"Where am I?" A blinding streak of light cuts through the room from a window. Besides the waving of the unhinged open door, it was quiet. In the hallway, there were multiple pairs of shoes. One pair of outdoor shoes looks like they belong to a kid, and the others are indoor shoes. A sense of nostalgia though I have no recollection of any of this happening to me. The place was empty with no furniture at all.
"Yuu! Come on! We need to go!" A man shouted from outside the door.
Was he calling for me? I walked forward when I saw a young Akumi pass right through me, "Okay!" She puts on her pair of shoes and walks outside.
I follow her out to see Akumi's head getting patted by a man, "Did you get everything?" He was big with a slim muscular build from what I can tell. Akumi nods her head yes then the man says, "That's good. We won't be coming back here for a long time. So make sure you don't forget anything."
"They're almost here. We should leave now," a woman's voice from behind me. I turned and a woman my height with long black hair covering one side of her face was standing by the door with her arms crossed.
"Okay. Let's go." Looking back at the man, something about his face was filled with regret as he picked up Akumi. Then getting a better look at Akumi's face, she had yellow eyes and much shorter hair. The woman then places a hand on both of them then they start walking away. A moment later they disappeared. Off in the distance, I can hear police sirens.
Everything goes black again. My hair blew back as my body was being pushed forward passing by flashes of light. Trying to take a step forward I come to a sudden stop. I fell over, knocking over a table and breaking a vase. "Akiko!" I hear a woman's voice yell.
Looking back I see a well-dressed woman walking up to me. She bends down but then goes right through me. Then I noticed that Akumi was in my place, but she had eyes colored green, longer hair, and was thinner than before. "I'm sorry. I broke the vase," the girl said as I got up.
"Our quirk has been taken away. Yet somehow you're still able to jump through memories." I hear the voice of the woman who called herself the villain version of Akumi and me. I looked to my left and there she was.
"Are you showing me this?" I asked.
She walks away as the area begins to go black again, "It must be the trace of memory leaking out with her removal. Well, no one can control the body right now anyway. If he had taken both of them then…"
She walked through a wall. "Wait!" I shouted as the area went black again. I get pulled into another area. Looking around, I was at a playground.
"Hi, I'm Yumi. My friends call me Yuu." The yellow-eyed girl who looked like Akumi said.
"I'm Akiko." The green-eyed girl who also looked like Akumi replied.
Looking at them next to each other now. It looks like the Akumi I know has traits from both of them. Almost like they were identical twins, but the Akumi with yellow eyes was much more nourished than the Akumi with green eyes.
"Akiko… I think I'm going to shorten it down to Aki. Is that ok with you?"
"I… I've never gotten a nickname before," Akiko said. She was happy from what I can tell by her bright smile. "Yeah. You can call me Aki."
"I'm new around here, Aki. Papa and mama said we're going to be moving around a lot. But I want to make as many friends as I can before we move again."
"I don't have many friends. My mother and father don't allow me to go out often. So I can never keep any."
"Don't worry. We can find out about it together!" Yuu said excitedly and I could see a little gleam light up in Akiko's eyes.
"So Yuu isn't my name? But why lie about my name? Also, how do I control the quirk?" As I was thinking I saw the two girls walk away together. I get pulled again to another spot. Another house but it was rundown and looks to be abandoned.
I walked to the door and tried to open it but my hand passed right through the door handle. I passed my entire body through the door and heard a groan. "Damn it. What did you get yourself into this time? We were supposed to lay low," said a woman.
I walked through the halls and to a room where the voice came from and saw the man from before laying on the bed bleeding from his left abdomen and the woman finished bandaging the man. "Some heroes found me. I was caught off guard," he groans again, putting pressure on the wound.
"Yumi isn't going to be here for a bit. Most of our supplies are with her. So all we can do right now is to bandage you up," The woman said, wrapping the bandages around the man.
"Where is Yuu?"
"She's—"
The door opened and the woman disappeared as the man got into position to attack. "I'm back," said a child's voice revealing herself to be Yuu. Yuu rushes to the man, "Papa! You're hurt!"
The man sits down on the bed with a sigh, "It's ok Yuu. You have the special medicine. Can you take that out?" Yuu nods her head and stretches out her hand then pops out a syringe with some sort of liquid in it. "Thank you," the man pats her head and takes the syringe, and injects it into himself. His wounds then start to heal rapidly. "We'll have to move again."
"Not with those injuries." The woman reappeared, "It takes about three days to just get rid of the after-effects of the serum. Let alone a week to heal completely."
