7:59 AM, Subaru's bedroom.

A black-haired boy was looking at his bedside alarm clock. It has long since rang 44 minutes ago. So, one might have expected the boy to be up and about by now, and yet he was lying in bed looking at his alarm clock. Every second felt like an eternity for the boy as he waited for it to hit 8:00 AM.

"Come on, just a little more…"

The endless march of time continued, and so, after some lengthy 60 seconds. "8:00 AM" was displayed on the alarm clock. A sigh of relief could be heard from Subaru as the time he has been so eagerly waiting for has finally arrived. And the reason for that was…

"Yep, now I won't be able to make it to school in time."

Subaru emitted a sigh of relief and proceeded to get up from his bed.
He then opened his iPhone 201, where we could see an alarming notification on his home feed from the "iHero" app.

"So that's why Dad didn't wake me today, work must be tight with all these increasing villain attacks."

Subaru frowned.

"If only I had a quirk like Dad, then I could fight the villains myself."

Before he could continue his depressed train of thought, a gentle knock could be heard from his bedroom door.

"Good morning Subaru, breakfast is ready." Subaru's mom said on the other side of the door. And so, another average morning in Subaru's life has begun.

3:20 PM convenience store.

Subaru handed the entirely average-looking male shopkeeper a cup of instant ramen.
"That will be 79 thousand yen" the shopkeeper informed him after scanning Subaru's purchase.
"It was just 69 thousand yen a week ago" Subaru complained half-heartedly. He wasn't planning to cancel his purchase over some measly 10 thousand yen.
"Well you know how it is, the economy and all…" the shopkeeper answered back.
"I guess even Heroes can't fix inflation." Subaru joked and handed the shopkeeper a 100k yen bill, to which he received his change and instant ramen in a plastic bag in return.
"Have a good afternoon." the shopkeeper told him and Subaru thanked him before leaving the store.

The familiar sound of Cicada was heard as Subaru walked through the streets.
"I usually don't go around here". Subaru decided to explore the city today since he was bored and he was now on his way back home after buying ramen. He forgot his phone at home, but that was ok because he knew the way back, however, that would necessitate him to take a dirty alleyway or lengthen his walk by 5 minutes.
"I don't have a good feeling about this." But then his stomach rumbled, and so, Subaru decided eating his ramen soon is more important than avoiding a creepy alleyway.

It didn't take long for his fears to be confirmed.
"Drop all you've got if ya' don't wanna get hurt". 3 Ruffians stood in the way of Subaru and his home. The one who made this threat was a lean blue-haired thug. To his left was a criminal that probably had a tinyism quirk and to his right was a shirtless thug who wouldn't look out of place in a sumo competition.

"Hey, isn't this a bit unfair? It's three against one and I don't even have a quirk." Subaru tried to talk his way out of this situation, but it didn't look like the criminals were in a good mood today.
"Does it look like we darn care about what's fair, kid? We're robbing ya here so either you drop your stuff quick, or we drop ya." The villain answered back in quite an impatient tone. Seeing as there was no other option, Subaru dropped his plastic bag with the instant ramen and dropped his wallet on the ground as well.

The tiny criminal picked up the wallet and opened it:
"The hell? It's only 21k yen!"
"W-well I'm not carrying much money right now…" Subaru answered nervously.
"Ya think we're stupid kid?! Ya bet you are getting a beatdown for that stunt."
The lean thug exclaimed angrily and approached Subaru at a rapid pace.
"No, wait, seriously! That's really all I have right n-"... But before Subaru could finish his sentence he received a fist to his stomach, and after one quick kick to his shin, he was wheezing on the ground. Evidently, the thugs weren't satisfied with just knocking Subaru to the ground as he was soon getting kicked while down.

The kicks hurt like hell, but Subaru could take solace in the adrenaline that helped numb his pain. Still, he couldn't do much right now but try to protect his chest in order to save his ribs.
"And take this!" Another brutal kick was delivered to his back and a moment later another leg kicked his arm protecting his chest. He heard a cracking sound from his arm.

If this beatdown continued any longer Subaru's life would be lost. However, this would not yet come to pass because-
"That's enough, Villains!" As soon as she said that, the kicks stopped. That beautiful feminine voice sounded like an angel to Subaru, and when he saw the owner of the voice, the heavy pain plaguing his body left his mind momentarily.

