A/N: My goodness, you guys... this chapter has gone under so much revision. I've re-written the ending scene like ten times lol. I also changed the way texts are written so it doesn't look awkward. ;p Happy reading!
Charm.
When it came to being popular, having charm was essential. Now that Ayano was one of the most popular students at Akademi, she needed to learn how to be charming. That is why she was spending her Saturday morning lying on the couch, reading a romance manga called Cherry Touch. It was quite lewd to say the least. Not that being lewd bothered Ayano. This manga was quite useful, actually. It was teaching her all about manipulating others.
Unfortunately, her session was interrupted by a knock on the door. Ayano put down her manga and went to go and answer the door.
Standing there was a tall, slim and curvaceous woman with dark green hair styled into a bob. She was wearing a dark green form-fitting dress, a long, white fur coat, and thigh-high black boots. She had bright green eyes.
The B Class rank 1 hero, Blizzard of Hell.
"Miss Blizzard of Hell," Ayano greeted politely, bowing. "How can I help you?"
Standing beside the woman was a large, tall man with a huge chin. There was another man with long, light-brown hair tied back into a ponytail, and large eyelashes. Then a teen boy who looked around 14. He had short, silver hair and eyes, a strand of hair going down the centre of his forehead. The men wore standard black business suits, while the boy was wearing a black and grey vest over a long-sleeved blue undershirt with a brown tie. Dark brown dress shoes with red laces and a silver watch on his hand finished the look. He had a smug grin on his face, as if he owned the entire suburbia.
From what Ayano had heard from Info-chan, the large man was known as Mountain Ape, B Class rank 4, the man with eyelashes was called, well, Eyelashes, B Class rank 3, and the teen boy was Remarkable, B Class rank 2.
"Hero Yan-chan," Blizzard of Hell replied. "This is my co-leader, Remarkable, and our associates, Mountain Ape and Eyelashes. As you should know, we are apart of the Blizzard Group, a faction in Class B."
"Ideally, you should've introduced yourself to Miss Blizzard and myself as soon as you got into Class B," Remarkable said curtly. "It's a mandatory courtesy."
"My apologies," Ayano bowed. "I was preoccupied."
"We will let you off the hook," Blizzard said, "for we would like to offer you a place in the Blizzard Group, Miss Yan-chan."
"You want me to join?" Ayano asked.
"Indeed," Blizzard nodded. "We only invite heroes we see potential in. Join us, and we will let you have a high-ranking position in Class B."
"Or you can hang out at the bottom of Class C," Remarkable chortled. "Your choice."
Ayano dipped her head. "Please excuse me for a moment. I need to think on this matter."
The men looked like they were about to protest, but Blizzard raised a hand.
"Let her go," she said. "You know what to do if she refuses."
They nodded in unanimous agreement, while Remarkable kept smirking. Ayano closed the front door, and walked a few steps away. She pulled out her phone.
...
Ayano: Tell me everything you know about Blizzard of Hell, Remarkable, and their group.
Info-chan:
Sure thing.
Blizzard of Hell, Class B rank 1.
Her real name is Fubuki, and she is the younger sister of the S Class hero Tornado of Terror.
She is an 'esper', a person with psychic powers. While she is not the most powerful esper, she is still rather formidable. She, alongside the B Class rank 2 hero Remarkable, is the leader of the B Class hero faction known as the 'Blizzard Group'. I believe they founded the group together to get back at their S-Class sisters.
Remarkable, Class B rank 2.
His real name is Kencho Saikou, and he is the younger brother of the S Class hero Goddess. He and his sister are known as the 'Saikou Siblings'. His sister is the heiress to Saikou Corp, and Kencho was conceived with the sole purpose of being a 'back-up' if something happens to his sister.
Fubuki and Kencho are both notorious 'rookie-crushers'. If an upcoming B Class hero is threatening to outrank them, they will attempt to either recruit them into their group or fight them, and force them into submission.
I'm assuming that since you're currently B Class rank 9, they are trying to recruit you?
Ayano:
Yes.
Info-chan:
I see. Don't join their group. You won't be able to advance to Class A if you do. However, I advise that you don't kill Fubuki, either. If you do, her sister will find out, and she will definitely kill you. Her sister is the most powerful esper alive, and at your current skill level, you will not be able to defeat her. As for Kencho, Goddess will likely take offence to his death, so I don't recommended killing him either.
