A/N:
This is my very first fanfiction after being years of being just a reader on this website. I have written stories before, but this is the first time I made a fanfiction and posted it on an online forum. This is the first time ever that I loved something so much to actually write something down. This fanfiction is probably ½ story, ½ fanfiction. Just to warn you.
Disclaimers:
My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi. For the mentioned stories in this prologue, they also belong to their own respective authors. I'm just playing in their sandbox after all :D
I own the plot line and my OCs and claim them as mine.
This chapter just explains how my OC went into My Hero Academia. I assure you, this is a My Hero Academia fanfiction. Don't get fooled into thinking that it isn't, please.
If you don't know what Isekai is, then here is the definition:
Isekai is a subgenre of fantasy light novels, literature, manga, anime, and video games revolving around a normal person from Earth who either dies or gets into a life-threatening accident and gets transported to, reborn, or trapped in a parallel universe. Often, this universe already exists in the protagonist's world as a fictional universe.
Basically in this fanfiction, my OC's soul got transplanted adruptively into the body of a person who was living in the world of BNHA.
If you still don't understand or want to know more about it, then go read Korean Isekai Manhwa. I am a big fan of them and binge on them a lot. I actually got inspired by them for this fanfiction. :)
Full Summary:
Getting your soul adruptively transplanted into a fictional person in the world of My Hero Academia tends to be shell-shocking, but exciting! But that's not the whole thing. Especially if the lady that isekai'd you there in the first place is threatening you with a painful, excruciating death unless you do their bidding.
If it wasn't for the psycho lady, I would have been frolicking happily with my new friends in Class 1-A and pissing off Bakugou with flower crowns without a care in the world! But instead, star crossed little me had to deal with all the stressful missions that the Lady assigned me to do. Which was a huge, red bloodstain on an once-impossible opportunity that others would have killed for.
Trying to look at the whole situation optimistically is tiring but at least I knew all the cards in the game. While masquerading as Ainiru Yukimisaka, I was to be schmoozing along with the plot, meeting fictional characters left and right, pretending that I didn't know anything and that everything was just peachy.
I just needed to create the perfect story and ending for the deranged lady's little pet fanfiction. Accomplishing that is almost a piece of cake if I have sheer, dumb luck on my side... or so I had thought. Because another stranger from my world came crashing into the plot and ruined almost everything.
A little note: If you want to read how my character got isekai'd into the story first, then skip ahead to Chapter 1.
If you want to understand everything from the beginning, start from here. Here we go. XD
Prologue: (Before Everything)
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Staring blankly at the beautiful mural walls of her home, Lady Imagination didn't know what the purpose of her semi-eternal life was for.
I don't want to think about what I should do next…. maybe… should I—
Wincing, she pressed her thumbs to her temples. Ugh, now I'm going to get a migraine again. I told myself that I would stop going into the worlds of imagination.
At least her brother Reality could go among the world of humans and live his life, enjoying the simple joys and hardships of their lives. She was stuck only here in her home, living out her days with her portals for company.
Perhaps I will stop existing after there are no more humans left on Earth to use their imagination.
Lady Imagination sighed as her body stood up as if to plead for her to do something. Here we go again. Probably going to go through the same disappointment that I have when I see something not to my liking.
….. I am absolutely going crazy.
She exhaled loudly, before swirling her hand before her. A shimmering doorway appeared, hovering a few inches from the ground.
There were other ways for her to be entertained. But as time went by, it was as if boredom drove her insane, making her feel more agitated, erratic, and tired. Going through doorways to the worlds of fiction that humans had created was the only way she could at least breathe freely, but the problem was…
It was monotonous and dull. Plain and simple.
She was the ruler/guardian of imagination and…. technically fiction, which really didn't make sense to her that she was bored all the time. Shouldn't I be the one who is the most entertained by my domain? Yes, definitely. But noooo. Humans get all the fun.
She should feel some excitement while being in her realm. After all, she was seeing famous fictional characters in flesh that many humans would have given up everything to see and interact with.
