A/N: IMPORTANT NOTE: So this week I've been kicking myself over season 1 since I didn't do some things I should've done in there, and I literally couldn't get over it so I went back and changed some things in season 1. The chapters I edited are:
Chapters 4, 6, 7, 9, 17, 18, and 23.
I also deleted one of the extra chapters since it's not canon anymore, lol. I'm kind of perfectionist, sorry... anyway, happy reading...
Humans are strange creatures, Akane thought, waving to another hero, who blushed mildly as she went on her way. Many civilians seemed to blush as she passed as well. Akane was easily going to top the Top 5 Most Beautiful Hero charts again.
As the young psychic walked through the gentle afternoon, she continued thinking about humanity.
Some humans believe they are much stronger than they actually are, she thought. Some believe they are much weaker than they actually are. Some belittle others, while some only belittle themselves. Most humans tell lies. Some just lie to get out of doing a favour, or a chore. Some live their entire lives revolving around lies and lies and lies.
Akane Toriyasu realised she was one of these people. It was tiring to have to put on a mask, smile and wave all the time. Of course, she didn't have much of a choice. She'd been ordered to act with a kind-hearted nature. It came naturally to her, but that didn't necessarily mean she enjoyed it. Not that she wouldn't do anything to protect her fellow students (she was a hero after all), but the effort was draining.
Rare was it that she ever got to be herself.
When it comes to humans, as mentioned before, there are many different types. Some don't know their own strength, and that can be viewed in many different ways. Rare is it to find a human that does completely know their own strength, all of it, in fact, and use it to their advantage. Rare is it also to find a human that is so devoid of emotions that they have no problem killing, manipulating, and backstabbing other humans.
Akane slowed down as she reached the front of the Hero Association Hospital. She'd been there only a few times, with her own private room thanks to Saikou Corp. As troublesome as it was, she had to give the Association credit for giving the heroes their own private hospital. She certainly wasn't going to let the girl in black do anything to it.
A young woman in black clothing completely obscuring her body, as well as gloves and a mask covering her face, was carrying a large crate of something over her head with ease. She resembled the so-called 'Hero Killer', a monster affiliated with the Monster Association who was out killing heroes. She walked near the door leading into the hospital, leaning against the windows. Akane could tell whatever was in that crate was rather heavy, which gave off very bad signs about the girl holding it.
Akane watched the girl as she pulled something out of her pocket, wielding the crate with one hand. A phone. She spoke something into it. A few seconds later, a security camera exploded.
Akane narrowed her eyes. What exactly was that girl doing? She got a bit closer, straining to hear the conversation between the girl and whoever was on the other end of the phone.
"... got the bombs? … my agents have secured the location… yes, you're free to go…"
Bombs? Akane thought, with alarm. So she was right…
Just as the girl was about to enter the hospital, orange energy surrounded her arm, and pinned it against the wall. The girl dropped her phone, scrambling to keep the weight of the bombs supported.
Her phone buzzed. "... you there? Aishi-san..?"
"You villain!" Akane shouted, appearing out of the shadows, her body glowing a deep orange. "I won't let you blow up this hospital!"
"... Red Bird…" the phone buzzed. "... Class A rank 3… Guardians… psychic..."
So this was another one of Goddess' Group Members. From what Ayano could tell, she was a psychic. Ayano sighed, internally. No death today.
Ayano dropped the bombs, and pulled a dagger out of her other pocket.
"Listen, villain!" Akane cried, holding up her hands. "I don't want to cause any more trouble than necessary! Surrender now, and I won't hurt you!"
Ayano moved as quick as a flash, appearing behind Akane. Akane dodged her swinging blade. She ripped Ayano's mask off, revealing her face. She gasped.
She wasn't a monster… she was a hero. A hero that attended Akademi High!
"Ayano Aishi," Akane pleaded, voice straining. "Please, stop this! We can end this peacefully!"
But Ayano couldn't let her get away with what she'd seen. Not until her mind was clear. She lunged towards Akane, and aimed the blade towards her throat. Akane frantically jumped back, clenching her fists. Ayano kicked her in the chest, making her cough and splutter.
"Please!" Akane begged, feeling a trickle of blood on her finger. "You're going to hurt so many people!"
