"Lord Harrington approached Lady Genevieve with a hunger in his eyes, his hands trembling as he reached for her heaving bosom."

I couldn't help but frown in confusion. Why would he go unarmed, this close to his enemy? Surely drawing his sword would be the better option, given Lady Genevive's magical capabilities. And why were his hands trembling? Were they cold?

Well, this particular author hadn't shown much of a knack for describing the environment around them. Perhaps it'd come up later.

"With a swift motion, Lord Harrington tore the bodice of her gown, revealing the milky expanse of her chest. 'I cannot wait any longer,' he growled, his breath hot against her skin. `I'll make you pay for what you did, witch!`"

Oh! Perhaps he was simply too enraged by her actions? Did his bloodlust grow so deep and violent that he couldn't resist "doing the deed himself"? King had said it was always more satisfying to get up and close personal with Villains compared to attacking from range.

"Lady Genevieve moaned, her body arching toward his touch, her breath coming in short, desperate gasps. 'Take me if you can, Lord Harrington!' she taunted. 'Or are you all talk?'"

My eyes widened as it finally clicked. A duel! Lady Genevieve was a warrior at heart, ready to face her opponent head-on despite her fragile appearance. So the author had simply let all the other female characters come off as shallow for him to subvert the reader's expectation -

"He pressed her against the wall, his lips finding hers in a searing kiss, his hands roaming her body with possessive ferv-"

I snapped the book closed, suddenly feeling very warm. Oh. Oohhh. It was all starting to make a bit too much sense now. I should've known not to take a book recommendation from Rook. She was nice, but she tended to be a little… well. It wasn't nice to talk badly about others.

"We're being followed," Pawn said suddenly, as calmly as if he'd just made a remark about the weather being particularly nice today. I flinched, just barely suppressing the instinct to glance behind us. "Looks like they finally noticed us digging around."

"Took you long enough to notice, leech." King replied in a tone that suggested he thought it was a little bit too chilly for his tastes, actually.

I was suddenly all too aware of how exposed we were here. The rooftops were low and surrounded us on both sides, the long slopes providing plenty of cover from our vision. Easy to scale and easier for them to get the drop on us. I'd just gone over urban traversal class too. I took in a deep breath, calming myself. I had this. Just had to do what the teacher said, and I'd be fine.

"Y-yes. Perhaps we should lead them to a crowded area? Somewhere they can't follow?" I said, wincing internally at the tremor in my voice. I was blowing it already, wasn't I?

"With a quirk like Mother's? I imagine a crowd might be the least safe place for us to be. Good thinking, though." Pawn turned, putting a hand on my head and petting it. I gave him my best scowl, and he retracted his traitorous hand with a chuckle. I hated it when they treated me like a little kid, as if I wasn't the same age as them. Like I couldn't do the same things they did.

"Alleyway coming up. Leads back to the industrial district, the warehouses." King said, still staring straight ahead. "Could turn and take 'em there. I don't count more than four."

"That might be exactly what they want us to do. Present a threat right as we come up to a path to escape? Smells fishy." Pawn replied, subtly tilting his head to scan the streets ahead of us.

There weren't many people up and about at this hour. Shop keeps opening their stores with yawns and bleary eyes, the occasional bright eyed retiree hustling past us. No one that could hurt us. Right?

"You're giving her too much credit." King scoffed, hands twitching ever so slightly. "You really think someone who'd let a bunch of thugs with key intel run around the prefecture is smart enough for that?"

"Even then, you want to take on four of them by ourselves?"

"We can take 'em." King replied, not hesitating for a second.

Pawn didn't reply immediately, instead staring at King. I wondered if he saw the same thing in King that I did. In those moments after, where King's body would realize the threat was gone and the adrenaline would stop pumping through his veins. In that moment where you'd see the disappointment in his eyes that there was no one left to fight.

It was something I could understand in fiction, in the character descriptions of my favorite characters. Battle crazy warriors who lived for the fight, for the glory of combat. It was awe inspiring in a fantasy but to see it in a real person, that unquenchable thirst for violence, it was… unsettling. Worrying.

"Alright," Pawn finally conceded, turning the corner into the alley way. "You're not wrong there."

"I'm never wrong, asshole." King said, hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon Bishop. We'll take care of it, don't worry." Pawn turned, smiling at me.

I startled, realizing I'd stopped following after them at the entrance of the alley way. My stupid, traitorous legs, refusing to walk towards a fight. Just like they always did, coward, that I was. Not this time, Bishop. Never again.

"Oh, yes! Coming!" I said, hurrying after them.

