CONTENT WARNING: BULLYING, SUICIDE BAITING, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, & ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

In regards with the content above, I'm now changing this story to an M rating just to be safe, though the suicide tags primarily refer to only one OC character.

4 Months Ago, December 1, XXXX

A gray haired boy stumbled through the forest at night, bruises and cuts littering his body. Tears stained his cheeks as he ducked into an animal's den and fell to his knees.

"Stay away from us you monster!"

"You aren't a person, so don't you dare act like one!"

"That's right, run with your tail in between your legs!"

The boy collapsed on his side onto the hard cold stone, breathing heavily as his body began to change. Dark gray fur grew from his skin as his body began to change, and after a few seconds a gray wolf lay upon the ground. He whimpered softly before letting his body go limp.

A few seconds passed where he tried letting darkness claim him when he felt something brush up against his cheek as the wind blew inside. He cracked open an eye, seeing a small slip of paper flapping against him. He growled softly, intent on ignoring it, before his canine eyes spotted familiar writing.

He whimpered in pain as he forced himself to transform back into a human. His ragged clothes hung off his skinny frame as he nabbed the paper and held it up. Shaking his head, he concentrated, grimacing as his ears became wolf-like, fur began sprouting from his body, and a tail grew from his back. He stopped the transformation once his eyes shifted to a canine yellow. He blinked, finally able to see what was written on the paper.

Ryougetsu Araki

You only want a place to belong. If you are willing to hear us out, we can make it so you are accepted for who you truly are.

TA

Ryougetsu's eyes lit up, his tail wagging behind him. He held the card close, giving it a good long sniff. He whipped his head around to the entrance, moving on all fours as his body slowly transformed back into that of a wolf. Then he was off, following the trail.

...

4 Months Ago, December 3, XXXX

A pink and black haired girl stormed into her bedroom, kicking the door shut behind her. She flung her bag onto her bed before slamming her palms down on her desk, nails digging into the wood.

"Fuckin' hell," she growled. Ever since that day when that bitch took that video of her having some fun with the damn Copycat, her life had been a living hell. All her lackeys had abandoned her and she was made a laughing stock at school. She'd always been on top of the food chain! Even the teachers who once respected her looked down on her! It made applying to any hero schools virtually impossible!

"AUGH!" She made to sweep the stuff off her desk before stopping, somehow spotting something amiss despite her rage. She plucked a tiny business card sticking out from between the pages of a notebook and held it up.

Ureha Ueno

We know of your plight. If you wish to truly succeed and rise above the rest, then hear us out. We will make it worth your time.

TA

Ureha sneered down at the card, tossing it back on her desk. She plopped down in her chair, her anger having dulled. After a few minutes of stewing in silence, she snatched the card back up and gave it another read, then looked on the back.

"Oh what the hell," she said, placing it down and moving to her bed, falling down onto it. "You better make it worth my while or else."

...

4 Months Ago, December 7, XXXX

"It's okay, honey, it'll get better."

"Yeah, they'll see. With your quirk, you'll do great things."

"Some people are a bit mean, sure, but just ignore them."

"Don't respond to them. That'll just make them want to go after you more."

The floor creaked beneath her weight as she clunked across the floor, hard crystal dragging against the worn wood. Her bulky coat slid to the floor and her school bag dumped right after. Her parents' words, while well meant, were never the things she wanted to hear. They just didn't understand. Neither of them had the misfortune of being born with a quirk like hers.

"My word, is that really your daughter?"

"Huh, wouldn't have expected that to come from two emitter quirk users."

"It definitely can't be easy for her."

It hurt. It hurt so bad. She hadn't asked to be born this way. A freak.

"But honey, there's tons of mutant quirks out there. They live normal lives as well as any of the rest do."

"Look at Gang Orca, or, or the Kitsune heroine, Tamamo. People love them."

"Maybe you just need to stop being so negative and learn to accept who you are."

But they don't love me, she thought despairingly. I'm slow, I'm clumsy. Nobody ever wants to hang out with me. I'm just... a freak." She ran a hand down her exposed right arm, wincing at each dip in her 'skin', signs of the missing chunks of her body like someone had taken a hammer to. Her blocky fingers trailed the cracks running from each gap, unbidden voices ringing in her head.

