The Price of Pain
Chapter 17: Don't Stop Fighting
Like he promised, Knuckleduster met with her every day. They fought and Aki started to feel alive again. Not just surviving, but truly living. He hadn't broached the subject about Six since, and Aki had not mentioned Knuckleduster's presence to Six. She wanted this. To keep the man coming. He reminded her too much of her old sensei that it hurt sometimes to look at him. Even when he learnt and beat her down with just Taijutsu alone, Aki was fine with it, because it meant he was a worthy opponent.
"You lack any meaningful strength," he said.
"I know," she huffed.
Women were weaker than men here as a baseline. There was no chakra to even the field. She tried to keep fit, with standard muscle building exercises now that she had access to proper nutrition and food, but it wasn't enough to make up for years of borderline starvation and malnutrition. Her father's bad parenting had left her growth stunted and she found herself unfortunately short for her age. It was frustrating and demeaning, to be reduced to this pathetic state when she had once been a Jounin hopeful.
"You're not training yourself to your full potential," Oguro said.
"How so?"
"When I first became quirkless, I'd lost my speed. Back then I had been fit. I worked out like any other hero would to maintain a baseline level of flexibility and strength, but that's not enough when your quirk fails you. The kind of training you need to even match up to your opponents out there is a step up from torture."
Colour her intrigued. Aki was listening now. She'd do about anything to get back to her old level, though she knew an impossible task when she saw one. Still, being able to get back to a fraction of her previous strength would be useful.
"You know I'm down for it old man. Just tell me already," she said.
"Well kid, if you want to get to that level quit that job of yours and come with me," he said.
Aki gave him a disgruntled snort. "I'm not quitting my job to go on a road trip with you."
"Well then, your loss," he said, shrugging.
She glared at him briefly before deciding she needed to get back to work. She picked up her things and buttoned up her uniform.
"Be careful kid, there's been talk about the Shie Hassaikai getting ready for something big," Oguro warned.
"I'm almost afraid to ask how you know that," she sighed.
Knuckleduster smirked before throwing her a wave with his back turned as he left. She put her katana back to her side and wondered if she could take him up on his offer after her job.
The attack that came was rather sudden, though by now they were prepared for it. Yamato sprung from a somewhat laid-back figure into a commander almost instantly.
"They've finally come. Everyone get into position," he said.
"Yes sir!"
The mercenaries alerted the Yakuza members present and everyone began a mad scramble for their weapons and items. With Yamato's quirk, they'd be able to easily tag and keep track of all the oncoming Shie Hassaikai members.
"There are 25 members, 12 of which have mutation quirks, and the rest unknown. Chisaki Kai has not been tagged," Yamato informed everyone.
Aki pulled out her blades and followed Tiger to the front. She was a front-line combatant after all. Despite everything her mind was focused, sharp, and she'd never felt so in her element. An enemy with unknown abilities wasn't anything unusually for a Shinobi to encounter. Facing a fight to the death with the enemy was all she ever knew since she was twelve.
What she didn't expect was for the very floor beneath her to give way. Aki dug a knife into the wall, breaking her fall before she dropped down into a completely different corridor now completely in disarray. The enemy had someone who could shift a whole building. Well that was rather useful. They'd been separated from their greatest asset. Yamato's ability to pin each and every one of their opponents to follow. Aki knew she needed to get back to them, but who was to say she couldn't be locked inside a room to perish. Good thing she carried grenades on her… as flashy and un-shinobi like as they were.
She stuck to the walls as she made her way down the corridor, only to see Tiger's face get smashed in by a huge man with metal gauntlets. She'd never seen Tiger through such a weak punch before. He was thrown to her side and Aki gave him an unimpressed look.
"Don't look at me like that brat! He sucked the energy right out of me," he grumbled, before moaning in pain as he held his side.
Aki twirled the katana in her hands. "After he made physical contact?"
"Yes," Tiger grunted.
She nodded. The man's face was covered in a bird like mask. She couldn't make direct eye contact with him, and therefore her quirk would be useless. She'd have to do this the old-fashioned way. All that time training with Knuckleduster would be put to use. He charged her and she was surprised by the speed. He was faster than Oburo, but Oburo was quirkless. She barely had the time to duck away as the enhanced man swung a devastating punch that broke through the wall. Even still, she felt it slice her face from the sheer strength of it. It was impressive.
