Chapter 2: Double Trouble


View Up Top fightonheroes (126 Retweets 89 Favorites)

[First Tweet! Dates and Locations of livestreams here! #fightonheroes]

View Up Top fightonheroes (139 Retweets 62 Favorites)

[Livestream today! Not a villain attack, just #ParkourPractice. #ViewUpTop]

View Up Top fightonheroes (374 Retweets 239 Favorites)

[...Unexpected villain attack nearby! Quickly subdued by the Pussycats! Ru-chan loves their costume! #UnintentionalEncounter #fightonheroes]


Akiko wasn't sure what to think anymore.

What little she'd thought she had understood about the universe and life in general had all gone out the metaphorical window when she'd woken up from a car crash and not in a hospital but -

- In nothing. Or some approximation of nothing - there were blurry impressions of light and sound, and a general sense of helplessness. She hadn't been able to fully grasp what had happened until she was face-to-chest with her mother and... feeding herself.

She'd been reborn. Reincarnated? As a baby. And in Japan, no less, if she recognized the cadence of her parents' voices.

Perhaps if she'd been able to do more than lie and wriggle and burp she'd have fallen into some sort of philosophical, personal crisis. But as it was, her worries were pushed back in her mind, overtaken by the stunningly strong urges to be baby. Eat, sleep, burp, poop.

Relearning how to physically control her body was going to be hell.

After being fed and burped her mother placed her back in her crib, and Akiko was surprised to see her mother lift another baby up from beside her.

"Akiko-chan," her mother crooned from above, turning the baby to face her. "This is your sister, Hikaru-chan."

Of course, it wasn't until later that Akiko realized what her mother had said. At that point all she'd understood was imouto, Hikaru, and Akiko, from what little Japanese she'd gleaned from anime.

I'm Japanese now, she thought, then closed her eyes.My life is a bloody reborn-fanfiction.


Hikaru had not expected reincarnation.

Then again, to be perfectly honest, she hadn't expected death, either.

She'd been on a day trip with her younger sister, crossing the street and looking for adventure when the car had hit. There had been blackness, followed by vague impressions and sounds for a brief period of time, before she'd opened her eyes and could finally see clearly.

Her surroundings had confused her at first. She had woken up in a bed, immobile and groggy (Was she in a hospital? Had the medicine not worn off yet? Why was everything so... pink?), with a warm, fuzzy something next to her and feeling ridiculously calm about everything. In fact, all she had really cared about was... food. So she'd opened her mouth (fully intending on asking what was going on and on requesting that someone feed her) and had nearly choked in surprise at the wail that had escaped.

What. Even.

She had been further flabbergasted when she was picked up and directed toward what she knew deep in her mind to be someone's chest but she was hungry and that was food and she'd just. Well.

Apparently having memories of a past life (was that what it was? Had it been a dream? She didn't really know) and knowledge to do things meant squat when she was still physically developing and had baby urges. Like the nagging need to constantly nap and burble and burp and barf.

Hikaru did not look forward to learning how to walk again.


Hero Association HeroAssociation (4,839 Retweets 3,576 Favorites)

[Villain attack at North Hirabayashi Street. #StaySafe]

View Up Top fightonheroes (438 Retweets 320 Favorites)

[ HeroAssociation We're here! (Safe distance away, no worries!) #livestream #fightonheroes]

View Up Top fightonheroes (397 Retweets 238 Favorites)

[Villain Armored Android captured by Endeavor! #greatfootage #fightonheroes]


One upside, Hikaru supposed, was that while she was physically unable to do things, she was not alone in the misery. Her twin sister rolled around with her (and wasn't that awesome? She had a freaking twin and oh, the inside jokes they would share) and they burped together and shared their first birthday and did general baby stuff. Like suffer through kind of weird diaper changes.

And Akiko was sweet and precocious and Hikaru loved her to bits, even if she did miss her family and her other, younger sister of the past for the first few months.

She'd quietly accepted her death (because it was obvious she was dead. Or it was a really vivid, really extensive dream, and then she'd wake up and everything would be fine) and had decided to enjoy growing up again to the fullest. It would be weird, being the younger one this time around, but Hikaru decided not to care, and made sure to cuddle and snuggle with Akiko as much as she was physically capable of (hello, baby arms).