"Hey, you're soooo pretty, y'know. You wouldn't mind if we had some, right?"

"Hey, help me with this! It's not crack- CRACK! Nevermind, got it!"

"This will definitely look good on me, don't ya think?"

Tears threatened to spring in her eyes, so she swallowed down the bile in her throat and rummaged around her desk for her mineral tablets. She found them and fumbled with the packaging, and the tablets clattered across the desk.

Sighing, she gathered them all up, and after checking beneath her desk to see if any had fallen, moved to put them back into the box, only to pause, seeing paper wedged in there. Carefully, she pried it out with one finger and laid it on the wood. It was an address accompanied with a date and time.

Flipping it over, she read:

Nae Ogawa

You are an outcast, picked on, shunned, and mistreated by your peers, and misunderstood by your parents. We can offer you a place to belong. A place where you can be yourself, and perhaps one day get back at those who have wronged you.

TA

Nae slid the card beneath one of her books before taking one of the tablets and dropping it into a water bottle. After letting it dissolve she swigged the drink. As she drank, the cracks in her skin began to heal slowly.

After setting it down, she glanced uncertainly at where she had hid the card. Something about it didn't sit right with her. But the words had really struck a chord within her and she didn't know how to feel about that.

We can offer you a place to belong. A place where you can be yourself, and perhaps one day get back at those who have wronged you.

Another beat of hesitation before she dug the card back out and booted up her desktop, lamenting the fact that as usual, her fingers were much too large for the keyboard.

...

4 Months Ago, December 12, XXXX

The orphanage was quiet, lights out already long past. A boy silently crept his way up the aged stairs, wincing at every creak and groan. He heard movement down below and froze, not daring to make a sound. When he heard whoever it was disappear into a room with a shut of a door, he let out a silent sigh of relief and continued up. Once he made it to the third floor, he carefully opened the hatch to the attic and lowered the ladder. After climbing up and closing it back up, he finally let out a low chuckle.

"Glad they never bother to check up on me," he muttered as he shuffled over to a laptop, booting it up. Logically he should rest, he knew that. But he was something of a night owl, even after a late night run. As soon as he entered his password, ParalysisD3m0n, he was greeted to the last page he'd been on. The UA website. Specifically, the stats page on acceptance rates and all that stuff the heroic quirked kids wouldn't need to ever worry about. But he did. He worried about it every second of every day. And he would until he either failed or passed the entrance exam.

His head dropped into his hands. He was so tired. Not just because of exhaustion, but because he was just so tired of living the way he did. Working out only when he could get away with it, never knowing if he could get into UA, or if his dream of becoming a pro hero with a quirk like his was even possible in the first place.

He ran his hands down his face, stretching his lower eyelids. He stopped, blinking at something white poking out from atop one of the rafters. Brushing aside a web and sending a small spider scurrying away, he grabbed whatever it was and held it to the light from his laptop.

Hitoshi Shinso

What you truly desire is not false hope in a nigh unattainable dream, but change in the way things are done in this society. What you desire is a path meant just for you and your quirk.

TA

Hitoshi reread the card over and over again until he felt his anger reach nearly boiling point. He crumpled the card in his hand and tossed it into the corner where it disappeared from sight in the darkness.

"Stupid brats," he muttered angrily, fists clenched in his lap. "They think they're so funny." He glared back at the hatch, tempted to go find whoever in this God forsaken orphanage decided to make fun of him. They thought they could get him to give up on his dream that easily!? Well, he'd show them. He glared at the UA website and shut his laptop and moved aside his sleeping bag to make space.

"One!" He grunted, lifting himself up from a push-up. "Two! Three! F-four!" He gritted his teeth, refusing to give. After a couple more he fell back down. Wiping at his forehead, he allowed himself a minute to rest before trying again.

"One!" If they thought he would fail, then he would just prove them wrong. "Two!" It didn't matter if his quirk wasn't heroic, or that it likely wouldn't be any good in the entrance exam. "Three!" He would get into UA, and show everyone who looked down on him that he could become a hero!

...

4 Months Ago, December 15, XXXX

It wasn't snowing. That was a real mood killer. Then again, she found any and every little thing a mood killer. The mind was funny that way when it really didn't want to do something.

