Month 5 since Izuku's challenge began. I have excluded Youta in some of my experiments because he would deem them too dangerous and would bring up how I should do something else or try something more simple. When I didn't listen to him, he would bring up Akari or Mrs. Midoriya and I would have to cut training short because he was really convincing. Right now I want to fly through the sky while also being able to use my hands while flying. At the forest area just by myself.
"I should try using a different part of my limb. Maybe my foot." I took off my shoes and absorbed the air. Then I released it and flew up then backward slamming my back into a tree. I writhe in agony on the ground because of the sudden force. It still stings but I got back up. "Maybe my foot isn't the way to go. Maybe my arm."
I redo everything I did but couldn't get off the ground. I notice the air was shot throughout my arm and not just in a single direction so I guess that my arms and legs or any area of my body that isn't one directional are not going to be able to propel me in the air. I should try flying in the air with my hands then switching to my feet.
I take off high into the sky then stop releasing air from my hand then switch over to my feet which does not go well. As soon as I tried doing that I immediately lost balance and started to flip in the air and the air that was released from my feet was propelling me in a circle. I tried getting back into control but was flung instead. Fast approaching the wall of one of the taller buildings, I reposition myself as I stop releasing air from my foot and change it back to my hand. It was a spontaneous reaction so I didn't have time to rebalance myself as I just barely missed the building. Crashlanding in a conveniently placed dumpster in an alleyway.
It stinks but at least I'm not injured or dead because unbelievably, trash is a great cushion for a fall. Then I hear a familiar voice from weeks ago say, "Why are you even doing this? You're not even a pro hero."
"Pro heroes... They're too slow to do anything. I do this because they can't," a female voice says and I hear a punch and a man's voice groan as I assume whoever got punched falls to the ground. I decided not to poke my head up to keep unnoticed until they all leave.
I hear the sound of a cape moving in the wind come down then a male voice said, "Maeko. Are you ok?"
My ears perk up at hearing the name. It could just be someone with the same name I thought to myself. "I told you not to call me by my name when we are working. Doll Maker," the female voice said.
"Maybe you erased it from my memories. Hahaha. You need to make a hero name then. I still have some recommendations like Rewrite or Blank Slate," Then I hear him snap his finger, and the female grunts, "But enough of that. I think there is someone else here."
I felt a chill go down my spine. So I poked my hand out and said, "Hello there." Then I shrieked as I was pulled out of the dumpster hanging in the air by a string around the hand that I raised. "Ah… Hello again," I smile and now have a chance to take a good look at the two. The man had a black tuxedo on with a white mask covering everything but his mouth. The girl looked to be the same age as me wearing a black tracksuit and a cloth tied around her covering everything up to the eye. She also has an uncanny resemblance to the Maeko I know from school.
"Akumi?" The girl said.
"A friend of yours?" The man said.
"N-no... But she doesn't pose a threat. It looks like she crashed and landed here after some illegal quirk usage."
"I see." The man motions his finger like a scissors cutting and the string around my wrist releases me and I land on my feet on the ground. "Well, young lady, I think it's best for you to be off now. Maeko you know what to do."
I see from behind them another man with a bat about to swing it down on the girl so I yell, "Watch out!" I managed to move quick enough to push the girl out of the way and I braced myself for the bat to come down on me as I closed my eyes. But it doesn't and I open my eyes to strings tied around the man's bat, arms, and legs.
"That was a close one. A second later and you would have been a goner," the man with the white mask said. "What was that, Memo? You're not on your A-game today."
"I would have been fine," the girl got up. "Hey you," she motioned a finger at me, "Might want to move back a little." I complied and moved back.
"You'll never get away with this! If the boss finds out!"
The girl punches the tied up man in the face, "Like that's ever going to happen. You won't even remember who took you out." She looked at the man then talked to the man in the white mask, "It doesn't look like this guy knows where he is either."
"You'll get nothing out of me," the tied up man shouts.