And also to create plenty of occasions for her new parents to take cutesy adorable pictures of their childhood to coo over later.


Tap, tap, ta-ta-tap.

Hikaru looked up sharply at the familiar tapping sequence.

"Do you want to build a snowman," Akiko, her older twin sister (how weird was that, becoming the younger one for once) hummed, focused on her crayon drawing to notice Hikaru watching with wide eyes. "Come on, let's go and play..."

There were no words, but it was a very familiar tune, and Hikaru felt a flutter of hope.

Could she have been reincarnated as well...? Hikaru wondered. Does this she has memories of a similar, past world?

Akiko's humming trailed off. There was a pause, but her twin sister (fraternal, older by a few minutes, but who was counting? Hikaru had past experience, so she was obviously the more mature one) soon went back to her crayon drawing, humming more softly.

Hikaru slowly waddled over and plopped herself down by Akiko. "Aki-chan," Hikaru began, trying to keep calm. "Where did you hear that song? I've never heard it before!"

Akiko startled, then stuttered something about making a song in her head.

Hikaru smiled and nodded and blabbled something about liking the song.

Maybe...


View Up Top fightonheroes (581 Retweets 493 Favorites)

[In Ehime prefecture, hoping to glimpse GangOrca during patrols! Let's hope we can get an interview! #TokyosFinest #livestream]

Gang Orca GangOrca (1,639 Retweets 1,327 Favorites)

[Please stay further away from the fight next time, fightonheroes. We don't want any more hostage situations. #SafetyFirst]

View Up Top fightonheroes (1,473 Retweets 928 Favorites)

[Of course, GangOrca! Ko-chan thanks you again for the save! Ru-chan really disliked the #hostagesituation too]


Akiko stared.

Currently she was one and something years old and reading with Hikaru and her mother. The book was about animals, open to a page with a squirrel on it. Their mother had called the animal cute and Akiko had just nodded, but Hikaru...

Hikaru had thrown the picture a contemptuous, strangely familiar pout-glare and had said, decidedly, "Squirrels are evil."

Silence filled the room. Their mother threw a baffled glance at their father, who settled himself down beside Hikaru and asked, carefully, "Do you hate squirrels, Hikaru-chan?"

Akiko watched as her twin sister thought about it, baby-face in an absurdly mature expression of concentration.

"No, I don't hate them," she finally said with childish authority. "But they're evil because they steal the birdies' food."

Her parents had laughed at that, but Akiko didn't hear it, the words ringing in her head. Squirrels... evil... steal the birdies' food...?

The way it was said was really familiar, just like someone she knew well in the past life...

A tiny flicker of something lit in her chest. Maybe..?

"But look at this!" Her mother tried once more to convince Hikaru, smoothing the pages of another picture book with a hand. "This squirrel looks adorable!"

Hikaru looked at the picture, wrinkled her nose, and said, rather decisively, "It's cute, but squirrels are still evil." She ignored her mother's baffled look towards her father.

She turned to Akiko and whispered conspiratorially. "They really like to steal food," Hikaru stage-whispered, pretending her parents (who were sharing bewildered expressions above their heads) couldn't hear what she said. "They trick us into thinking they're cute, then do bad things when we aren't looking."

Akiko, who had been absently sucking on her fingers as she listened intently, turned her inquisitive eyes away from the picture book and towards Hikaru.

"...Okay," Akiko agreed seriously, talking around her fingers. "Squirrels are evil."


Tokyo Police Dept. TokyoPolice (1,385 Retweets 1,195 Favorites)

[Please stay behind the police lines, fightonheroes. It's there for your safety during villain attacks. #StaySafe]

View Up Top fightonheroes (2,579 Retweets 1,920 Favorites)

[ TokyoPolice We were, only... doing it from the top of a building..? #JustWatching, sorry for the trouble... #dontgetcaughtupinfights]


"Um, 'Karu-chan? Can I talk to you?"

