"I'm glad you called! I was worried that I might've done something to upset you." Mumen Rider greeted Ayano warmly.
"I just…needed to work alone for a little while," she explained with a tight smile. Ayano had gone two weeks without working alongside her friend. She needed the time away to sort out her feelings.
Despite her motives for being a hero, it still hurt to not be appreciated by the civilians she protected. She was slightly consoled by the fact that she was not alone in feeling this way. Saitama was often overlooked, too. She knew how insanely powerful he was so if someone like him could deal with being ignored, she could as well. She needed to get past these feelings.
Sonic had left that morning, stating that he had his own business to attend to. Ayano planned to be out for just a few hours. If she could just help one person that day, she would be happy.
"Oh! When we're done patrolling, I actually have some stuff for you."
"Hm?" She got onto his bike behind him, arms wrapping around her friend before he started pedaling off down the street.
"I started getting mail for you along with my fan mail from the Hero Association. When I called to ask about it, they said they didn't have your address. I didn't open anything; don't worry."
"Fan mail…?" Ayano lifted her head a little, letting the cool breeze run through her hair. Fan mail? I never get mail at all. My parents call me sometimes, but that's the closest thing to fan mail I've ever gotten.
They rounded a corner onto a busier street and began to pass civilians, slowing to a leisurely pace so they would be able to catch any crime in progress. "It's a few letters and a box. You should probably tell the Hero Association your address, though."
She bit her lip and lowered her head again. "I can't really give out my address…not with Sonic's line of work."
"Oh. Right." Mumen Rider was quiet for a moment and then piped up again with enthusiasm. "Well, I'm okay with your mail coming to my place instead. We're friends so we see each other pretty often; I can just give you your mail when I see you," he offered.
"Well…thank you. I really appreciate it."
"It's what friends are for! I'm sure if I needed help with something, you'd help me, too."
After patrolling for a few hours, they had managed to do a decent amount of hero work. Mumen Rider helped a little girl get her cat out of a tree and stopped a delinquent from getting away with an old woman's purse. Ayano took down a man that had been in the process of abducting a little boy and left the man with a broken nose.
She was currently trying to find the child's mother. Holding his hand and quietly telling him that everything would be alright. "What does your mom look like?" she asked.
"Sh-she's got a red sweater," he mumbled. He clutched her hand tightly, tears running down the little boy's face. "I-I was scared! That guy grabbed my arm and…and…!"
Ayano stopped walking and crouched down to put herself at his eye level. She gently took his shoulders for a moment, staring at him from over the rim of her glasses. "You…look like a strong kid," she started.
"I-I am a strong kid! I'm the fastest kid in my class!"
"So…let's see your tough face." Seeing him put on a determined expression; narrowing his eyes and setting his mouth in a firm line, she smiled. Ayano ruffled the kid's hair and nodded in reassurance. "You don't want to worry your mom, do you?" He shook his head. "Do you know what heroes do…when we're feeling scared?"
"You fight the bad guys!" he blurted out.
"We do, but…we also have to look brave, no matter how scary it is. So we put on a tough face. That way everyone knows they can count on us and they won't be scared. We don't want your mom to be scared so-"
"We put on a tough face!"
Her smile grew. "That's right."
When they found the boy's mother, the woman thanked her again and again. The little boy's fear seemed to have completely vanished and was replaced with excitement. He told his mom about how Sword Girl had run up to the guy that grabbed him and she broke the guy's nose.
Ayano fidgeted with her glasses when he described the fight; beginning to feel guilty about the amount of violence the boy had witnessed. Her eyes widened when she was suddenly grabbed in a hug by the woman. She assured the woman that it was her duty as a hero and that was around the time that Mumen Rider rejoined her.
The woman started to blush when she saw Mumen Rider and thanked him. Ayano began to feel the bitterness bubbling up again and excused herself. It's alright. All the matters is that the kid is safe, she told herself. It was true, but it was still disappointing.
Mumen Rider took her to collect her fan mail and dropped her off at her building back in the ghost town. Ayano stood there for a moment, trying to push down any of the bad feelings and focus on the good feeling she had when she saved the kid. When she had managed to cheer him up, it felt like her heart was melting. It felt incredible to be able to make someone else smile.
Sonic was still out so she decided to take the dog for a walk around the ghost town. She changed out of her hero clothes and put on some black shorts and a loose black t-shirt with a purple star pattern on it. Ayano decided to tuck her fan mail into her bag and take it with her.
He might not like that I'm getting fan mail. He's still…not completely okay with me being a hero. She glanced down at Bun, who was happily walking beside her and wagging his fluffy, curly tail. Ayano saw his tail start to wag even faster and raised an eyebrow.
As far as she knew, animals rarely wandered in the ghost town. She had seen a few stray cats and a few small rodents, but it was usually vacant of wildlife. They were a decent distance from the populated part of City Z, too, so she was sure it was not a person that Bun was getting excited about.
He started pulling at the leash, trying to run toward whatever it was. Ayano, curious about what it was, decided to indulge his curiosity. Jogging behind the dog, she stayed alert in case he might be getting excited over a monster. Though she was sure he would probably be running and yelping if it was.
