Extra durable…? Ayano pushed up her glasses, amazed that they were not only still on her face, but also intact. Anyone would expect glasses to break when a hero was smashed face-first into a building, but her new glasses were in the same condition they were in when she got them.

She rose to her feet, shaking off dust, and braced herself. The grip on her swords adjusted before the hero sprinted forward to swipe the monster's side. Her eyes briefly darted to the shopping area down the street and looked for a clear path she could lead the monster down. There were too many shoppers in the area and she wanted to keep the damage and civilian injuries to a minimum.

I'm still a hero. Even if I'm weak. I can do this! And if I do this, it's going to make me stronger! Ayano leapt out of the way of the monster's five, long tails and flicked blood from her swords. It splattered the creature's face, getting in its left eye, and it shrieked at her.

The girl dodged a few swipes of its arms as it turned toward her and blindly started swinging. Ducking to avoid a strike aimed at her head, she lunged forward and drove a blade through its thigh. She gritted her teeth and yanked the sword out as she leapt back, forcing a guttural howl from the monster.

"Come back here, you little gnat! I'll crush you! I'll crush you like the little insect that you are! I'm going to splatter your blood everywhere like a mosquito!"

"Am I a gnat…or a mosquito then?" Ayano shifted her grip on the right sword and held it for stabbing now rather than slashing. She carefully took a few steps back, her eyes not leaving its face as it wiped at its left eye. I have to lead it away from this area. That middle school down the street is about to let out for the day…

She moved in closer, but kept her body tensed to attack if it lunged for her. "Am I a gnat or a mosquito?" she repeated, raising her voice a little.

It glowered down at her and bared its teeth in a snarl. "I'm not getting taken down by a four-eyed ant like you!"

Ayano was able to narrowly miss being struck by a swiping hand and leapt back, holding her left sword in front of her as a deterrent. That girl with cat ears. She was faster than me and stronger. I have to get to her level if I want to-!

Her eyes went wide as the monster was flung high into the air and disappeared from view in the distance. The hero stared at the figure that had apparently been standing behind the monster and slowly pushed her glasses up a little. The male hero she was now looking at tilted his head curiously and then his face took on a dopey smile.

"You got new glasses? Those look kind of cool. Can I try them on?"

She took a step back on reflex, immediately having flashbacks to her days in school when people would want to take her glasses and see how bad her eyesight was. "Sorry. I don't have time for this."

Ayano turned and began jogging away down the sidewalk, trying to determine where the monster might have landed. If it was still alive, she could still fight it and get credit from the Hero Association. Even if it was dead, she would at least be able to make sure it could no longer attack civilians. Unfortunately, Saitama easily kept pace with her, even with his grocery bag.

"What's up? You're being kind of cold today."

The girl quickened her pace, but knew it was futile. He was even faster than Sonic. Reaching the area where the monster would have landed, she was disappointed to find nothing but a large splatter with little meat chunks. "…you killed it…"

"Uh…yeah? That's what you were trying to do, right?"

"I needed to fight it…for me to get stronger." She sheathed her blades and took a deep breath, fingers running through her hair as she tried to calm herself. It had taken a while for a monster to appear that she could actually fight. She wanted to get some fights in so she could train, but now it seemed like the day was wasted.

Ayano turned away from Saitama without another word and made a beeline for the ghost town. There have to be a few in here. At least one. She glanced around, hoping to catch sight of a monster.

Knowing that the catgirl hero was still alive haunted her. Being beaten, made to feel weak and worthless, did not sit well with Ayano. Thinking about the incident left a heavy feeling in her gut. She hated that she lost and that hatred was causing a bitter taste in her mouth now. "I have to be stronger so I can beat her next time. I'll…get strong…make Genos show me where he's keeping her and then…"

"What? You're gonna fight Genos?"

Ayano jolted and tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. She managed to regain her balance before she could fall, but she was ruffled all the same. Turning to glance at Saitama, she found him giving her a blank stare. "What…did you just say?"

"You muttered something about Genos and having to get stronger."

"No, I just…" The girl frowned and shook her head. "I got beaten by someone so I want to get stronger so I won't lose next time. Just thinking about it is making me feel sick."

He easily kept pace when she started running again. Saitama was quiet for a while, seeming to mull over what she said. "Didn't you say you became a hero to get revenge?"

She nodded once. She had some regret about sharing that information with him. Not that she went into great detail about it; she just mentioned she wanted to avenge her sisters and that they had died because of someone's negligence. This makes two class A heroes that I need to get revenge on. I have to get stronger if I want to be able to stand a chance against them!

"Is that what they'd want? I mean, your sisters. Would they want you to get revenge for them or would they just want you to live your life how you want?"

The bad feeling in her gut was now accompanied by a twisting hint of guilt. She gritted her teeth and tried to push it down. "I wouldn't know. I can't ask them."

"But you knew them pretty well. They were your little sisters, right? I bet they wouldn't care about revenge. They'd probably just want you to stay alive. What about your parents?"

"They're…proud of me for becoming a hero," she answered honestly. It was true. They had been so happy when she passed the exams, they threw a small feast in the house. Of course, since she had been attacked and cut by a group of bitter young men on her way home, Ayano had not been able to enjoy the food. Touching the scar at the corner of her mouth, she remembered the incident and it piled onto her feeling of helplessness and weakness.