"Mmhmm," Hikaru hummed, then toddled her way to her twin, wondering if this was a good time to ask the question, herself. "What is it, Aki-chan?"

"Well... "

When Akiko remained flustered, failing to articulate anything several times, looking very hesitant about the whole thing, Hikaru took pity on her older (but probably mentally younger?) twin and gave her a soft pat on the head.

"It's okay, Aki-chan, you can tell me anything," Hikaru soothed. When Akiko calmed down a little, Hikaru decided to cut to the chase. "Does it have to do with the fact that you remember a past life?"

Akiko jerked as her eyes widened in surprise.

Hikaru squeed. "Oooh, I was right? Oh my goodness! I guessed when you hummed the Frozen song! Where are you from? What do you remember? Do you remember everything? Are we even from the same universe? How old were you over there? Wait, what was the last historical event -"

"Is that you, chatter-mouse?" Akiko blurted out, cutting off the questions.

Hikaru stared back, her surprise quickly morphing into cautious hope. "...Mini-mushroom?"

"...Dude, you haven't called me mini-mushroom since, like, I was in middle school," Akiko muttered, in a faux-calm voice. "I knew it was you when you said 'squirrels are evil'."

Akiko watched as Hikaru's eyes filled with tears and seemingly impossible sparkles, then blinked away her own tears as her sister (both here, and from before) lunged and wrapped her arms around her.

"It's you!" Hikaru bawled, at nearly deafening volumes. "The similarities - I hoped - it's really you!"

"Ahh, I can't breathe, gah it's too tight -" Akiko choked, weakly flailing one arm, but her own eyes were shiny and the other hand was clutched tight in Hikaru's shirt, hugging back just as fiercely.


View Up Top fightonheroes (732 Retweets 524 Favorites)

[Villain attack near Southern Komazawa! Rumours of Edgeshot on site! #livestream #WhatPerfectTiming? #fightonheroes]

View Up Top fightonheroes (843 Retweets 649 Favorites)

[Thank you, Hero Edgeshot for subduing the villain Black Jackal! #fightonheroes #nicesave]

Edgeshot Edgeshot (1,203 Retweets 926 Favorites)

[It's unfortunate, but the two of you fightonheroes, seem to attract trouble in every villain fight by accident. #troublesome #ButReallyUnintentional]

View Up Top fightonheroes (1,534 Retweets 1,392 Favorites)

[...We'll try to stay even further away next time? ...Sorry? #ButReallyUnintentional #SavedAgain]


It was a television broadcast that finally made them understand just where they were.

"Your father's going to be on TV today," Okaa-san had said as she was cooking lunch. "Let's all watch in a bit, hmm?"

For some reason this time around Hikaru and Akiko's parents were police officers, pretty high up in rank and importance. As such, their parents were frequently on TV, and Hikaru bounced on the sofa, eager to see her Otou-san. Akiko sat beside her, swinging her feet.

"-- and we conclude our news segment today with a statement from Superintendent Segawa on the recent rise in Quirk-related crimes. Reporter Minamoto is at the scene."

The TV cut to Otou-san, grim and serious in his police uniform and badges. "The police force is doing its best to crack down and cooperate with the Hero Association to bring down the rates. We ask that the general public do its best to continue to make our world a safer place."

Hikaru scrunched up her nose, and Akiko tilted her head in confusion. "...Ne, Okaa-san?" The elder twin asked. "What's the Hero Association?"

"And what's a ko-se?" Hikaru added.

Their mother chuckled as she switched off the TV. "It's pronounced ko-sei, Hikaru-chan. I'll answer both your questions with a story." She crouched in front of them and began, "It all started when reports of a baby shining light came in from China..."

When their mother finished telling the story, the twins shared a look.

Oh. Shit.


View Up Top fightonheroes (2,498 Retweets 2,039 Favorites)

[ TokyoPolice Backdraft We were behind police lines this time..? Don't know how it happened& Really wasn't our fault..? #SavedAgain #thanks]

Tokyo Police Dept. TokyoPolice (5,209 Retweets 3,983 Favorites)

[We know. fightonheroes #StaySafe]

Backdraft Backdraft (2,813 Retweets 2,309 Favorites)

[It's almost like you two are attracting trouble by the double, fightonheroes. Stay out of trouble, #DoubleTrouble.]