"If we stay any longer. They'll catch us for sure." The man struggles to stand up.
"Three days. Please. Just so that the effects wear off." The woman pushed the man back down on the bed.
The man smiles as he lays down on the bed, closing his eyes, "Fine. I was feeling a bit exhausted anyway."
Another area change, now with Akiko and her family. I was back at the front door standing behind the woman who was taking care of Akiko. "Have you seen these three people around this area?" A woman said who looked very much like Akari's sister, Shimizu-san, but in a hero costume. She had a white latex dress with blue stripes running down the sides. She had around her neck mechanical goggles similar to what Akari had during the sports festival. One of her arms was covered in machinery.
"No, we haven't Mrs. Hero."
"What about you?" The hero asked, staring into my eyes as if she was speaking to me directly. I look behind me and see Akiko standing behind the table that had the vase from earlier. She shakes her head no and runs away.
"Sorry about that. She's a little shy around new people."
"Oh it's fine," the hero puts on her goggles and looks back in my direction. "Sorry for taking up so much of your time. If you ever see any of these people please be sure to report them. They're dangerous if provoked."
I took a look at the paper the hero gave to the woman and on it was a picture of Yuu and her parents. "Yes, we'll be sure to report it."
Another transition happened and I'm getting somewhat nauseous due to the repeated speed up and slow down. Back at the playground, "Yuu… are your parents villains?"
"Yeah. Why?" Yuu replied bluntly.
I can see the surprise on Akiko's face, "Isn't that bad."
"Why is it bad?"
"Because villains are the bad guys."
"Mama said villains aren't all bad guys. They are just people that a lot of other people don't like."
"I think a lot of people don't like your parents."
"Why? I like my parents. They're the bestest best people I know."
"I don't know. A hero was saying that you were bad guys."
I felt a bit of an eerie vibe coming off of Yuu and Akiko. They both take a step away from each other then a shadow seems to cover Yuu's eyes as she spoke, "I hate heroes. They just hurt people, but people still like them. They hurt papa."
Akiko's hands covered her mouth, then in a whisper she said, "But heroes are the good guys."
Yuu stomps on the ground shouting, "No! If they are good guys, they wouldn't be hurting my papa!"
Akiko slowly lowered her arm and I could see a faint smile, "Did your papa do something wrong?"
"No! My papa never do anything wrong! He gives treats, plays with me whenever he has time, and when we go shopping he allows me one thing that I wanted that we didn't need." Yuu takes a step forward, arms to the side, hands clenched in a fist, looking down, "I get in trouble if he sees me use my quirk to steal and tells me I have to eat my vegetables but that doesn't make him a bad guy."
Akiko's eyes widened, her arms also to her side, her smile gone and in its place, a frown, "Do they… Hit you?"
Yuu shakes her head, "My papa and mama never hits me. They are not bad guys!"
"It's not fair," Akiko's voice echoed but her lips didn't move. "Why?"
"Aki?" Yuu said. I noticed Akiko's eyes went dull.
"Then what did they do wrong?! Why are your parents villains and mine is not?!" Akiko shouts.
"What?" I was just as confused as Yuu at this sudden moment. "They never—"
"They are bad guys! They have to be!" Akiko interrupts. Her voice then echoed again but her mouth didn't move, "She must be lying. She has to be lying. She needs to be lying. She is… She is lying."
"No, they're not!"
"They only tell you to say that so they won't get in trouble!"
Yuu was about to hit Akiko. I wanted to stop it but I couldn't interact with them at all. Yuu's mom then suddenly appears out of nowhere at eye level with Yuu and grabs hold of Her wrist before anything could happen. She speaks in a stern voice, "Yumi! What do you think you're doing!?"
Shocked as she should be, Yuu quiets her voice, "Ma… Mama?"
"Akiko! Where are you? You shouldn't be out at this time!" I hear Akiko's mom in the distance.
"Come on, apologize to her."
"Why should I? I didn't do anything wrong." Yuu mumbled under her breath.
Akiko's mom then arrived, "Akiko, there you are. And you…" I could see fear in Akiko's mom as she backed up. "A-and who are you?"
"Oh. So sorry." Yuu's mother chuckled, "My daughter fought with your daughter over some dumb reason. I was just getting my daughter to apologize."
"Oh no, it's fine." Akiko's mom seems to be looking for a way to escape as her eyes dart around, "I'm in a hurry. My daughter left home for some reason too so I came out here to look for her. Only to find out it was for a fight. I should be apologizing."