Ayano:
I see. Thank you.
Info-chan:
The Guardians, aka the Student Council, are the same. That's Goddess' Group in case you're wondering. Don't kill any of them, or Goddess herself will make your life Hell.
Ayano:
Understood.
Info-chan:
Pleasure doing business with you.
...
Ayano put her phone away and went back outside, facing her fellow Class B heroes. She dipped her head politely.
"Miss Blizzard, Mr. Remarkable," she said. "While I very much appreciate the offer to join the Blizzard Group, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."
Blizzard coughed. "Excuse me?"
"How dare you refuse the offer to join our group!" Eyelashes growled. "We out-rank you, and we can very easily send you to the bottom of Class C!"
"I don't mean to cause trouble," Ayano bowed, reassuringly. "I just-"
"No, I see how it is," Remarkable spoke up. "You think you're too good for us, don't you, Aishi?"
Ayano raised a hand. "I-"
"Alright, boys," Remarkable said, flipping his hair. "Let's teach her a lesson."
The three males lunged towards Ayano. She jumped out of the way, landing on the footpath. Remarkable pulled out a taser, with the Saikou logo on it. He flipped it between his fingers, before approaching Ayano once more. She thought about the rumours she'd heard about him. He was notoriously snide and smug, and he'd founded the Blizzard Group alongside Blizzard of Hell, who seemed to be the only hero he respected. Or perhaps, it was because Blizzard was the only one who understood him.
Ayano avoided a blast from his taser, pulling out a dagger. She clashed his taser with her dagger. Ayano scowled, narrowly avoiding another shock. From behind, Mountain Ape was about to get the jump on her. Ayano smirked. She waited until Mountain Ape was about to grab her, when she suddenly moved. She re-appeared behind the large man, and kicked him in the head. He crashed into Kencho, who accidentally tasered him.
"My turn!" Eyelashes yelled. He pulled out a pair of eyelash curlers, and turned them into claws. He scratched Ayano just below her eye, causing her to twitch. He then battled with her, and she used her dagger to cut his hands. He cried out as she kicked him in the stomach. His face collided with a hedge.
Kencho glowered at her, re-adjusting his taser. "Pfft, you're pathetic. Can't believe the Association lets mutts like you in."
Ayano turned around and clashed with his taser again. He kept a smug grin on.
"You've got nothing on me," he told her. "You're just a waste of space. You should be glad you even made it into the Association at all."
Ayano slashed him furiously across the chest with her dagger. He fumbled backwards onto the road, clenching up his vest in a fist. Ayano pointed her dagger at him.
Blizzard glared at her. She raised a hand, surrounding herself in light-blue energy. "Hellstorm!"
Ayano grabbed onto her shirt as wind began to blow. She felt herself falling over. She tumbled across the ground, unable to control her body. Rocks, pebbles, and other such things surrounded her in a strong tornado. Ayano gritted her teeth as a rock scratched her arm, and pebbles banged on her head. She scowled, and dug her dagger into the road, keeping her in place. Slowly, she slipped through the raging winds. It felt like she was walking through mud. Or a blender, with all the rocks cutting her up. She finally found the eye of the, well, blizzard. She raced towards Blizzard, dagger raised. The esper held up her arms, sending a multitude of rocks flying straight for Ayano.
Ayano whipped around, batting off some of the rocks, while others managed to slash at her clothes. She clenched her fists, coughing up blood. Her clothes were ruined, and her legs felt awful. She wanted to dispose of that annoying esper, but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle Tornado. But she wasn't going to let Blizzard - Fubuki - stop her from ranking up.
Ayano felt her hands turn red, as well as her eyes. Red lines appeared around her arms. Ayano raised her hands, and saw the lines fall off her arm, and swirl around in the air. Ayano realised they were some kind of string.
Ayano focused, and sensed the string moving, like it was part of her body. She sent the string towards Fubuki. The esper gave it a wary stare. With her psychokinesis, she floated away from it. But the string was fast, too. A bit of it wrapped around Fubuki's arm. Ayano could now sense her feelings, her thoughts, her memories. Ayano focused some more, and a psychotic grin surfaced on her face. Emotions were easy to manipulate. Now Ayano could break all of those thoughts the esper had.
