1st Person POV, Melodia

"Sweet Celestica, these brats are gonna give me grayer hair than Calaba's..."

I pulled out my vape pen before I took a long drag on it. I has my fox mask off as there wasn't a lot of criminal activity tonight. I had my phone next to me, primarily searching up any movements from Overhaul. Ever since me and the girls more or less massacred his lackeys and grunts, he's been oddly quiet. But we (or rather I) have to remain vigilant should the masked underground physician make another move...

It was a crisp cool night in the city of Musutafu. I thought so to myself as I puffed out the sweet smelling vapor.

I chose to wear my fancy Lilligant
kimono outfit, paired with my favorite matching Azalea ninja footwear sandals.

I sat alone, with my Sprigatito sitting at my side, drinking some milk that I brought along on my patrol.

I told the girls that I would go solo for patrol tonight. Unfortunately, the Grass starter of Paldea did not get the memo and just attached himself to me on the way out and I didn't know until I was a good distance away from the dormitory to make a swift return trip.

But that's beside the point.

Normally I would have taken at least one of the girls with me, but I decided that it be better if the five of them along with the Shadow Triad stayed behind in the dorm, at least to make sure that smiley trash bag stayed away from our children.

Being presented with that as an rebuttal made them back down, albeit reluctantly, but a win is a win regardless.

So I snuck out from the balcony and then began my night patrol via rooftop parkour.

Now I was taking a breather on top of a vacant apartment building, overlooking the city.

Taking another drag on my Peace Pipe, I tried to shut out the memories of my recent dreams that were still bothering me despite my frequent meditation sessions with Cogita and Volo. On top of that, that damn sperm donor and incubation chamber keep trying to corner me or one of my girlfriends. That and they seem to try to get close to my children, at least until Maki, Peko, and/or Mukuro intercept them and whisk the children away with their "ninja vanish" technique.

Add to the fact that the rabid mutt and the rotten broccoli (who got out of the infirmary but is on a tight leash given his injuries from the battle tests) keeps trying to challenge me in and outside my classes, it is a wonder I haven't developed a drinking habit (well, worse than usual anyway).

They still have not gotten over the battle test results, despite their so-called "advantage" set up by that two-bit Jack Skellington when they were pitted against Rei and Akari. Since they know those two answer to me, it really ruffled their feathers, accusing me of setting the two idiots up for failure, despite All Might trying to do the same thing in hindsight.

As for the constant dreams that keep making me wake up prematurely at night and leaving me deprived of sleep, I have still yet to figure out what it was about. Even Cresselia and Darkrai have no clue on what to do. Even after Cresselia constructed a dream catcher with her feather added into it, it did nothing to ward these intrusive dreams off.

I pulled up my knees to my chin, burying my face into them, my mind going into a downward spiral as the stress from this past week alone began to pile up. Maybe I should have let one of the girls come with, if only to alleviate the migraine known as life.

"What am I going to do?"

My ears perked up when I heard the sound of someone singing.

(Play video here)

Looking up, I saw that, one rooftop over there was a girl, not much older than me, Higana or Kyoko, with dark chin-length hair dressed in a pretty white kimono with pink flowers, a yellow obi tied at the waist, and wearing platform sandals. I also noticed she had beautiful eyes, like sea glass, if I'm not too mistaken.

She had an alluring voice, like a Froslass, but instead of being chilled to the bone, I felt.... warm.

"Perhaps it is her Quirk?" I wondered. Doing a quick scan with my Nen, I noticed with no small amount of shock that she actually has no Quirk.

What's more, her aura...

It reminds me of Kyoko's when we first met. Hers was very similar to Anabel's, while this woman, hers was similar to...

"Erika?!" I nearly sputtered with shock.

Catching me staring at her, the woman turned towards me, a smile on her face as she leapt from her place on the neighboring rooftop before practically prancing over to me.

"Hello there!" She greeted me with genuine cheerfulness. Her aura poses no malicious intent but I was on my guard instantly.

Force of habit, you know.

"Uh, hi..." I found myself without words.