"That's something we can agree on. Now just shut up and go to sleep," the girl punches the man in the gut and the man passes out. I am now respectfully scared of what they might do to me next. "Now what to do with you," she turns her head at me and I sense the bloodlust from her.
I was sweating a little and the white masked man appeared behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, "Hey now. You got your friend scared half to death." I was startled by his sudden appearance.
"Wait. What are you going to do to me," I panic and his grip on me tightens. I could do nothing but stare intensely at the girl hoping nothing would happen and this was just a joke. I couldn't seem to move my body.
"Relax. It won't hurt at all," the man says.
"Public Safety Officer! Who's back there!" We hear someone's voice.
I noticed the man wasn't holding on to me anymore and I was at a different spot than I previously was, "Welp it looks like the police are here. We should leave before we get noticed."
The girl looked like she was putting her mask back on, then looked at me then they both vanished. Then I see a policeman walk from the corner and hear someone from his walkie talkie and he speaks into it not noticing me yet, "There seems to be a fight. Two unconscious, requesting for aid." I didn't realize just how scared I was as my legs gave out on me. Then the policeman noticed me and said to his radio, "There is also a frightened young girl here." Then he talks to me as he slowly approaches, "Hey there. Are you ok?" I try to say something but nothing comes out, "Don't worry you are safe now."
The policeman helps me up and takes me to his car. Another police car and an ambulance came by. I was asked questions on what had happened and I described everything I could remember. But I feel like I was forgetting someone or was it something. Going over my thoughts there were four people there, me included. The masked man had knocked out both of the men but that was all I could recall from the incident.
After a bit of questioning, I found out that the man with the white mask was a vigilante who calls himself Doll Maker. He's been able to evade the police for years and recently he was even able to evade the pro heroes. He acts like a magician and he fights with strings. He's able to control his strings to make lifelike dolls of himself so they don't even know if the person they were trying to capture was the real one or a doll.
I was then let go and dropped off at the apartment building. I remembered I had left my shoes in the forest area and decided to go get them later. When I entered my apartment room Mrs. Midoriya hugged me tightly and cried, "Thank goodness. It's only been a few months and already you find yourself in danger again."
"I'm sorry I made you worry mom," I hugged her back.
She lets go of me and pats my body, "Were you hurt anywhere? Did they do anything to you? Where are your shoes?"
"Ok, mom. I think you need to calm down a little," I held her hand and smiled at her. "I didn't get hurt. I was helped out by a vigilante."
"A vigilante. Don't tell me you were looking for trouble. You're barely fifteen. I don't want you to be doing stuff like that."
"I wasn't looking for trouble, mom. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And you know I want to be a hero. I would never do something like that."
"But still..."
"I'm getting tired. Can we do this another day," I say.
"Oh... Alright. A lot must still be going through your head," she backs away. "I'll tell Izuku when he gets back. You go ahead to your room and rest."
"Thanks, mom." I went to my room and laid down on my bed and could still smell the stench of trash on me, "I need a bath." I sat up and got ready for a bath. I don't know why but I was also a bit tired. I don't think I did anything to make myself tired but I fought through it and got to the bathroom.
As the bathtub was being filled, I was getting undressed. I then hear the door to the bathroom open and Izuku yells, "Akumi! Are you ok-" I just pulled down my pants when he opened the door. I saw Izuku's face was bright red, then I calmly put my pants back on and closed the door, and locked it. "I'm so sorry! I heard what happened and was worried so I wasn't thinking straight!" Izuku shouted from behind the door.
I was feeling a bit embarrassed pressing my head against the door, "It's fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about it. We can talk after I finish my bath."
"Y-yeah. Ok. I'm sorry again," Izuku said and I heard him walk away.
After I was done with my bath, I felt most of my fatigue go away. I got dressed with my hair left free to dry. I walked out of the bathroom and noticed Izuku and Mrs. Midoriya in the living room. I walked over to him and said, "So what did you want to talk about?"