Ayano raced towards Akane again, whipping a needle out of somewhere. Akane stared at it, horrified.
"You want to immobilize me?" she gasped. "Please, no!"
Ayano, quicker than before, zoomed towards Akane, needle ready to go. Akane shrieked in horror. She raised her hands, preparing to use her psychic powers.
"Water stream rock crushing fist!" Ayano yelled, using the move to launch Akane onto her back. The red-haired girl whimpered, blood dripping down the side of my face. She coughed up a stone.
Ayano stood above her, needle in hand. She pointed the thing at Akane's neck.
"Aishi-san, please, listen," Akane grabbed Ayano's hand, "it doesn't have to be this way!"
But Ayano wasn't listening. She impatiently rammed her knife through Akane's hand, spilling more blood. She pointed the needle at Akane's neck.
Akane opened her orange eyes. "Alright, that does it, you fucking bitch."
Before she knew it, Ayano was flying, surrounded by an orange light, and then crash-landing. She sat up, only to have a pole land straight in her eye.
Ayano could hear Akane's laughter, but she couldn't tell where she was.
"I bet you weren't expecting that, were you?" Akane giggled, from somewhere. "I've always been the nice girl. No one gets to see what lies beneath the mask."
Ayano ripped the pole out of her eye. Her face was a waterfall of blood. She tried to use Yan-Vision, but her half-missing eye wasn't making it easy. She gritted her teeth, covering her bloody eye.
"That's all I am," Akane continued, from somewhere. "The sweet, caring, motherly, Red Bird. Hehehe. Aren't you lucky, dear? You get to learn the truth about me before you die."
And then Akane was there, eyes glowing, power surrounding her. Long, sharp objects floated in the air, pointed at Ayano like an array of death.
"Bird of paradise!" Akane shouted.
The barrage of objects made their way towards Ayano, and pinned her to the wall. They kept her completely immobilised. The objects were surrounded with psychic energy, making them even more powerful.
"We aren't so different, you and I," Akane said, walking towards Ayano with a sweet smile. "You keep your true self hidden as well. We all wear a mask of some kind, but you and I… we wear the mask of burdens."
Ayano couldn't move, and she could barely see. She realised she felt something: dread. It was over. She was going to die.
"I'll tell you one more secret," Akane said, approaching Ayano. She whispered into her ear. "No matter how strong you are, you will always meet your match. It may take months, years, decades, but karma will always find a way to return what you've done. And now… karma's knocking on your door, Ayano Aishi."
Ayano felt something else inside of her. Rage. A burning, fiery rage. The same rage she felt when she saw someone stronger than her. The desire to stop them. The desire to hurt them.
The desire to kill them.
Red strings appeared all around her. Her body began to tremble, and she let out a creepy giggle.
Akane stepped back, in confusion.
Ayano began to move stiffly, like a robot that had just been activated. The objects were still in her arms like extra appendages. Blood trickled down her face.
Akane gasped. "How are you still able to move? Your bones should've been shattered!"
Ayano ripped the objects out of her arms and legs. Her body was covered in a mass of holes, and she seemed to be balanced on an awkward angle, but somehow, she was still standing.
Akane almost choked. "Are you even human…? Or are you worse than a monster?"
Ayano pulled out her trusty dagger, and approached Akane. Akane moved back, and aimed her bow. She fired arrows at Ayano.
But the girl moved out of the way, somehow even faster than she was before. Ayano approached Akane from behind, and punched her. Her punch was strong enough to launch Akane into a window. The security alarms began going off.
Ayano scowled. She ran over to Akane, who was barely conscious. Akane coughed, and stared up at her.
"Oh, dear…" she whispered. "You're wearing an even bigger mask than I am. I can see why. It needs to be that big to conceal the thing behind it."
She lost consciousness. Ayano could hear people yelling in the background. She saw a flashlight from somewhere, and heard a dog barking. She put the mask back on, but not before touching Akane with her strings. Then she bolted, holding her bleeding eye, not looking back.
A group of security workers, as well as Tank Top Master, Uekiya Engeika and Mumen Rider, arrived at the scene.
"Oh God…" Mumen Rider gasped, staring at Akane's body. "Is that Red Bird?"
