"Woo! I love you Jimmi!"
"Jimmi, you're so cool!"
"Marry me, Jimmi!"
The autograph signing event for the famous musician Jimmi Axediver was just as popular as one would expect. Hordes of girls were all gathered there to get even the slightest glimpse of him. At the end of the long line in the mall, Jimmi himself sat at a table signing autograph after autograph.
Jill, Nene, and Rikka were all standing together in line. They were finally nearing the front of it, where they would have the chance they had been waiting the past couple of hours to get.
"Man, I can't believe Sakura didn't join us for this. The second we got here, she said she'd go buy what she needed and meet us after we got our autographs." Jill said.
"Well she did say that was the main reason she was joining us." Nene reminded her. "But hey, it's her loss in the end. Oooo, I wonder if his smile's as dreamy close up!"
"I bet he's super nice too." Rekka chimed in.
The three U.A girls waited for another few minutes before it was finally their turn to get autographs. They each came up to Jimmi, with the musician looking as handsome and charming as he did on television. He was in his early twenties and had thick blonde hair. He wore an unzipped red jacket, denim jeans, and a pair of shades over his eyes.
"You're THE Jimmi Axediver!" Jill squealed. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's really you! We're like such big fans of yours!"
"I'm glad to hear that." Jimmi told them. He took notice of the uniform they each had on. "Oh hey, isn't that uniform for U.A High School? You all go there?"
"That's right. We're first years in the hero course." Rekka answered.
"Aspiring heroes huh? Well in my opinion, you all are the ones that really deserve praise." Jimmi said. "Risking your lives to protect the people and all. That's what's really important."
"Eeeeee, you have no idea how much that means to us!" Nene said with a grin so large it looked like her face might split.
"Anytime. Good luck, future heroes."
After getting their autographed pictures of Jimmi, the three girls walked away. They each had a skip to their step, unable to believe that they had actually gotten the chance to talk to their favorite musician. The man who had sung his way into the hearts of girls nationwide.
The three of them made their way to the rendezvous point, where Sakura was already waiting for them. The pink haired girl saw her classmates and waved over to them. "There you are! I was wondering what was taking you so long!"
"The line was crazy long. Sorry for making you wait." Nene said.
"I still can't believe you didn't want to get his autograph too." Jill told her. "I mean, don't you love his music?"
Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not really into that kind of music. I prefer something more calm and relaxing to listen to. It's also helpful for studying."
"You really are a nature girl through and through, aren't you?" Jill said.
"Is this Jimmi person really that good?" Sakura asked.
"Of course!" Jill said. "You know how a lot of musicians these days use flashy Quirks to make their shows even better? Well Jimmi's Quirkless, but he still manages to keep up with those other performers!"
"There's a sense of natural beauty to his music as a result." Nene added. "He's got tons of fans."
A Quirkless musician being able to be so popular was certainly a rarity. Sakura had to give Jimmi at least that much credit. "Well we should probably get going. I still want to do a little bit of studying tonight."
Nene took a look at the time on her phone. "Yeah, it is getting a little late."
The four girls all began making their way home. They were going to head to the train station together at least before splitting up for the day.
As they walked out of the mall, Sakura took notice of something. "Don't there seem to be more heroes around than usual right now?"
"Really?" Jill asked. She looked around at the streets and saw that Sakura had a point. "Now that you mention it…"
"Maybe something happened." Nene wondered.
"Well in any case, it's not our problem. Better leave whatever it is to the pros." Jill suggested.
None of them had any arguments, so they walked down the street and began making their way to the train station.
Fujino slowly caught her breath as she walked out of an alleyway. She was lucky she had found an old worn hoodie in a dumpster to help conceal her face. After blowing a hole in the side of a police station, no doubt cops and heroes alike were searching for her now.
Her stomach growled as Fujino sighed. She hadn't eaten anything today besides a cup of instant ramen, so it wasn't surprising she felt hungry. But she didn't have any money on her.
'What the hell am I doing? Where am I supposed to go now?' Fujino asked herself. She was on the run and had absolutely no one to turn to. The one person in the whole world she could probably trust right now was her mother, but she was all the way in Europe. Without even enough money to get a decent bite to eat, how was she supposed to make it to the other side of the world?
The more Fujino thought about it, the more she just wanted to go home. Go to the comfy bed in the warm loving house she grew up in and just sleep all her worries away. No one she knew was probably there anymore, but it was the only place she could think of. Her address was hazy after being gone for so long and everything she had gone through, so she tried to recall what she could. The only thing that came to mind was the city she lived in. Perhaps if she could at least get there, she could remember the way home based on the familiar scenery.
Stowing away on a flight to Europe was out of the question, but sneaking a ride on a train to her hometown was at least somewhat plausible. All she had to do now was get to a train station and then she'd figure out the rest as she went. Her entire escape attempt up to this point had been improvising on the spot, so why stop now?
Fujino walked up to the first bystander she could find. "Excuse me, which way to the train station?"
"The train station?" the man asked. He pointed over in the distance. "It's down that way and a little to the left."
"Thank you." Fujino said. She walked away, not wanting to let the conversation go on any longer than necessary. As she walked, she was reminded of how exhausted she was. The mental fatigue from everything that had happened so far was starting to wear on her.
After walking a few blocks down, Fujino came across a large park. She wasn't exactly in a rush, so she figured it would at least be a good place to relax and take a break for a few minutes. She needed a moment to clear her head anyway.
The park was incredibly large, with streams of water leading to a pond, as well as passageways that went under stone bridges. It seemed to cover almost half a mile in diameter she estimated based on the limited area she could see from the entrance.