"Your friend's vitality is potent!" he shouted in glee as his muscles bulged.
He swung again and to her indignity, Aki was on the defensive. She dodged a few attacks only to have to block with her blade. His metal fists collided with her katana, throwing her back from the sheer force of it. Aki stumbled back and hissed a curse as she noticed how he'd chipped her blade. They were expensive!
"I'll have your name," Aki requested.
"Why should I tell you little girl?" he asked.
"I like to know the interesting ones before I kill them. Your memory will live on," she said.
He barked a laugh. "That's fucking hilarious! Like I'd die to a brat like you!"
It wasn't funny. Was he seriously underestimating her because she was a kid? The people of this world had no decorum during battle it seemed. She pulled out her second blade and got down in a low stance.
"Come then, there's no need to talk with someone who cannot show respect to their opponent," she said.
He only laughed as he punched his fists together. It had been a long time since she'd properly been able to use one of her forms during a battle. Hawks had been the last worthy opponent she had fought, but she hadn't been in a right state of mind to put her training to any real use, especially when his quirk was ill suited towards a sword fight. Aki turned looked at her reflection on her katana and activated her quirk, before taking in a deep breath. Her senses sharpened as she pumped cortisol into her brain. The world came in sharper focus, and she pushed from the ground with increased strength.
Rock Form: Hidari Jodan no Kamae
"Lateral Fang Bite," she whispered.
Then all in a moment she jumped onto his fists and slashed at his face. He threw his head back just long enough for her to make eye contact with him. Aki flooded adrenaline into his brain, making him loose his stance, long enough to drive her Katana in his chest, toppling him to the ground. He made a familiar wheezing sound, as he held the chipped blade in place. She stood over him holding eye contact, sending shivers of fear down his spine.
"I ask your name," she repeated.
"R-Rikiya Katsukame," he wheezed.
"You may rest now," she said, withdrawing the blade before piercing it in between his eyes and ending his life quickly.
Aki sheathed her blades before walking over to Tiger. He had propped himself over to the wall. She noticed a suspiciously large amount of blood dripping down his sides.
"You're going to die," she noted.
"F-fuck, you're one annoying kid you know," he hissed.
"I bought you coffee and donuts," she said.
"Yeah, but it was obvious you were k-kissing our asses. But you never really cared, did you?" he asked.
"About you? Not personally, no. We barely know each other," she said, confused by his line of logic.
"This is why you're a little shit. Fuck, can't believe I'm going out talking to you instead of the people I love," he groaned.
It wasn't that she enjoyed watching him slowly bleed out, it was just that there was nothing to be done about it. She was used to this. Now more so than ever she felt that creeping apathy in the back of her mind. It was familiar. It was the reason she had not once broken down in any of her missions in her past life.
It was a comfort.
There was none of the snivelling, panic ridden bouts of weakness that she had when facing Eraserhead and Hawks. She had a clarity right now that she could get out of here alive, and if she would die, it would be after taking down as many of her enemies as possible. Then she'd save Kanro from his demise, because that was what she was paid for.
"Do you really want your last words to be to me?"
"Fuck n-no," he said, spitting blood.
"Then tell me a name and give me a message. I will take it to them," she said.
Tiger looked at her like he was regarding her for the very first time. She considered that she might have come off as cold to them, but she was simply acting professionally. To others it may have been duller even than her usual self, but to Aki it had always been about respect. It showed she took her work seriously. She didn't think she was cruel despite her apathy to their deaths. Tiger held out his hand and she took it, giving him comfort in the last moments of his life. She pulled at the dopamine hormone, easing his pain a little as he rasped out his final words to his son. She had a great memory, or he would probably be hearing it inaccurately from her. Once he said his piece, she drove a killing blow to his heart, ending his suffering quickly. Then she pulled out a napkin from his pocket and used it to wipe the blood off her blade. She would need it to see her reflection in the future.
"Time to get back to Yamato."
His entire plan went down the drain in a brief moment. This was what it meant to face up against unknown quirks. For someone who relied heavily on recon to make his plans work, this was the worst possible outcome. His entire plan hitched on retreating further into the building, each layer a trap, and each person assigned to their post to better maximise damage. It all went down the drain when the entire building turned upside down and then inside out in a manner of seconds. The worst part was it seemed they were giving him extra special attention. Several goons had come for him first, wearing him down and easily killing Kanro's disorganised and disoriented men. This would have been fine if Yamato had not watched his own team get slaughtered all of a sudden as they just dropped to the floor.
