A/N: Shiromi is a fun character to write. :D She and the rest of the council will have a part to play in this story!

This chapter contains more murder... read onwards, if you so dare hue hue ;p

The school atmosphere was already going down. Students were on edge (more than normally), huddling in nervous groups. With Unagi missing and Asu dead, it was understandable. Not that it mattered to Kuu Dere. She kept her aloof and emotionless mask on as always.

"Are you feeling nervous?" Ayano asked her.

Kuu shrugged. "Whatever."

If Ayano could feel empathy, Kuu would be someone she'd empathise with. Kuu didn't understand her feelings. Ayano understood how feelings worked - well, sort of. Ayano could only know so much about them. They were unpredictable, confusing, and fickle things. They hurt. They healed. They were a dangerous weapon, and ultimately, they were Ayano's true advantage: no feelings meant no remorse.

Still, Ayano had to keep an eye on that atmosphere. The lower it got, the more suspicious her fellow students would be. Perhaps it was best to settle their nerves for a while. And by that, she would pin the recent disappearance as murder on a student. But which one? Which one was gullible enough? The right choice?

The perfect culprit made its way to the psychopath's mind.

"I have something to take care of," Ayano told Kuu. "I'll talk to you later."

"Sure." Kuu said, nonchalantly. She paid no mind to Ayano as she walked away, pulling out her phone.

"She seems to be spending more time on her phone," a voice said behind Kuu.

The blue haired-girl turned around, facing the treasurer of the Student Council, Shiromi Torayoshi, as well as the A Class rank 5 hero 'White Tiger'. The short, silver-haired girl had her arms behind her head, and a calm smile on her face. She was wearing the white and red student council uniform, and a white scarf with black tiger stripes. Her kneesocks matched it.

"I guess." Kuu shrugged.

"Eh, well, she did become a hero recently," Shiromi said. "Still, the Association doesn't chat to heroes like they're best friends. Except for me, though. Always ringing them to tell 'em about my favourite kinds of tea."

"Cool." Kuu said.

"Well, adios and adieu, Dere," Shiromi said, winking at her. "Keep a third eye on your back. It keeps the bed bugs away!"

Kuu didn't respond to that. Instead, she watched Shiromi disappear down the hall.

Panty-shots were the easiest way to get a favour out of Info-Chan. They also doubled as stealth-training.

Ayano crept along the ground, taking a panty-shot of Saki Miyu as she was turned away. Ayano held her breath. She couldn't make a sound. Saki tensed. She felt something on her back. As soon as she turned around, Ayano was standing up normally.

"Oh, hi, Yan-chan!" Saki gasped, smiling. "Didn't see you there!"

Ayano returned her smile, and bowed. "I'm very sorry, Saki. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay!" Saki said, reassuringly. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"I wanted to show you something cool," Ayano replied. "Follow me!"

"Oh, okay!" Saki grinned. "Lead the way!"

Saki followed Ayano to a storage room.

"What did you want to show me?" Saki asked.

Ayano turned around, and swiftly, injected a tranquilliser into Saki's neck. The girl fell to the floor. Ayano smirked. Perfect. It had taken only a few study points into science, and she learned all about tranquillisers. The heroes didn't have a chance.

Saki Miyu had always been a normal person.

She'd had normal friends, a normal life, a normal family. And you know what? She was fine with that. She just wanted to take life easy. Well, as long as she got to eat some sweets, that was all that mattered. Monsters were scary, sure, but nothing the heroes couldn't handle. It was all okay, right?

Of course, life wasn't kind to her.

Saki opened her eyes. She was tied to a chair in the middle of a basement. She opened her mouth to scream. This couldn't be happening. Not to her.

Then a figure appeared before her. A figure with an erratic twitch in its body.

"Ayano?" Saki asked, tears appearing in her eyes. "Oh, thank God! Get me out of here!"

Ayano gave her a creepy smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that…?" Saki asked. She felt a sickness in her stomach. "Wait… you're the one that… no…" She screamed again. "No! Ayano, how could you?!"

Ayano laughed, quietly. She took a step towards Saki.

"I thought we were friends!" Saki screamed.

Ayano pulled out a knife. She kept on the creepy smile.

"Help!" Saki cried. "Somebody, anybody! Help me!"