"Ah..." she breathed out, watching her breath mist in the night air. She held out her hand, almost feeling the rush before whipping it back to her side. She lowered her head, violet hair falling down over her face as she stared down. Straight down. Straight down the building onto the sidewalk below.

A soft wind blew against her back. She closed her eyes, letting the terror wash over her. The fear of the height, the fear of the fall, the fear of what came at the bottom. Her breathing quickened, her heart pounding in her chest. She attempted to swallow. She tried remembering the words of her peers.

"What good even are you to society?"

"If the quirkless meant anything, why isn't there more support for them?"

"All you are is a statistic. Just wait until you're a different kind of statistic."

Breathing heavily, she reached a shaky hand into her school uniform's pocket, pulling out a red flower. She twirled it between her fingers, watching the petals spin. Ironically, red spider lilies were her favorite flower. So in a sense she appreciated the gestures left behind on her desk by her classmates.

When her breathing started to become sobs, she let the flower go before scrambling backwards, tripping and falling on her back. She never could watch them fall to the ground. She shut her eyes, fingers digging into the rooftop, feeling like she was holding on for dear life.

She couldn't jump. She never could. She'd been trying for years. It almost felt like she'd been trying her whole life. But she was scared. So scared of dying. She wanted it all to end, but she knew jumping would never work. None of the methods would.

Everyone called her quirkless. If only they knew.

She dug into a pocket and pulled out the card she'd found in her room earlier. She opened her eyes and reread the words she'd had in her head on repeat since she first read it.

Fukuko Sakamoto

You wish to die. But you can't. You're scared. If you want to learn how to overcome your fear, and if you want to use it to your advantage, then we may be able to help.

TA

Fukuko could feel the chill in her bones. She should move. She should go home. But, most of all, she should find out where the address on the back is. After all, she didn't have anything to lose.

Not even her life.

...

4 Months Ago, December 17, XXXX

The night began and ended as it always did; With a dance.

'Round and 'round they twirled. They've had years of being joined by the hip to know each other's moves by heart.

A red and white aura enveloped them, faintly lighting the dark room they danced in.

They spun, they waltzed, they tangoed to the music in their heads, always on the same tune as one another. Energy flowed from their lower backs in the form of tails. Horns grew bright from dark hair while a halo of light appeared above blonde curls. Wings grew from their backs, one set like those of a bat, and the other like a swan.

"So what do you think?" The girl asked as they moved across their dance floor.

The boy was silent for a couple of steps. "It's an interesting opportunity."

She nodded. "It is." Both were silent for a good five minutes before she said, "But are we willing to trade one overlord for another?"

"It depends," he said. "Will they do what they say?"

A snort from his dance partner. "Unlikely. At least, not how they make it sound like. There are always rules."

"But will they be acceptable to our current living arrangements?"

That silenced her. But not because she had to think about it. No, she'd already considered it before their dance had even begun.

"They might be," she said eventually. "Or maybe they won't. There's only one way to find out."

A soft squishing sound came from beneath them and they abruptly stopped their dance. The energy that gave them the appearance of an angel and a devil remained, pulsing with faint light.

"In any case," she said, glancing down at the mutilated hand that lay severed on the ground. "We seem to be out of a handler. We must get a new one anyway."

"Indeed we must, sister," her brother said with a devilish smirk, before they continued dancing past the pool of blood. And laying in the red liquid was a card, while no longer legible, had read:

Tenshi Kato and Mau Kato

You allow yourselves to be constrained by the ones who think you are obedient lambs. With us you will have freedom and the ability to choose the future you desire.

TA

...

4 Months Ago, December 19, XXXX

"You're supposed to be on probation!" A boy shouted as he tore down the alley, pushing crates down behind him. It did nothing to stop his pursuer who's thorny vines shot out, wrapping around each crate and tossing them aside as they continued to walk at a leisurely pace.

A crash and a shout from down the alley and they turned the corner to see the boy laying amongst a pile of boxes, groaning as he pushed rotten produce off him. He stared up, a mix of anger and fear in his expression.