"That's right. We're also in a hurry." Yuu's mom gets up and bows her head to Akiko's mom. "We'll be taking our leave now." Yuu's mom picks up Yuu and walks away.
After Yuu and her mother were out of sight Akiko's mother breathed a sigh of relief then she glared at Akiko, "Your father is going to have some harsh words with you, Akiko."
Akiko looks down to the ground, "Yes, mother."
From a distance, I notice the female hero from before. She seems to be messaging someone through the helmet she has on. I walked towards her but suddenly got pulled back and fell to the ground landing on my butt.
"You think this was all fun and games don't you?" A man's voice was stern yet also condescending. "If you had injured their daughter, not only you but your mother might have not made it out alive." I looked up and the man was looking down at me. It was a dark room with the only light again coming from the open door to the hallway.
"I'm sorry father. It's just…" I heard Akiko but it was monotone, robotic.
"It's just what?"
"She's a friend."
"A friend? Making friends with villains? What did I raise you to be?" The man sighs and suddenly takes a swing at me. I go to defend myself but I hear a smack as his hand goes through me. I only then noticed Akiko with two swollen cheeks on her face. "You don't make friends with villains. I hope you've learned your lesson. You're dismissed."
Akiko leaves quietly but I hear her thoughts again, "Why don't any heroes go after my parents? Why do people not like her parents, but like mine? She doesn't get hit, she gets to do what she wants. Why?" I noticed a little teardrop in her eye.
The next moment I'm suddenly next to Yuu. It was night and Yuu was sitting on her mother's lap talking, "Mama isn't a bad guy right?"
"No, mama isn't a bad guy, Yuu. "
"What about Papa?"
"Papa doesn't do any bad things."
"But Akiko said that villains are bad guys. Aren't you guys bad guys?"
The woman caresses Yuu's head, "Yes, we're villains. But not all villains are bad guys. It's just that we do things that the good guys don't want people to do."
Yuu hugs her mom, "Papa and mama are not bad guys. I'll prove it."
She smiles and pats Yuu on the head, "Yeah, when you grow up." A while later Yuu falls asleep. "She's asleep now."
"Ugh, it's time already?" The man opens the door to the room.
"It's your fault that you got caught."
"It's your fault you wanted to stay a few extra days."
They both laughed. Then stopping with a somber look on their face. The woman lays Yuu down on the bed and they both kiss her on her cheek before leaving. I follow them out of the house. I don't know how I'm seeing this. Since Yuu shouldn't have any memory of this nor should Akiko who's in a whole different area.
"You can come out now!" The woman shouted, "We know you followed us."
"Found out so soon." Out from the shadows was the female hero from earlier. "Please come quietly. We don't want any more casualties."
"We know you came with backup. Why not just reveal yourself now and save us the trouble," the man states. Lights are turned on and illuminated the area revealing an entire squadron of policemen surrounding the house readying their guns. "That's a lot more than we expected. But only one hero?"
"It doesn't look like it's going to be easy. But it's not going to be hard either."
"When time alters what space allows." The man raised a fist and smiled.
The woman smiles back and bumps her fist against the man, "Does life forge together our new vow."
"Men! Stay Sharp! They're About To Attack! Be Ready To Fire On Command!" One of the policemen shouted.
The two looked at the hero, then at the policemen, and at the same time said, "Said before to one another. All promises end when struck with thunder." They vanish.
The policeman then shouts, "Fire!"
A loud boom goes off as everything goes white. When my eyes readjusted everyone was gone. Yuu somehow found herself laying outside beside the now burning house and trees. Then a man in a suit appears and walks toward Yuu. "It's a shame. If they held on just a bit longer we might have been able to salvage this."
I tried to stop him from touching Yuu, but the area again goes black and I get pulled forward.
"Do you want to run away?" I hear Akiko.
"Run to where. There's no place to go to," replied Yuu monotonously.
"Your parents are gone. So let's look for them together." I looked around and noticed we were at a theme park. Many kids and adults were walking around. "Anywhere but here is okay for now."
Then I hear Akiko's mom, "Akiko! You know better than to wander off!"
"Come on. Hurry." Akiko takes hold of Yuu's hand and runs off. The same gleam that had happened to Akiko was in Yuu's eyes.
The sun suddenly went away and the only lights around were the street lights barely able to light the alleyway enough to see Akiko and Yuu sitting together, huddled up in a sleeping bag together.
"Hey, Yuu?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you cold?"
"Maybe?" I then see steam escape from the sleeping bag. "Oh, you can use heat."