"Leave this boy at once!" - the girl addoning silver hair and pointed ears exclaimed.
"Tsk, this boy messed with us so we are teaching him a lesson. Do you know this boy or do you think you are some kind of hero trying to help him?" the short thug said.
"If I had to say I have never met him before" - she said, and then the large thug opened his mouth-
"If that's the case don't intervene in our matters and scram!"
"Still, I can't overlook what is happening here." She raised her right arm and pointed her palm toward the villains. Quickly, 3 ice balls formed in front of her, and then slammed into the villains, knocking all of them to the ground, but the largest one.

"You think you can mess with us bitch?!" The thug with the blue hair got up and said. A moment later two curved knives sprouted from his palms.
"You ain't no hero and your quirk only hit us cus we weren't expecting, it's 3 against 1!" Then a voice spoke out from the girl's direction.
"In that case…" What looked like a floating cat materialized next to the silver-haired girl and spoke.
"Let's make this 2 against 3!"
The three thugs were confused by this development.
"Your quirk was shooting ice, what the hell is that thing?" The cat answered back
"My name is Puck, and if you lay a hand on Lia, I'll haunt your kin for 7 generations, not that you'll have any kin if it got to that…" It seems Puck's threat got to the villains because they all took a step back afterward. Despite it being summer, suddenly the alley felt like water would freeze in it. Chills ran down the spines of the thugs and not from the cold.

The small and big thug nervously looked to their leader for guidance and after a moment he declared:
"F-Fine, this trash has learned his lesson already so we'll leave him alone." The three thugs then quickly left in a hurry with the small one muttering under his breath "creepy cat". Puck smiled at that moment as if he had heard that.

Subaru breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much, I would be finished if it wasn't for you." He tried to get up but stumbled back on the ground when he tried to push up with his fractured arm. "Aaah!" The girl had a look of concern on her face when she saw this.
"You shouldn't move so quickly, you might make your wounds worse." She wanted to go help him but then stopped herself-
"Since I'm not really in a hurry today, I can help you with your wounds, but! Only if you promise to pay me back for my trouble."
"Well, I just had everything stolen from those thugs back there." Subaru answered. The girl suddenly looked a bit guilty after hearing this but then her look switched to concern as she saw him fall unconscious on the ground.

After waking up, the first thing Subaru noticed was the pain was gone. The second thing was that everything was really fluffy around him.
"Never thought a girl's lap would be this hairy-What the heck?!" he quickly jumped up from his fuzzy comfortable cushion and the reason for that was-"Good morning, slept well?" Puck, now the size of a human greeted Subaru with a smile, clearly, he was enjoying this, or so Subaru thought.
"Like hell I would confuse a cute girl's lap with yours!" Subaru was clearly angry first thing after waking up.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted", Puck then shrank back to his normal size and resumed floating. Subaru then turned in the direction of the girl who saved him. Now that he could see her while not injured, he could admire her beauty far more clearly, and she looked around his age too.
"Thank you very much for saving me!" Subaru bowed dramatically, almost hitting his head on the ground, as is customary in the Natsuki household.
"I'll do anything I can to repay you for saving me and… healing me?" Subaru suddenly had a realization
"All my wounds disappeared… but your quirk is to make ice, h-how?" The girl looked nervous in response.
"Actually, that's what I want in return. Promise to keep your lips sealed about what happened here today and you'll repay your debt. Is that crystal clear?" her tone turned serious when saying this.

"Yes! Absolutely, I swear I will never tell anyone about what you did for me today or my name isn't… actually, we haven't even exchanged names yet haven't we?" Then he paused and said.
"Well then, I'll go first" Subaru then raised his index finger in a strange pose.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru! I'm quirkless but I'm the guardian of my house when my dad is on the job! Nice to meet you!"
"Well, I guess your confidence is admirable, anyway you might have already heard it before but I'll say it again, my name is Puck, nice to meet ya!" Puck then proceeded to fly to Subaru's neck to rub his feline body against it in a move that normally a cat would use to get food from a human. In response, Subaru rubbed the floating cat's neck, which he seemed to like.