I took in a deep breath, steeling myself mentally before running after them. I wondered briefly how they could remain so calm, casually insulting each other like they weren't knowingly walking into a trap.

Like there was never the slightest possibility of them failing, of getting injured or worse. I knew there was a gap in experience, given how much longer they'd been doing this compared to me, but sometimes it really felt like they were born for this. They had something in their blood I simply didn't have.

"We choke them," King said, nodding his head towards the end of the alleyway. "Take 'em out one by one on their way out."

"One of them was up on the rooftops. We can't assume they don't have movement capabilities." Pawn replied.

"I could watch the roof." I said, suppressing a flinch when they both turn to stare at me. "I… I want to help. I'm part of the team, right? So I should help."

"Well, of course, but…" Pawn turned to King, frowning. King shrugged, angling his head away. Pawn raised a skeptical eyebrow. Communicating without speaking. For all their fighting, they really did act like a married couple sometimes. Ones that seemed intent on babying me forever.

"You want to fight?" King finally said, turning to me.

I gulped, suppressing the tremble that went through my body as his eyes met mine. His frown narrowed, and I just knew he caught it. Keep it together, me! We can do this. We can.

"Yes. I've - I've been training with my quirk, with the combat simulators. I can do this. I can fight."

"No, you can't." King nodded, cutting off my protest with his next words. "But you should anyway. Learn what real combat is, not the bullshit they teach at the Hive."

I smiled, a warm feeling growing in my chest. That was the equivalent of an "I trust you" in King-speak, and that was a very, very rare thing for him to say.

"King." Pawn growled, and there was no doubt multitudes of meaning in that one word. He stopped walking, turning and glaring at him in the middle of the alley. Whole sentences of communication passed in that glare, in the expressions on their face. There was history there, a gap I'd never quite be able to cross when it came to understanding them. Bad history.

"We can't keep dragging around dead weight," King said, chin upturned. "She needs to know how to fight, how to not get herself killed. You know what happens if she doesn't. We both do."

Pawn flinched like King had physically slapped him, a ugly snarl curling on his face. He shifted forward, like he was about to lay into him, when I saw it. A dagger materializing out of the shadows of the wall behind him, a hand following after it. Raising, ever so slightly, angled towards Pawn.

A vine shot forward before I could even process it, wrapping around the hand and hoisting it's owner into the air. My scalp burned as the vine twisted and wrapped around him, holding him tightly bound above us. A shadowed silhouette floundered in the air, the shadows around his face quickly wisping away to reveal a boy maybe a year younger than us. Huh?

Pawn clicked his tongue, sounding more annoyed than surprised. He pulled at the glove on his right hand, glancing over the numbers stenciled on each knuckle of it.

The boy in my vines struggled relentlessly, scratching himself against the thorns digging into his skin. Blood was running down the vines, thin trickles from the gashes and wounds he was inflicting on himself. Why was he doing that? I willed the vines to twist tighter, to stop him from moving at all.

He lets out a wordless scream as something snaps , and I quickly untwisted them with a wince. Okay. That was too tight. That's okay, he was still alive. Right? They could heal it back up at base.

There was a shrill whistle as a larger boy stepped into the alleyway, holding two fingers to his mouth. His skin looked rough and jagged, like he'd been carved out of stone. A mutant. Behind him were two more boys, their faces cold and unyielding.

A dozen growls snapped my head in the other direction, where a pack of hungry-looking dogs now blocked our way out. In their midst stood a tiny girl, an unnaturally wide grin on her face. No, she wasn't just tiny. She was young , far too young to be involved in this. A child.

"Um, what should I—" I said, still staring at her. We couldn't—they wouldn't hurt her, would they? They wouldn't do that.

"Follow my lead." Pawn and King said at once, bursting forward in opposite directions. Typical.

Pawn twisted his hand and a wall of air shimmered into existence in front of him. It shimmered faintly with the onslaught of snapping jaws of the dogs, wavering when one slammed bodily into it. His face twisted with effort as he kept it up, sweat beginning to bead at his forehead.

King had darted toward the mutant boy, fists clenched. He landed a powerful punch to the boy's jaw, the impact echoing in the alley. The mutant staggered but swung back, his rocky fist narrowly missing King's head. King ducked and drove his knee into the boy's gut, doubling him over.

"DIE!" King shouted, his voice filled with raw fury.

He grabbed the mutant's arm and twisted, throwing him to the ground with a resounding thud. The other two boys stepped back, visibly reconsidering taking him on. King pressed one foot onto the struggling boy's back, a murderous grin on his face as he swiveled his head between the remaining two threats.

