. "Look, I'm a Commander Ayano of the secret brigade. Would you like to join me in my quest for justice?"

"Really?" Shuuya asked, his eyes darting from hers to her muffler and back.

"Of course! Oh, we need a name first. What should we call ourselves?" Ayano sat down and began to ponder names.

"How about the blindfold gang?" Shuuya suggested cautiously, not wanting Ayano to reject his name. Instead, she brightened up and ruffled his hair.

"That's perfect Shuuya! Good job!" The blonde gingerly touched his head as Ayano turned away and grabbed some more toys to play with. Kenjirou came into the room to check on the children, only to be tackled to the ground. "We caught the evil teacher! Now he can't give out any evil homework." Kenjirou chuckled and wiggled free of the children.

"Not so fast, do gooders!" The kids tried to run away, but he caught them in a giant hug. "Now that I've got you all, I'll turn you into evil students! Mwahahaha!"

"Oh no! Mom, save us!" Ayano yelled as Kenjirou began to tickle them all, alternating to keep the four children giggling and helpless.

"Halt villain. Release my heroes at once!" A book bopped him on the head and he paused in his tickling rampage long enough for the group to get away and hide behind Ayaka.

"Your days of giving out homework are over." Ayano called from the safety of the doorway.

"And so are your missions. It's dinner time. You can play some more after you eat."

"Okay." Kenjirou and Ayaka left ahead of the children. Ayano automatically reached for her muffler to remove it, pausing when she felt three intense gazes on her. She tightened it instead and gave the trio a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we're still the blindfold gang, but even heroes have to take a break to eat. If they didn't, they wouldn't be able to stop bad guys." Ayano hid her shock as their red eyes returned to normal, leading the charge for the dinner table. Later that night, after she'd helped tuck her new siblings in, Ayano pulled her mother aside. "I want to buy them presents. Can I?"

"Sure, but why?"

"I just want to give them something to welcome them to our home."

"That's sweet of you. We can go first thing in the morning, before anyone else wakes up. That way, you can give them your presents after breakfast." Ayano smiled and hugged Ayaka.

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. Now off to bed with you." Ayano ran into her room and hopped into bed, giggling as her mother came over and kissed her on the cheek. "Good night Ayano. Sweet dreams."

"Good night." Ayaka smiled and turned the lights off, silently closing the door behind her.