He sent his swarm into the mouth of another goon, building it up and stinging him from the inside out. The man screamed, horrified as people usually were by his quirk. Even still, he saw the attack from behind him coming early on due to having tagged everyone in the building with an insect. Then the room twisted once more and Yamato fell down a story, crashing onto his side and hearing his shoulder crack painfully.
A man in a white cloak and a signature Shie Hassaikai mask dropped down from a rope, breaking his fall. Disoriented from the landing, Yamato could not do much to stop the blue hair of his assailant's quirk. It stabbed into his side. The connection he had with his bugs severed instantly The whiplash viewing the world through thousands of creatures, only to be left with his human eyes felt like he was blinded. The shock from being disconnected had him vomiting harshly.
"This is the famed leader of the Kuroi Oni-tachi? What a way to go," the man said.
Yamato glared at him, hating how he couldn't tell what the man was feeling through that shitty mask. A gun was pulled to his head, and he wondered if this was how he'd die, failing his team once again. Maybe this was a sign, and this was his out. He'd leave behind a legacy of failure and die alone. No wife, no children, and a failed career. It was in fact disappointing.
"The Boss wanted to offer you a space in our ranks, but I think it's not worth it. You're weak," he said.
He closed his eyes, awaiting death, only for an explosion of a different sort throwing him back one more time. He slammed into a wall and saw a familiar figure walk through, katana rotating through the dust. His attacker cursed, throwing out his hair, only to be deflected by the weapons as Aki dashed through in a burst of speed, he thought had to be quirk related.
"Twisting burst," she said, as she closed the distance between her and the man, driving a sword through his gun and ripping it out of his hand along with his fingers and mask.
The man cursed as he threw his hair at her again which she quickly deflected. Yamato didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed that he wasn't dead, which was a concerning thing to think about. Kuroishi Aki, came in like a rockslide, bulldozing her path to rescue him and somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to be happy. Then again, maybe this was a sign that he could still turn this around.
"Tch," the man hissed running towards an exit only to be blocked by the girl.
"You will kneel," Aki demanded.
The man scoffed for a moment before he froze, and his breath came out in short, panicked bursts. His legs trembled before it slowly gave way and he fell to the ground, holding his hands, unable to stop looking at his death approaching. Gone was the awkward girl who bought everyone doughnuts and coffee to get on their good side, and it was replaced with a monster. Yamato knew a hardened killer when he saw one. He just hadn't expected it from this respectful child, even after hearing of her exploits and moniker. Now it made sense why they called her Steel Heart.
"Where's the one who controls this building. Tell me and I'll knock you out instead of killing you."
"I-I won't b-betray my comrades," the man grit out despite his trembling.
Aki knelt down in front of him as Yamato shakily stood back up, too tired to summon his swarm again. He stumbled to her side, holding his gun towards the man just in case.
"You have a strong will, but you're weak without your quirk. It's some sort of paralysis, am I right?"
He just continued gritting his teeth, cold blue eyes narrowed to her pitch-black ones. Aki promptly skewered his thighs with her katana. The Yakuza member let out a cry of pain as she pulled it back out.
"Eight spots," she said.
"Wha—"
"The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, the heart," she said, slowly prodding each part with her katana.
Yamato felt a chill run down his spine as the Shie Hassaikai member stared at her in terror. Was she listing the ways she could kill him? The sheer nonchalance in which she said it made him wonder if she'd tortured anyone else before. There was none of the glee of insanity in her eyes, she looked like she was listing grocery items with how casually she'd said it.
"Take your pick," she said.
"F-fuck you—"
She withdrew her katana and stabbed it down on his other leg. "Choose wisely. Tell me where your comrade is—the one controlling the buildings trajectory or stop wasting my time and pick one of the eight spots."
"You're crazy."
She stabbed him again. Yamato sighed, as he held his hand to his face for a moment. "Kuroishi, stop prolonging this. He won't give us information and it's not like he's going to tell you how he wants you to kill him either."
She turned to him and tilted her head for a moment. Her eyes weren't on him, however. She instead signed at him to be alert. Suddenly the ground shifted but didn't give way. Instead several spikes shot from the ground up. Yamato was pretty sure he would have died if it weren't for the prior warning. Another wall crumbled, crackling with energy as Overhaul stepped into the room. Aki was quick to back up a few steps and get into a defensive position.