But it was too late. Ayano was directly above Saki now, smiling hugely.

"No!" Saki wailed. "Get away from me!"

That was the last thing she saw before her mind broke.

For a long time, Osana had been crushing on a boy.

His name was Taro Yamada. To other girls, he was dull and uninteresting. But to her, he had so much to offer. He was an idiot, but kind, and goofy. She'd learned that through years of being his friend. From their first childhood moments together, to their middle school years.

Osana loved Taro more than anything. She knew how much he loved heroes. So, for him, she decided to become a hero. Sure, she wasn't in Class S, but she was good enough for him.

He loved her more than anything, and she loved him too. Now that he was truly her boyfriend... she could finally cut her hair. And quit the Hero Association.

She frowned, walking down the street. This would be her last day as a hero. Then she and Taro would live a peaceful life together.

She couldn't be a tsundere forever.

She stopped. She could feel something watching her back.

The Class B hero turned around, but there was nothing there, just an alleyway. She gritted her teeth, holding up her fists.

"Show yourself, monster!" she demanded.

Nothing appeared.

Osana glowered at the empty alleyway for a bit, before moving on.

Saki stayed next to her 'master', her head bowed. They were hidden in the shadows of the alleyway. Ayano handed Saki a knife.

"Do it," she whispered.

Saki crawled out of the shadows, muttering, "Kill, kill, kill."

Osana felt it again. She turned around, but there was no one there. She faced back to the front, where a high-school girl with long pigtails was standing, twitching erratically. Her eyes were bleeding. It was Saki Miyu, a girl from her school.

"What the-" Osana was cut off as Saki jumped on her, bringing the knife into her flesh. She made an inhuman screech as she stabbed Osana over and over again. Once the deed was done, and the body was slack, Saki stabbed herself in the heart. She fell over, blood pouring from her mouth.

Ayano let out a psychotic giggle. Once again, she'd won the game. Now just to pin it all on Saki, and everything would fall into place.

It was Friday evening at last. Ayano was headed to Saitama's apartment, acting casual, when the man in question zoomed by her at lightspeed.

"Master!" she cried, grabbing onto her school bag before it flew away.

The man in question stopped and faced her. His face was tensed up.

"No time to chat, Ayano," he said. "I've gotta find a bad guy to defeat!"

"You seem anguished, Sensei," Ayano commented.

"Well, I'm kinda in a hurry!" Saitama explained.

Ayano remembered something she heard at the seminar. "Ah, that's right. A C Class hero must deal with at least one problem a week or they will be evicted from the Association."

"Even you knew about that?!" Saitama grumbled. "Come on!"

"Don't worry, Master," Ayano said. "I'll help you look for a bad guy."

"No way," Saitama replied. "You'll get all the credit!"

"I'm only a Class B hero," Ayano argued. "And I won't get in your way."

"You know what, forget it," Saitama sighed. "It's getting late anyway."

"Let's look for bad guys tomorrow," Ayano said.

The two headed home at last. Ayano ended up sleeping at Saitama's place, alongside Genos who now lived there, which made for a very squished-in night.

The next day, Ayano and Saitama went out again to look for bad guys. Unfortunately for the Class C hero, there wasn't a single enemy in sight. They stood in the middle of the street, passers-by giving them odd looks.

Saitama tapped his fingers together, sweating. "It's quiet out here today too! There's nothing to do! Nothing! I'm going to lose my registration!"

Suddenly, a kunai came flying towards the bald man. He caught it between his fingers, only muttering a simple 'huh?'

Ayano and Saitama faced the perpetrator. He was a slim, young man with an androgynous appearance. He had long, black hair tied into a topknot, bangs falling over his face. He had two slashes of purple under his grey eyes. He wore a black sweater with a logo for a band of some kind, a black choker, and matching black pants.

"Master," Ayano asked, "do you know this man?"

"Yeah!" Saitama exclaimed. "I've run into him before! What was his name again?" He frowned. "Seed on the ground… no, wait, lost and found…?" He gasped. "Jack-o'-lantern panic!"

"No," the man scowled. "It's Speed-o'-Sound Sonic."

"I remember you telling me about him," Ayano told Saitama.

"Oh yeah," Saitama said, facing her. "Pretty sure he was around when the Paradisers attacked."