"No. I can choose what things flow through me. So I just let the heat go through me and not the cold."
Their stomachs both grumbled at the same time. They both laughed. Yuu then says, "Welp it's my turn to show my quirk." Yuu stuck out her hand then out popped a can and a can opener. "Papa would always ask for this when we eat together. It's beef stew." I couldn't see Akiko's face but I felt like she was sad. Yuu on the other hand had a smile on her face as she struggled to open the can.
"Can we eat something else?"
Another fade to black and there I was behind Akiko and Yuu. They were walking along a road when stopped by none other than Kurogiri. "Excuse me, little girls. You two appear to be lost. Can I help you?"
I noticed that the two girls had different pairs of clothes on. "No, we're not. We are just wandering around," Akiko answered the question.
"You look familiar," Kurogiri gestures toward Akiko. "Have I seen you before?"
"Do you think he knows where my parents are?" Yuu whispered in Akiko's ear.
"Try asking. But make sure he's not a hero first."
Yuu stuck out her hand and out pops a picture of her parents, "Do you know where the person in this picture is?"
Akiko quickly snatches the photo and said, "I said make sure he's not a hero first."
Kurogiri with a glance at the picture said, "Come, follow me through here. Just walk through and it'll take you to someone who knows that person in the photo." A warp gate forms in front of the girls.
They walk forwards and I try to stop them but to no avail. I looked back up and everyone was gone. Everything went black and there I was in a room with Akiko and a computer monitor.
"Akiko Eto. Sister of pro hero Fill-Ter. Why do I find you here?" All For One's voice came from the screen.
"What did you people do to Yuu!?"
"Yuu? You must mean Yumi Sando. She's being put to good use."
"Then where is she?"
"With her parents." The moment All For One uttered those words Akiko's face went into despair. "She's having such a time without you."
"Why?" Akiko had tears welling up in her eyes. "Why didn't she say anything to me?"
"She said she'd surprised you. But it looks like she never got the chance to do so."
Akiko turned around and darted out of the room. I tried looking past the door she exited from but it was all black for me.
"Kurogiri."
"Yes, master?"
"Keep an eye on her. And when the time comes, bring her back unscathed."
"Yes, master."
Then the area went black again but when I could see I was in a ruined city. "Oh, you're here. Well, it doesn't matter, you didn't have the chance to see your own memories if you're here this early." Said the combination of Akumi and me.
A bit sudden. I didn't expect to see her but I wanted to confirm something. "You're not Akumi, me or Yumi. You're Akiko, aren't you?"
Her face widened then she proceeded to laugh, "Hahaha. You think I'm Akiko. I told you I was a mix of you and Akumi. I never mentioned anything about Akiko or Yumi."
"By saying that you just admit that Akiko is part of this. It was originally Yumi and Akiko. And then came me. The anomaly was born by the experimental combination of you two when building a Nomu. Yet also connected to the real me from another world."
"You're getting so lucky seeing these memories in a somewhat cohesive order. It's like you have some sort of plot convenience, like in a shonen manga. Well, I guess this is a shonen manga so I should have expected as much. While we had to spend years sorting out our memories you just go in and see everything you need to see in one go. It's just unfair. Even more unfair than what happened with Yuu."
"I seem to have given Youta the wrong name, my name is not Yuu, it's Yua. Yuu told me way back then but I seem to have forgotten it until now. We wouldn't be having this conversation if he called out my name. But right now I only have one question, why? Just why go back to All For One when you're free of him?!"
"You don't get it, do you? Do you not understand what I am yet?" The woman had a psychotic smile. "Like I told you I'm not Akiko." Bloodlust came from the girl, and I felt a sense of dread fall down my spine, an instinct of fear telling me to run. "You know I'm not Yuu." Her eyes rolled back showing only white. Her body bulked up, head cracked open from the back revealing the brain. Her clothes were torn apart by the transformation then her body slims down to a more slender figure with skin now matching the black void. Her face, except for the eyes, had disappeared as her voice echoed around the area, "I'm the Nomu called Akumi."
The girl's eyes rolled back to reveal red glowing eyes. A mouth formed and a wide grin showed on her face as she began to revert to looking like a human, "Oh, did you feel that? One of our quirks just returned."
My vision waved back and forth, my eyes slowly closing as I tumbled to the ground. "This again?"
"You don't need to worry. We don't need you anymore. I'm kicking you out before Yuu gets a chance to appear again. If you're lucky you might get to go back home. If not then you die."