"I know this is kinda out of nowhere, but where'd you get that kimono outfit?! I've never seen anything like it!" Her eyes had stars in them as waxed poetic about my outfit.

She then saw my Sprigatito, who mewed at her.

"Oh my gosh, what a cute kitty!" The woman picked up the Grass starter, the little cat meowing happily at the attention.

"Such a cute little thing!" She held the cat like a baby, rubbing his belly. Sprigatito had a dopey look on his face as he purred with delight.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Look at you, not even six months old yet and already catching people's hearts."

I could have sworn the mischievous grass-type shot me a smug look at my words.

Seems like somebody had been spending too much time with Grovyle...

"Is this little guy yours?" The girl asked, making me look back to her.

"Erm, yeah. Yeah he is," I answered, my face heating up. Ever since Kyoko joined the "harem" (as Omatsu and Higana jokingly called it) I've been trying to pay better attention to myself, at least in terms of hormones.

Looking at her, I can only see Erika, cuddling her grass types in and outside her gym. The genuine smile and her pure aura made something in my heart ache.

To think that Team Rocket was cruel enough to take such a life...

The image of fire consuming the gym and perfume shop (of which the latter caused an explosion which resulted in a chemical fire) made me clench my fists, one of them going to my sword, gifted to me by Cyllene.

"Hm?" She hummed, noticing the slight movement. "Ooh, is that a sword?" She seemed to be more curious than alarmed. "So what's a gal like you carrying a sword for?"

I gave her a pointed look. "I'm not the only one carrying a weapon." I remarked in a cryptic voice.

She blinked in mild surprise, but she merely laughed, untroubled at being called out. "Well, can't argue with that!" She placed Sprigatito down to whip out her pistol hidden in her obi.

"Here she is!" She boasted. "My pride and joy!" It was an odd sight to see a kimono girl wielding a gun. Especially something as impressive as...

"Is that a Berretta 93R?" I asked, eyes slightly wide. Mukuro would practically fall over herself to even hold one of those babies.

She blinked in astonishment before brightening with another smile. "That it is! For a swordswoman, you know your guns!"

I shrugged. "I take it you're a bounty hunter?" I inquired.

"Yup! Name's Saya Minatsuki! Your friendly neighborhood sweeper!"

I cracked a smile, kinda liking her vibe. "What a laid-back girl..."

"So what about you? It's not often I see a swordwoman in these parts..."

I felt myself clam up, unsure of how to answer. Sure, the vigilante the Baneful Kitsune is not exactly a secret in terms of the general public (I actually looked up my alias and found there are a lot of fanbases with my name on it, even more than the top ten heroes' own fanbases put together), but how would she react?

"Nya~"

We both turned to see Sprigatito playing with my Baneful Fox mask, making me shake my head before reaching to take it back.

"That's not yours, buddy," I reprimanded him lightly as I took it back, making him chuff at me, not seeing Saya's reaction.

"You're the vigilante Kitsune?"

I sighed, not even answering her directly as I stared ahead of me.

She became silent too.

Then she giggled.

I looked back at her, feeling a touch of confusion.

"You remind me of someone else I met just recently. Silent type. Loves cats. And you are also drinking milk while moongazing!"

I merely blinked at her.

She smiled before grabbing the bottle in my hand.

"Hey!" I huffed. "I was still drinking that!"

She ignored me, drinking the entire bottle down to the dregs.

My pout vanished off my face as I took in how pretty she looked.

I shook myself as I felt heat enter my face, like I was standing right in front of a Charizard's maw wide open (only minus the stench).

"I already have Higana, Kyoko, Omatsu, Oume, and Otake! There is no need to pine after her! And what will the others think!? I would be practically cheating on all five of them!"

But every time I looked at her, I kept seeing Erika, giving me that soft sweet smile.

I felt my eyes well up; all of that training in Nen and busting all of those Chimera Ants' asses, the one person I truly wanted to save slipped through my fingers.

"Hey!"

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I suddenly heard her speak to me, her face super close to mine.

She blinked before frowning. "Hey are you okay? I think you're crying."

Aw shit...