"Was he a threat?" Ayano asked.

Saitama frowned. "Eh, not really. I dealt with him pretty quickly."

"I see," Ayano said. "Should we-"

"Shut up!" Sonic yelled, turning red. "How dare you ignore me, you pathetic fools! Saitama! I'll have you know today is the day that we settle-"

"Hey, sorry," Saitama waved. "We're busy. See you around, okay? Come on, Ayano."

Ayano glanced at Sonic for a moment, before following her master. That Sonic character made her uncomfortable. If he attacked…

Sonic bared his teeth. "Insolent worm! You think you can run from me?!"

Sonic appeared beside Saitama, aiming his katana at his head, but Saitama bit through it like it was a baguette. The katana shattered into pieces.

Sonic choked. He barely even saw what happened.

Ayano stood in front of Saitama, pulling out her knife. "Master, I will deal with him. You keep looking for bad guys."

Sonic glowered at her. "Who are you supposed to be? Saitama's girlfriend?"

"Dude, gross!" Saitama cringed. "She's seventeen!"

Sonic chortled. "I don't have time to deal with bratty schoolgirls."

Two shurikens appeared in his hand. Ayano made her way towards the ninja. He threw the shurikens at her, which she dodged, just by a few centimetres. They landed in some buildings, exploding the windows. Ayano lunged at him, waving her knife, but he moved out of the way in a flash. He re-appeared behind her, and slammed his boot into her back. She crashed into the ground.

People began to gather. "Isn't that Ayano Aishi, a Class B hero?" "She's so cool!"

Ayano's eyes flashed red. She moved out of the way of Sonic's foot, but another kunai came racing towards her. She moved her head back, dodging it. Her neck cried out in pain. She stood up, flipping her knife in between her fingers.

"Heh," Sonic cackled. "You're pathetically weak. I'll be done with you in no time."

Ayano moved towards him, red lines appearing on her skin. She managed to cut a small hole in Sonic's body suit. He scoffed, and retaliated with another kick. Just as it was about to make impact, a man stood in the way. He was a large, muscular man with tiger stripes running through his hair and eyebrows. He wore a tiger-striped tank top.

"Alright kids, break it up!" he yelled. "We've got enough trouble with Baldy over here!"

"I told you, I'm a hero!" Saitama insisted.

Sonic glowered at the man in the tank top. Ayano recognised him as Tank Top Tiger, a Class C hero. He was relatively strong, but no real threat to her.

"If you're really a hero, you can't go running around town and frightening people," Tank Top Tiger told Saitama. "It hurts all the other heroes' reputations."

Sonic glared at Tank Top Tiger. He threw some exploding shurikens at the hero, causing him to pass out. The on-lookers screamed.

"Tank Top Tiger is down!" one screamed.

"Ayano, do something!" another screamed.

"I'm here too, y'know," Saitama muttered.

Ayano faced Sonic, running her finger along the hilt of her knife. The two continued their fight. Sonic sent some shurikens in Ayano's direction, which she dodged. She leaped into the air, preparing to stick her knife into the villain, but he swung around and kicked her in the stomach. The teen went flying and crash-landed in a tree. A baby bird chirped noisily at her.

"Pathetic," Sonic chortled. "She was nothing but a mere weakling."

"You okay, Yan-chan?" Saitama called.

Sonic approached the bald hero. "Finally, we can continue our fight! Saitama, come here and face me!"

Saitama glowered at him. "You just threw Ayano into a bird's nest. Let's do this."

Sonic cackled, racing towards Saitama at superhuman speed. However, before he could blink, the bald man appeared beside him. With one punch, Sonic was knocked out.

"I wonder if that'll count as work," Saitama muttered, gazing at his fist.

Ayano fell out of the tree, coughing up some blood, and a stray few leaves. She cursed herself. She still wasn't strong enough. She needed to do even more training.

"Master," she approached Saitama. "Can we do some training?"

"Uh, sure," Saitama said, scratching his head. "Unlike Genos, you're a human, so maybe I can actually help you."

Ayano jogged after Saitama as he gave her some tips on how to do push-ups.

The bearded worker frowned at the letter on his desk. The Class B hero, Tsundere-chan (aka Osana), had been murdered by a highschool student named Saki Miyu. Apparently, the student had been 'broken' in the head, according to a mysterious source. After murdering the hero, she had committed suicide. There was a high chance she was also responsible for the disappearance of another highschool student, Unagi Denkashiza.