"Was it bad enough that you had to beat up my friends, but now you're after me!? Do you want more legal trouble or something!?" He yelled, trying to scramble back, but vines shot from their body and wrapped around his wrists, the thorns digging into his skin. He cried out in pain, blood leaking from the punctures.

"All we did was make a little fun of you all!" He shouted in her face. "And you know what?! I'm not sorry! You're all freaks! Fuck you, Minagawa! You're exactly what people call your kind! A monster! A fucking monster!"

Minagawa stepped closer under a flickering light, the vines covering every inch of her hiding her body from sight. Everything, from her hands to her toes, even her head was just a mass of vines. Yellow eyes peered out from behind the thorns, angry slits. A vine whipped out, slashing the boy's face from his lower right cheek and up across his nose to the top left of his head, missing the eyes. He cried out and was dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

Minagawa walked past his writhing form. She itched to do more. To maim further. But she wouldn't. She already left her message. Anyone who messed with her or any other people with mutant quirks would feel her wrath.

Once she reached the end of the alley, she glanced to either side to check for cops before grabbing a coat that she had placed on a nearby dumpster and throwing it on, pulling up the hood. She was on the run right now. She'd attacked her probation officer and her parents wouldn't be of any help.

Something was sticking out of her top left pocket. She grabbed it, not remembering putting anything in there, and read what it said:

Seiso Minagawa

You have only ever tried to be yourself, and you were ridiculed for it. You protect those like you and all you receive is punishment. If you would like to find out how you can make some real changes towards the unjust treatment of mutant quirks, we might be able to help.

TA

Seiso regarded the card with mild distaste. 'Those like you' it said. Still, whoever slipped this card into her coat pocket had clearly been watching her and waited for the right moment when she had left it on the dumpster. Whether they had good or ill intentions, it didn't matter. She'd go. And should they harbor no good will towards her and 'those like her', she'd scar them just like she had that boy.

...

4 Months Ago, December 20, XXXX

"-tou? Okutou? Are you listening?"

Okutou tilted his head to indicate he was listening.

A sigh. "The ones who wanted to meet with you are ready. Shall we go?"

A slight nod from the boy. He followed the sound of his caretaker's footsteps, Makia Tojima, placing his own feet where she had. The floor was smooth, almost to the point where he could slide his feet if he wanted. But he didn't want to. He wouldn't act childish. He had no right.

A door opened and he followed Tojima through. Something scraped against the floor and he walked towards it, grasping what he knew to be a chair and guided himself into a sitting position. He raised his hands cautiously, and upon finding a platform to rest them on, laced his fingers together. He heard Makia walk away, closing the door behind him, leaving him alone in the room with whoever else was here.

"Mr. Asao, we're glad you made the time to meet with us." A man's voice spoke from the other side of the table. Older. Not unkind. Gentle almost. "We have a proposal for you."

A politician, Okutou decided. He sounded like a politician. With that in mind, he tilted his head to indicate for the man to go on.

"We would like you to consider offering your services to us," the politician went on. "Your quirk is exceptional and would prove invaluable in search and rescue situations. Of course, this would mean you would need to come and live at the Hero Public Safety Commission's HQ, but your caretaker, Miss Tojima, will be compensated quite well." He heard the man's suit stretch as the man leaned forward. "What do you say, Mr. Asao? You could be a hero. A great one. You could save hundreds, no, thousands. Maybe even mil-"

"No."

A pause. "I'm sorry."

"I said no."

Something shifted on the other side of the table. The man must've sat back down heavily. "You know, we extended our offer to Miss Tojima first. But due to the nature of your guardianship, anything that concerns you must also be approved by you and Miss Tojima."

"And?" A slight smirk played on his features.

He heard clenched hands tighten. "It seems you both have no concern over the fact that your quirk could save many, many lives."

"I have refused to use my quirk," Okutou stated matter-of-factly. "That is a right I will not have anyone breach unless it is what I want."

A deep, irritated sigh. "Very well. It seems we have wasted our time talking to you. It's quite selfish of you to refuse to help others just because of an incident that happened many years ago."

Okutou's fists clenched involuntarily. He had to use every ounce of self-control not to scream in rage. They had no idea the pain he had to feel every time he used his quirk. The anguish of that scene that played over and over in his head. It would take a deal from God for him to use his quirk ever again.