View Up Top fightonheroes (2,494 Retweets 1,847 Favorites)

[ Backdraft We'll do our best! #thankyou #fightonheroes #TokyosFinest]

View Up Top fightonheroes (4,092 Retweets 3,387 Favorites)

[ Backdraft Ko-chan really likes the tag #DoubleTrouble. Mind if we use it as an official title?]

Backdraft Backdraft (4,084 Retweets 3,948 Favorites)

[Go ahead, fightonheroes. You two ARE #DoubleTrouble.]


"Otou-san, what would you say if I told you I wanted to be a hero?"

Everyone at the table pauses, sounds of cutlery all turning silent for a moment. The question comes not unexpectedly, as the twins had given several hints the day before.

"I would say that it is a very honorable and difficult task to be a hero, and that you would need a lot of work before you became one." Otou-san says, his face impassive. Kaa-san glances carefully up at Otou-san, a flicker of worry in her eyes as she looks back at Akiko.

"...Do you want me to be a hero?" Akiko asks carefully.

"Akiko, we want you to do whatever makes you happy," Kaa-san says, looking first at Akiko, then Hikaru. "If being a hero makes you happy, we will fully support you to be a hero."

No one mentions the elephant in the room - of how the two older Segawas had dreamed of fighting for justice, of doing the right thing, of becoming heroes. No one verbalizes how they had willingly chosen to give up that dream, knowing they could do nothing as a part of the quirkless portion of the population (it was called being realistic, in their time).

The silence following Kaa-san's declaration holds some of their regrets and bitterness of the past, but it also holds honest approval, consent, acknowledgment and belief that even if they couldn't do it, their two girls could -

Akiko can feel her eyes start to water a little bit. It is very difficult to see Otou-san and Kaa-san of this world as their parents - but the pure acceptance, love behind that declaration -

"Hmm... I want to change the way people treat quirkless people," Hikaru adds to the conversation, pulling away some of the attention from Akiko. She dreamily stares off into space as she takes a bite of salmon. Everyone pretends not to see Akiko quickly swiping away her tears in her sleeve. "I'm going to be a Hero that saves using quirkless techniques!"

Otou-san laughs. "That sounds like a very good dream to me."

Hikaru giggles in glee, and Akiko tries to keep her sniffles down, giving a watery smile to Hikaru when she begins to murmur the awesome techniques that they could create to take down the bad guys, and as a result, miss the look that Otou-san and Kaa-san exchange over their heads.

As Hikaru begins adding more detail to the 'glitter-bomb of humiliation', Otou-san clears his throat for silence, turning to Kaa-san; she looks serious, her chopsticks already placed down on the table. A glint of uneasy suspicion of what is to come flitters in Hikaru's eyes, but it disappears quickly to respectful expectation. She knows the value of advice, especially advice from a quirkless police detective who has much more experience in crime fighting.

"Girls, if you are going to try to be heroes, I think we have to ask you to do something for us," she says, looking very serious, and a tad bit sadly nostalgic, too.

"Both of you are going to promise to go to a dojo for self-defence lessons until I'm satisfied."


Double Trouble fightonheroes (2,938 Retweets 1,892 Favorites)

[Observed Villain attack at Western Komo district! Livestream coming very soon! #StaySafe #fightonheroes]

Double Trouble fightonheroes (3,487 Retweets 2,481 Favorites)

[ KamuiWoods saves the day! Thanks Tree-san! #fightonheroes]

Kamui Woods KamuiWoods (2,529 Retweets 1,183 Favorites)

[...Um fightonheroes, ..."Tree-san"? #JustWhy]


Double Trouble fightonheroes (5,472 Retweets 4,815 Favorites)

[Next Livestream, Wednesday 4PM at Mystery Location! #NoParkour #LetItBeANormalDay #fightonheroes]


Livestream:

"Hello everyone! Today is Mystery Location Day!" Ru-chan chirps as soon as the camera begins to stream, both girls waving at the camera. Ko-chan holds the camera as usual. They seem to be on a roof somewhere, as there is only blue sky behind the duo.