The silver-haired girl giggled at this show:
"That's impressive Subaru, one does not simply get along with Puck like that." And he replied:
"I feel like you just said a reference I'm too young to get… anyway, how can I not get along with him when his fur is so soft?" The girl had a happy smile in response.
"So Subaru, you mentioned you protect your home, forgive me for asking, but how do you do it without a quirk?" She felt some shame in asking this question, yet her curiosity won over her. She expected Subaru might react negatively, however, he answered her with a smile and pulled up one sleeve to show his muscle -
"Well, when you stay home every day it's only natural to exercise a lot!"
"In other words Subaru, you are a HIKI NEET?"
"Ahhh! Who even says words like that anymore?" Subaru feigned hurt at her relatively innocent assessment. He then got more serious and blushed slightly. "Anyway… I got your cat's name but you haven't told me yours yet." The girl looked disappointed when it came her turn to say her name, as if she had held herself back from getting any closer to Subaru on purpose.
"My name… Well, My name is Satella."

Subaru blinked once, he then blinked twice, yet before he could blink thrice a sound escaped his throat.
"Huh?" Subaru didn't notice it but while this was happening, Puck had a shocked look on his face.
"Yes, that's right, My name is Satella". Subaru was starting to connect pieces in his head. He didn't notice it before, because he was so enchanted by her beauty, but the girl's features were all exactly the same as described on accounts of the infamous witch of envy.
"No" Subaru said resolutely.
"Huh?" 'Satella' responded.
"A girl as beautiful as you, has no right going by such a disgusting name!" She blushed while looking shocked.
"But… I told you my name, and I look like her, so why…"
"I don't care what color your hair or eyes are, or how your ears look, to me, you are the beautiful girl who saved me. So then, tell me your real name."
"Give it up Lia, that was really in bad taste you know." Puck told her and she had a guilty look on her face but then she considered Subaru's words and she smiled genuinely .
"You are right, Satella is not my name, My real name is Emilia, just Emilia." Subaru could feel butterflies in his stomach. Emilia's face grew slightly concerned when she looked at his face directly.
"Subaru, You are as red as a tomato! Are you feeling well?" Subaru muttered something like
"Emilia-tan is so cute when she's concerned for me", but Emilia didn't hear it.
"Who even says 'as red as a tomato' anymore."
"Huh? Are you teasing me? Wait, don't you try to deflect my question mister! If you are not feeling well you should be resting in bed!".
"I'm feeling perfectly well Emilia-tan!"
"Tan?" Emilia questioned. However, before their conversation could get even more awkward, Puck intervened:
"Don't worry Lia, Subaru is perfectly fine."
"Well then, ok, if you say so, Puck." Emilia seemed relieved at Puck's words.

"So Subaru, where are we going exactly?" After they finished introducing themselves, Subaru and Emilia left the alleyway and started walking along the street.
"Well, I guess I would normally be going home now, but if I do that, then I might never get to meet you again! So then, before that, let's exchange contact information!" Emilia looked nervous in response.
"Um, Subaru… I don't actually have a phone." At this, Subaru was hella confused. "Eh? No phone? In this day and age?" Emilia looked kind of hurt by his words. "Well, um, I'm not exactly affluent, so, please understand Subaru." Subaru then took a thoughtful stance.
"Well then, this won't do at all. Emilia-tan, if you can't afford a phone, then i'll buy you one!" Emilia looked taken aback
"B-but I haven't done anything to deserve something like that." Subaru didn't agree with that statement
"No, if you haven't helped me in that alleyway, I wouldn't be living right now, Emilia-tan. I still have to repay you for that."
"But, you already promised to keep my secret."
"Let's see then… One good deed a day, I want to do one good deed a day and today my good deed would be helping a totally broke girl get a phone so she can keep in touch!" At this Puck had a suspicious look
"hmmm Subaru, sure that is a good deed but I wonder who is also benefiting from it." Subaru then proudly answered
"Why me of course, because I get to keep in touch with my new friend" Emilia was taken aback by Subaru calling her his friend and Puck had a happy look on his face, "You really do wear your heart on your sleeve, don't you Subaru?" Puck said
"Hehe, I might, and If I do it beats for Emilia-tan!" Subaru then turned to face the girl in question.
"So then, Emilia, would you be my girlfriend?" Emilia was slightly confused by Subaru adding the word girl before friend, but she quickly forgot that as the Idea of making a friend made her heart beat faster in excitement. Meanwhile, puck had a look that said
'I know what you are trying to do Subaru' But he decided not to intervene as Emilia accepted Subaru's request, and so, she made her first real friend.
Emilia and Subaru walked towards Subaru's house, in order for him to bring his allowance, and this time NOT forgot the phone at home.
'But if I didn't forget my phone, the thugs wouldn't have beaten me and I wouldn't have met Emilia-tan.'
"So Emilia-tan, what kind of phone do you want?"
"Um, something cheap, it wouldn't be right for me to burden your family too much." Subaru smiled and then said
"Don't worry, my dad is a pro-hero! So we are practically swimming in money." Puck then interjected into the conversation.
"Don't think you can buy my daughter's affection Subaru, I'll have you know Lia doesn't care about material things…" Puck then proceeded to have a shocked face when he read Emilia's emotions and her face, which suggested she was in a world of her own, fantasizing about being rich.
'I feel like this boy just awakened something in my daughter, and I don't like it.'