The string glowed red. Fubuki cried out in agony, grabbing her hair in a tight-fist. She desperately pulled out a box-cutter, and sliced the string away. Ayano flinched. The string disappeared.
Fubuki glowered at the teen, breathing heavily. "I don't know what that was, but it wasn't enough to stop me."
She prepared to attack again, but was interrupted by her phone ringing. Fubuki lowered her arms and and answered the phone. A scowl passed over her face.
"Our fight will be put on hold for the moment," the esper informed Ayano. "The Hero Association has a job for me."
She stared at the fallen members of her group. "Come along. We have a job to do."
The three males got up, limping from their injuries. Kencho walked ahead, pretending he wasn't injured. The other two followed their leaders, leaving Ayano standing in the middle of the road. The teen girl wiped the blood off her dagger. She vowed that she'd have her revenge on the Blizzard Group. Even if she couldn't kill Fubuki herself, she'd make her pay.
Ayano glanced at her hands. These string abilities. She didn't understand them yet, but she could tell, they were going to come in handy. She let a cackle escape her lips.
Her laughter was interrupted by her own phone ringing. Ayano picked up the phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Ayano," Genos' voice. Ayano could hear the sound of the Association's warning in the background. "In case you are not aware, a group of monsters known as the Sea Folk are currently attacking City J. Master and myself are on the way there now. Will you be coming along as well?"
"Yes," Ayano responded, fist tightening. "I might be late, though. I have to take care of something."
"I see," Genos replied. "In that case I will see you there."
He hung up. Ayano glanced at her phone, and smirked. Now things were really going to get interesting.
Shiromi Torayoshi glanced at her phone, and grinned. The threat level for these 'Sea Folk' had been increased from Tiger to Demon, and the denizens had been encouraged to evacuate to a safe shelter. Shiromi had been called in to fight these Sea Folk herself. Well, Sea King, now. He was the last one left. Shiromi felt kind of honoured. She loved seafood, especially when it was alive.
But the Sea King wasn't the only reason she'd come here. No. There was another monster roaming around.
She grinned. Standing from her spot in the middle of the street, she could smell the fish from a mile away.
"Have I ever told you how much I love seafood?" she asked, facing the Deep Sea King himself. Sporting an aquamarine colour, he was a large, muscular humanoid being with dark skin covering his arms, legs and back with his chest and stomach being a lighter colour. He had fins on the side of his face, sharp eyes and large fangs. He had a small pink oval over each eye, similar to eyebrows, and another at the corner of his eyes. He wore a red speedo, a large, fur-trimmed cape held together at his chest with a clasp in the shape of a fish head, and an ornate crown. He reminded Shiromi of a clown. An ugly one, at that.
He towered over Shiromi, casting a shadow onto nearby cars.
"Oh," he said, in a deep tone. "You actually spotted me. What a shame, I love the element of surprise."
"So do I," Shiromi agreed. "Though, if you really wanna sneak up on someone, you'll need to do something about that body odor."
The Deep Sea King chuckled. "You're an interesting one. What is your name, surface dweller?"
"Call me Shiromi, or White Tiger, if you're into hero names. Doesn't matter to me," Shiromi answered, nonchalantly. She pulled out a stapler. "You like staplers?"
"Hmm?" the monster asked.
"I eat my food with staplers sometimes," Shiromi told him. "Makes the food more exciting. You never know when you might accidentally bite into a staple."
"What are you going on about?" the Deep Sea King asked.
"Oh, y'know," Shiromi shrugged. "Just distracting you from the bomb I placed on your ear."
"What?" the monster demanded. He felt his ear. "Hang on, there's no-"
His face curled up. Shiromi had leapt into the air, and stapled the stapler into his eye. While he was distracted by that, she wrapped a skipping rope around his neck, and dragged him down.
He let out a roar of pure rage. "You little brat!"
He pulled the stapler out of his bleeding eye, and fixed his torn muscles. He raced towards Shiromi, who jumped in the other direction. She threw a bath bomb at his head, covering his face in strawberry-scented powder. He coughed, as Shiromi re-appeared in front of him, a screwdriver in hand. She plunged the screwdriver into his other eye. He turned away, covering his face with a webbed hand. He coughed, muttering a curse.
Then he turned back to face Shiromi, a sadistic grin on his face.
"I think I've had enough of you and your silly little toys, Shiromi," he said. "Time to die!"
