Dual Fates

Chapter 18: Fear

Heavy breaths, shaky, in the shadows Yukimura stood with her back slightly leaned over and pressing against the wall of a red brick building. Long brown bangs had fallen past her face so only her parted, panting lips could be seen. Faint sweat rolled down her tan cheeks while those blind hues remained on the puddle of murky water around her feet, the metal from her dagger could be heard from her quivering hand.

Nothing but fear could be seen on her face while heavy droplets of rain poured and drenched everything on her. Her bangs now sticking to her skin, her uniform becoming tighter on her from the wetness, and the puddle around her feet gradually grew. Fear, afraid of herself, afraid of the voice in her head, afraid of what she would've done to that man, afraid of what might've happened if she had let that part of her kill Shinso at that moment; afraid...she was so scared...of herself...

Kill him... She could hear her own whispering voice echo, it only made her breaths become heavier and her eyes widen. As before, the film over her blind hues disintegrated and was immediately replaced with those sharp, intimidating green slits that glow in the shadow of her bangs. "No...!" out came refusal from her lips after her hands clamped tightly onto her head. Kill him... It repeated with a more adamant tone and its whisper became harsher. "No!" Another word of denial left her, which only made the girl's head lower further and for her to squat in place.

Her dagger had fallen the moment her hands reached for her head, allowing a sharp clang from the metal to resonate through the alley. I need to, WE need it...! Kill him, KILL HIM! The voice was practically begging at this point. Struggling, shaking, she was and now Haru sat in a fetal position rocking back and forth.

What she didn't know was that an innocent civilian decided to stroll down the sidewalk that went past the opening of the alley. The very sound of those footsteps, which many would find it hard to hear through the hard pouring rain, indicated that it was only one person and no one else was around him. No other pairs of feet thudded around the person and their heavy footfalls told her that it was a man running through the rain.

This time, she couldn't control it, the urge, the need, the craving inside of her kept building and that dark part of her caused her to make that menacing grin that she tries so hard to hide. It was too strong for her to hold back, so within seconds the girl stood and bolted for the sprinting man. A dramatic stretch of her now glowing slits, zoomed past and the sight of the man's backside grew closer.

Flexible, her arm twisted in a certain way and curved, bringing the dagger's sharp side to the back of his neck and rain droplets sprayed into the air from her speed. Not too much longer were they accompanied by spots of blood next to the splashed rain, only to splatter the wet sidewalk and spray one side of a tree near him. A loud cry only for a brief moment, echoed through the air before it cut off and a faint thud replaced it.

The brunette was soon seen standing behind the man who had fallen onto his stomach, his head laid next to the base of the tree near her and water made the pool of blood beneath him to become thinner. The smell of iron in the air eventually flew up to her nose and not long after did that sadistic grin fall...

Those green slits returned to her normal blind eyes the moment realization came, the girl finally snapped out of whatever hold her dark side had on her, and once again...fear took over. Panic became noticeable, though most people would scream in terror at the sight, she only stood there astonished before rushing to the fresh corpse and dragging him somewhere to hide his body. The head was tossed into a dumpster and got buried deep with her own hands, she just hoped the blood would wash away with how hard the rain is falling.

Standing there, gazing at the side of the dumpster in a daze while her fingers slightly loosened around the grip of her blade, Haru fell to her knees and leaned over. With her bangs hiding most of her face, in side view only her teeth could be seen gritting, and a few tears were allowed to fall behind her brown strands; whimpers, a fist tightening, as loud as the rain, she screamed... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Her head lowered more and that very clenched fist slammed harshly onto the pavement during her cry.

It was long, loud, and reached quite the distance throughout the alley where Shigaraki hid in the shadows and observed. Those red eyes were so focused on her crying state, however, what she said afterward was what made them light up with surprise. "LEAVE, ME, ALOOOOOOOOOONE!" Yukimura screamed, frustrated from knowing that her dark side's only growing stronger by the day ever since she attended U.A with Uviel. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" Again, another roar of anger and pain, this time she began bashing her forehead against the hard surface of the dumpster, and with each hit she'd grunt.

Tears kept falling, blood trickled down her forehead, and eventually, she laid down next to it curling into herself. After some time of laying under the hard pouring rain, the girl stood and shakily stashed her dagger into her hilt. Her wobbly feet, her dazed eyes that cried out for so long, her head remained lowered as she wandered down the street and headed back to the stadium.