"I am fine being selfish," Okutou said, standing from his chair, turning his back to them. "If it means not helping the people who let my mother die." He walked to the door, grasped the handle, and pulled it open, stepping out of the room.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Let's go," Makia said gently. He followed her out of the building and back to their car. Once seated in the back, and they were several miles away from prying eyes, Okutou undid the blindfold over his eyes and slipped it off. He took an object from his pocket, and with a deep breath, opened his eyes. A blue glow emanated from them as his gaze took in the card held in his grasp.

Okutou Asao

You would be valuable to us, we cannot lie. But what we can offer you is greater than anything anyone can give you. We can offer you a chance at avenging your mother's death and making sure similar incidents never happen again.

TA

It would seem a deal from God had presented itself to him. Or perhaps a deal from the Devil.

...

4 Months Ago, December 22, XXXX

They called him hot tempered, hot headed, etc etc. Yeah, he acted on impulse 90% of the time, but that didn't mean he couldn't think before acting. So that's what he was doing right now. Debating if ignoring this was the right move or if this was a once in a lifetime chance he was about to pass up.

Natsui Totsuga

You've caused a great deal of damage and you won't be getting out of it this time. That is, unless you consider our offer. If society's constraints are too much for you, then maybe it's time they were melted down and reforged into something new.

TA

On the back of the card was an address, along with a date and time. New Year's Day. He didn't have much to lose. He was already facing hefty jail time for the amount of property damage he dealt to his school. The question was, was he willing to risk meeting whoever sent this? Everything about it screamed shady.

He heard a knock on the front door even though he was in his room on the second floor. He also heard his dad get up to answer it, probably wondering why someone was here at this hour.

Well, there wasn't any time left to consider his options. Time to do what he did best and that was to act on impulse. He grabbed spare change, clothes that were laying on the floor, and stuffed them into a backpack. Sliding open his window, he leaped out into his backyard. He grabbed onto a branch from the tree outside his window and dropped down the rest of the way, wincing at the impact.

Glancing around to make sure he hadn't been spotted, he ran, patting his pocket to make sure he still had the card. Good, he did. Because he wouldn't be able to remember the address otherwise.

...

4 Months Ago, December 24, XXXX

Howling winds rushed around her, deafening to her ears. Small bolts of lightning arced in the dark storm clouds surrounding her. She was in the eye of the storm. Her long, blonde hair billowed around her freely, having torn from the hair band that had kept it together.

The wind shifted to her right. She reacted, manipulating the lightning and shooting it in that direction. She let out a gasp of pain as something shot into her back. The storm slowed and ceased as the dark clouds cleared. She fell only ten feet before she was caught and lowered safely to the hard metal floor.

Slow clapping from behind. "Amazing control, Iwayama. You're getting better. Though you need to recognize when someone is only drawing your attention away from the real threat and learn to watch out for a sneak attack."

"Couldn't have softened the blow a bit?" She only grunted out as she climbed to her hands and knees, hair falling down past her face. She heard the telltale zoom of the red feathers returning to their master.

"Now now, this is training for the real thing y'know." Black boots stepped into her view of vision. She glanced up to see a gloved hand being offered to her. "Plus, you did ask for me not to hold back."

Iwayama groaned, but accepted the gesture, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. She winced. Her muscles were sore from the constant manipulation of the storms she produced. Not to mention there were gonna be two bruises on her back when she woke up tomorrow.

"That should be enough for one day," Hawks said, giving her a thumbs up. "Now that we're done, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm?" She blinked, in the process of tying her hair up again.

"Why'd you ask to train today?" He asked, hands shoved in his pocket. He had the appearance like he just wanted to make small talk, but she knew the truth. He was worried.

Iwayama rolled her eyes, letting her newly made ponytail fall from her grasp. "I just wanted to get some more practice in. Besides, I'm taking tomorrow off, so you don't have to worry about me overdoing it."

Hawks shrugged. "Okay then. Oh yeah," he tapped his chin. "I have nothing else to do tomorrow either, so why don't we have lunch together?"

"Feeling bad because we both don't have a family to hang out with on Christmas?" Iwayama asked cheekily.

"Hey, no, I didn't mean-!" Hawks spluttered, before his expression soured. "Please stop doing that."

