Chapter 2: The new day unease

For a time, he felt weightless. The burdens of life no longer weighing him down, no longer bound to his misery. However, regret would maliciously attack each time he accepted his fate, for each peaceful slipping away, a heavy shame grounded him, for each wish for the end, the fear of the unknown haunted him, for his fading sense of pain, his body throbbed in agony. He wondered when he would exit this hellish in-between, the damnation to egregious to face, yet fatigue aggravated his sloth. Yet, He…He

"-up, don't have all day, y'know?" she said. The familiar voice frank as always, her dull yellow glanced deep. Her words accompanying the burden of pains slow push to irrelevancy, the warmth forgotten had slowly returned. The voice that would only ever bring confliction seemed to continue to speak, her words to far to reach him, he was tired, he was so, so tired. The hellish in-between finally escaped, his vision the last to go as sleep fell on him, his black saw strand of light pink last 'Right' he thought. 'She was…here, too…' he thought last. Consciences lost.

The light of dawn graced him as an angelic voice lulled him into the land of the living. His eyelids heavier than they had ever been as he sluggishly hit the snooze button, he blinked taking in the welcomed sight of a familiar ceiling, a reference unfortunately lost.

"Ow" he muttered. The burn of his bruises still haunting in his attempt to sit up; his face scrunched in misery.

"Bruis…?!" he trailed off. The vision of yesterday slammed vicious into his recollection. The alleyway, the darkness, the…Swiftly, the gruesome image of the dead hero's torn cranium sent him tumbling towards the toilet, his empty stomach still heaving, desperate for release. He saw, he saw, he saw, he saw. He saw something he wasn't supposed to, he saw something he wished he didn't, he saw that horrifying sight.

'Why?' he thought. His stomach heaving wishing to rid everything, yet nothing would come, he heaved and heaved, agony fell on him yet again as the question plagued his mind, as he stumbled back overwhelmed. His stomach somewhat stabilizing.

"Think, Minoru, think. That's all your good at" he said. His labored breaths heavy.

The world seemed to have lost sense, he had seen it, he knew the killer knew yet here he was alive and relatively well. The fact he was alive filled him with relief, however, unease remained in his heart. In these kinds of situations, the killer would kill the witness or rush to kill them and… undoubtedly that would've been the case, yet he stopped. Something stopped him, something had made him relinquish his golden ticket to ridding a possible future nuisance but…what was that something, what had he to gain from stopping, he was the only witness…the only…a pink strand.

"M-mina?!" he shouted. The horrifying realization brought life to his trembling legs, fatigue causing a slight stumble as he headed out of the bathroom, the spill of a clear liquid from a small bottle forgotten. The hallway swayed as he ran, the burden of worry pushed his rush, that ever-energetic girl… he didn't want her to die, she could not. He ran and ran, everything an afterthought as comfy wool became hard concrete. He ran, the glare of the early morning sun did nothing to stop him, his tiny legs strained. He ran, the eyes of ridicule forgotten, the blaring horns of cars forgotten, the curses of strangers forgotten. He had to make sure. Make sure she was…

By the time he had arrived, his lungs were laced with greed for oxygen, desperately filling itself to the max, strain to blame. The stupor forgotten as he stared down the alleyway, the glow of the sun doing nothing to rob the sheer sense of restlessness this passage brought, the absence of sirens not helping either. Impulse had carried him here, impulse had made him forget his phone, the helpful hands of actual pros unavailable. His gaze traced down the long path, a cold sweat broke out of him. He stared, the clutches of fear caused him to waiver, slowly he began backtracking. However, …the glow of a black and green unruly mane flashed into his mind.

"Y-you would still go, wouldn't you? Everyone would" he asked. The tremble weakened; fears grasp no longer as strong as he sighed. "You're a hero too, Minoru, aren't you? Come on" he said. A forceful smack of his face followed, his legs carried him down the dim alleyway, his legs still feebly hiding a slight tremble.