Conveniently they, along with the recently deceased Asu Rito, had attended the same school: Akademi High.

The bearded worker had had his suspicions about that school for a long time. It was prestigious, one of the best schools in the entire planet, yet it was surrounded by a lot of mystery. Police were not allowed to investigate the school, and the headmaster kept everything under wraps. Even the student council president of Akademi, a Class S hero, refused to go into detail about occurrences at the school. He wanted the Association to investigate the school, but he knew the president would not let him.

City Z itself was full of monsters. The bearded worker looked over the reports. The monster reports were off the charts.

"What if Saki Miyu murdered Sneck?" a female worker asked.

"There's no way a high-school girl was that strong," the bearded worker replied. "Her body was examined. She had average physical strength for a girl of her age. Sneck is a Class A hero. The only reason she got Tsundere-chan was she probably caught her by surprise."

"Then perhaps…" the woman looked away. "... Sneck was killed by a monster."

The bearded worker scowled. He turned on his Saikou-brand computer, where an inquiry to investigate the ghost town of City Z appeared. Strangely, there was something there about another B Class hero, Ayano Aishi. She, too, attended Akademi High.

"City Z..." the worker sighed. "Akademi High, a ton of monster sightings... what is going on there?"

"Well, doesn't that sound ever so interesting," a new voice said. It belonged to a petite woman who was leaning on the bench. She had vibrant green eyes, and matching curly hair. She wore a form-fitting black dress with long sleeves, and four high-cut leg slits that showed off her legs and low-heeled black shoes.

"Want me to check it out?" she asked.

The bearded man gasped. "Tornado! How did you get in here?"

The S Class hero scowled and stood up. "Why? Aren't I allowed in here?"

"Of course!" the bearded man replied. "For City Z, the investigation is a formality. It's not worth your time! And Akademi High is protected by Goddess. She would take offence to any hero other than herself trying to investigate it."

"If there's something interesting going on at that school, I don't care what that fancy brat says," Tornado scoffed. "Unless you don't think I'm good enough."

Green energy surrounded the worker's chair, coffee mug, and papers. They floated into the air.

"That's not it," the female worker said, calmly. "The Association decided that with the exception of Goddess, Akademi High's situation is not a Class S matter. It's the same thing for the ghost town of City Z."

"Yes," the bearded agreed, hastily. "That's right."

Tornado frowned sceptically. She huffed, and the floating objects fell down from the sky.

"You'd better tell me if you find anything that looks like it can fight," she threatened, floating out of the room. She turned back just before leaving. "It'd be much faster if I want by myself. You guys are idiots."

The door closed behind her. The workers sighed in relief. The bearded worker glanced over the reports, which were now doused in coffee.

He hoped that whatever was going on at Akademi, Goddess would be able to handle it.

It was late evening, and Ayano felt like her body was going to fall apart. Once again, she was headed to Saitama's for dinner. She was currently helping him carry some shopping bags. On the way home, they had run into a monster made of kombu, which Saitama defeated with one punch. Now they had tons of kombu to lug around.

"You like kombu, right?" Saitama asked her, throwing some kombu over his shoulder.

Ayano shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Thank God you're not fussy." Saitama sighed. As they made it back to Saitama's apartment, the bald man turned the multitude of kombu into a hotpot. Genos arrived later on, curious about the ridiculous amount of kombu.

"I just…" Saitama sweat-beaded. "... happened to catch it, for a really good price!" He winked at Ayano, who nodded back.

Genos watched his master boil the kombu. He tried to ignore the fact that he saw him wink at Ayano. "People say that kombu is good for growing hair, but there is no scientific proof, so its real benefits are yet to be confirmed. I did some research so I am sure, Master. For example, according to this site-"

"No one said anything about hair!" Saitama exclaimed. While he continued making the hot-pot, Ayano gazed out of the window. Naturally, the death of Mushroom had been pinned on Saki. Sneck's death had been placed on a monster. No one even knew Ayano had been involved. Now that Saki was dead, the students of Akademi would no longer fear a mystery.

Ayano smiled. Emotions were unpredictable, confusing and fickle things. They hurt. They healed. And in Ayano's case, they killed.