Tomura, who introduced himself before, quietly followed her, and made sure to keep his distance. Leave me alone, she says... Why are you fighting the real you? What is there to gain, from fighting who you really are...? his questions resonated through his mind as he tailed the snake-girl with glimmering interest in his red gaze. The next thing that happened, he disappeared the moment the building Haru passed and left as the view followed the girl. The rain made it a bit difficult to smell anyone nearby, so all she had to rely on was the vibrations she could feel and the sounds around her.

It wasn't long until the heavy rain cleared and the clouds parted, Yukimura was still too much in a daze to really notice anything. One thing did catch her attention though, Saito's familiar scent, from there she knew she wandered back to the stadium's entrance and halted just before the doors. Uviel... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...for running out on you like this... I can't let you see me like this... Depressed, Haru mumbled in her mind before disappearing and causing a stir in the air.

As fast as she could, a frown evident, the brunette made it past everyone in the stadium and avoided all eyes that she could. Surprisingly the downpour didn't even touch the place, the clouds must've been passing over the town outside of it. She chose not to sit with the other 1-A students so instead, sitting among the audience felt more comfortable and that's exactly what she did. Next to a couple of older women who kept conversing about the matches that went on when she wasn't there, the girl kept her ears open for Present Mic's announcements and comments from the nearby people who spoke of the students.

She wanted and needed to know how Uviel was doing, if her chance to witness her fight was already missed because of her frantic escape from the stadium. UV-Ray... the redhead's name echoed in her mind, only to hear the announcement of her best friend boom over the mic.

Alright, everyone! It's time! The one cybernetic girl that has passed the obstacle course, literally flying through it all! Uviel Saito, from class 1-A is up next! Everyone in the audience went wild with their cheers as the very redhead made her way to the stage. Those very words made Haru's gaze widen, surprised at knowing that she didn't miss her chance to cheer her best friend on. Good, you... You can do this, UV-Ray! In her mind she cheered and the frown she once had curled into a gleeful smile.

It was Uviel's moment now, her blue eyes examined the audience as they chanted her name. Her hand lifted to nervously rub her arm until the announcer called out Kirishima's name, the very voice made her attention move over to the other side of the platform and watched as the boy trotted her way.

His beaming smile, excitement on his face, he couldn't wait to see what all she can do in their fight and it nearly made him squeal from eagerness. "I can't wait!" Both of his fists pumped high above his head, not once did his toothy grin falter. When he moved his attention back to the shy girl, a thumbs up of encouragement was given to her followed by a chuckle. "You got this! Don't hold back, alright?!" Eijiro watched her nod and avert her eyes to the side. Adorn, blush tainted his cheeks when he saw her nervousness and internally gushed over how cute she seemed.

"Like...wise..." Uviel nodded and refused to look him in the eye, every time she would it'd only make her heart race like mad.

Are you ready?! The announcer exclaimed and made a long pause to make sure they really were. The cyber-girl nervously pulled out her Decennial staff and clicked the very button on the grip, allowing it to extend to its normal state. The girl jumped back to gain some distance with a quick twirl of the rod and took a stance that she saw characters do so many times on video games.

Remember, Uviel! It's like a first-person game! Only there's no health, stamina, magic, or energy bar. I can only use my shoes when I really need to, but in a one versus one match, I don't think I'll have time to even cast off to the sky. He can harden his entire body so I'll need to find a way to hit hard enough to cause some sort of damage and kick him off the platform... How, though? Pondering, her blue gaze finally glued themselves to red ones as they narrowed to keep her focus on the boy.

She knew better than to take her eyes off of her opponent, even if it's in real life, it wasn't any different than a video game when it came to pvp and it was common sense for any professional PvPer; the girl knew, very well, to focus on her opponent... Keep my eyes on my opponent and wait for an opening... those were her last words before Present Mic exclaimed Begin!.

Quickly, Kirishima was the first to rush in, Uviel's eyes widened at the sight with a faint squeak, and jumped aside to avoid his lunge. He had already activated his quirk, those familiar lines and hardened skin was obvious while those eyes remained on her retreating form. "Saito, fight back!" Encouraging her, the boy raced with a fist pulled back and a long battle cry in her direction. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want to lose either so the very thought of moving to the next match was what pushed him. Stern, his face was, when his fist flew past the girl's head the moment she turned on her heel and kept jumping back.

Fight back... Fight back, he says. He doesn't seem to get it. Her thoughts echoed as she continued her series of jumping backward to dodge him. Though, this time he lunged high into the air with a roar leaving his lips and lifted his arms above his head. Those blue eyes lit up with surprise at the sight and a faint gasp escaped, she had to do something.

I need a distraction... My staff, maybe I could use it to crush the ground beneath him and make a dust cloud? The cloud could give me enough cover to think of a plan to get him off of the platform. Within that moment she pondered and this time, her boots were activated with a simple click of a button like before.

