It is two days after that phone call that Ayame is brought to see her sister. Ayaka's face is wrapped in gauze and her body is covered with bandages. One could believe Ayaka had been involved in a simple beatdown, if not for the stump where her left leg should have been.
Ayame's vision is blurred with tears. In her mind, Ayaka is an unbeatable titan, and seeing her in such a state is heartbreaking. Amidst her tears, Ayame feels her sister's hair extending from the hospital bed, rubbing reassuring circles around her back.
Contrary to the intended effect, Ayame's tears only seem to flow with more intensity.
Ayame asks Ayaka what happened, the identity of the scoundrel who did this to her, but she refuses to divulge even a single detail. All Ayame knows is that a villain found her among the injured at a disaster site. Her ever-valiant sister bought precious minutes for her colleagues to take the victims away from the scene.
If it was not a battle of attrition, then anything could have caused the incident. Perhaps a misplaced pile of debris, a single moment of distraction, someone she took a blow for.
Ayame sighs that all she can do is support her sister's recovery.
At first, the loss of Ayaka's leg seems to be a minor inconvenience. To the extent Ayame nearly believes Ayaka lost half a finger. The next day, Ayaka is walking on a new leg, made entirely of her own hair. It takes Ayaka a few tries, but she manages to tweak the physical and chemical properties to her liking.
Getting accustomed to her new limb is a longer journey, but a smooth one nonetheless.
After a few months, Ayaka's wounds are healed and her prosthetic leg acts as if it's been with her since birth. Her physical condition is back to normal and Ayaka is eager to return to work.
Yet, in a few weeks, Ayaka is brought to the hospital again.
Apparently, a common thug landed a few lucky hits on her. Ayame believes her but her colleagues are less naive. They detain her for extended training sessions and what Ayaka has been trying to hide is now shown to the light.
Ayame and her parents are brought to observe Ayaka's training sessions. The fight is an exciting one, but the look of excitement fades to one of dismay as Ayaka is pinned against a wall.
Ayame's seen this scenario countless times. Ayaka will wrap her hair around her opponent and turn it into an acid-like slime, melting through their defences. From there, Ayaka could easily turn the tides in her favour.
But she doesn't. Ayaka remains pinned to the wall and when her opponent withdraws, she falls to the floor. It is brief, but before her face hits the ground, Ayaka's eyes are widened in fear and ungrounded to this world.
She might be outside the simulation room, but Ayame sees Ayaka kneeling on the ground, unwilling…or unable to get up. Before she even entered UA, Ayaka could train till her sweat gathered on the floor. Here, the floor is spotless yet Ayaka's chest is rising and falling, her breathing sounding as if she is choking.
Ayame knows her parents can see it too. Her mother quietly sobs and while the upper portion of her father's face cannot be seen, his lips are pressed into a thin line. When Ayaka is helped out of the room, she sees them.
Ayame sees her sister bow her head in resignation, ready to divulge what she hid during her lone recovery. They have long suspected it but the truth still hurts. Ayaka confesses that while she still feels the desire to serve and assist, she claims to be overshadowed by a sense of paralysing fear. That fear, she says, is manageable under normal circumstances but once she steps out into the field, manifests as weights fastened to all parts of her body.
Throughout the whole conversation, Ayaka's head is bowed, unwilling to look anyone in the eye. Even without seeing her face, Ayaka can hear the short gasps between sentences and see the tears falling to the ground.
"I'm sorry. I thought it would get better over time…but I can't…I don't think…"
Ayaka tries, she really does but after a few more weeks, accepts the reality. Her accident was brought about by a single moment of carelessness but her current condition now leaves her completely open. If she continues, it is only a matter of time before she is struck down.
During the end of Ayame's spring break, the whole family follows Ayaka to what will be her former place of employment. Ayaka bows to Edgeshot, thanking him for the memories. Her hands shake when she opens her purse, when she fishes out her Hero License, and when she slides it across the table to him. Her eyes follow the card as it is placed into the office shredder, coming out the other end in tiny pieces.
Ayame watches her sister's expression stay in place the whole time but sees her hand reach out for the licence as it disappears into the shredder.
Ayaka keeps a stern face as they are escorted out of the agency but the light has left her eyes. Ayame can't blame her, three years of blood, sweat, and tears to become a hero for it to all be snatched away in mere moments.
Perhaps Ayaka would have come to terms with her impediment better if it were a physical one.
For the next few weeks after that, Ayaka comes into either her parents' or Ayame's room every night. The tears pour down her face as she laments the cruel loss of her dream, that she wishes she could have done more to return. Ayame is meant to comfort her sister. She bites on her lower lip. Yet it is futile. Once Ayaka embraces Ayame, they both begin to bawl their eyes out.
One day, after a particularly long session of tears and snot, Ayame asks a question, one that has been weighing on her mind for a long time.
"Do you regret not running that day?" Ayaka's bid to buy time had ensured she was the only casualty. If she hadn't stayed, if she had fled, none of this would've happened. Ayaka would still be helping people, as was her dream. She'd be living her life free from fear.
And she'd hardly be blamed if she did. Heroes can't be perfect all the time, everyone knows that. That miracles are the exception, not the standard.
Ayaka loosens her grip on Ayame, pulling away so her phosphorescent green meets Ayame's red. It is the first time in months that her eyes are so clear. Ayame's heart shatters into pieces as Ayaka slowly shakes her head.
"No, I don't. Not even for a moment."