Ayano's hands curled into tight fists at her sides and she bowed her head. "I'm not doing this for my parents. You…weren't there. You don't know what it was like. You don't know how it feels! I never want to feel that powerless! I have to get stronger so I can…so I can help people…so that sort of thing doesn't happen in front of me again…"

Her heart was pounding, vision blurring with tears. Memories of the incident hit her; the blood, the screams, the wails of her mother as she held one of Ayano's sisters, the haunted silence of her father, the funeral, and the looks of pity she received at school afterwards. It hurt like a fresh wound and then she remembered the interview they had conducted with Amai Mask after the incident. He had been emotionless; as if the death of the girls did not bother him.

He says he protects people. He says he's all about keeping civilians safe. He loves his fans. He's…a fake. Just like Samurai Catgirl. These fake heroes! The tears rolled down her face and she pushed herself to run even faster.

"You're a lot like Sonic," Saitama remarked.

"…what do you mean…?" she managed to ask, her voice breaking.

"I mean, I beat him and he started fixating. He wants to beat me, but every time he tries, he fails. It gets annoying." Saitama easily dodged a kick aimed at his head, a hand gripping her ankle as he stared down at her with a serious expression. "Ayano. If you focus so much on trying to be better than someone else, you're just going to end up disappointed and feeling hollow, you know? If you wanted to get stronger so you could protect people, I'd understand, but doing it just for the sake of revenge is kind of dumb."

The girl's honey-colored eyes fixed on his dark ones and she tried to get her leg out of his hold, but he refused to let go. "You…don't know what it's like to feel weak," she argued. "I lost my sisters…because I couldn't protect them…and neither could that person."

"You think I don't know what it's like to feel that way? I wasn't always strong. I had to work really hard for it. I mean, look; I sacrificed my own hair for it. I got beaten up and stuff at first, but I worked hard for this. So I know what it's like, Ayano. I don't want you to end up like Sonic."

She was released and left standing alone in the empty street. The wind howled around her, making her feel all the more alone, and she bowed her head. It was hard to imagine Saitama being weak, now that she knew how strong he really was. Even more difficult to imagine him getting beaten up by someone or something.

Trying to shake it off, she continued on her quest to find a monster she could possibly beat. It was starting to wear on her, though. The last thing he said, about her ending up like Sonic. What was that supposed to mean? Sonic…has a good reason for what he does. He wants to be able to beat Saitama so he's trying to get stronger. That's not a bad goal.

Ayano wandered for a while, but she was having trouble finding a monster to fight. She half-suspected that it was the work of Genos. He might have sensed a monster in the area and decided to preemptively take care of it so Saitama would be spared having to potentially fight it later. Her pace slowed to a jog and she shook her head.

Saitama had, unfortunately, made her consider some things. Her sisters were sweet. They had been kind, funny, smart. They definitely would not have wanted her to try to kill Amai Mask; they had been big fans of his.

Now her pace slowed to a walk and her hands tucked into her pockets. They wouldn't want him to die. But I…don't want him to live. It isn't right. Why should he be able to live when they're dead?

"It's not fair. That…arrogant…fake hero! It isn't fair!" She kicked a small chunk of cement with force, sending it flying down the street and skidding over the pavement. It was louder than she had anticipated; the sound of the impact echoing off the empty buildings all around her.

Ayano stood in place, her hands curled into fists in her pockets as she listened to the last echoes fade away. Her pulse slowed to a calmer pace and the girl took a deep breath. She decided to try again the next day. For now, she would just go home to the base. Seeing Sonic would make her feel better. He might even take her for some training.

"What's not fair?" The voice was unfamiliar and came from right behind her.

The hair stood up on the back of her neck as Ayano tensed. Lowering her eyes more, she saw a shadow falling on the pavement in front of her from the person behind her. An unfamiliar silhouette to accompany the unfamiliar male voice.

Shift P.O.V

"Shake." Sonic held out his hand to the dog, his cold grey eyes narrowed. The dog stared up at him for a moment, head tilted. This was the only command it seemed to refuse to understand.

Bun looked like an intelligent puppy. He had so far learned sit, stay, come, heel, jump, lay down, roll over, fetch, and could distinguish what item he needed to get when he was told to fetch. Sonic had been extremely successful in training the dog so far. This was the final hurdle and it was the most frustrating.

Each time the dog refused to offer his paw, it felt like Sonic was being refused a common courtesy. "Shake," he repeated, holding his hand closer.

This time, Bun whined and lowered himself so he was lying on his stomach on the floor. He lifted a paw and smacked it against the floor in front of him, his curly little tail wagging excitedly. It was difficult to be angry with him when he started acting this way. It was like he was just fed up with acting like a ninja's dog and wanted to be a puppy for a minute.

As much as he hated to let the dog win, Sonic had other things he could be focusing on. He leaned back against the wall and checked the time on his phone. That morning, he left to do a few quick jobs he was contracted for. Of course, he knew that Ayano had some hero stuff to attend to now that she was healed.

He had used immense self-control by staying in the base and waiting for her instead of going out to look for her. Despite wanting to watch her fight, he had managed to keep himself from basically stalking her that afternoon. Now it was getting close to dinner time. It was odd for her to be out for so long and he was beginning to consider leaving the base.

Looking at the dog, he saw Bun now rolling around on his back on the futon with his tongue sticking out. "What are you doing?" Sonic grinned when the dog stopped and stared up at him. He gave in once more and rubbed the dog's stomach as he typed a quick message to Ayano to ask where she was.

After waiting five minutes, Sonic determined that he had used enough patience that day. He gave the dog the "stay" command and grabbed a few shuriken and his blade. Setting off to search for Ayano, he had a bad feeling bubbling up.