"I see two still alive Chronostasis," Overhaul chided.
Aki didn't give him the time to talk more. Yamato screamed for her to stop. Overhaul was notorious for his dangerous quirk. If he had control of his swarm, it would have neutralised the man easily. Overhaul wasn't immune to paralytics or venom. But physical attacks were easy for him to counter. The sudden constructs that emerged from him pushed her back, and she retreated, using the finished ones to manoeuvre over the others, though it seemed too quick even for her. An attack grazed her side and she landed next to Chronostasis.
"Yamato Shinozugawa, Swarm, your contractor has been killed and my men have wiped out all of yours. You've failed another mission."
Yamato grimaced, holding his broken arm and realising a losing situation when he saw one. It seemed he'd been saved to die again. This was becoming a mess of a rollercoaster.
"It seems I have. Don't gloat about it," he sighed.
"But your quirk is useful, and you're not a part of the Yakuza, you have no bonds with Kanro's men. Join the Shei Hassaikai instead. I can—"
Suddenly Overhaul was pierced through the stomach by a katana. During their talk, Yamato hadn't kept track of the girl and apparently it seemed, neither had Overhaul who'd wrote her off as unimportant.
"Your eyes are wide open," Aki said, twisting the sword inside of him.
"Aggghhhh!"
A wall of muscle erupted from the man as the girl jumped back, losing one of her katana in the interim. Overhaul pulled it out, healing himself almost immediately. Aki spat out some blood.
"You dare! It's rude to interrupt," Overhaul said, voice strained with barely repressed anger.
"Stand down Kuroishi. You won't be able to win against him," Yamato warned.
Aki cracked her head from side to side, looking unphased by the warning. Even despite the bleeding, she hadn't flinched an inch.
"There is nothing more dishonourable than taking a contract from the enemy. There is no point in discussing this further with you, but I will have your name," she said.
"What nonsense are you spouting brat?" Overhaul asked.
"You may have mine. Kuroishi Akiho."
"Well, it's been enlightening, now die," Chisaki hissed.
The room exploded into chaos. Yamato was fairly certain the girl had written her own death warrant by pulling that trick on Overhaul. When the dust cleared, he expected to see a gruesome sight, of a speared corpse, but instead there was more smoke as several small explosions disrupted the spikes emerging from the ground. Once again, his comrade managed to surprise him with her sheer battle IQ. In the brief window she had, she used small explosives to draw his attention away, then jumped in to close the distance with—wire? It was so far outside of her usual dual wielding sword style that it caught him off guard. She'd once again managed to close the distance with a foe like Overhaul, but the man made the mistake of looking into her eyes. His quirk fizzled out as his eyes rolled back, bleeding.
"Aki! Kid!" Yamato screamed after her.
It was stupid of him, but he saw Overhaul's hands move to scratch himself and activate his quirk. Without really thinking Yamato shot his gun, making the Villain flinch for just long enough to allow Aki to sever his arm off. Overhaul screamed and Aki grabbed his head, looking into his eyes.
"Die."
The man quivered for a moment. Yamato thought she might have actually done it, that she would have killed him. But Overhaul used his working hand and nicked himself despite bleeding through the eyes.
Then the world erupted.
Yamato was flung back, and he felt his head hit the concrete wall behind him. Then the world went black.
She had him! Just a moment more and she'd have had the time to end his life and take her kill. But somehow the man had managed to remake his body in the span of a second. He had impressive control of his quirk. She grit her teeth as one of his spikes pierced her arm. This was not good. Large walls of muscle were growing, and he was panting in delirious anger at her. Yamato was knocked to the side but still alive as far as she could tell. Her moment to kill the man had gone, and she knew if she continued fighting him now that he was taking her seriously, she'd die. Not to mention take a potentially alive Yamato with her.
"We will meet again Overhaul," she promised.
"You're not running anywhere," he hissed.
She ignored him, throwing down a smoke bomb and then throwing her kunai opposite to where she was running to distract him. If she just had her mud-clones… no she couldn't think about what-ifs. Instead, Aki ran to Yamato, grabbed her boss, and ran towards Overhaul. The man parted the smoke with his gargantuan hands, only to see Aki jumping over him in an impressive display of strength. She screamed in exertion as she reached an arm out to grab a nearby tree branch, feeling her arm dislocate from the shoulder from the momentum. But it managed to break both her and Yamato's fall enough to run towards one of Kanro's cars. Aki hadn't ever driven before, but she thought fuck it and got into the seat of the getaway car. She had a master key on her anyway. Overhaul was dropping down behind her, the sheer weight of his modified form enough to lift the car from the ground.