Really, did he have to look like he was enjoying this that much?

"Keep it down, would you? You want the entire fucking city to come running?" Pawn shouted, his voice strained as he held his barrier against the dogs. One of the dogs broke through, and Pawn kicked it back, his face set in a grimace.

I jolted, realizing I'd just been standing still, watching them do the work. No. Not this time. I focused, willing my vines to detach from me. They slithered across the alleyway like snakes, digging into the walls and bursting out around the remaining boys. King let out a surprised curse as they curled around their legs, lifting them into the air.

I sent another vine around Pawn's wall, reaching out to snap at the dog's hides. They began to turn, barks and growls turning to whines as I sent them running.

I panted, struggling to stay standing as my vines retracted with our captives in tow. My scalp burned, like each vine had been plucked from my head by force. I'd pushed myself harder than I've ever had, and I hadn't even noticed. I looked up at the three boys suspended above us. Their expressions hadn't changed in the slightest.

"The fuck?" King said, staring at me. Oh. I'd probably scared him. Not that he'd ever admit that.

I turned back to the dogs, watching the last of them flee from us. They ran between and around the girl's legs, still standing at the end of the alley. Still with that wide, knowing smile on her face.

King came up beside us, doing a double take at the girl. "The fuck?" he said again, brows furrowing in confusion.

"Agreed. On both counts." Pawn said, glancing at me briefly.

I smiled to myself, despite the tension still in the air and the unsteadiness in my step. I'd impressed them. I could do this. I could fight just as well as them.

"You didn't kill them." the girl finally spoke, staring up at the boys hanging above us before turning back with a wide smile. "You truly do fancy yourself a hero now, don't you?"

Pawn's gaze suddenly went cold. "I hope you're not using that body to make us hesitate to kill you, Mother."

He subtly twisted his fingers in his glove, bringing his skin in contact with a different section of it, selecting a different quirk. Preparing for combat. Wait. What did he say?

"You'll find we're a little more ruthless than you'd imagined, if that's the case." He continued, staring daggers into her.

"You caught me!" She giggled, splaying her hands. "My, and you're smart too. It's a shame you never got the chance to go to a normal school, Pawn. I imagine you would've excelled, had that not been stolen from you."

Pawn frowned like he unsure of what to make of that.

I didn't quite believe it, but if this really was Mother... I kept my expression placid, internally focusing my will on my vines. Two detached from the back of my head, digging into the ground as quietly as possible. Wrapping under and around her, ever so slowly. I nudged Pawn with my foot, tapping twice. Stall.

"Do you know why I call myself Mother, children? I imagine it's awkward to say, when discussing how you plan to kill me. Doesn't exactly lend much gravitas either, does it? Criminals don't go running at the sound of Mother's fury. Not normally, anyway."

"Ha? You really think we're just going to let you monologue like a—" King said, fists clenched as he made to attack her. He pulled himself up short, eyes drawn to Pawn's hand behind his back, where an upside-down fox wiggled its ears at him. I felt the sudden urge to giggle at King's face, even as I focused on pushing my vines through the ground towards her.

"Well, the villain's motivations don't tend to be part of the threat summary report," Pawn said, a cold smile on his face. "But I'm always absolutely delighted to hear it."

Mother smiled, her eyes glinting with amusement. "Oh, isn't that sweet? A boy with manners. Very well, since you asked so nicely."

She began to pace slowly, her tiny frame making her look more like a doll than any sort of threat. I kept my focus, urging the vines closer, praying she wouldn't notice. Inching them forward with each word she spoke.

"I call myself Mother because it is the role I fill. I'm a nurturer, child. I see potential where others see waste. I turn street thugs into operatives, children into warriors."

She stopped and turned to face us, a smile that didn't reach her eyes playing on her lips. "And you, my dears, are but more lost children who desperately need my guidance."

Pawn's eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you believe that. Helps you sleep at night, I imagine. What with the murders and brainwashing and all that?"

"Oh, I'm sure they told you all sorts of horrible things about me," Mother said with a condescending tilt of her head. "It's not the first lie they've told you, and it's certainly not the last. Are you happy, children? Happy with the false dreams they sell you, knowing you'll die long before they could ever possibly come to fruition?"

The question hung in the air, and for a moment, doubt flickered in Pawn's eyes.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Pawn said, and there was nothing fake about the harshness in his voice. I glanced at him, worry growing in my gut. The vines were right under her now, ready to enact our trap. Yet something in Pawn's eyes stayed my hand.