Ru-chan continues the commentary, elbowing Ko-chan's side. "As for where we are, Ko-chan has talked about doing something normal -"

"- and Ru-chan has been insisting we need to give presents to some of our accommodating pro-heroes -" Ko-chan breaks in.

"- so we decided on a shopping trip today~!"

Ru-chan and Ko-chan cheer, giving each other a high five. They start walking, and the camera shows them walking across a nondescript rooftop, heading towards some stairs.

"By the way, Ko-chan, great sense of style today!"

"Why, thank you, Ru-chan! It's getting quite hot, so a very good friend with a name that starts with a "Ru" and ends with a "chan" decided to help out by making us some new outfits~"

"Oh my, oh my! A mysterious person indeed! Who in the world could it be?"

"Teehee, thank you for the outfit, Ru-chan! Just my style~"

"Welcome~! Anything for you, Ko-chan~"

As they bantered, they made their way down the stairway normally, not using any of the parkour that they were famous for.

"So Ru-chan, what shall we get today?"

"Hmm, a little birdie told me it was Tree-san's birthday soon, and I was thinking of getting his gift first..."

"Ooh, good idea! Because we debuted at the same time, right?"

"Ye-ap, it calls for special treatment~ Oh, we have to get something for some of the other heroes too! They've been super nice about us commentating their fighting skills and saving us from trouble!"

"Of course! Hmm, Ru-chan, what should we get Tree-san? A wristband?"

"He's not a tennis player, Ko-chan! It should be something practical. Maybe something that will be helpful with his hero duties?"

They fall into silence for a few moments, hemming and hawing.

"Oh, I've thought of the perfect thing!" Ko-chan suddenly exclaims. "What about... a fire extinguisher?"

Ru-chan gasps."That's a great idea! It's practical and useful in his hero-ing business! He won't ever catch on fire!You're a genius, Ko-chan!"

"Yep! Oh, we're finally here!"

The camera turns away from the two girls in conversation to show a glass door that shows a busy street with a lot of people out and about. Ru-chan steps forward and opens the door, and the camera turns back to the duo with a backdrop of the busy street of the local shopping center.

"As you can see, today our Mystery Location is -"

"- The Shibuya shopping district!" The two give a short cheer and share a high five.

"Wow, what a crowd today!" Ru-chan says as she glances around the street.

"I heard a little bird tell me that today is quite a lucky day to 'share love'!" Ko-chan declares as she sweeps her hand around.

"Ah, love~ How wonderful!" Ru-chan giggles as she turns and points discreetly to a couple walking hand in hand.

"Yes, love~! What a beautiful world we live in, Ru-chan~" Ko-chan agrees as she discreetly points at a family of four, with the little girl holding her mother's hand and the father pushing a baby carriage.

The two girls dive into the crowd without another word and begin to walk down the famous road of stores, giggling and sing-songing the word 'love' repeatedly as they point the camera at various families, pets, little children, fountains, and food advertisements.

An indistinct commotion can be heard over the camera, and the camera turns to the source, which is a nearby table at an open-air cafe. Two young boys are huddled over something on the table.

"- right here, they just past that building around the corn - oh my god. Renma. It's us." The two boys look gobsmacked onscreen, eyes huge with surprise.

"Hiya there, boys." Ru-chan's voice says with a giggle.

A hand waves at the boys' direction as Ko-chan makes a comment. "Ru-chan, it appears that people are recognizing us on the streets."

Ru-chan gives a hum of agreement, then shrugs. "Well, I don't mind, as long as people don't get too close to smell my yucky sweat~"

Ko-chan makes a disgusted sound as they turn to continue walking down the street. "Gross, Ru-chan. Too. Much. Information."

They are interrupted in their walk by a stuttering call from behind them. "Ah! W-w-wait! Please!"

The masked duo exchange looks, and turn back to find the boys again. There is a moment of silence as the boys wait nervously, but when the duo don't say anything, the boys each hold out a notebook and pen.

"C-c-could I please have an autograph?!"

"Me too! Please! We love your livestreams!"