"You better be grateful for this Yamato-san. It's do or die," she whispered as she turned on the engine and put her legs on the accelerator.
The car jerked from the sudden acceleration and Aki began cursing in her head for not learning how to drive earlier. She'd just never had anyone who could help her though she knew the basics from watching. She hoped that was enough as Overhaul chased her in a mad dash. There was an unfortunate gate in front of her. It was metal.
"Fuck!"
Aki grabbed Yamato's head, shot down on the accelerator, and ducked her own head as she rammed into the metal beams. The car shook and when she put her head up there was a meal beam sticking through the broken windshield. The hood was… on fire. Overhaul was still behind her like a mad hound. She saw the nearby forest and decided the car had done its job. She spun the wheel as far as it could go, swerving into the forest and grazing several trees as she steered it somehow down the cliff and into the river below. The approaching water hit her like a tonne of bricks, and the broken glass from the crushed window cut into her flesh. It took every bit of effort in her not to faint.
Stay on task
She grit through the pain and allowed the car to sink. Just as the car was fully submerged, she took a deep breath, grabbed her unconscious passenger by his jacket, and pulled. The pain from both her pierced and dislocated arm had her scream, losing some air, but the adrenaline had done the job. The pain made her dizzy, but she stayed under the water, swimming with the current, for as long as she could, only resurfacing barely to gasp for more air as she continued downstream. This went on for an agonising ten minutes before her limbs felt heavy and she couldn't hear Overhaul chasing her. With shaking hands she grasped for land, using a nearby tree root to drag herself onto land. She threw Yamato halfway up before scrambling to land and coughing up water.
No time to spare, check his breathing
Yamato was not breathing. Aki pulled out her portable mirror and surged adrenaline through her head. Was this a good idea? Definitely not, especially with how far she'd already pushed herself. But she refused for this to be the end. Not after watching her whole team die once more. This was unacceptable. It was especially unacceptable for Yamato to die without understanding just how badly he'd fucked up. A leader needed to take accountability. So she began cpr, pumping his chest again and again, ignoring the way her arms creaked, the way her body burned and how numb it was becoming, not until he coughed out water and woke up with a gasp.
Once she was sure he wasn't dead, she collapsed next to him, rolling on her back, and finally breathed. The two mercenaries stayed that way for a good while, regaining their bearings.
"W-we're alive," Yamato rasped in disbelief.
He turned to her wide-eyed and in disbelief, seemingly taking over her state. "You saved me."
"We're a team," she said before thinking.
It had been a long time since she'd been on a team. It wasn't a bad feeling, to rely on others, to be relied on. It was an added responsibility though. It would have been so much easier to flee without Yamato's added weight, but years fighting in a war with her comrades had drilled into her how important it was to never treat them as expendable. The higher-ups could do that. Aki was used to being nothing more than a commodity for battle, but to do it to a fellow Shinobi-in-arms—it was too dark. If no one else could treat them as human, then they could afford each other at least the same dignity.
"Thank you, I'm in your debt Kuroishi," he said.
"I'm going to cash in. I can't move…" Aki admitted.
She'd spent the last bit of adrenaline doing what she did and now all that was left were limbs that felt simultaneously like a Bijuu was sitting on them, and also like they were quivering with the residue of energy.
"I've got you," he said.
"You definitely have a concussion," Aki pointed out.
He nodded before pulling out a device. Aki was too tired to look.
"I can walk. I'm calling in a personal medic and I'll foot the bill. We're a team, after all," he said.
He helped pick her up, carrying her on his back as they began the grueling trek to the other side of the forest. Aki was starting to feel bitter about the entire event.
"How could our plan have failed this badly?" she asked.
"Whoever had that quirk—the one that controlled the building, it was undocumented. None of my intel indicated they had a member with such a game-changing ability. Looks like we failed the mission badly," he sighed.
"You were close with those men, weren't you?" she asked.
Yamato's expression turned dark. "I may seem harsh, but I'm still human. I got attached."
"That's always a bad idea," Aki chided.