"Puck is right, Subaru, you can't buy friends with money." Emilia said, However, she didn't sound entirely sincere.

The talk about money almost made Emilia forget one thing that Subaru said.
"So Subaru, your dad is a pro hero? That's reaaally admirable! So, which one is he?" Subaru smiled at Emilia's question, he was happy to praise his dad.
"He's the one and only Can Do hero! He has a reputation for never failing his missions." Puck then raised his hand like a kid in a class and spoke.
"Oh! So the number 4 Hero in Japan."
Emilia also talked
"Um, yeah I've heard of him, but I haven't seen videos of him."
"Yeah, that's my dad Puck, and I promise you, Emilia, when you see videos of him in action you won't be disappointed." Emilia trusted Subaru's words
"Ok, if you say so Subaru." she said with an innocent smile and the pair continued to walk.

"Um, this place is pretty creepy, Subaru" Emilia told Subaru as they were about to enter a long underpass that went under a highway of the city. The place had no functioning lights, and graffiti was seen on the walls wherever the sun's rays reached.
"Don't worry Lia, I don't sense anyone nearby, and besides, I can protect you from any danger." Puck reassured her.
"Well, It's either this, or we take another underpass 10 minutes from here." Subaru added in, and Emilia apologized for being scared previously. And so, they walked through the underpass, which went uneventfully, for its first half.

Subaru was lucky he played so many video games, or else, his instincts wouldn't have kicked in when a small metal clang came from behind them. Subaru turned around fast enough to notice the darkly clothed person rapidly charging Emilia with a kukri knife. He proceeded to think quickly, and he pushed Emilia out of the way of the blade. However, this would prove to be careless, as now he was in the path of the blade, soon his belly would be cut-
*Clang* But before that could happen, the incoming knife was deflected by an ice shield.
"Nice assist, Puck!" Subaru hastily replayed to which Puck displayed a thumbs up and then turned towards their attacker.
"Don't you think you have got the drop on us girl." Puck said to the person that tried to cut them down, which now Subaru can clearly identify as a woman.
"Ara, so you managed to notice me in time." Her eyes then widened when she got a good look at Puck, and she displayed a creepy smile.
"Ohh, I've never cut the gut of a spirit before, what fine prey do I have today!"
"Hey! What the hell are you doing trying to cut us up here! Are you some kind of crazy serial killer?!" Subaru cut it.
"Well~ I'm not technically a serial killer, but I will admit I find killing enjoyable. Still!~ There is not much point in taking the risk of hunting prey without a hard cash reward."
"Huh? What's the point in killing me, I'm no one important!" Emilia was taken aback by her response.
"I'm inclined to agree~ but apparently my contractor doesn't think so, and I'm being paid handsomely to do my job without asking questions, so, Show me your entrails, all of you." Subaru took a fighting stance, Emilia formed an ice shield and 4 sharp icicles hovered in the air next to her right hand. And many ice bullets formed in front of Puck's hands. Puck struck first
"In that case, I'll send you to meet all others who try to hurt my daughter." Ice bullets around the size of a finger quickly shot out in groups of eight against the assassin. The attacks gave her no room for a counter-strike as she was forced to do her best to dodge the bullets, despite her best efforts, with each successive shot one bullet would graze or penetrate her. Since the bullets were wide and slow they didn't leave an exit wound, however they were certainly deadly. After a bullet hit her ankle she was unable to dodge the next barrage, and she was greeted with her own chest full of ice bullets.