"I think so," Tank Top Master frowned. "It's so disgusting to think that someone would leave a body lying around like that... doctors, get a stretcher over here!"
A group of doctors loaded Akane's body onto a stretcher, and rushed her inside the hospital. Uekiya watched the whole situation, mouth agape.
"Master…" she said, hiding behind Tanktop Master. Tanktop Master scowled. Poor Uekiya. She was the big sister of the Tanktop Army, and was more of a lover than a fighter. She didn't deserve to be this afraid.
"What's going on out here?" Aoi asked, joining the other heroes. She was hanging onto a clutch.
"Miss Blue Dragon, please come back inside!" a frantic nurse shouted.
"Shut up!" Aoi yelled, glaring at him. "I saw Akane on that damn stretcher, and I wanna know what's going on!"
"We're not actually sure," Mumen Rider admitted. "We were alerted by the alarms going off, and went outside to investigate."
"We're not entirely sure what happened," said one of the members of the security team. "All of the security cameras were cut off for some reason. We did see a figure running away, but before we could make chase, they mysteriously disappeared."
"Must've been that 'Hero Killer' monster," Tank Top Monster concluded. "Strange that they would choose to attack Red Bird outside the Hero Association Hospital."
Uekiya nodded in agreement, still trembling.
Tanktop Master scowled. Was Garou involved as well? How many heroes was he going to hunt?
Aoi gritted her teeth. "Damn those monsters… I swear, I'll kill them all!"
"Miss Blue Dragon, please go back inside," a doctor pleaded.
"I'll kill you if you tell me to go back inside one more time!" Aoi shouted.
"Blue Dragon," Tank Top Master tried to calm her down, "he has a point. We should all go back inside. More monsters might appear."
The heroes went back inside. Meanwhile, the security team continued their investigation. They found an empty crate, buried beneath a pile of rubble.
"What the…" they examined the crate. "Where did this come from?"
"And what was inside it?" someone else asked.
Garou frowned, glancing at the news on a large screen of a building. It showed a newscaster talking about some recently incapacitated heroes, as well as some monster known as the 'Hero Killer'.
Red Bird and Blue Dragon have already been taken out? He thought. That girl… she was serious about hunting heroes?
He laughed. Damn, she might not be as weak as I thought she was…
Ayano glanced down at her phone, plotting the day to annihilate Sweet Mask. News about the supposed Hero Killer who was also a monster was spreading as well. The supposed Hero Killer was also affiliated with the Monster Association. Ayano knew she could lead all the heroes into the Monster Association and leave them there to die, considering how dangerous the Hero Killer was. As a plus, the monsters themselves would get killed as well. And even if they didn't all die, they would certainly be weakened.
She smiled. Once again, she was silently controlling everyone, leading them to their deaths.
She put a hand over the eye that Akane had impaled. Of course, it had already healed, and was working even better than before.
"Hey, Yan-chan!"
She looked up, seeing Taro Yamada standing behind her. He had a smile on his face.
"Um, hey," he rubbed his hand behind his head, "do you… want to come to the mall with me after school?"
Ayano sighed internally. She wished she could use her strings on Taro right now, but he was immune. So she had to do it the old fashioned way. Break him… slowly, and painfully.
Ayano blinked, then returned his smile. "Absolutely."
The mall, thankfully, wasn't too busy. It seemed, due to all the monster attacks, people weren't too eager to go outside.
"Sure is quiet, huh?" Taro laughed, scratching his head.
"Indeed," Ayano nodded.
"Well, you're a powerful hero, right?" Taro asked, his voice squeaking anxiously. "I'm sure monsters are no problem for you!"
Ayano just nodded again. She glanced at his expression. For a moment, it was tight, and strained, like he was having trouble keeping himself together. Ayano smirked. It was working already.
The two teens walked around, heading to the food court. They stopped by a waterfall with a marble statue of a woman with long, flowing hair and a suitcase in hand.
"Hey, isn't that Traveller?" Taro asked, looking at the statue.
"It is," Ayano said, looking at a sign beneath the statue.
"Wow," Taro gaped. "I always thought Traveller was really cool, y'know? I mean, I know she disappeared, like, ten years ago, but I think she's still out there, somewhere. I hope she comes back one day."