Shiromi kept her relaxed expression on as she held up a hand. "Sorry buddy, I've got bigger fish to fry. You can have some fun with Puri-Puri Prisoner."
The Deep Sea King tilted his head. "What do you-"
He was interrupted by the S-Class hero in question punching him from behind. The monster turned and gazed at him curiously.
"I won't let you hurt any more of my boys!" Puri-Puri Prisoner shouted. A certain villain was in the background, arms folded.
"How pathetic," Sonic muttered, tugging at his prison jumpsuit. "I could easily beat all of these idiots. That White Tiger hero wasn't even using proper weapons."
"Who said staplers can't be weapons?" Shiromi asked, popping out right beside him.
"Where did you come from?!" Sonic demanded.
"The uterus, 'course," Shiromi responded. "Catch ya later, Speed-o'-Sound Sonic."
She walked away, arms resting behind her head. Sonic just stared at her, and frowned. Shiromi continued walking, keeping an eye out for that girl. She sniffed the air. Rain was coming, anytime soon. Shiromi grinned. She was getting closer.
Gentle rainfall.
It set the mood quite well. Fubuki had watched movies where people died. During the death scene, there was always rain. It brought a sense of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness. The deceased would never open their eyes again. It was over, forever. But the rain would continue pouring. It was a cycle, after all. Much like life and death.
That's what Fubuki thought of, looking down at the deceased Eyelashes. She didn't even know how it happened. One second he had been alive, next, he was dead, bleeding from a large wound in his chest. She cursed herself. She'd looked away for too long; she'd been focused on that sea monster. Now, her associate was dead.
Other members of the group were mourning as well. Her co-leader had gone quiet. Though he'd been occasionally condescending towards Eyelashes, Fubuki knew he'd cared for him. Lily of the three section staff was crying as well. Even Mountain Ape was shedding a few tears.
Who would do such a thing?
Ayano Aishi smirked, watching Fubuki wipe her eyes. The teen slipped into the shadows, letting the rain wash the blood off her knife. Now that her little job was done, she could finally go and fight the Deep Sea King. She crept low to the ground, her school skirt dripping water. While getting her school skirt cleaned up would take time, it was her official hero costume, so she'd have to live with it.
"The rain's pretty cool, isn't it?"
Ayano narrowly avoided a knife being thrown at her eye. She turned and faced upwards, and saw White Tiger standing on a building, a calm smile on her face.
"'Sup," Shiromi greeted. "So, you like killin' people? Saw what you did to that B Class guy."
Shiromi held up her phone, which contained a video of Ayano's criminality. Ayano pursed her lips, teeth chattering. She pulled her own knife out.
"Hey there," Shiromi raised her hands. "We don't have to get violent, pal. If you surrender, I won't attack you."
Ayano appeared on the roof, knife raised above her head.
Shiromi chuckled. "Alright then, bud. We'll do it your way."
Just as Ayano was about to thrust her knife, Shiromi disappeared. The silver-haired girl re-appeared behind Ayano, and bumped her off the roof, using her hips. Ayano plummeted towards the ground. She used a sword to dig into the outside of a building, stopping her fall. Shiromi popped out right in front of her, a can of pepper spray in her hand.
"See ya," Shiromi said.
Ayano scrambled out of the way, her grip tightening on her sword. She pulled it out of the wall, and charged towards Shiromi. Shiromi threw a bath bomb at her. Due to the rain pouring down, Ayano's face was covered in pink, strawberry-scented goop that wouldn't come off easily.
Shiromi aimed the pepper spray at Ayano's face. She sprayed it, causing Ayano to flail backwards in pain. She fell to her knees. Shiromi pulled out a pair of glowing handcuffs, and kneeled down beside the psychopath. Suddenly, Ayano, eyes glowing red, whipped out and kicked Shiromi in the side. Shiromi dropped the handcuffs. Ayano stood back up, red strings flowing around her.
"Ooh," Shiromi commented. "Now this is an interesting fight."
She twirled past the strings, approaching Ayano at a fast rate. Ayano took a few steps backwards, knees bent. She couldn't lose focus, no matter what. Shiromi pulled out a frying pan, and speedily aimed the thing at Ayano's head. Ayano blinked, but it was too late. She got hit in the head, sending her into the wall. Blood dribbled out of her mouth, and down her cheeks. Her body went slack.