Iwayama burst out laughing as she grabbed her jacket from the hook next to the door of the training room. "You're too easy, Hawks."

"Again, you can at least call me Takami," he called to her as she opened the door to leave. "I've been your mentor for half a year at this point."

"Ask me on New Years!" She called back to him, leaving him behind as she set down the hallway. Not feeling particularly hungry yet, she passed by the mess hall and proceeded straight to her room. For as long as she could remember she had walked these metal halls, passing by various people in suits, lab coats, etc. She was a prodigy, or so they told her. Her quirk was immensely powerful, but required careful control. She had different instructors over the years, but last June they decided that it was time to get her ready to get out in the real world as a sidekick.

She paused next to a window, brown eyes looking back at her through the reflection. She looked old enough to be out of school, despite only being 16. The Hero Public Safety Commission planned to introduce her to Japan as Hawks new sidekick. Hero Name: Storm.

She snorted softly and kept walking. She'd liked that name up until Hawks had first burst out laughing when he heard it. She hadn't known why until he showed up the next day with an old comic book with a character with similar powers to her also called Storm with large white hair. After that she vowed to find a way to change her hero name before they sent her out as a sidekick.

Now in the hallway designated for the few heroes-in-training like her, she paused once again, this time looking at the nameplate on one of the doors. Kato.

She frowned. The Kato twins always kept to themselves. They were mysterious and unnerved her greatly. She'd heard talk that they'd disappeared a week ago and she hadn't seen their handler around lately either. Shrugging, she continued on to her room. Once she stepped inside, something immediately felt off.

She glanced around, unsure, as the door slid shut behind her. The air in here felt slightly more active than she normally felt. As if someone had just passed through here before her. She relaxed upon seeing a stack of what looked like documents on her desk. Her handler must have just come by to give her something to work on. Perhaps some paperwork for becoming a sidekick.

But when she sat down and looked at the first page, it wasn't what she expected. After a few minutes, she stumbled back from her chair, shaking. A knock on her door startled her.

"Hey, Iwayama, you in there?" Hawks' voice came through. She didn't answer. She couldn't trust herself to speak. Glancing at the papers still on her desk, then at the unlocked door, she suddenly felt frozen.

"Uh, if you are, I realized I can't do lunch tomorrow. Higher ups need me to do some early Christmas Day patrolling. We could do dinner though." A pause. Then, "Huh, maybe she's in the bathroom..." He left, and Iwayama listened to the sound of his footsteps fade away. She waited a couple more seconds before hurriedly locking the door and sitting back down at her desk.

Her hands shook. She could scarcely breathe. Still, she looked at the paper again. Then the one underneath it. Then the one underneath that. And so on and so forth. Each paper with new, disturbing information than the last. By the time she'd finished, going through everything, she was as pale as a ghost.

There had been seven reports in total. Each one about a different person who had once trained and worked for the HPSC. From young kids to pro heroes in their prime. And each one had been a tragedy. Whether it had been a kid taken by the HPSC and trained to become a hero, only to end up dying due to disastrous experiments on amplifying his quirk, or to a pro by the name of Lady Nagant being thrown into Tartarus by simply questioning the HSPC's President at the time for being morally corrupt after taking multiple jobs of killing not only villains, but other heroes. All under the order of the HSPC.

Iwayama felt sick. She rushed into her bathroom, emptying what little she had inside of her into the toilet. After what felt like an eternity, she managed to grasp the sink and pulled herself up. She looked into the mirror and saw how bad she looked. Then she saw the card sticking in the corner of the mirror.

Satsuki Iwayama

They have lied to you. None of them can be trusted. We might not be trustable either, but we can help you escape if you'll let us. You should be allowed to live as you wish, but that can never happen if you let yourself be held down by those who wish to control every aspect of your life.

TA

On the back were instructions. She stared at them in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. None of this could be real. She was having a nightmare, that was it. Nothing more. But when she left the bathroom and saw that the documents were still on her desk, she knew it was real. What should she do? Should she follow the instructions? But what then? How would-

Hawks. She raised a shaking hand to her mouth in growing horror. Was he in on this too?! He had been a pro hero for a while now. He had started with the HPSC at a young age, younger than when she started. Was he... did he do stuff like some of the people in those documents did?