There is another pause as the duo glance at each other again. "Huh, I did not expect that." Ko-chan says with surprise in her voice. "...What do you think, Ru-chan?"

"Hmm... Why not?" Ru-chan says with a bounce, taking both notebooks and writing, 'Fight-on! Ru-chan 3' in blocky letters.

Ko-chan shrugs and takes the notebooks after her, writing 'You do you! Ko-chan :)' in loopy curves underneath her partners.

They give the boys a bastardized salute and continue on their way down the road.


"Oh, Ko-chan, look! It's a little fire-extinguisher keychain!"

"That's perfect!"

"Let's go pay for it, and give it to Tree-sa - uh," Ru-chan pauses and points a certain direction. "Ko-chan? Am I seeing things, or is that man over there actually trying to steal something right now?"

The camera turns to a man in the store, stuffing cow plushies and keychains into his pockets.

"...Wow. I've never met a person stealing so blatantly in front of this many witnesses."

The camera pans to show that all the customers are watching the man stuff his pockets with open surprise and disgust, with an woman in a staff shirt hurrying over to stop the stealing.

"Huh. Ru-chan, do you hear anything from that area?"

"You noticed too, Ko-chan? Nope. I hear nothing. Maybe it's his quirk... turning everything in his range silent?"

"Probably. Interesting quirk. I can see his mouth and the staff lady's mouth move, but I can't hear anything."

The camera panned the store once more, with Ko-chan's voice filling in the background.

"To those of you tuning in just now, we're currently in the Shibuya district, filming a rather nondescript, lackluster robbery in progress." Ko-chan's voice deadpans, the camera zooming in to frame an agitated figure whose body language was becoming more violent when the staff woman said something that couldn't be heard.

"Well, I don't usually say this, but..." Ru-chan hesitated before speaking, holding her chin. "He is really... dumb."

"Yep. Reeeally dumb."

"The police station is only a block away."

"And, he's in clear view of the CCTV, so the next time he goes out in public, it's game over."

"...Not that he would have gotten away in the first place. I'm pretty sure the way he stole was so... noticeable that his no-noise quirk makes almost no difference."

As they watched, the man shoved the staff lady down onto the floor and hurried over to the cash register, breaking the machine and hurriedly stuffing his pockets with the money.

"Uh-oh, looks like this might be more trouble than just petty shoplifting." Ru-chan muttered when a heavy-set customer nearby helped the staff woman up and said something to the criminal stuffing his pockets with money. The criminal became visibly more agitated, silently shouting something at the man and the staff lady. "Is someone contacting the police?"

"...Yep, several people are calling right now. Though, on a crowded day like this, anyone nearby could be a hero off duty," Ko-chan said, camera panning again to show several people on their phones with an eye on the situation. "He's a real dumbo, stealing in broad daylight."

Before the two had time to comment more, the criminal broke away from the heavy-set man and ran towards the entrance, and subsequently, towards the camera. His pockets were full of half-pocketed keychains and money, some objects falling to the ground as he hurried past the right frame of the camera -

There was a loud crash, and the camera turned to see the man on the floor, his stolen goods spread out around the criminal.

"Oh dear, Ko-chan, it appears that your foot was too big for the entrance of the store."

"Oh, Ru-chan, to call my dainty foot 'too big'! It was my little foot that was stepped on by a very rude man."

"A very rude man who is trying to leave without an apology."

"A very rude man who steals."

"A very rude, criminal man who steals."

"Hey!" Apparently the two have been heard, and the criminal picks himself up and moves forward threateningly.

"You should fear me!" he says, but his voice is barely caught on the mike. "I am the Silent One! I take away all the noise in the world! Cower before me!"

The camera tilts a little before shifting back to Ru-chan. "Hey, Ru-chan, did you hear something?"

Ru-chan shakes her head. "No-pe," she says, popping the p. "The wind was a little too loud just now." She steps forward and the camera zooms out a little, and soon both she and the criminal are in the frame.

Ru-chan leans a little towards the criminal, her hand coming up behind her ear as if to hear better. "I'm sorry, Oji-san, did you say something to us?"