Bun neared a street corner and then paused, sniffing the air. He turned and started pulling her the other way. The girl had to run to keep up with him now, struggling to keep her glasses from falling off. When the tip of her boot caught on a crack in the ground, she was sent hurtling forwards toward the pavement.
An arm darted out to wrap around her waist and Ayano was set on her feet again. She blinked in alarm and turned to see who had helped her; expecting that Sonic might have returned early or Saitama might have been in the area and saw her fall. Instead, she found herself looking up at Garou.
He tilted his head, confused by the faint disappointment in her eyes. "Why're you running around this area by yourself? You don't look like you're hunting monsters."
"I'm just…walking my dog." As if on cue, the dog took this opportunity to pounce up and smack his front paws against the young man's chest. Ayano tensed when she saw Bun start licking Garou's face, but soon realized she had nothing to worry about. Garou actually seemed pretty happy.
"Didn't know you had a dog. What's his name?" He ruffled the dog's orange fur with both hands, grinning and letting the dog lick his cheek.
"Bun." It was embarrassing. Sonic had been unimpressed by the name, which was fine. Somehow, she felt a little embarrassed to tell someone else the name.
"Bun? What? Like a meat bun? Sit." Garou stepped back as the dog's paws left his chest. The canine sat obediently on the sidewalk between the two, his tail still wagging excitedly.
Is Garou…good with dogs? She adjusted her bag and lifted a hand to push up her glasses. She watched him pet the dog and frowned slightly to herself. I really don't know much about him. I don't even know how old he is.
"What's in the bag?" He eyed the bag she was carrying, clearly hoping that she had brought some food with her.
"Ah…just…some mail that I need to open."
"That's kinda weird. Why wouldn't you open it at home?" His eyes widened a little and he frowned, crossing his arms. "You don't want your boyfriend to see it, right? So what is it? It's probably important."
Ayano lowered her gaze from Garou to the dog and she fidgeted with the strap of her bag. "It's…fan mail. From someone that likes my work," she admitted. She had to be really careful about what she said. Garou thought she was just a monster hunter and she knew he had a dislike for heroes.
"You've gotta open it, then. Come on; there's a bench up here somewhere."
She hesitantly followed him, letting her dog trot alongside Garou. Excitement and anxiety made her stomach twist in knots as she sat next to her friend on a bench. Ayano's biggest fear was that she would open the letters to find hate mail and that the box might be full of more angry letters.
"You got a present, too?"
"Yeah…but I'm kind of nervous," she admitted.
"What're you nervous about? It's fan mail, right? Give me the box; I'll open it if you're too afraid to." Garou took the box from her without waiting for an answer and started to rip it open.
Ayano leaned away, eyes closed as she worried it might be something bad. When she heard Garou laugh, her curiosity got the best of her. Leaning over, she found a box full of what could only be considered gifts from an admirer. There were bags of candy packed in the box around a penguin plush toy.
"What is this?! You've got a secret admirer!"
Her face started to burn with a blush as she stared down at the gifts. "It's…it's not funny," she muttered, glancing away when he turned toward her.
"No way! It's hilarious! Heh! They've gotta know you're out of their league. That's why they send a weak gift like this." He pulled the plush toy out of the box, holding it by its head and smirking. "I mean, if they were actually worth your time, they'd give these to you in person like a real man."
There was no sender name on the box. The Hero Association darkened out the return address for the privacy of the sender so that was also a mystery. Ayano looked to the three envelopes and felt anxiety hum through her veins, making her hands shake. A lump formed in her throat as she began to open the first envelope.
She skimmed through it and felt her heart beating faster and faster. It's a…love letter? Ayano opened the other envelopes and realized that the first seemed to be the most recent. The one with the earliest date just seemed to be from a loyal fan. The second displayed a more passionate appreciation of her work as a hero. The third was a blatant love letter, describing everything they admired about her as a person and not just as a hero.
All of the letters had the same neat handwriting and had no signature at the end of the letter. Ayano put them in order by date and folded them, preparing to put them all into one envelope. Unfortunately, Garou swiped them before she could put them away. She sank down on her seat, covering her burning red face.
There was a bit of quiet as her friend skimmed through the most recent letter and then he burst into laughter. An arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her over as he cackled at the letter's contents. "Might have to watch out, kid! This letter's giving off some serious stalker vibes!"
"It's just a fan letter," she mumbled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Hey, don't worry about it. If they start bothering you, just let me know and I'll take care of them." He grinned and handed the letter back to her. "Your boyfriend's not gonna like that, huh?"
"No. Um…actually…could you take the box with you?"
"You don't want me to take the letters?" He saw her shake her head and decided not to question it. Instead, he tore open a bag of candy and helped himself to the sweets. "Whoever sent this stuff, they must be pretty into you."
"I guess…" Her face still felt like it was burning and she started chewing on her lower lip. She remembered the single fan she had encountered, that day she started to feel jealous of Mumen Rider. The awkward way the person had approached her and asked for a picture together. Was this from them? Are they really that much of a fan?
Garou grabbed her hand and put a few candies into her palm, grinning. "I've gotta go put this box away before I do some training. See you later."
She watched him go and frowned. Now that she knew she had a loyal fan, it felt strange. She felt more self-conscious; like she was being monitored. Shaking her head, Ayano set off for home with her dog.