She admitted to herself that she did feel something but not excitement, a somewhat small emotion that somehow erased most of her lingering apathy.
But what could she do in a world of fiction? She could only watch and influence the things of the world up to some point. And she could go back and forth in the timeline of the world. That was it.
Pretty minimal for a so-called ruler of fiction.
Her feet stepped through and she stood in the world she chose, blinking as the world itself formed under her feet and before her eyes. The azure sky spread across to the other side of the horizon, as shiny buildings rose up. People started to appear, walking and talking as cars appeared in the roads beside her.
She had chosen a modern romantic comedy book, hoping slightly for some new event that was somewhat thrilling for her to see.
The people here could not see her at all. She had made it to be like that. She never felt comfortable even in her own realm because it just reminded her of how… she didn't belong anywhere.
Perhaps it could make her also forget the huge fact that she was also unknown by anyone except for her brother, Reality.
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.
Sorely disappointed, the Lady turned away from the quarreling main-leads and departed from that world through her doorway.
"I can't believe this author made them fight over something so minimal." Her lips twisted into a scowl. "Stupid. Unoriginal."
She swept a hand over the shimmering doorway where she had just stepped out of. The doorway disappeared, leaving glittering dust in its wake.
"Finally my sister admits that the worlds that humans have imagined are boring." An onyx-haired man said cheerily as he swung around in his swiveling seat to face her.
Flinging her pale pearlescent locks over her shoulder, the Lady glared at him while settling on the bubble sofa in a huff. The sofa foamed with more bubbles, creating a more plushy seat with iridescent shine.
"What brings you here, brother? Haven't you claimed that you didn't feel comfortable in my domain?" She said, rolling her eyes while pouring herself a cup of glowing tea. He grinned at her, standing up from his chair.
"Just here to update you about how the human world is changing, Imagine. My dear sister is growing too… uncultured. Thought I should stop by."
"Well, Mister—," She drawled out, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Lord Reality, I haven't missed out on anything." Lady Imagination sipped her steaming tea before exhaling deeply. "You know that I get clear hints on how the human world is like now whenever I see a new world a creator has made."
"You don't even notice the new gadgets in your home? I even installed it for you but you don't even say a word of appreciation."
"You probably scoffed at the "imaginative crap" that is in my home the whole time you were installing it." She pointed to the moving, swirling clouds floating over their heads.
"What can I say, that's all your things, and I have my own things from reality, such as this." He expressed while nodded at the computer on her desk made of ice. "You need some things from me to keep you anchored. One day you might become unhinged from all the things you control."
Lord Reality folded his arms, looking pointedly at his sister. "Well?" Aren't you going to look at it?"
"Never in a million years."
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I can't believe I'm doing this.
Lady Imagination swiveled around on her platinum chair and clicked on the computer that her brother had installed. The plastic material that met her fingers felt foreign and weird to her. It's the first time that I'm touching something… so human. So unimaginative.
She cringed at the mental image that her mind thought up of her brother cackling at how she contradicted what she had said to him.
It's boredom that pushed me over the edge. Boredom.
As she stared at the glowing, bright lit screen, she managed to find the search engine by remembering what the humans had done in their computers as she watched them in the worlds of imagination.
I am not uncultured, Reality. See, I managed to find the search engine.
She stared at the screen and wondered what she should search up. I always wondered what actual humans thought of the novels that I went in before.
Hesitantly, she clicked on the search bar and typed very slowly the name of the novel that she visited recently. Several websites popped up and she peered at them with interest, scrolling down. She laughed out loud when she saw ratings raving about how enthralling the book was and how the plot was very well built.
"They call this good?" She scoffed condescendingly. "I've seen the same plot line happen again and again. I'm still surprised that my eyes weren't bleeding when I saw it the first time."
She scrolled down more and stopped, her eyes rereading a website's script.
"Fanfiction? Humans actually write these down?" Her hand moved the mouse and clicked it, surprising herself. She couldn't even pull away her eyes from it.
.
.
Hmm. It was actually… adequate. If I admit so myself, it was… kind of more creative than the book itself.