Slowly, he walked, the air thick and humid akin to sludge on his skin, heavy with miasma. He gagged, the horrid smell rekindling the unease of yesterday.

"M…A-ashido" he muttered. His footfalls echoed as he did, the thundering echo of the streets slowly forgotten. The thunder now the lesser of two evils, the silence unnerving.

"A-ashido" he said. His voice gaining a little power as he went, unease the cause, his breaths shorter.

"A-ashido" he said. His voice louder as his footfalls grew louder, the echoes assaulted his ears, his breaths even shorter.

"A-Mina!" he shouted. His voice trembled, his eyes scanned the entire of the visible alleyway, his hand clutched his shirt nervous, he needed to find her.

"MIna" he shouted. Louder, his throat growing sorer but he needed to find her. However, his mind betrayed him as the thought of pink dyed red tickled his consciousness, his skin grew pale.

"MINA!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His effort returned with silence the only answer. Daylight now assaulted his eyes, the end nearing, he blinked as he saw a familiar silhouette, the short fluffy unruly hair he had been looking for.

"Mina!" he shouted. His voice softer as relief filled him, his legs carrying him swiftly towards the girl. His short arms finding their way around her leg. She was safe, she was-

"Mind getting your fuckin' hands off me?" she said. The simple stomp of her foot sending tremors through him, his hands reluctant to let go. He blinked, his eyes full of tears,

"S-sorry, sorry. I'm just so…" he trailed off for what felt like the millionth time that day. Instead of the expected exotic pink, he found himself staring blank at the tanned peach. Instead of black and yellow glaring, he found the bewitching familiar white and yellow. It was-

"Rin…san?" he asked foible.

"Yer'd think after years of seein' this face, you'd know off the bat. Guess that robbery really did a number on ya" She said. As frank as ever.

"Rin-san?" he began. His voice hoarse.

"Ya short-stuff" she said.

"Put me down" he said. His body perched atop her shoulders. The path home growing shorter.

"Nah" she said.

"Why?!" he said. Indignant.

"Can't have a run-away brat try breakin' free again" she said.

"The hell is this, prison?!"

"Yes, now shut up, the warden's had a rough mornin'"

"Do you get off having kids on your shoulders, if not please put me down"

"Want me to finish what them thugs started, if not yer gonna take them words back, 'sides I'm doin' ya a favour, this the only time a pretty girl gonna lay their hands on ya willingly".

"Shut up, you won't be the only one".

"Your mom ain't included".

"You witch, the hell kind of degenerate do you take me for"

"The kind that says they a dega- degenr…a prevert proudly"

"…Fair point but seriously stop. This is embarrassing"

"Aren't cha always eager to touch pretty girls, yer welcome" she said as she entered the door, swiftly she took him off as if ridding a piece of trash. His eyes intent on her as she locked the door behind her, his search cut off. A sigh of frustration and fatigue left him.

"Think pretty highly of yourself, don't you? Can't deny it though but never mind that I've have to ask" he trailed off.

"Yer calmed yerself a bit, huh? Had I not been, I'd have been elsewhere. Anyways ask away" she said.

"You saw it, didn't you?" he stated.

"Depends on what ya mean. The robbery or yer search history, if it's the last one. Ya pervert" she said.

"Common knowledge. But what do you mean by robbery?" he asked.

"R-o-b-b-e-r-y, when ya get yer things snatched, saw that happen to ya yesterday" she said

"You're so patronizing for someone who can't say degenerate but if you saw, you know it wasn't a robbery, right? You aren't getting blind on me, are you?" he said uneasy.

"And yer a shitty little brat and if I can't see something as plain as a robbery, I might be" she said unfazed.

"You sure you…" he swallowed. "You didn't see the body?" he asked. A wave of nausea following. She stopped, her eyes dull eyes liven up a bit at the question before a sigh left her.

