Moriko knew it was a bad idea to be out drinking so late. Fresh out of university and a new face in the company, the office decided on a night out to celebrate her hiring. Moriko herself hadn't drank much, but the same couldn't be said of her new senpai.
In the end she had to drag her manager to his apartment, where his wife was waiting with a heated glare. After a quick thank you and an apology for her troubles, Moriko left the building to head home herself.
It was between his house and hers when she noticed she was being followed.
It was subtle at first, the faint calling of instincts prompting her to look over her shoulder every now and then. Suspicious shadows in between the thinning crowds of the Tokyo streets. The haunting feeling that someone had synced their footsteps with her own.
She stuck to the light and kept a hand in her bag, clenched tightly around her taser. Whether their quirks were susceptible to it or not was the question, but she managed to get as many volts as she could while keeping it legal. She never thought she'd have to use it so soon after moving to the city.
Why weren't there any police around, or heroes for that matter? Just someone to deter whoever was following her.
Whilst she was looking over her shoulder, she bumped into someone.
"Oh! Sorry, I -"
She looked up into his shadowed eyes. DANGER, her mind screamed and before she knew it she was stabbing her taser towards the man.
Her wrist flared in pain as it was seized and her knees buckled, giving him enough chance to pull her into an alley and hold a knife between her eyes.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing with something dangerous like this?" He said, dangling the taser in his other hand.
Moriko didn't take her eyes away from the blade. If she concentrated just right…
His fingers locked around her jaw, her taser dropped to the floor. "Now, I'm gonna take your bag and that necklace of yours. That watch too. After that, we're gonna go our separate ways all friendly, got it?"
She nodded slowly.
"Good." With that, he adjusted the knife so it was against her neck, brushing against her throat with every panicked breath. Her bag was yanked from her shoulder and before she knew it his large hands were grabbing at her necklace, ripping it off, broken chains clinking on the floor.
The knife bit into her skin as he hastily grabbed at her wrist, trying to undo the watch with one trembling hand. She'd sob if it wouldn't end her life.
What happened next was a blur.
The man yelped as his head threw back, quickly turning into a roar as he swung behind him. He missed whoever was there as he jumped back out of range. Moriko was released and she slid down the wall, her legs like jelly.
In the neon glow of the alley, a man stood. He was short, about half the height of her towering assailant. His hair was wild, the colour indiscernible under the light. But his eyes… his eyes were green. They burned through the rest of his dark profile and carved their way into her soul.
In his right hand was her taser, raised with his left in a guard.
Her attacker threw a punch. Her saviour ducked, slid in and delivered a swift uppercut, followed by a punch to the body. The villain flinched, but powered on, grabbing the green eyed man by the collar and headbutting him, sending him sprawling to the ground, clutching his nose.
Her attacker's beanie had come off too, revealing a set of bull horns protruding from his head. It explained his large stature.
"You bastard," he growled as he descended on her hero.
At the last second, the man turned, thrusting her taser into the bull man's ribs at full voltage. He screamed, but lifted the hero up by his neck and slammed him against the alley wall. After a couple of seconds, the taser turned off, its battery spent.
Her hero beat at the villain's arms, his legs dangling in the air as he tried to kick his opponent. Even in the neon glow, she could see his face turning blue.
Fear arcing through her, she tried to focus on the bull man's leg, willing for her quirk to activate. A beat passed, then two, and her hero's struggling faded into nothing. Her concentration broke as what happened hit her.
He'd been killed. Murdered. She sobbed.
Then he was alive, his body curling and his leg snapping up into the man's jaw. Like a serpent, the hero twisted around the bull's right arm, causing a loud snap to echo off the walls. For the third time, Moriko heard the man scream, but this time it sounded like it hurt.
He fell, her hero still holding his arm, quickly turning their descent into an armbar which further broke the man's limb. Panting, the hero twisted, and a scream echoed out once more. Moriko flinched, but didn't look away.
Satisfied he wasn't getting up, her hero stood, wiping his bloody nose. He turned to her, his eyes boring into hers.
"Are you okay?"
His voice was gentler than she thought it would be. She nodded.
"You can go home now. He won't be getting up."
She looked at the writhing villain, grasping his arm as tears squoze themselves through his clenched eyes.
She jumped as green filled her vision. His mouth was covered, but by the upturn of his cheeks she knew he was smiling, if only a little. Somehow, it distracted her from his bloodied face. He opened her hands, which she didn't realise were clenched, and put her necklace in her palm. What followed were gentle words she knew would stay with her for a long time.
"Ganbatte."
And with that he stood, walking away and disappearing into the night.