The Lady couldn't bring herself to think that it was good. It was embarrassing to have one's views challenged by their own self.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly while lying her head back on the headrest of her chair.
But I can do things so much better.
Compared to the fanfiction authors, she had seen the original story happen before her very eyes. The characters themselves, the fantastical objects, the world itself weaving together as she gazed at it in rapture when she was first born.
Even though she could create gateways to see and manipulate some things of the worlds of imagination that humans had created, she couldn't make a world herself. Humans only had the power to create them, and also were the only ones who could control the most varied range of changes and impact that world.
Their souls were the ones governing what happened. They were the main characters after all.
If she could influence an original fiction world itself by its own characters and see what would happen…. It wouldn't change the original fiction, which remained the same to humans anyway.
It was just the original worlds changing by themselves. Maybe she could write something that was genuine and realistic by directing real humans from the original world into the world of the story she chose herself.
... If I used actual, real life people to direct the story how I want it to be…..
Perhaps… by transplanting the souls of real humans into the bodies of people living in the fictional worlds? They don't really have to be the exact characters mentioned in the book. I would just guide them towards the real plot.
Which is totally possible.
The Lady slowly smiled triumphantly, a new thought appearing in her mind. It seemed like she needed to pay a visit to an old friend of hers.
.
.
The Lady swirled into existence, lightly making her way through the beautiful opalescent rose bushes that surrounded her threshold. The roses beamed at her, glowing with awe as she passed by them.
She glided into her living room, which was lit brightly by the sunlight that came from a humongous glass window. Flinging herself down on her bubble sofa, she gazed happily at the bright sea glass chandelier that swung above her. She felt lighter, more excited than how she had felt throughout millennia. Finally there is something to spice up my life...! It seems like boredom wouldn't make its attack again.
Her dearest friend had allowed her to have full reign over the souls of humans that were between life and death but at the price of one fictional gateway for a soul. She had to promise that she wouldn't kill the human soul though.
She had tons of useless gateways that she would happily give over to her friend for the excitement of her life. After all, if humans didn't become extinct, they could create her more gateways to their worlds of fiction.
She had carefully picked out the soul that she had wanted in her character, the first guinea pig for her project. The soul was from a teenage girl from Australia that knew about the story that the Lady had picked to make her first fanfiction. She had the mindset of the character that Lady Imagination had wanted, along with the smarts and the interesting background to go along with it.
With a smug and excited smile on her face, the Lady got ready to have her first conversation with a human.
.
Emerald vines swayed from stone walls as a summer breeze swirled around Lady Imagination and her chosen soul. This girl must have been happy before she was about to die from drowning, judging by the sunlight and the beautiful patio that we are at. But the dark, stormy clouds in the horizon…. What I saw must have been true.
We are at the place where her soul keeps her memories after all.
"So… you are telling me that I'm going into Harry Potter?" The girl's brown tresses swayed in the wind as she stared disbelievingly at the Lady.
The Lady made eye contact with the girl's hazel green eyes, as if daring her to laugh.
"Are you serious? Are you crazy? This is a dream. Please, let me be alive." The girl stood up, shaking. "I… almost drowned. I don't even know if I'm dead or alive right now. Just please... make me wake up right now. You don't need to say those kind of bizarre statements to me."
"You don't understand me at all, don't you?" Lady Imagination spoke callously, her eyes narrowing. "Let me reiterate what I said to you again. You are not going to wake up as yourself. You are going to wake up as a character in the world of Harry Potter. And if you do want to go home, you need to survive till the end and give me a satisfying story and ending."
The lady sipped her calming tea nonchalantly, lowering her gaze to admire the glass mosaic on the table surface they were seated at. The girl stared at her in shocked disbelief while noting the lady's bizarre mood changes.
"Lady, I don't know where the heck we are but are we in a mental hospital right now? That you belong to?"
"No, we are not. And I definitely do not belong to a mental hospital."
The Lady stood up suddenly, arousing some of the azure butterflies that were on her dress. She smirked wryly in the girl's shocked face.
