Chapter 1: The Man

The man came that day—a man who would set the rock rolling down the hill. And it was a rock that I wished had never fallen.

I remembered it was the day Older Sister got accepted into U.A., her smile brilliant and bright and filled with anticipation for the future; the day Brother finally turned twelve and received a pair of gloves that would help control his Quirk; the day Mother cooked our favorite dish, baked salmon topped with fresh lemons and ground black pepper, for celebration; the day Father, despite his usual cold and narrow nature, told us how proud he was of us; the day I saw my family so happy and so together as one...

But it was also a day of grief. Everywhere stank of the footsteps Death left behind as it trailed around my family, observing them with a cruel lift to its lips.

Before Older Sister opened her acceptance letter to read aloud to us; before Older Brother blew out his candles on his birthday cake topped delicately with frosting; before Mother sliced pieces of her salmon for all of us to share; before Father, who I would have never known had wanted to share with us a blessing, the man—the man who would cause the rock to fall down the hill—came barging into our house.

On that day, I remembered how I declared it as the best day ever for I had never seen my family so happy. Oh, how I wished to grab those words back and swallow them down hard and bite my tongue for allowing such words to come out. For Fate is truly a cruel thing: it gives moments of happiness that are only hastily taken away only to leave one drowning in tears. And I had fallen into Fate's trap.

They died that day; Older Sister, whose chance of becoming a hero at U.A. drowned; Mother, whose baked salmon left untouched on the table; Father, whose prideful words dissipated under his angry cry as he lunged to attack the man.

Only Brother and I survived. Why? Well, because the man never got to us because the heroes came and drove the man out. However, the heroes, the supposed saviors of the world, came too late. The harm was already done. The majority of my family was already dead. I wished that the heroes could have just left me to die with the rest of my family as well.

Brother and I sat in an ambulance as the nurses tended to our injuries. The heroes came and left as fast as they came, gone to where, I did not know. Perhaps they went to another case of villains, after all, that was their job was it not?

Ever since we were rescued, Brother spoke nothing but of silence. His hands...they were shaking. I wanted to take his hands into mine as a show of comfort, but I was interrupted by the arrival of two policemen. So, I slowly receded back my hand, startled and saddened. I was not able to do anything, so I sat waiting and pondering on what would happen to us next.

Tenko Shimura, the boy, and Aki Shimura, the girl, one of the policemen described. The people around us heard of the policeman's announcements and began whispering who knows what.

They were treating us like some sort of spectacle, as if it was a rare occurrence for only a few members of the family to remain alive. I wanted to hide in a corner.

The villain escaped, one said.

How sad, they will have to be sent to an orphanage, the other said.

So sorry for the deaths of their family, someone said as Brother and I were led by the two policemen to the police station.

Such young lings to face such disparity, one twelve and the other only eight, said an elder as we arrived at the station.

Moments later, a caretaker of an orphanage soon arrived. She sought us with a hefty smile and a fake twinkle in her eye, as if smiling and acting kindly was difficult for her.

I will be taking them with me now. They are in good hands, she said to the policemen.

She seemed scary. I grabbed onto Brother's gloved hand. I did not want to go.

Though what could we do? We were only children—impotent children who have lost their family.

The lady led us away from the station, away from our past lives in which we were so used to living all these years. I looked to Brother to see if this was all just a dream, but my hopes were only crushed as his eyes looked just as bewildered as mine. And his eyes...they seemed...dead.

I hope you enjoy it here, we really seek to care for orphans like you, she said, the same hefty smile chiseled onto her face and the same fake twinkle in her eyes.

Orphans.

Was that what we were now?

Brother looked down with fury at the ground. He was definitely thinking about the same thing. But never would I have known that his mind was actually pondering about the man—the man who caused all of this. There was also something else in his red eyes that I could not understand. Was it the feeling of hope being shattered? No, there was something else...something like fire? But I looked away. I was too tired.

I expect a response, children. How do you like it here?... The lady smiled even wider as I saw her eyes twitch a bit, but only for a moment.

Scary. I held onto Brother's gloved hand even tighter. I looked to him for comfort but his red eyes were now just tracing the cracks lining the walls of our new room; his eyes seemed lifeless. Brother, I need your comfort...please...

Children? The lady was getting impatient; she could no longer hide the twitching in her eye and the smile plastered on her face slightly curved down.

No, I did not like it here. I did not like this lady. I did not think I will like the life of an orphan. However, the lady needed an answer and she would not go until she received one, so I gave her one.

But my lips were glued shut. I only gave a nod.

Author's Note: So yup, here you go! Chapter 1 officially here! I think I will update at least once a week, but if time does not allow such a thing, then at least every other week. Thank you for your patience :)

P.s. If you haven't gotten the hint yet, our main character is Aki Shimura, the sister of ,Tenko Shimura, who is also known as the notorious villain, Tomura Shigaraki (at least not yet in this story). Well, that's all! bye!