"Hm. Regardless, my quarrel is not with you. It's your masters that I'm after, that I'm going to break over my fucking knee. " Mother replied, an ugly anger filling her voice. The first real emotion in her voice since she'd shown up. "If you'd pardon my language. This was a… courtesy, if you would. An invitation to join me in that noble pursuit. No strings attached."

"I don't know where you learnt your manners," Pawn said, his voice tight. "But I don't consider attacks on us to be very polite."

"Come now. These boys were hardly a threat to you, were they?" The girl sighed, looking up at where they lay still above us. "Really, I suspect the HPSC was trying to get rid of them when they sent them my way. Cutting loose bad assets and all that."

She twisted her hand, and the boys all slumped forward, like puppets that had been cut from their string. I let out a yelp, my vines hurriedly wrapping around and catching them from falling out of my grip.

Mother sighed, shaking her head. "Very well. Think about it, then. Take these boys as a peace offering from me to you. Compensation for failing to capture me. Bring them back to your masters, and think about what I said."

I knew I should stop her, catch her while we could, but something about the way she spoke kept me wanting to hear her every word.

"Think about what I could do for you, what I have already done for others. How I could help you achieve your true potential. Then, once you've changed your mind, come find me. I'll welcome you with open arms." She said, spreading her arms wide.

She stepped back, and I started in place. She was going to get away if I didn't act now, if I didn't catch her. I stepped forward and my two vines burst from the concrete, winding around the girl's outstretched hands. They hoisted her up into the air, spreading her apart by the arms. She was utterly defenseless, and yet she didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"And what do you intend to do, child?" She said, staring into my eyes. A shiver went down my spine at the coldness in them, at the expression no child should ever wear. It wasn't right.

"Kill me, perhaps? You'll have to, if you want to stop me. And even then, it'd only be for the briefest of moments before I'd return in the next body."

I bit my lip, fingers trembling with a potent mix of adrenaline, fear, and exhaustion. I couldn't. But what if the child was already lost? What if all that remained was the Villain, puppeting that child's body like the vile creature she was?

"She's not." Pawn said, reaching into his pants and pulling his pistol out. He raised it to her forehead, his cold eyes meeting hers. "I am."

"No," She shook her head, a smile growing on her face again. "You don't have it in your heart to kill a child just to spite me. None of you do."

"You have a habit, Mother. You never stick around for the moment of death." The smile disappeared abruptly from Mother's face, a frown taking its place "I imagine it's unpleasant, that sudden disconnect. Like you're losing a part of yourself. Am I close?"

"You're bluffing. You'd never—"

The gun went off. I screamed, raising a hand to cover my eyes. The sound of the shot echoed in the narrow alley, a sharp, piercing crack that left my ears ringing. My heart raced, and I fought to steady my breathing, waiting for the inevitable thud of a body hitting the ground. Dreading it.

But it never came.

Slowly, hesitantly, I lowered my hand and dared to peek through my fingers. Pawn stood there, the gun still raised, but the girl was unharmed. Between her forehead and the barrel of the gun floated a shimmering wall of air, faintly vibrating with the residual energy of the bullet it had stopped. The bullet itself hovered in mid-air for a moment before clattering harmlessly to the ground.

Pawn's hand was steady, his face impassive as he pulled the pistol back. In my vines hung the unconscious body of the girl who'd once held Mother, the side of her neck shining a brilliant purple as the tattoo on it faded away.

"People are going to have heard that." King said, not looking surprised in the slightest. "We should move before they get here."

"You're speaking sense, King. Today's surprises never end, do they?" Pawn said, stowing his weapon away. "Bishop, stay with the victims. Find a safe spot to watch over them, watch for any lingering commands Mother might've implanted in them. We'll let you know when we're in the clear."

I gulped, looking over the five people I now had in my vines, all kids our age or younger. This didn't feel right. None of this did, not like I'd imagined it would when I'd fantasized about this.

"She knew our names," King said, a heavy frown on his face. "She could know our quirks. Sure as shit didn't seem surprised by anything we did."

"Which means our trump card against her is useless." Pawn continued, nodding. "We need to get over to Knight and Rook. Now."

"Shouldn't I come, then?" I said, refusing to back down from their stares. "I can help. You saw me help. You don't have to keep me on the sidelines anymore, like I'm useless!"

"I'm giving you this task because you can fight, Bishop." Pawn said. "I'm entrusting you with keeping these people safe. It's a task only you can do right now, with your unique strengths. C'mon. Let's be heroes."

"That's cheating, Pawn. Using the 'hero' line." I said, but I couldn't help but feel my anger fading away.

"Sorry." He smiled, reaching over to pat the top of my head. "You can yell at me all you want once we're back at base, okay? Once everyone's safe."