I shook my head, automatically denying it.

"N-no! You think wrong! I am not!!" I decided to pretend that my voice definitely did not crack at all throughout that sentence.

I was then pulled into an embrace, the soft scent of cherry blossoms entering my nose.

"It's okay..." She shushed, holding me close.

She then began to sing.

Her voice even sounded like Erika's, making my eyes burn even more as tears fell.

The memory of Erika running back into her gym as it was set ablaze, with me trying to stop her to no avail, and then the entire gym exploding along with her perfume store, and Higana and the other girls holding me back from entering the building and getting me away from the crime scene as Looker and the G-Men began to arrive (at the time we were not recognized as official Hunters in Kanto so some of our "activities" were kept secret).

And after the fire was put out, there was no trace of Erika, nor her Pokemon for which had sacrificed herself to rescue.

After that, the next Team Rocket base we uncovered knew no mercy as I wasted everyone not only in the underground casino but also the base in the next town over in Saffron City.

Let's just say that the gym leader Sabrina was walking a fine line when we crossed paths later on that day...

I guess I never really gave myself time to come to terms with Erika's death much less grieve properly even after all of that.

Maybe it is time that I did....

"Feeling better?" Saya asked, her tone soft with concern.

I nodded, sniffing. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it... you wanna talk about it?"

I shrugged, sighing. "You look... you look very much like someone I knew... a long time ago..."

Her eyes softened, her face becoming melancholic. "I take it they're no longer of this world?"

I nodded, my throat closing up.

Sprigatito mewed at me, his face reflecting his sadness as he hopped into my lap.

"Hey little buddy." Saya picked him up before hugging him- and me- to her, making me blush vividly as my face was way too close to her chest.

Not seeing this, she used one hand to run it through my hair, making me sigh.

"Better?" She asked.

"A little..." I admitted in a hushed tone.

Sprigatito jumped from her arm to the top of my head.

"Ooph!" I grunted in surprise as the Grass-type lightly slapped a paw on my nose, making the girl laugh as I deadpanned at the cat's antics.

"Looks like your little friend is trying to help you out of your slump." She chuckled, her laugh sounding like bells.

My face felt like a furnace as I heard this.

"By the way," Saya piped up, getting my attention. "I never got your name..."

Oh, right. She did tell me hers and she already put together thar I'm the Kitsune vigilante. So I guess it's fair to give her the courtesy.

"Melodia." I offered. "Melodia Shirona."

"Melodia Shirona," Saya repeated, tasting the name, letting it roll off the tongue. Hearing her say my name made a pleasant shiver run down my spine. "I like it. It's got a ring to it. Say, Melodia, wanna hang out again some time?" She asked.

I blinked in mild surprise. "Ummm..."

"I'd like to stick around, but I got a few bounties to bag before sunrise. So what do you say? Wanna hang out some time later this week?"

I found myself nodding without realizing it.

She brightened at me. "Cool! Let's exchange numbers!"

I fumbled for my Rotom Phone, almost dropping it as Sprigatito laughed at me at my clumsiness. I stuck my tongue out at him childishly as Saya chuckled at our exchange.

Unlocking it, I let her put her number in before she shot a text through it, which made her phone chirp back at her as she received the message.

Saving our newfound contacts, we decided to part ways.

Saya winked at me. "Hope we see each other soon!"

With that she began to dash away on the rooftops, disappearing into the night illuminated by the street lamps.

I watched her leave as I felt Sprigatito crawl up onto my shoulder.

I looked over at him, seeing him giving me the wide-eyed look before he turned his gaze to where Saya vanished into the night before back at me.

I huffed at him. "And what are you looking at?"

"Mrow..." He meowed innocently, looking back to where Saya left.

ANNNNDDDD SCENE!!!!

I wanted to do the Halloween Special first but since this had been in the drafts for so long I decided to get this out.

Things have been busy on my end given my new job and trying to survive the 90 day probation period so updating has been nearly impossible on my side since my days off have been spent resting and recuperating.

So enjoy this chapter while I try to whip up the Halloween Special for Melodia's story.

This is ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!