"So that's what happened, some bastard with an illusion type quirk made ya see a dead body before sneaking up on ya. Gotta say some bad luck, ya got there" she said. Her dull eyes twitched before an air of pity filled them. That, that made…no sense.

"The…hell are you talking about, that makes no…sense, right? It…it was so real, the blood, the smell, everything…" he said. His voice getting softer and softer. 'That can't be, right?' he thought. A battle in the centre of him began.

"Really messed ya up if ya couldn't put that together yerself. But what ya see is 'reaal' right? Guess, ya learn how easy yer eyes is ta messy with. Eat some breakfast and go to sleep, gotta finish up 'fore the shift starts" she said. Guiding him to his seat, he stared blankly. It didn't make any sense; he was sure of what he saw.

But, now that he had time to think, what Rin said made more sense. The first thing that pointed towards it was the empty alleyway, he knew it was that one, he had walked it a thousand times so he was sure. Yet he found nothing, no blood, no brain, no bits of bone. The recollection made his stomach churn as he played with his food, the taste an afterthought for the few bites he took, his free hand tapping his sticky balls rhythmic. He found nothing, even his injuries weren't as bad as he remembered. His jaw had been dislocated, and his ribs broken yet he could breathe and speak likely showing that it was all in his head, that…pain.

He could have written it off but, he didn't have anything valuable on him at the time, there had been no incentive to rob him and the image in his head was too vivid, there had been mind-altering quirks but none powerful enough to cause as much pain as he had felt. That pain was real, at least he felt it was, yet he couldn't explain why he believed so, but it was obvious, there was so much not right with this. And the answers laid with only one other person, but he had to find a way to find out if she was okay.

"Breakfast was delicious" he muttered. Heading to his room, if Rin-san noticed something about his behaviour, she didn't let it show choosing to instead have the tv drowned out the silence.

"-hero killer still at large, back to you, Kai" the reporter said. He wished he could drown out the sound, those gleeful grey vivid as when he first saw them.

The kitchen stood silent, the tv merely background noise, her eyes firmly on the half-eaten food.

"Yer ungrateful brat, after all…" she began. A swift shake of her tossed the remainder of the sentence, her hands forming a bridge over her mouth "What'd ya get yerself into, Minoru~" she sang. Her lips twitching.

(10:15) Grape Casanova: Denki, can you text ashido to see if she's alright.

(10:15) Grape Casanova: Please

(10:18) Pikachu: U good, dude? Why?

(10:19) Grape Casanova: I'll explain later, just please do it know.

(10:45) Pikachu: She said she's fine, hanging wth the gurls

(10:46) Pikachu: Now tell what's up?

(10:49) Grape Casanova: Got robbed yesterday, thought I saw Ashido go down the same way I got jumped. Got worried something happened.

(10:50) Pikachu: DUDE! Start with that fidt, ou oksy?

(10:50) Pikachu: First* you* okay*

(10:52) Grape Casanova: As good as you can get after a robbery

(10:53) Pikachu: Okay, okay, sarcasm was earned there. Need anything? Food, company, the new midnight set

(10:54) Grape Casanova: Midnight what?

(10:56) Pikachu: A midnight simp through and through, huh?

(10:57) Grape Casanova: You bought it didn't you, don't be a hypocrite, simp

(10:58) Pikachu: I don't wanna hear that from you of all people! I kick your candy ass in Mario kart this time when I get there.

(10:58) Pikachu: I'll*

(11:00) Grape Casanova: You're gonna need all the luck in the world, even then you're getting your ass handed to you, see ya

He laughed as he sent the last text. He couldn't stand his losing streak, could he? Smiling, he sighed yet again relieved. She was safe, she was alive. Now all he had to do was wait, his answers a day away. A question still lingering in his mind as he smiled, does he need to know, did he need to look into it…did he need to say anything at all, his information most likely useless, those last words admittedly haunting "Can you keep a secret". He…Swiftly, he shook his head, the thought thrown back into the recesses of his mind. For now, he would wait to destroy Denki.