I looked down, fighting to keep the pout off my face. I wasn't a kid anymore, gosh. He wasn't wrong though, that we couldn't leave these people here. I imagined Mother would be rather ticked off after the stunt Pawn had pulled, angry enough to change her mind on her peace offering.

"Okay." I finally said, and Pawn nodded. King pushed off the wall opposite us, and Pawn followed him out of the alleyway. Right.

I raised my hands and my vines obeyed the silent command, coiling around and gently lifting the four unconscious boys towards me. I took particular care with the girl, kneeling down and picking her up with my own hands. She was still breathing. Thank goodness.

The sound of sirens and footsteps pushed me on my way through the winding alleyways of the shipping district, using my vines to dig into the walls around me and scale the rooftops. Sneaking over yawning fishermen and construction workers until I found an abandoned warehouse, the roof having tears and holes peppered over it from some Villain attack or other.

It'd have to do. I crawled in, gently bringing my charges in behind me. I found a corner up above the empty factory floor, on a cold steel railing, and put them against the wall. I sent the remaining vines with the last of my mental strength to wrap around us, winding over each other to create an impenetrable cocoon. I sat at its center, taking that moment to finally breathe. Staring down at the girl cradled in my arms as I let my heartbeat finally slow.

I'd never fooled myself into thinking we were really heroes, even if the others thought I hadn't somehow noticed. I'd read far too many tales of justice and chivalry to know what it really looked like, and what we did wasn't that. But somehow we'd done good today. Helped someone. And for a moment, however brief it was, I could pretend.

"You can count on me," I whispered to the girl, to the boys suspended in my vines, to myself. "I'll keep you safe. I'll be your hero."

People vs. Ibara Shiozaki

Case No.: 20XX-CV-556

Court of Yokohama District

Testimony and Notes of Evidence, taken in the above-entitled and -numbered case, before the HON. HIROSHI TANAKA, Judge, presiding on the 7th day of May, 20XX.

REPRESENTING THE DISTRICT: MR. SATO, ESQ.

REPRESENTING THE DEFENDANT: MS. AOI KIMURA.

[BEGIN EXCERPT]

HON. TANAKA: We will now hear the closing statements. Mr. Sato, you may proceed.

MR. SATO: Thank you. Your Honor, we have in my humble opinion already spent far too long quibbling over details and he-said she-said about what exactly happened. The defense's conjectures ultimately do not change the facts of this case.

MR. SATO: Mr. Yamamoto, a star athlete in the making, may never walk again due to the careless actions of Ms. Shiozaki. He will forever carry this traumatic experience with him, no matter what restitution we demand of the defendant. It is precisely this irresponsible and reckless use of quirks that our legal system seeks to protect our citizens against, and I would argue that we must uphold that same standard today.

HON. TANAKA: Well put, Mr. Sato. Ms. Kimura?

MS. KIMURA: Your Honour, what happened to Mr. Yamamoto is indeed a tragedy, and we the defence does not deny any of the pain and suffering he has endured. However, there remains other facts of this case that the prosecution seems to be ignoring. One, that my client was acting completely in self defense, as we've previously proven to the court.

MR. SATO: Objection, your honor. These claims of assault have not been conclusively proven. The Defense is speaking in conjecture, slander even -

HON. TANAKA: Overruled. The prosecution will allow her to finish her statement.

MS. KIMURA: Thank you, Your Honour. Second, that my client is a minor. It is injustice of the highest order to sentence her to imprisonment when all of this was ultimately an accident borne from heightened emotions and inexperience with her quirk. Inexperience, I should mention, that was fostered by the same draconian laws the prosecution preaches as gospel.

MS. KIMURA: Who here can say they never had a accident with their quirks when they were as young as her? If we were in the same situation as her, if you had just lost your own grandfather, could you have done nothing? I implore you, Your Honour, to extend that same empathy to my client. Thank you.

HON. TANAKA: Hrm. I've come to a judgment. Ms. Shiozaki cannot be allowed to walk free for what she's done, but I understand the defence's point well. I rule this to ultimately be a case of self defence. To that end, I think the best course of action would be for her to undergo a year of mandatory Quirk Rehabilitation. Ms. Shiozaki, I want to thank you for the courage you've displayed today in this courtroom. I truly wish you the best of luck

MS. SHIOZAKI: Um, ah - yes. Thank you, your honor.

HON. TANAKA: There's no need to worry. I've seen a number of fine men and women come out of the program as fine heroes. Perhaps I'll see you on TV one day, eh?

HON. TANAKA: Court adjourned.

[END EXCERPT]