High into the air Uviel soared, flying past the boy who fell and crushed a bit of the platform beneath him. The girl twirled around in the midst of her flight, pressed the same button as she had before, and swung it to the side.

A deep, quick, metallic sound resonated throughout the air with a swift quake and the very sight of the staff made the boy gasp. "Crap!" As soon as he panicked, chunks of the entire platform crushed up and clouded the entirety of the opening so he couldn't see. His forearms covered his face to protect himself from the flown dirt, however, he was lucky that he did because he felt a harsh weight and sting on his arms. A metal clang echoed through the cloud of dust, with one eye peeking open he saw the very cyber-girl above him with her staff grinding harshly against his forearms.

"Shit...!" Almost inaudible, Uviel swore and pushed herself off of him. Skidding backward to a slow halt, the cloud soon cleared and exposed the boy with faint marks of dirt on his jumpsuit. I didn't think he'd shield his head, damn! As quick as she could the girl twirled once more to swing her rod and kept her eyes locked onto his. I don't know how to fight hand-to-hand, I'll just have to...- before finishing her monologue, her vision began to fade to black. It scared her, she couldn't move, her sight looked like film or a picture that was getting torn into pieces and disappearing into nothingness.

What's going on, why can't I move?! This is what happened before when that robot attacked me, but it was so fast that it felt like a blink of an eye until I was able to see again... What's going on?! I can't move, I can't see, I can't even feel my surroundings! Help, someone! Pure fear engulfed her mind as those blue eyes stared into the blackness before her.

"Huh? Hey, you ok?" Eijiro grew concerned when he noticed her strange halt. He saw her frozen in midst of swinging her rod, the staff was behind her as though she was about to swat it out and perform the same earth-crushing tactic. "O- Oi! Hey!" Beads of sweat rolled down his head when he saw her eyes become emotionless, however... Seeing those familiar glowing lines in her eyes was what made him recall that robot attack and the sprint during that one night. They're the same as before! What's going on with her, all of a sudden?! Mentally questioning her behavior, confusion and worry was evident on his face when nothing but silence met his ears.

What's this?! Saito has frozen in place! What could have done this?! Did Kirishima do something to her in that cloud?! Present Mic's confused voice boomed over his com after leaning over it.

"Gah-! No!" Kiri flinched and looked over at Cementose with a pleading look in hopes that the teacher could read his mind. "She's not herself! We need to stop this fight! Something's wro-" Cut off from his speech, a harsh but tiny fist made the skin on his own cheek nearly warp if he hadn't seen her coming within that second and harden that part of his face.

The darker redhead flew across the crumbled platform and barely missed the edge if he hadn't flipped to skid to a halt. Once he set his eyes on the girl again and regained his proper footing, the boy noticed how the girl turned. It wasn't how she'd normally move, that dead stare of hers bore into his red hues when Uviel flipped her staff effortlessly in one hand to adjust its position; it was held behind her back like any normal staff.

Through Uviel's mind, her voice shrieked, her cry for help never left her lips outside of her body and it angered her. HEEELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE JUST WAKE ME UP! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON! Saito's pleading scream didn't seem to change anything. There was one thing, though, that caught her attention... A faint chuckle, as if it wasn't meant to be heard, reached her ears and made her aimlessly examine the darkness around her. That was, until a quickly flashed image of a man's grinning lips formed and rows of sharp teeth were exposed. Who're you, what's going on?! Nothing, pure silence...no answer was given and the desire to be heard just kept getting crushed with each attempt to scream for help.

(Play: March of the Neutrons by Supreme Devices, a YouTube channel :D)

"Uviel, what happened? You're not yourself all of a sudden!" Eijiro questioned in hopes of an answer but as far as his memory served him, he knew she wouldn't... Her state right now was the same as those few other times, especially on the street when he tried talking to her.

Nothing but an emotionless stare was glued to his frame, it wasn't long until her feet moved. Gradual steps with a quick flip of her rod, the girl jumped, spun the staff around, and caused the ground to quake once more.

Thankfully Kiri had moved out of the way in time, if he hadn't the chunks that were made previously would've fallen on him. Another dust cloud coated the crumbled platform and he did as before, though this time... With his arms shielding himself, instead of expecting the metallic impact from her rod, he felt a strong grip on one of his forearms then lifted his head to view her.