"And you didn't?"
"Wasn't there long enough… but you were. You've been with them for over a year. Are you going to leave this mission where it ended? Find new members?"
"No… but I will kill Overhaul," he said.
That surprised Aki. During their confrontation he hadn't seemed all that bloodthirsty, just disappointed. Maybe even resigned. It had annoyed her so much how easily he'd given up. Now that he saw the man's true power, he wanted to go for a round two? Maybe it was the concussion speaking.
"How do you plan on doing that without a team?" she asked.
"I'll poison him," he said.
"His quirk will negate it unless you have a toxin potent enough to kill him on the spot," Aki pointed out.
"What do you suggest then?" Yamato asked, a bite to his normally flat voice.
"We need to heal first. I'm going to train first. Don't go after Overhaul without me," she said.
Yamato tsked and then turned away from her before he began walking again, every step heavier than the last.
"Don't throw your life away kid. You were doing just fine independent. Continue and ignore this old man. I've failed too much to let go of this life without going on one final gambit."
It was touching that he wanted her to leave what he considered to be a suicide mission. But he was wrong. This wasn't a suicide mission. Overhaul could be killed, as was demonstrated on just how close she got with him the last time. If she'd been just a little faster, a little stronger, she could have gotten the jump on him. Aki knew she could do it. Take him down.
More than that, she didn't want to end this mission here. Not on a loss this bad. Not with someone as useful as Yamato undoing all her work to go kill himself on a suicide mission without her. A foe such as Overhaul, someone who commanded such powerful quirks, and wielded one himself—he was a worthy adversary. She respected that power… was envious of it.
"Yamato-san, give me one more chance to prove myself," she said.
"You've proven yourself enough," he said.
"No, look at me. I can win," she said.
He glanced at her then dark eyes seemed to see her resolve and his mouth opened midway as if in disbelief. Then understanding softened him and he nodded.
"Okay, I'll wait for you Kuroishi. We'll kill him together."
"We will."
She gripped his shoulder a little tighter and drifted off into unconsciousness.
A/N
Okay hear me out—Chisaki isn't that strong. Mental quirks are broken because they can stop someone in their tracks, especially if their quirk has an activation trigger. So Chisaki wouldn't have been prepared to take Aki down, when he looked into her eyes, and she basically gave him a brain haemorrhage. So could Aki technically take down OFA… maybe. If she catches the user completely off guard, but I reckon OFA at full potential, and prepared to face her could easily win. I don't know how she'd do against AFO because that man probably has some kind of mental defence set up that would negate her quirk. But Aki fights like a Shinobi, which means she'll sneak attack you, use smoke bombs, crackers, anything to distract her opponent since she can't use substitution jutsu or body flicker anymore. So she's back to being a traditional Ninja haha.
This is really the first fight where I've had her go all out so it was fun to write. She pulled out all the stops here since Overhaul is a pretty serious opponent. Too bad for him his eyes were exposed.
Also sorry for the wait. I just finished my trip back from India. It was truly amazing. Love the place and people there. Ate so much Chaat, I gained like 3kg haha. Anyway there will be more consistent bi-weekly updates here on out.
Comments:
DOA570047- Thanks again for commenting! I also love weaker quirks being used creatively. I have so many plans for Aki's awakened quirk... and also some changes to how other canon characters use their quirks too. Like really fun changes that I can't wait to get into. Realistically if everyone had a quirk they'd be finding niche ways to use it for a lot of different things outside of combat too, like how Aki uses her quirk to memorise things faster, or keep herself awake for longer, or even give her a rush of adrenaline when she needs it. Since she's controlling hormones, it can be used for a lot of different things so I've got more planned than just basic combat purposes. Also Knuckleduster my man is gonna say a lot more than just a few words about her stupidity with being involved with Six. Aki really needs a reality check.
As for what you've heard about India, it is a developing Third World Country, so there is a level of precaution you need to take. But like any country you have the rich parts and the poorer parts. Some places are pretty safe for women, though I don't even travel at night in Australia let alone India. There's also a lot of unnecessary racism going around on the internet spreading stereotypes like the food is unhygenic- when they're literally showing outdoor food stalls in slum areas and representing it as the standard for the entirety of India. For the most part it's great. Not at the level of safety and comfort as a 1st world country, but if you know the language, and take precautions it's a good place to be. Thanks for your concern though!