"An envelope will come to you once you get adjusted to your own character in that world. ...I do hope that you will survive. For my sake, of course."
With that airy sentence hanging in the air, the Lady dematerialized into nothing. The lightening fell crashing down on the petrified girl as she opened her eyes as a new person.
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I never read anything like this. This became one of my ultimate favs! I like how realistic the OC is. You are really, really talented!
I'll definitely recommend this to my friends! This is the best fan fiction I've read! Please finish this! :D
T-T I need moreeee! Please, author, please write some more! I can't bear for this to be on hiatus…
Dang, how this girl handles things gives me shivers down my spine _
Wow, she is very relatable and reailstic. This gave me a surprise.
I never knew that OC fanfictions can be this fun! You are really a good writer. You should think of writing a book someday.
Lady Imagination's grin grew bigger and bigger as she read her readers' reviews overflowing with praise. I told you that I can be better than other usual fanfiction writers.
More than 30,000 people had favorited and followed her story, with more joining everyday. Their reviews solidified her resolve that she did do the best thing for herself. Excitement doubled every day, as the Lady felt like she had found her passion.
Right now, her character was in a fierce battle, literally tiptoeing the line between life and death. Through the mini gateway, the lady surveyed her dirt-streaked face creased with tiredness, with her tawny-blonde hair limp and lagged. The look of feral desperation as the girl slashed and twirled her wand adeptly never failed to make the Lady giddy with adrenaline.
She is almost at the end of the story. Lady Imagination relaxed back into her lofty seat, buoyed by marshmallows. If she survives, she might go back home. And by the way people are liking this, I am going to do another project in an original story that my readers have recommended me to see.
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"This is a dream! I can say whatever the fuck I want to say!" The dark-haired girl hissed at Lady Imagination, her voice echoing in the dark, electricity-lit bunker they were in. The fluorescent lights flickered, as if picking up on the girl's agitation.
The lady frowned. "Please do lower your voice. Your screech jangled my ear drums."
"I just collided into a pole! That's it!" The young girl squawked in indignation. "I'm pretty fucking sure I just got a concussion and fainted! That isn't anything to warrant you to say that you now control what I fucking do! And that's only if what you are saying can become fucking true!"
The lady ignored her and busied herself by whisking a teaspoon dripping with golden honey into her cup.
Male or female, young or old, they always react the same.
Except for this person.
"And going into the world of Attack on Titan is a death wish! Well, it can be sort of fun training in the Corps, I guess, but a fucking death wish nonetheless! Are you sending me to die there?!"
"You do have the military specialist training to survive though, unlike the first few people I sent into that world." Lady Imagination blew on the deep amber liquid steaming in her porcelain teacup.
The girl's tanned face slightly reddened, her cheeks flushing with anger. She balled her fists tightly, her knuckles whitening as the lady drank her tea calmly. "Do you think you can just drink your tea peacefully even though you say crazy things to another person?!" The girl slammed a hand on the coffee table that was right in front of her and glared fiercely at the lady.
"I literally faced life or death before I was discharged from my unit! I don't want to see war again! Do you think I want to be in that kind of situation again?! Of course not!" The girl threw her hands into the air in fury.
"And here I am, talking to a crazy-ass bitch with a dress made out of fucking clouds!" In a fit of rage, the girl hurled her teacup at the lady. The sloshing, piping-hot liquid barely missed Lady Imagination's face as she turned her head at the last minute.
The teacup shattered on impact, creating an ominous crash as the girl's face turned pale and apologetic instantly.
Lady Imagination stood up slowly, molten anger flowing from her like lava. The girl leaned away, her apology dying away from her lips, as the Lady towered over her with a cold glower.
The pale, puffy clouds over her dress slowly started to bleed away into water, trickling crimson as it turned to the color of blood. The temperature dropped instantly, as the dark iron walls around them started to be covered with jagged ice and frost.
"I took pity on you." The Lady said very quietly. "So much that unlike what I usually do, I tried to put you into a character that had a life that you can have some enjoyment in living." She took a step closer to the petrified girl, fury flashing in her hardened eyes.