Satsuki sank to her knees, tears running down her face. The card was right. She couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust anyone.

We might not be trustable either, but we can help you escape if you'll let us.

She didn't know what to do. But maybe... maybe whoever TA were... maybe they did.

...

4 Months Ago, December 25, XXXX

A hooded figure dropped the bags in the corner of a ramshackle room, the floorboards creaking as they moved across to the unstable desk next to the boarded up window. A soft breeze filtered through the cracks, making a slip of paper tucked in the side slip through and fall upon the desk.

Hand resting on the knife tucked away in their pocket, the person picked it up. It was a business card, or something resembling one anyway.

Erika Fujino

We know of your desire. We can offer you a chance to right the wrongs in this society. If this interests you, please come to the address on the back.

TA

Snorting softly, she made to rip it in half, before pausing, and flipping the card over. The address wasn't located too far away, and it included a date and a time set for one week from today at 5 PM. Something about it made her hesitate, torn between ignoring it and accepting the invitation.

"You should accept."

Erika whirled around, knife in hand. A woman stood in the corner of her room, half obscured by shadows. She could just make out that she was wearing a pure white kimono along with some sort of curved headpiece.

"Who are you?" she asked the intruder warily. "And what do you want?"

"Why, we want you of course," the woman said smoothly, and Erika could see her smile, but nothing else in the darkness of the room. "Normally we only extend our invitations via card only, but you... I had to see you for myself. You are quite the resourceful girl, are you not? You've avoided being in the system ever since the death of your parents, and you've been oh so careful in not drawing attention to yourself. That is, until 3 years ago."

"You know a lot about me." Erika tightened her grip on the knife. "How?"

"It wasn't that difficult," the woman's smile never faded, and the sight of it made chills run down Erika's spine. "You just have to know where to look, and who to ask."

Erika shifted her posture, still ready to move, but gave the appearance of looking relaxed. "This says you know my desire, and you can help 'right the wrongs in this society'. What kind of organization do you belong to? It certainly can't be legal."

"And does that bother you?"

Erika was silent for a moment. "No," she said eventually. "There's no fixing this society without breaking a few rules."

"Good answer," the woman practically purred. "As for who we are, we are the ones willing to do what is necessary for change. If that makes us irredeemable villains in the eyes of the world, then so be it. After all, to them we already are villains. Aren't we, Ms. Fujino?"

"We are the ones left behind by society," she went on, moving across the room, keeping to the shadows. "We were the persecuted, the ones left broken and lying in the mud. And they go on praising the heroes, the ones responsible for keeping this broken world as it is. They save many, but never the ones that matter." She halted, yellow irises glowing in the dark. "If you are interested in what we have to say, do consider coming to that address in a week. I think you will find that there are more like-minded people than just you and me in attendance."

"Tsunokakushi," Erika said.

A pause. Then, "Pardon?"

Erika fought down a smirk. "A tsunokakushi. And you're wearing a wedding kimono. You're-"

A rustle of wind and fabric and suddenly Erika felt a cold hand pressed lightly against the side of her neck. A soft breath warmed her cheek from behind. "Oh I like you. You've done your homework on me. Well then, knowing what you now know, can I expect to see you in a week?"

Erika glanced down at the hand. Pale, white fingers with blood red nails lay there upon her skin. One flex and they could easily dig into her. "Do I have a choice?"

The hand moved away. "Of course. Sorry, I seemed to have moved on instinct. Pay it no mind."

Erika tilted her head, not daring to look back. Something told her it would be a bad idea. "I'll consider it then."

She could hear the woman grinning. "That's all we can ask for." She stalked out from behind her, and after a backwards glance at the girl, said, "Until then." She moved elegantly, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Erika just stood there for a full minute until the pressure she'd been feeling left her.

With a sudden gasp, she fell to her knees, clutching her heart, her hair falling down around her face. Dammit! Too close! She'd felt killing intent directed at her for that one moment. And she'd have been powerless to stop it. Her quirk meant nothing against someone like her.

Pushing her red bangs aside, she glanced at the business card lying on the floor. When had she dropped it?

Scooping it up, she whispered, "What have I gotten myself into?"