She fell on her back, but before they could celebrate puck noticed there were no wounds on her chest, and she was still gripping her knife. And so, he quickly formed a large ice spear and launched it at her, however,
"I'm impressed~ most would assume I was out of the fight by then, but you had the sense to try and finish me off. Still, what a shame that you missed me." She was able to quickly jumped back to dodge the deadly ice. Despite the hits to her chest, she seemed to be breathing just fine.
"Don't patronize me girl, and I didn't miss" Puck said, and then Emilia quickly formed a wide ice shield in front of herself, Puck and Subaru.
"Ara-" *BOOM* The piece of ice Puck threw earlier, exploded in a literal hail of shrapnel. The result was pieces of concrete falling all over the underpass on the side the Assassin was on, and a dense fog as well. However, when the fog cleared and Emilia dropped the large shield, instead of seeing the mangled corpse of an assassin. They saw her cast away her dark cape to the side as it disintegrated into nothing.
"I knew the day would come where that metia would come in useful."
The now barley cladded assassin said.
"Metia? So that wasn't a quirk?" Subaru was confused by all this.
"I suppose you haven't heard of them, not many have after all~ Now, should I get serious and send you all to meet the angels?" Unlike before, she took a stance, and it would seem now the real fight was on.

The assassin moved like a blur as she rushed Emilia with a kukri blade, however, Emilia's instincts were sharp, and she was able to block the flurry of quick but deadly strikes.
"Don't underestimate me, Villain!" Emilia said and shot ice spears at her, forcing her to do somersaults to dodge. Here and there, she would get grazed and blood would spill. However, to Subaru who was watching the battle without participating, it was clear her wounds were healing as quickly as they were being made.
'So that's her quirk, huh? Yet the speed and power she is showing is definitely superhuman as well.' When the assassin made enough distance from Emilia, Puck renewed his assault. He was trying to wrap things up quickly since it was almost his time to sleep. So, he shot rapid ice spears at the assasin together with Emilia. Since she couldn't dodge all of them, the somewhat clad assassin had one of her legs impaled to the concrete on the ground by an ice spear.
"Ara~ it seems you got me." The assassin was surprisingly blushing at this development.
"I'm getting tired of fighting you, so I think it's time I finish this." Puck then formed a very large ice ball and spoke once more.
"Say goodnight!" The ball launched towards the assassin at a high speed, but she was not under it when it struck the ground and rolled away.
"Ahh~ I never cut off own limbs before" She got away from it by cutting off her own impaled foot and jumping to the side on just one leg.
"Well, it looks like my attack did some good damage… Lia, my time is up so I can't fight anymore." Puck said the latter to Emilia.
"I understand Puck, don't worry, I'll finish this I promise." Puck yawned and closed his eyes as he disappeared into thin air.
"Emilia-tan! What just happened to Puck! Is he okay!?"
"Don't worry Subaru! Puck only has enough… energy to be active between 9-5. So he will be back again tomorrow."
"Your cat really is weird, Emilia… anyway, can you beat her alone?"
"Don't worry Subaru, it should be easy peesy now that she only has one- Huh? It's back!" The assassin has regrown her foot.
"Ara~ having a nice chat there? It's a shame the spirit has left, but if we can get back to cutting your bowels I would be very happy~ not that I'm asking, of course."