"Heh," Shiromi crossed her arms. "Look like we're done with-"
Two red strings wrapped around her arms. Shiromi's head began pounding, and her smile became forced.
"Oh, God…" she began to cackle. "Ahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!"
She continued her mad laughter, and fell to her side, dropping her phone. Ayano's eyes flickered open, and a smirk of satisfaction appeared on her face.
"AGONY!" Shiromi screamed, rolling around. "OH, THE AGONY! IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE FELT LIKE THIS!"
Ayano's knife fitted between her fingers. Her body felt broken, but she was somehow still moving. She stood above the almost-broken Shiromi, and crushed her phone beneath her foot. She scanned the girl, and destroyed any other technology she had on her, just in case. To her surprise, she had a lot. It was suitable for a machine-type hero, she supposed.
Shiromi gave her a crazed grin. "Gonna kill me, huh? Ahahaha… oh, well. It was gonna happen eventually…"
Ayano held the knife above her head. She hesitated. She remembered the warning Info-chan had given her: don't kill any of the Student Council. The president would make her life a living Hell. How that infuriated Yan-chan. But she'd have to oblige. Right now, things were hard enough.
Ayano glowered down at Shiromi, resentful. She couldn't just let her go, either. She knew what Ayano had done.
Ayano held out her strings, mildly curious as they wrapped around Shiromi's head. "Let's see what I can do here..."
Everything went red, and then she was somewhere else. A large, white empty space. There were boxes that looked like flat-screens floating around. Ayano gazed at them, and gasped. They were Shiromi's memories. She saw memories of her at school, with the other Student Council Members, stalking a student….
Ayano touched one of the memories, and felt herself being pulled into it, like a vortex. She stood back before she got sucked in, and frowned. She wondered…
Ayano pulled out a knife, and slashed through the memory of her battle with Shiromi, then the memory of her witnessing Ayano killing Eyelashes. There was a silence. Then everything went white.
Ayano blinked. She was back in the real world. She felt… funny. Sick, kind of funny. She wasn't totally sure what was happening… had she removed the memory from herself as well? She tried to think, but then her head started pounding. She flinched, grabbing her forehead.
Shiromi chuckled, rubbing her head. "Huh... how'd I end up here?" She sat up, and stared at Ayano. "Hey, it's you… you did something to me, didn't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ayano replied, dumbly.
"Whenever people say that, they usually do know what they're talking about," Shiromi retorted.
"I'm... going now," Ayano said, standing up.
Where am I again...? She wondered to herself.
"Hey, wait a sec," Shiromi held out a hand. "You did something to my… oh, wait-"
She was interrupted by an explosion in the distance that shook the Earth. Ayano turned around. The evacuation shelter had a steaming hole in its roof.
She turned back to Shiromi, but all she got was another bath-bomb aimed at her face. Ayano coughed up strawberry-scented dust. She blinked. Shiromi was gone.
Ayano shook her head, her memory slowly coming back. Deep Sea King. Battle with Shiromi. The Blizzard Group. She thoroughly searched the area, but couldn't find Shiromi anywhere. The clever girl had made her escape. Ayano cursed herself. Shiromi would have to wait for another day. For now, she needed to fight the Deep Sea King.
She raced towards the Evacuation shelter, knife in hand. She didn't know how much energy she had left, but she had to make it last.
When she was certain Ayano was gone, Shiromi crawled out of her hiding place. She coughed up a lot of blood.
Dammit… she cursed. That girl did something to me… oh well… guess I'll figure it out eventually...
She smiled, as the world blacked out.
Saitama glanced at his phone, shortly after Mumen Rider departed. He had no idea where Genos was, and Ayano was supposedly running late. He hadn't heard from her at all. He decided to ring her.
"Where are you?" he asked, as she picked up.
"I'm almost at the shelter, where the Deep Sea King is," she answered. "My apologies, Master. I got held up."
"I'll be there soon, as well," Saitama said. "Keep an eye out for Genos for me."
He hung up, and stared at his phone for a bit. He continued his trek. That's when he stumbled across an unconscious girl in a white uniform.
"Whoa, what the..." he bent down to examine her. "She goes to Ayano's school… maybe she's one of her friends. Better get an ambulance over here."
He called an ambulance, staring at the rainy sky. He wondered if the Deep Sea Whatever-it-was had done this to the girl. Or if it was something else entirely…