"But since you just kicked your luck away, you will face the full brunt of the horrors that the world you are going into has to offer." The Lady sneered, enjoying wholeheartedly the look of intense horror in the girl's eyes. "You should be thankful that I promised my friend that I wouldn't kill you directly. But take it as my retribution when you die a painful death. Preferably by a Titan eating you. "
"And since you will be around the main character," The Lady smiled triumphantly. "You will be in hundreds of situations where you will be in utmost danger. And I will not wish for your survival, regardless of the readers."
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What a shame. With distaste discoloring her vision, the lady watched spitefully at the russet-haired girl who was happily laughing with her friends in bright sunlight.
After how many times I tried to make her fail miserably, she did survive in the end.
Hmph. Maybe I shouldn't have let her to stay in that world.
At least the fanfiction was a huge success, even though it was among my first few ventures into what the humans call anime and manga. Let's just forget about her. Just looking at her makes my insides recoil.
Now what should I do next? Hmm.
Lady Imagination turned to her side where she kept a glass roulette of all the recommendations that her readers had begged her to see. She turned the wheel casually and watched the wheel hypnotizingly turn around and around.
Light spun around her home as the glass roulette refracted the sun's light while spinning, until it came into a complete stop with the pointer clacking on a title. The lady peered at the title curiously and arched an eyebrow.
The pointer twitched, making the roulette tremble for a few seconds as the Lady looked more closely at the slot that it stopped on.
This is the first time I've seen this title.
Lady Imagination frowned.
...My Hero Academia?
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Aera Kim
김애라
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Summer should have been arriving by now. But it wasn't. And it showed by sending a hell lot of rain on California.
The streets were soaked to the brim with rainwater, which was an unusual sight considering the fact that I've seen them bone dry and dusty. Stepping off my bus, I shouldered my backpack more tighter and started to run as the rain dribbled down upon my umbrella, more heavier than ever
Impatiently brushing aside my damp black hair, I urged my legs to run faster as my feet splashed on the puddles on the asphalt. Hopping agilely between the huge ponds of water draining into the sewage drains was a challenge, especially when you were late for school and didn't want to hear embarrassing, squelching noises from your wet socks and shoes.
Why is it that the only day that I'm late for school is rainy! It's freaking California! We should have been dunked head first into a barrel full of sunshine and heat by now!
My right foot landed with a deep splash into a puddle that had escaped my sight. Cursing colorful profanities in my head, I lifted my leg up and lamented the loss of a dry shoe and sock.
….I want to go hommmeeee! …. Whelp, no warm socks and shoes for today…
...Ugh, get over this, Aera! …. This is nothing compared to the level of icki-ness if you get in trouble..
But I don't want to be late, I don't want to be late! I gripped my clear, transparent umbrella tighter and kept on running. Please don't let me get caught by Ms. Beltrian! She is the scariest administrator I have ever met!
Panting heavily, I felt my heightened body heat searing into me, unable to escape out from the deep bundle of sweaters that I was wearing. Suddenly, fat droplets of rain began to slam down on my umbrella more heavily, with the wind whipping around water to splash across my damp jeans. Inwardly holding a shriek of surprise, I then walked the remaining distance to the entrance to my high-school.
The red-painted, tall iron gates that greeted me were still open thankfully, and I slipped inside with a few other stragglers that were late. The main doors were open. I closed my dripping umbrella and briskly walked inside. Just as I predicted, my shoes squelched horribly with dirty water oozing out of my battered, mud-splattered sneakers with every step on the floor. I cringed at the sensation but kept on walking briskly.
…..Please do not have everyone looking at me when I enter the homeroom!
The hallways were empty, except for a few students that were walking to their respective classrooms. I was already making my way to my locker until I stopped in my tracks when I thought of something.
...You know what? Since I'm already late, why don't I just take my sweet-ass time going to my classroom? I'm going to stop by the restroom first.