The criminal seems to be visibly frustrated. "I said, I am the Silent One!"

His voice, again, is barely caught on the mike.

"You know, Oji-san," Ru-chan comments with a tilted head, "If repeating yourself still goes unheard, you've gotta try something else. Like... Sign-language! Or y'know, charades!" She says, gesturing with her hands.

"Like this, see? Ko-chan, guess what this is!" She says as she starts waving her arms around haphazardly in front of herself.

"Um... octopus," Ko-chan guesses.

"That's exactly what I was doing! Good job!" Ru-chan says with a thumbs up. "See, Oji-san? That's how you communicate when your voice doesn't work!"

A chuckle comes from behind them, and the camera turns to find a hero in front of the entrance, with a dramatic pompadour, sunglasses and a pair of headphones.

The camera starts jolting in place. "Oooh, ooooh! Ru-chan, it's Karaoke-san! The one who does the radio every Friday, remember?" There is a subtle click and slight shaking as the camera zooms on the hero Present Mic. "He's not in costume, which means he must have heard the commotion!" The hero in question smirks amusedly and nods to confirm Ko-chan's theory.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir!" Ru-chan chirps, her hands held out for a handshake.

"Yeah, we love your music station!" Another hand is seen at the edge of the camera frame.

"The honor is mine, Double Trouble! I've heard a lot about you two!" Present Mic booms as he shakes both hands in turn.

Ru-chan looks to Ko-chan, then at the same time, the two say, ""Really?""

"The word among the heroes is to keep an eye on you two, as things tend to go fantastically right or incredibly wrong in your presence."

"Wow!"

"The hero community knows us!"

Ko-chan and Ru-chan exclaims, then chime together at the same time.

""- we're famous!""

But before the Present Mic can say anything else, there is an annoyed yell behind them. The frame turns to show an irate, forgotten criminal who seems to have had enough of being ignored.

"My voice has come back!" The man yells. "Prepare to meet your end - with Silence!"

As the criminal reaches forward with a hand, Present Mic steps in and slaps away the criminal's hand, making the man yowl with pain.

There is a sigh from Ko-chan. "Oji-san," she says disapprovingly. "It's rude to interrupt when people are talking."

"And didn't you say you were the Silent One?" Ru-chan adds with a wagging finger.

Ko-chan gasps. "This means...You're a disgrace to your name!" Her finger points at him. "Dishonor on you!"

"Dishonor your family!" Ru-chan chimes in.

"Aaaand dishonor on your cow!" She says with a final finger-jab in the direction of the outraged man.

The criminal looks all but shocked for a moment before he puffs up and yells, "No one insults my Moo-moo-chan!"

There is a dead silence of disbelief as everyone tries to check if they are hearing correctly. At the corner of the camera frame, Present Mic could be seen with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

Slowly, Ru-chan leans over to Ko-chan and says in a stage whisper, "...Ko-chan, I think he really has a cow, however unbelievable it is... and you hurt his feelings."

"Well, I didn't know he really had a cow," Ko-chan mutters defensively. "Who in Tokyo keeps cows nowadays, anyway?"

The criminal seems to take that as the last straw, and unexpectedly charges at the two. Surprised, Ru-chan stumbles as Ko-chan pushes her out of the way and for a few moments the screen is a flurry of blurred images, slowing down to show the ground, swaying back and forth.

"Ko-chan!" Ru-chan's voice shrieks, and the footage shifts turns back to show a very shaky and blurry picture of the store become smaller in the distance with two vague forms running after the camera. One of the people chasing the camera has a distinct pompadour, and the regular jolting of the frame indicates Ko-chan's current status as hostage.

"Oh no. This is so. terrible. I'm been taken hostage. In front of a pro-hero. However shall I escape." Ko-chan enunciates dryly, sarcasm all but dripping from her voice.

"...Ooh, I'm really glad we invested in the dual mike system," Ru-chan's voice can be heard muttering. "Don't worry, viewers! As you can see - probably - Ko-chan will be fine, as Karaoke-san is already on the chase!"