"City Z investigative report," Eyelashes, Class B, read to his boss, the Blizzard of Hell. "There is nothing noteworthy to report in the downtown or residential areas. During our investigation, we encountered a ferocious monster in the abandoned area, but were unable to exterminate it and left it in defeat. Fortunately we escaped death, but the monster we encountered there disappeared, and it's possible that it still roams the area. Also, according to the monster itself, there's a rumour that powerful monsters have gathered in secret and already exist in this area."

He put down his paper. "That's rough. It sounds like it was a pretty brutal encounter."

Blizzard of Hell frowned. She was glancing at a picture of Ayano Aishi, a Class B hero who had been gaining some popularity recently. She was quickly climbing up the ranks. If she kept it up, she'd be in Class A soon enough.

"Ayano Aishi?" Remarkable, Blizzard's co-leader, asked, rolling his eyes as he gazed at the picture. "Ugh, she goes to my sister's school. Looks uninteresting as well."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Remarkable," Blizzard mused. "This girl seems to be quite strong. If her rank gets any higher…"

Remarkable huffed. "Whatever. She can't be any stronger than me."

Blizzard frowned, adjusting her fur coat. She knew how Remarkable felt about heroes out-ranking him. She felt the same. That girl wouldn't get too far, Blizzard promised herself that.

"Seriously? Another one? This is getting weirder and weirder…"

Beruma nodded in agreement. Fureddo Jonzu, president of the Photography Club, glanced at his Saikou-brand camera, which was showing a picture of a small pool of blood. It'd been found near the incinerator, where the delinquents hung out.

He scowled. He was only a low B Class hero, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything about this.

"There's definitely something going on here," he said, "and we're gonna find out what."

Shiromi Torayoshi had always found monsters hilarious.

They were weird, funny-looking things. Dangerous, yes, but she was a hero. She could defeat monsters in a heartbeat. All living beings hated stepping on Lego, after all. And besides, humans could be just as terrible as monsters.

She, alongside three other heroes, had been summoned as reinforcements for the aforementioned monster attack. Their names were Battery Man (Class C), Lightning Max (Class A), and Blue Fire (Class A). In the ghost town of City Z, monsters were stirring. The monster that had been causing trouble had disappeared, leaving behind a destroyed building in its wake.

"Holy crap, what happened here?" Battery Man asked. "What kind of monster could cause this much violence? I'd hate to face off against whatever crazy thing thing is."

Shiromi bent down, picking up a piece of burnt kombu. For some reason, it was as hard as steel.

"Ooh, kombu," she said. She bit into it, hurting her teeth.

"Uh, White Tiger," Lightning Max cringed. "I don't think eating that is a good idea."

"You're absolutely right," Shiromi agreed. "Kombu is terrible without mustard. You guys got any on you?"

The other heroes gave each other a weird look.

"Bummer," Shiromi sighed. "Guess chocolate sauce will have to do."

She pulled some chocolate sauce out of her blazer pocket.

"Why does she even have…" Blue Fire trailed off. "Moving on, it seems the monsters might've had a territorial dispute. Either way, something's definitely here."

The other heroes nodded in agreement. Shiromi continued chowing down on the burnt kombu. It was hilarious. These heroes were acting like the monsters in City Z were the problem. No. The real problem was hiding in plain sight.

Or should she say, a plain uniform.

Shiromi laughed out-loud, disturbing the other heroes. It truly was all a big sham.

"Hey…" Battery Man frowned. "Where'd my battery pack go?"

He glanced over at Shiromi, who was using said thing to heat up the kombu.

"Wha…" he trailed off. "When did she even-"

"Never mind her," Blue Fire sighed. "We've got bigger fish to fry, after all."

Info-chan's glasses glimmered as she scanned her monitors again. The students of Akademi High were in a slight disarray. After all, the City Z Ghost Town was harbouring monsters. As well as that, Saki Miyu had supposedly been a murderer.

No doubt, Ayano Aishi was the true perpetrator of the Saki incident. Info-chan knew what the Aishi family was like. They were natural-born killers, criminal masterminds.

Info-chan didn't feel bad. This was her own personal revenge against the Association. Once Ayano got into Class S, her real revenge would start. And those fools would feel the fury.