Spotting the girls' restroom that was in the middle of the hallway I was in, I swung open the heavy metal door and walked inside. The familiar restroom was inlaid with tiles of beige and mauve, and had no windows. Thankfully, the restroom didn't smell like burning weed or vape, and the stalls were surprisingly normal.
Noticing that no one was there, I went inside the first stall and put my backpack on a hook. I felt my stomach rumble with ominous forebodings, and immediately sat down on the toilet seat. Groaning from the stomach pain, I did my business.
Out of the blue, a loud, sharp-sounding bang resounded from far away, so loud that it echoed.
I jolted out of the haze of pain I was in, the noise immediately setting off imaginary sirens in my head. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?
More bangs resounded, seeming to be getting closer and closer. As if to answer my alarm, the school intercom crackled to life with a familiar voice of an administrator urgently yelling into the microphone.
"Lockdown! I repeat, this is a lockdown! All teachers, please lock your doors! All students in the hallway, please enter a classroom as soon as possible!" An ear-blasting bang resounded in the intercom, the sound of glass shattering faintly being heard with screams. There was a huge clatter and the intercom went quiet with a screech.
I stayed there frozen to the toilet, the gurgling stomach jarring me out of my shock and horror. ….WHY IS A SCHOOL SHOOTING HAPPENING WHEN I'M TAKING A SHIT!?
I immediately tried to stand up as fast as I could, my hands fumbling to button up my pants. As I hurriedly swung open the door to my stall, a familiar dark-haired girl stumbled inside the restroom, gasping and panting heavily. She was a classmate of mine in one of my classes.
"Esperanza?!" Another gunshot then rang throughout the air, so loud that I clapped my hands to my ears. Why is it so close!? ...The shooter must be coming our way!
"Aera! He saw me! All the classroom doors are closed!" She gasped out, frantically glancing at the door that she came through. "He's coming after me!" To our crippling shock and horror, we both realized that the main door had no handles on our side and could be opened with a handle from the outside… where the shooter was.
Esperanza started to weep, heaving desperate sobs as tremulous shocks racked her body so hard that her knees almost gave out. I stood there frozen, stomach lurching with nausea as my heart contracted painfully.
Flashes of the morning flitted past my mind as I regretted immensely not saying that I loved my Mom and Grandma before I left. I should have said what I truly felt to Mom and Grandma… if only… I hadn't joked around always…..
My nose began to sting with tears.
Mom... Oppa…. Grandma…. I'm so sorry... I love you all….
….I'm going to die. Today.
I wish that I had more time…! Time to enjoy my life more…! ….If only I knew that it would be cut short….!
It felt like my lungs couldn't take in air. I could feel my throat starting to close up, my view becoming cloudy and hazy, with my heart painfully throbbing more in my chest.
Suddenly, a clear, familiar voice from a flashback of my childhood memories spoke into my mind. "Aera, I've been teaching you this your entire life. Remember it everywhere you go, will you?
The key to surviving anywhere is by having a strong mentality. With it, you can overcome any challenge that stands in your way. It will help you stay calm despite pressure in any situation. You will be able to use your brain and your strengths clearly when others are lost to the world. And that is how you survive through anything, despite the odds that are stacked against you.
...Are you paying attention, Aera!? This is some serious stuff that I'm telling you right now, the very drops of my wisdom, but are you ignoring me right now?!"
"Yeah, Yeah, of course I am, Mommy." I looked around for something to distract Mom from lecturing me and spotted Oppa sneaking around, trying not to get a lecture from Mom himself. "Oppa!"
As I raced over to Oppa's side, I heard my mom sighing with slight exasperation in her voice.
As my mom's voice resounded in my mind, I remembered all the times I had promised her that I would do as she said with a hint of a joke. But now I regretted with the bottom of my heart how naive I had been.
Mom…. you predict almost everything….
I'll try… But it's so hard….!
But I want to live! I don't want to die… I have things I want to do, things to accomplish…!
I'm only 17.
I will never use my new longboard that I bought with my hard-won pocket money…. I will never go to college…. I will never become an Olymp- no, surgeon… I will never give Grandma and Mom the best retirement that they deserve… I will never see Oppa getting married…. And I will never go to Korea at least once…!