Izuku noticed me and blushed again, "Ah. Akumi. I'm sorry again. But it looks like you're okay."
"Yeah. Not even a scratch," I say.
"Was Akari and Youta with you," he asks.
"Akari hasn't come back yet and Youta is busy with something. So I was by myself."
"How did you get in that situation in the first place," Izuku said.
"I was walking around town and just so happened to find myself in that situation," I lied because Mrs. Midoriya was in the room and I didn't want her to know that I was using my quirk illegally because I would get in trouble.
"Walking in an alleyway where no one could see you. Just what were you doing there," asked Mrs. Midoriya.
"I thought I saw something that caught my interest and I just stumbled upon them as I was walking by," I say.
"Your excuses are getting worse by the day. You come home all roughed up. Are you sure you're not looking for trouble," she said in concern.
"Don't worry mom. I know it might look like that but she knows better. Right Akumi," said Izuku.
We talked about the incident together for a while then Mrs. Midoriya went to prepare dinner. After she finished we had dinner and talked about other things to get our minds off the incident. After dinner, we all left for our rooms. I laid on my bed with my blanket over me and wondered if I had forgotten something but I closed my eyes and fell to sleep.
The next day it was a school day. Izuku again left early because of his training. Akari wasn't back yet when I checked her apartment. I walk down the road I always do and see Youta waiting at the usual spot we would always meet. I waved hello at Youta, "Hello Youta."
"Hi, Akumi. No Akari again," he waved back.
"Yeah," I walked over to him.
He sighs, "Well it looks like it's just going to be us again today."
"Yeah," I felt a little bummed out that Akari couldn't be here with us.
"Hey, no need to look so down. We still have time to spend with her," he says.
"Oh. Sorry. We should get going now, we don't want to be late, right."
"Did something happen? You look more exhausted than usual," he asks.
"I do? I can't really tell. I feel normal," I feel fine but I guess my appearance says otherwise.
"Well if that's the case then you should be ok."
We got to school and it went as usual. But now I can't get this uneasy feeling whenever I look at Maeko. I don't know why but it's like there is something I'm missing. After school, I went and confronted Maeko about it but she ignored me. After a bit of constant annoyance from me, Maeko just suddenly disappeared. I give up for now since I wanted to talk with Youta about Maeko. We were walking towards the forest area now and I knew there was definitely something wrong. Youta also agrees that something was wrong.
"If only Akari was here. We would be more sure if she was hiding something," I say.
"But we don't want to worry her over something like this, do we," Youta said. "And why do you want to investigate Maeko. Did something happen?"
"Ummm. Well…" Youta glares at me, "I was in an incident with some thugs and vigilantes."
"You were what!" He exclaimed.
"Hey, it wasn't all that back. Remember the four people a couple of months back that ran through the forest."
"Don't tell me they came back," Youta asked.
"Well. When I was experimenting with my quirk I may have accidentally flown a little off course and landed in a place I shouldn't be at," I say.
"I thought I told you not to do anything reckless. This is why you need one of us to be with you at all times." Youta sighs, "Thankfully you're not hurt. So what happened?"
"Well I don't remember much but I think Maeko was also there. Though I don't remember. I just have a very strong feeling she was there."
"That's not really enough reason to investigate her. You're not even sure she was there," Youta said.
"Yeah I guess you're right," I sigh in frustration. Then I whisper, "For now."
"What did you say," he asked.
"Nothing," I answered.
"No, you definitely said something," Youta got closer to my face.
"Oh. I must have said that you are going to be my new punching bag."
He backed away, "Well if that gets you to stop doing the crazy stunts then fine. I'll get you a new punching bag."
"Wait. Really? I was just going to use a tree," I said.
"If you damage a tree and it falls, someone is definitely going to notice. Then security is going to go up in that place. Don't forget that area is still a restricted area," he says.
"Oh, right. We have been using that place for a while. I kinda just got used to entering and exiting as if it wasn't," I said then Youta sighs and shakes his head.