Fujino walked through the park and took a look around. The peaceful sound of birds chirping and the cool breeze put her nerves at ease, allowing her to calm down some more. She remembered the few times she and her mother would go to the park together, though it was one much smaller than this.
As she walked, Fujino finally came across a fountain. She walked up to it and splashed the water from it on her face. It probably wasn't clean enough to drink, but at least it cleared her fatigue slightly. That didn't help how hungry she was feeling though.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Fujino jumped as she turned to the voice that spoke right by her. She looked at a group of four girls around her age standing by her, all wearing the same outfit. Realizing that they were just ordinary people, Fujino let out a sigh. "Geez, don't you know not to sneak up on people?" she said.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. My bad." one of the girls said. This one had silver hair with two curly ponytails. Another had short black hair, while another had long hair of the same color, but her bangs covered her eyes. The last one had curly pink hair. "It's just you didn't look so good. You were kinda stumbling around just now."
Fujino hadn't noticed, but she was probably walking a little wobbly given how tired and hungry she was. "It's nothing. Don't worry about-"
Fujino was interrupted as her stomach let out a huge growl that all five of them heard clearly. The silver haired girl let out a giggle. "Sounds like somebody's hungry." she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of candy. "Here. Have some." When Fujino seemed to hesitate, the other girl showed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. They're not poison or anything. See?" Reaching her hand into the bag, she took one of the pieces of candy and tossed it in her mouth.
Fujino still wasn't entirely sure she could trust them, but her hunger gave out in the end. She grabbed the bag and ate a piece of candy. Almost instantly, she recognized the flavor. "It's chocolate…"
"Well duh. They're called Coco Bites for a reason, silly." the silver haired girl told her. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh crap! You're not allergic or anything, are you?"
"N-No, it's not that." Fujino assured her. "I just… chocolate was my favorite flavor of ice cream when I was younger." Memories of eating the sweet treat with her mother came flowing back. How much she missed those times.
"I see." the silver haired girl said. "Oh right, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Jill. Jill Suzuki."
"Nene Fukasawa." the girl with short black hair said.
"Rekka Majo." said the one with bangs covering her eyes.
"I'm Sakura Avalon." the pink haired one greeted with a smile.
A silence overtook the area. Fujino could tell they were waiting for her to introduce herself. Finally, she gave in. Not giving her name would only arouse suspicion after all. "Fujino Hatsu."
"Nice to meet you, Fujino." Jill said with a friendly grin.
"If you don't mind me asking, why were you all wobbly just now?" Sakura asked. "Do you need to go to a hospital?"
"N-No! Nothing like that! I'm fine, I promise!" Fujino told them, a little too frantically honestly.
Thankfully, the girls didn't press her any further. "Well alright then. If you say so."
Fujino hid a small sigh of relief. "Well anyway, thanks for the candy. See you arou-"
Before Fujino could finish, an odd sensation filled the air around them. In an instant, Fujino's body felt like it had increased in weight by ten times what it normally did. She was forced onto one knee as she struggled to keep herself up.
"What's going on?" Sakura asked. She and all of the others seemed to be having the same issue that Fujino did.
"Is this someone's Quirk?" Nene wondered. "Who's doing this?"
"That would be me."
The girls all turned their heads to the origin of the voice they heard. There, they saw a boy with navy blue hair. He was wearing an unbuttoned black jacket with a white shirt underneath it, and black pants. But unlike the five girls, he seemed completely unaffected by whatever was going on with them.
A voice spoke into the earpiece the boy was wearing. "King, I finished putting up the barrier. And Queen dealt with all nearby potential witnesses."
"Understood. Keep watch and update me if anything happens." the boy said before turning his attention back to the girls. His eyes fixated on Fujino. "Now then, you're Fujino Hatsu, correct? I'll need you to come with me. The president is waiting after all."
"President?" Nene questioned. "What's this guy talking about?"
The boy released his Quirk and the girls all found their bodies return to their normal weight. They each stood up and faced the mysterious newcomer. But he wasn't alone for long. Soon, three others appeared at his side. One was a girl with long green hair and what appeared to be two large syringes attached to lines coming out of her back. One syringe had a green liquid inside it while the other had a liquid of a yellow color. The other two were both boys, one with blonde hair and a necklace around his neck that had a cross on it, and another with dark brown hair. Each of them were wearing the same outfit as the boy with navy blue hair.
The girl of the group showed a devilish smirk as she glanced at the blue haired boy. "We won't have to worry about interference, King. Everyone else in the park is fast asleep."
"Which means we get to take our time." the brown haired boy grinned.
"Please control yourself, Knight. We are not here to have fun fighting." the boy with the cross said. "We are here to do the righteous work of the president."
"What's this all about?" Jill asked. "What do you guys want with Fujino?"
"That's not really any of your business." King told them. "Nor does it matter."
"Yeah." the brown-haired boy named Knight said, taking off his jacket and throwing it into the air. In an instant, his left forearm transformed into a blade. "After all, you'll be dead within a few minutes."
Fujino widened her eyes. She recognized the names they were calling each other. "You've got to be kidding me… It's them…"
"You know them, Fujino?" Sakura asked.
"Not exactly." Fujino said. "But I've heard of them."
"It would seem our reputation precedes us." King said.
It had only been a few times, but Fujino had heard of them during her time at Paradise's hidden facility. Among the children trained to be living weapons, there was a specialized team that the organization used for its most important missions. She had only thought them to be rumors, but their presence here practically confirmed that they were true. Paradise's elite team of meta human warriors.
Checkmate.
A/N: Not much to say for this chapter. Not a lot happened but I'm sure you can imagine the next one will be action packed. Until then readers.