And so the battle between Emilia and the assassin resumed. This time it seemed Emilia was on the back foot, as she wasn't able to keep her distance from the assassin. Despite landing some hits with summoned spears. Emilia's arm holding up the ice shield received a cut, which forced the shield to drop for a moment. A moment too long as a blade was heading for Emilia's neck- Yet before it could hit her, Subaru knocked her body with a kick that forced her strike of course.
"Don't you forget about me!" Subaru said triumphantly after saving Emilia's neck. However, his confident look soon turned to fear as he realized the situation he was in, he was unarmed against a superhuman assassin, and he was standing in between her and Emilia. So, Emilia couldn't do anything to assist him. Then the assassin took her chance. Subaru tried to dodge to the side but this was pointless as the attack didn't come from above. Instead, his stomach was cut and he fell face down on the concrete.
"A shame~ I was hoping to save you for last." The assassin said.
"SUBARU!" Subaru was able to make out someone shouting his name through the intense pain as his guts spilled out of his body. He wasn't sure how much time passed, but despite it feeling so long it probably wasn't so until Emilia fell as well, with her chest cut across where her hurt is, next to Subaru. And so, with his last bit of life left Subaru brought his hand to Emilia's and held it as tightly as he could. He spoke through a blood-filled mouth-
"Just you wait- I will definitely… Save you."

A moment later, Natsuki Subaru died.

Cicada buzzed, Subaru was standing in the middle of the street, alive and well.
If anyone were to look at his face it would have seemed like he had seen a ghost.
"Huh?"
A sound came from Subaru's mouth, and his hand which wasn't holding a plastic bag moved to check on his belly wound.
"It's gone, did Emilia heal me again?"
Subaru remembered the fight with the assassin.
"Crap, what am I doing all the way here?! I need to run back and help Emilia!"
It was then that Subaru began running as fast as he could, back to the place where they fought before.

Thankfully, Subaru was able quickly to break his speed when three people appeared in front of him obstructing his way in an alley. However, Subaru soon realized he recognizes them.
"What are you in such a hurry for?" The shortest of the bunch asked. Which was followed up by the lean blue thug declaring.
"Just drop all you've got if you don't want to get hurt, kid."
Subaru had an angry look on his face.
"Seriously? Didn't we already do this before?"
"Huh? What are you on about? We ain't never robbed you before." The lean thug said.
"Were you dropped on the head, or are you just stupid?" The short thug added.
"Make it easy on yourself bro and just put all you've got on the ground and we will let you go." The large thug finished.

"Sure, Sure. I'll just drop everything I got" It appeared Subaru was complying with their words as he began to put his plastic bag on the ground. However-
"Like hell I will!" Were Subaru's words as he used the opportunity of them letting their guard down to sucker punch the big thug in the face. And true to the idiom, he fell hard. This was immediately followed up by Subaru knocking out the short thug with a roundhouse kick. The blue-haired one had a shocked look on his face, however, he quickly recomposed and began an open-palm strike on Subaru. Subaru blocked his attack with his arm, however, Subaru's face was soon the one shocked when he saw the knife that stuck through his arm. After that, the thug retracted his knife puck into his palm. Due to this Subaru's arm was letting out an obscene amount of blood.
His adrenaline was keeping him from noticing the intense pain as he quickly counter-attacked by kicking the thug hard in the balls. His enemy had a face that said something like-
'I will certainly never have children after this.' as he fell to the ground crumpled in a ball.
"Serves you right, you lumps of exp!" Subaru insulted them before continuing his run, he had to save Emilia.

He was hyperventilating and his legs were sluggish, soon his run turned into a walk and then he fell to the ground, barely avoiding hitting his head. His eyes saw something most alarming. Behind Subaru was a trail of blood originating from his stabbed arm.
'Shit, am I really going to die of blood loss after winning my first fight?'
Subaru had no more energy to speak, so he only had his thoughts to accompany him, as his vision grew darker and darker.
'I can't… Die here… I have to save… Emilia.' These were Subaru's last thoughts before his brain ran out of oxygen.

Thrice more, Subaru heard the sound of buzzing insects.
"What the hell is even going on anymore…"
The sense of deja vu was great as Subaru's legs gave out and he sat down on the street.
"I died again… I died twice today, but I'm alive." This was the realization Subaru was coming to, and looking at the sun in the sky. It would seem time turned back.
"Was this… my quirk?" It's not like quirks, that allowed someone to see the future didn't exist. However, they were exceedingly rare. Still, Subaru was aware of them as sometimes his dad would talk about a hero who uses them.
"No… this was real. I didn't just see that. Pain like that is not merely seeing the future." The realization Subaru was coming to was insane to think about, a quirk like that was way too powerful yet scary.
"I died and returned back to life, and back in time. Like a checkpoint in a video game…"
"I'll call this quirk, Return by Death."