The frame continues to jolt for a short period of time, with the background sound of the rant of the criminal going on about 'brat needing to apologize directly to Moo-moo-chan', when the frame turns away from the chasing hero (who is quickly catching up) to show a crowd of civilians and a police lights straight ahead.

Ko-chan's voice sighes. "I can't believe that this wannabe-thief. Who runs towards the police to escape a pro-hero?" She sighs. "Not to mention keep a cow in Tokyo."

There is a yelp, and some more violent shaking; soon the shot steadies to show the criminal on the ground, held down by Present Mic's foot. A muffled yell rises from the prone form. "She needs to apologize to Moo-moo-chan!"

"Are you alright, Ko-chan?" Present Mic asks seriously, ignoring the criminal for now.

"Yep, I'm fine. No boo-boos." Ko-chan says as she checks herself over, both with camera and a pat down.

She tilts the camera back to her face and gives a short wave as if to reassure the viewers, then turns the camera back to the criminal on the ground.

"Y'know, Oji-san," Ko-chan says, leaning closer to the criminal on the floor. "I'm pretty sure your 'Moo-moo-chan' would prefer green pastures to whatever tiny garden it's confined in a city," she emphasizes with a sarcastic snort.

The camera pans to Present Mic, who is in the middle of calling the police over. When his attention turns back to the ex-hostage, the camera tilts, and viewers can tell Ko-chan bows deeply. "Thank you for your help, Karaoke-san. Also, can you relocate this guy's cow some place nicer than ihere? That is, if he has an actual cow in the city?"

"Most certainly," the hero says with a wide smile and a salute to the camera. "And no problem for the save, Ko-chan."

"Hahh, I finally caught up!" Ru-chan says as she comes panting into the camera frame. "Thank you for saving Ko-chan, Karaoke-san!"

"Just doing my job, Ru-chan of Double Trouble." Present Mic says, keeping an eye on the police taking the criminal into the car.

The three watch quietly as the criminal is taken away. A moment later, the quiet broken when Ru-chan gives a deep sigh. "I guess our shopping for the day is over."

"Agreed," Ko-chan's voice agrees. "No more excitement for today."

"Good plan." Present Mic agrees in English with a short nod.

The duo shares a glance, then Ko-chan speaks up again. "Karaoke-san, would you like to help us end our livestream today?"

Present Mic's eyebrows rise again, then he gives a bright smile and a thumbs up. "Of course!"

The camera shakes before turning to capture both masked girls and the Present Mic in the frame.

"Again, thanks for the rescue, Karaoke-san. I really appreciate your help." Ko-chan says. She holds out a fist for the Present Mic to bump.

Present Mic bumps his fist gently with Ko-chan's, an enigmatic smile on his face.

"Well, the next livestream will be later this week, as usual," Ru-chan says with a lot less energy than usual. "Hopefully not so full of excitement as today."

"Don't jinx us, Ru-chan," Ko-chan says with a shrug. "We've had exciting days 70% of the time after saying something like that!"

"Oh..." Ru-chan says, drooping. Suddenly, she perks up. "Then if I say 'hopefully we'll have an exciting livestream next time,' then it will be a quiet day!"

"Ah, you're right!" Ko-chan says, perking up as well. "Just like when they say 'Break a leg'!"

"That sounds like good reasoning," Present Mic says with a chuckle.

"Hehe, alright then," Ru-chan looks straight at the camera, making sure all three were in the screen. "Thanks for watching! Let's hope for another exciting livestream next time!"

Then all three people punch the air (Present Mic a little slowly), and Double Trouble ends the livestream with their key English phrase.

""Fight-on, heroes!""

Before the livestream ends, the camera captures the muffled voice of Present Mic. "Do your livestreams always go this way?"

There is a beat of silence, and suddenly there are two laughing voices that are cut off with the end of the livestream.


Double Trouble fightonheroes (7,928 Retweets 5,847 Favorites)

[Thanks again for the save, PresentMic! Next livestream next week! #SavedAgain #fightonheroes]

Present Mic PresentMic (6,543 Retweets 4,332 Favorites)

[Hope you stay out of trouble next livestream, #DoubleTrouble. #StaySafe fightonheroes]