…..Stop crying, Aera! Stop crying if you want to live! Do you want to live or die?!
Without anything holding me back, I then slapped myself as hard as I could, the sharp pain on my cheek finally awakening me from my shock. Fiercely wiping away tears, I forced down my exploding panic with all my mental strength, smothered it down with a thin veneer of calm that I hoped desperately would stay.
My mind began to clear as the foggy, drunk sensation finally disappeared. My senses began to return, more sharper than ever. I began to scan my surroundings with a fierce intensity that I never had before, taking note of every little detail of the familiar restroom that Esperanza and I were in.
I will go out of this situation alive. Alive.
There were five stalls, with the main door facing the sinks in the far off left. The sight of the stalls infuriated me like never before even though I had seen them so many times before. The side walls and doors of the stalls were smaller in height than even me!
Damn you, high school! To the fiery pits of hell! Who in the fuck designed this fucking RESTROOM!
Clasping my hands to my head, I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, feeling the panic creeping up on me again. Stop. Shut it down….!
….What should I do now! Even if Esperanza and I hide in the stalls, the shooter can still shoot us dead from the above!... oh, what do I do?!...
Maybe… we can block the door!
…. No, we don't have anything that we block the door with! My backpack is too small!
I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth to keep me anchored mentally.
Think, Aera! Think! Think of anything!...
Okay, the stalls are out of the question! ….Focus on the door, then! That's the problem here! Whirling toward the door, I stared at its angle and tried to predict how the shooter would enter the restroom.
The door can be only opened from the outside with a handle….! We have no handle on our side of the door to play tug of war with the shooter….!
The shooter will come inside here. It's inevitable. Since the shooter is after Esperanza, he will infer that she's inside here, since all the classrooms' doors are locked!
No matter how much I thought of and rejected ways for Esperanza and I to make out of this situation alive, there was only one option. It kept on lingering in the back of my head, but I had pushed it away while scoffing at it from the beginning….
Because it's impossible! And the chances that I will get shot are so high!
Aera… you're going to die anyway if you don't do it! There is a small, marginal chance that Esperanza and I might live, and that's still a chance! It's better than both of us being dead!
Flight or Fight?
Flight? ….The shooter would shoot me down!
Fight? …..I guess I would have to admit it. I will have a better chance. I have a black-belt in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido! I even won gold at the Taekwondo Regionals!
But my knee injury…. Will I be able to do even a weak kick…? The doctors said that I should give up Taekwondo because my tendons and bones would give out….!
I was even forced to give up my childhood dream of becoming a Tae Kwon Do gold medalist in the Olympics because of it….!
But if I fight even if it will snap my tendons….Esperanza and I might both get out of this alive today if I'm lucky….!
…..The door is facing the sinks…
We are facing the sinks...
The door will swing open from the outside...
And he will probably be having his gun propped up with his arms, facing the sinks...!
Then we shouldn't be facing the sinks or the door.. Then we wouldn't be shot because the shooter would shoot at the sinks first…..
….I will have to try to kick the gun down from the side...!
...If I'm lucky, he wouldn't be expecting it.
My ears detected the most terrifying sound of my life—footsteps. Ordinarily sounding, but with the ominous sound of metal, and the looming sense of death, clanking with every step. The sound froze my blood solid, with my mind whirling out of control. My body suddenly moved, adrenaline shooting through my limbs as I immediately pushed Esperanza with my arms. She stumbled to the wall right next to where the main door was, gasping at me wide-eyed.
If we're lucky, he wouldn't notice us from the side…!
My heartbeat resounded slowly in my ears. Please don't come in! Please… don't let him know that we're beside the wall! Please, please, please! I prayed with all my strength, still trying to avoid the option of fighting with all my heart...
Thud.
Thud.
Trembling with bottled-up stress and fear, I took my place at the side of where the shooter was to be entering from the main door. Swallowing a huge lump down my throat, I shakily held out my fists in front of me and readied my feet in a kick stance. Something that I hadn't done in a long time, but was like a second instinct to me.