Ayano was about to reply, but she was interrupted by someone shouting, "BIG BROTHER!"
She turned around, noticing a teen girl racing towards Taro. The girl was wearing a blue sailor uniform, and had black hair tied into pigtails, with a heart clip. She had grey eyes and similar facial features to Taro. She jumped into Taro's arms, squealing with happiness. Taro, meanwhile, seemed to be a bit caught off-guard. He soon recovered, and returned the hug.
"Whoa there, Hanako," he laughed. "You scared me!"
"Sorry, big bro," the girl replied, still clinging onto his arm. "I got really excited 'cause I haven't seen you for ageeessss!"
Taro laughed, sweat-beading. He then noticed Ayano's blank stare.
"Oh, sorry!" he coughed. "Ayano, this is my little sister Hanako. Hanako, this is my friend Ayano."
Hanako waved shyly at Ayano. She gasped.
"Hey, you're the Class A hero Yan-chan!" she exclaimed. "Big bro, you didn't tell me you were friends with her!"
"Oh, uh, sorry," Taro sweat-beaded. He turned to Ayano, and lowered his voice. "Hey, uh, I forgot to tell you she was coming. Sorry about that, Yan-chan... Is it okay if she hangs out with us?"
Ayano nodded.
"Thanks," Taro smiled at her. "You're awesome."
"Big bro!" Hanako shouted. "Let's get some kakigōri!"
She grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him off, barely giving him a chance to respond. Ayano smiled darkly to herself, before following.
Some time later, the three teens were sitting around a table, eating different types of kakigōri.
"Big bro, can I have yours?" Hanako asked. "I don't like this flavour anymore."
Taro sighed, but obliged, taking his sister's semi-eaten kakigōri. Ayano watched their interactions closely, hiding more of her dark smiles.
"So, sis, how's school going over in City F?" Taro asked his sister.
Hanako pouted. "It's okay, I guess. I've missed you everyday!"
"I missed you too," Taro told her, returning the smile.
"Excuse me," Ayano spoke up. "But if you don't mind me asking, why do you go to different schools? Unless Hanako is a middle-schooler?"
"Nope, she's a high-schooler," Taro answered. "She attends a boarding school over in City F, since, uh…" he lowered his voice. "Her grades weren't good enough to get her into Akademi."
"I see," Ayano said.
"But I'm not going to that school anymore," Hanako cheered. "From now on, I'm gonna be attending Akademi!"
Taro almost choked on his kakigōri. "You are?"
Hanako nodded, childishly clinging onto his arm. "Yep! That means we get to spend alllllll day together, big bro!"
Taro sweat-beaded. "Oh… great…!"
Ayano watched the younger girl cling onto Taro's arm. Despite the fact that the age difference was only a year, Hanako's childish nature made it seem a lot larger. Ayano knew things were going to get a lot harder with her clinging onto her brother 24/7.
A thought crossed her mind. If she did something to Hanako, destroyed his spirits, he would be hers… forever. Considering he'd lost Osana and Amai, and all the news about monsters, there was a high chance he was already on breaking point.
Her smile grew even darker as she looked away from the Yamada siblings. Now she understood. She needed Taro. Not for love, but for his power. It was not a mistake to kill Osana after all, as she had learned the truth about his power.
He will be mine, Ayano thought. He won't have a choice.
A/N: That whole Akane scene (as well as her personality) was heavily inspired by the song 'Mz Hyde' by Halestorm (and maybe even Jekyll and Hyde the musical itself). It's a really good song and I recommend listening to it if you haven't already, especially if you're into rock. However, I can imagine the lyrics applying to both Ayano and Akane. ;) That scene was also originally in the Mida Rana chapter, but I changed it around since it clashed with the Aoi fight.
Hanako reminds me of Zenko, sort of... they would probably get on well if they met. She also reminds me of Yuka Mochida from Corpse Party, aside from the whole Alabama thing. Taro also reminds me of Satoshi, her older brother. Once again, aside from the whole Alabama thing. Though, originally, Hanako was going to have a crush on her brother…
Anyway, that aside, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays, and I hope you have a great time! (Thank God this year is ending…) And as always, thank you for reading, your support is a wonderful Christmas present. :D