Gasping at the sight... He noticed a large, metal, hand with sharp tips that looked like claws had grabbed him, and only for a moment, did he see a stray tear fall; her arm was no longer normal. Right before she had regained her footing and chucked him to the side, he took note of how long it was. If anything, it looked like something he had seen in a video game or in manga, they seemed like bulky versions of homunculus claws. (If you've played Epic Seven the phone app, the banshee sisters is the best way to explain her hands. :3)

"EEEERRRRR!" Through gritted teeth, he grunted, as he skidded backward to a slow stop with his arms remaining in place. Though as soon as he halted he saw her pick up a piece of the platform straight from its cement, which...was larger than her own body, and harshly threw it at him.

Kiri acted quick, with his hardened hands he lifted them up to stop it but it was soon crushed by the girl's own hand... Wait, no, by both of her hands!? Time had slowed down for just a moment, to show her in midst of the small cloud she made and the glow in her eyes gleamed through the dust when her hand reached for his face.

Damn it, Uviel! Swearing in his head, the boy saw her large hand coming and ducked. He used that moment to strike at her ribs and mentally prayed that it was enough strength to send her flying over the platform. A fist to her side he did, making her grunt and shoot backward a few feet.

Though the thrust was strong and the girl had tumbled across the surface, she still stood back up with no emotion on her face. Eijiro, wake me up! Pleease! In her mind, she screamed as her body sprinted for the boy, whose face grew serious at the sight of another tear.

The darker redhead knew what he had to do, he needed to stand still and get a good hold on her... His fists clenched tightly, his feet were planted firmly onto the surface, and his arms rose to flex his hardened muscles. He prepared himself for what he was seeing, the girl moved incredibly fast after performing a cartwheel, and sounds of her claws could be heard slicing through the air as she moved.

"GAAH!" He endured it, the pain was real, those metal claws dug into his hardened flesh just enough to cause thin trickles of blood to leak. The boy was being pushed back while his jumpsuit ripping to shreds over his torso, he had to act now! Before it's too late, he needed to move and so, he did. Those strong arms rose and managed to grab both of her large hands, the tactic seemed to have stopped her but now if he lets her go... "Uviel, snap out of it! You're not supposed to kill people in this tournament! Remember who you are, why you're here! Whatever is going on with you right now, it's obvious that you're not yourself! This isn't you!" his concerned, strong voice even made the entire stadium become quiet.

Present Mic was literally standing out of his seat watching the fight, while Aizawa lifted a confused brow with a fold of his arms. "Something's wrong... Cementos, looks like you'll need to step in," From those words, he watched as Cementos rose from his seat and ran over to the cybernetic girl.

(song ends here! :D)

"AAH- Uviel, wake up!" Through gritted teeth, the boy was struggling to keep her from breaking free of his grasp. Arms quivering, two forces trying to overcome the other as they both stood there fighting for dominance. With Saito distracted, from behind the cement teacher wrapped his arms around her small frame and kept her arms from lifting.

"Uviel Saito, for attempting to kill in this tournament... You are disqualified," Though his voice sounded strict, his eyes were full of worry for the girl who seemed to not notice her own actions.

Panting a bit, inaudible whimpers from the countless cuts on his skin, Kiri sat down for a moment to take a breather and leaned his head back to view the passing clouds. I definitely need to tell Mr. Aizawa like I planned to before. In his mind, he spoke, concerned for her current state and lack of emotion.

"The winner is Eijiro Kirishima, by default!" When Kayama pointed her whip in the boy's direction, her announcement caused the audience to cheer with excitement. Such energy, the fists from some citizens that pumped in the air proved how much they loved the match.

Cementos, who continued to keep a strong grip on the girl, noticed how her head dropped after a minute of standing there and wondered why she suddenly passed out. Worried, Eijiro's eyes returned to the unconscious girl who he saw get carried away securely in the teacher's arms. Uviel... Her name sympathetically echoed through his mind as he rose to his feet.

With the citizens, Haru managed to hear Kiri's outburst a moment ago when the audience grew quiet. This isn't you...? What? Oh no, she was trying to kill Kirishima? Did the same thing happened to her, like before with that robot?! UV-Ray! In her head, she yelled, pure concern written on her face at the recognition of her best friend turning on the kill switch.

Tan fists tightly clenched at the thought before she rose and ran from the many seats to leave the stadium. I never should have pushed her into joining U.A.! This would have never happened to her from the start! Furious with herself, the girl did nothing but blame herself for what happened to her best friend and the very emotion made shadow engulf the entirety of her face.

Through the citizens she ran, avoiding curious eyes and risen brows on her way. As the view of her location gradually zoomed out to show the top of the stadium, a single sentence was all that was heard in Har-Har's mind...

This was all my fault... Grief was all that could be heard when she spoke.