The heavy footsteps stopped in front of the restroom door, my body thrumming with pure adrenaline. I heard nothing. Dead silence, except for my ringing heart beat.
Then the door swung open from the outside and a few seconds later, a horizontal view of a glistening, metal rifle appeared in front of me.
Now.
Unleashing a guttural yell, I swung my leg up as high as I could and slammed my foot down on the gun. I felt the bones in my right knee crack slightly, but I pushed on despite it. The gun faltered under my foot… but astonishingly, the shooter did not relinquish his hold.
The startled shooter fired a shot that was angled low, the noise ringing in my ears as I immediately tried to get my foot off the gun. Distantly, I could hear one of the sinks cracking as the bullet ricocheted off it.
Esperanza screamed but I could barely hear her. The hot muzzle of the rifle burned my calf as I yelped loudly from the sudden pain.
The shooter entered the restroom and whirled to his right to face us. During a few seconds that seemed like eternity, I saw his face. Sweat was dripping down his bony and pale face, his brown eyes glazed over as if he was on autopilot. He lifted his gun.
In slow motion, I saw his fingers pressing down on the trigger and with a flash and a loud, ear-shattering bang, the gun jerked back in his hands.
But my body was already moving, turning. Balancing my body weight as always, I swiveled on my left heel, my body tilted backward and leaning to the side as my right leg swung in a high arc above my head.
Please.
Instinct and practice had made me move in an instant, and using all the strength I had, my right ankle collided with the shooter's head with a sickening crack. His head snapped to the side from the impact and he began to fall, his rifle dropping from his hands. Both of my feet landed on the tiled floor, safe and sound.
I stared in shock at the shooter's crumpled form, with his rifle a few feet away on the tiled floor. Somehow my numbed body began to move toward the shooter and as I carefully went to his side, I kicked the gun away. I hesitatingly inspected the shooter.
His eyes were rolled up to show the whites of his eyeballs. Slightly slurred, he was muttering something.
He's unconscious.
...It worked. It worked. It actually worked….!
….I'm not dead!
I'm not dead!
I'm alive!
Huge relief and joy exploded out of my chest as I turned to Esperanza to make sure she was okay… To tell her that we had made it, that we weren't dead, we were alive…..!
But my joy crashed and burned to the ground as I saw her face of horror. She wasn't looking at me. Rather, she was staring in horrified shock with her mouth open in a silent scream.
What? What's…. wrong...?
I slowly looked down, feeling apprehensive. What…. has to be so…. horrifying?
Bright, ruby red was spurting from an area of shredded gray wool that was my sweater, exactly where my upper left shoulder was.
Blood. Oh gosh, it's blood.
What… happened?
What…? Why…. is there...blood?
How come… I don't feel anything..?
My shoulder began to radiate burning hot and freezing cold, so blindingly that I started to sweat excessively. My breath started to escape out of me in tiny shivers. The wool's weaving pattern blurred and at the exact moment, it felt like someone bludgeoned me with an iron sledgehammer.
As I slowly looked up to see Esperanza, I expected to see her.
But I saw nothing.
Nothing but black.
.
A/N:
Oooo. Now finally it is starting~
(Oh gosh. I can't believe that I actually posted this.)
If you don't get who Lady Imagination and Lord Reality are, they are beings that reign over imagination and reality. Lady Imagination would rule over the domain of humans' imagination and fiction, while Lord Reality would focus on the reality of humans. They both have the power to influence parts in their domain but usually humans have the power to change things big.
And unlike Lady Imagination's very successful fanfictions that she wrote, I just hope that at least a few people would enjoy reading this fanfiction. I have lots to learn in writing and I am no Lady Imagination. I'm just a regular human being with writing flaws that can be improved. :D
Annnd I know that the fact that Lady Imagination write fanfictions is very cringy but I need it for this fanfiction nonetheless, hahaa ^^
BIG SPECIAL THANKS to my little sister and her best friend for their extremely helpful editing and suggestions.
Please Review! With gentle and helpful constructive criticism please~