HERO LADY

Droopy lavender eyes peered down at the bag containing ice creams he had purchased from a nearby convenience store. He wore an oversized black cardigan with a colored pattern on the central portion that complemented his features well, and he paired the cardigan with a white inner and blank jeans, as well as an old pair of black high-cut sneakers and a sling bag to complete his look.

Sighing as a cool breeze brushed against his bare face. Since he had been gone for about twenty minutes, he couldn't help but be concerned about his younger siblings. If only that store cashier hadn't forgotten the computer's password after he mistakenly locked it out. He had to wait for the cashier to fix the problem for fifteen minutes.

He yawned and shifted his gaze to his wristwatch. He didn't get enough sleep last night since he had to finish all of his homework and prepare for his quizzes this morning.

Even though it was already 6:08 p.m. The park didn't appear to be dark; in fact, the area had a nice night view with post lights strewn about. There were still other people around the park.

His delicate fingers brushed through his silver-lilac hair and continued walking towards the spot where he had left his younger siblings earlier, but to his disappointment and worry, he found them nowhere in the spot.

He took a glance around, hoping to find some silver-lilac heads that matched his hair color but found none.

"Seriously? Luna, Mana, I told you to stay here." He muttered under his breath while shaking his head in disbelief. "I shouldn't have left them here."

The ice creams he bought for his younger siblings were already melting, but he seemed unconcerned as he walked around the park, looking for his sisters, until he came to a halt at the foot of the bridge, where he spotted a familiar lilac hair. His face was painted with curiosity, as the girl ran towards him as if someone was after her.

"What's the matter, Mana?" He inquired, his voice tinged with worry, as he searched about for his other younger sister. "Can you tell me where Luna is?"

But the girl in front of him was sobbing, her hair, which he had styled in two little buns earlier, had become utterly tangled up. The pink colored carf he sewed and placed over her neck earlier had vanished. But it was his other younger sister's absence that disturbed him the most.

Mana sobbed as she grasped the hems of his sleeve, her eyes puffing up as she desperately starred up into her big brother's eyes. "Please, Oniichan, help them. Oneesan and the hero lady are being harmed by bad guys."

Without waiting for an explanation from his younger sister, he snatched her up in his arms and instructed her to point them in the direction of his other younger sister, which Mana did. Every step he took towards the area Mana was pointing to, regret racing through his veins as he realized he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something bad happened to his sisters. Finally, they arrived at the spot where Mana claimed their other sister was being harmed by bad guys, but when they arrived, they were both completely perplexed when they discovered five unconscious bodies sprawled on the grass.

"Are these the bad guys, Mana?" He asked his younger sister in his arms as the girl clutched onto his big brother's neck and nodded her head in response. "But I don't see Luna around."

As if on cue, the mentioned girl had suddenly appeared behind a sakura tree, her pigtails bouncing in the air as she ran towards her big brother, waving at them with her eyes puffy from crying

"Oniichan, Mana!" Luna called them.

The silver-lilac haired man exhaled with relief, after inspecting his sister and seeing no injuries.

"Are you all right, Luna?" As he crouched down to be face to face with Luna, he asked worriedly, and the girl just smiled and nodded in response.

"I was protected by the hero lady." Her big brother furrowed his brows in bewilderment when she said those with a smile.

"Hero lady?"

"Yes. She came to help me and Mana from those bad guys," Luna said as she pointed to those unconscious bodies behind them. "Although she got hurt since she was hit in the face and stomach. Oniichan, can we help her and treat her injuries?"

Without waiting for her big brother to speak, Luna rapidly tugged her big brother's shirt towards the girl who was leaning against the sakura tree, her eyes closed and her breathing was heavy. After being shoved to the ground by two males who caught her off guard, her right cheek was fully bruised, and there were dirts on her uniform as well.

She was drained from taking down the mohawk guy who was a lot stronger and the rest, and despite that this wasn't her first time being pummeled like this, the exhaustion caused her to fall asleep in that position.

Of course, Mitsuya Takashi is completely unaware of this. Although he was taken aback when he saw the familiar (h/c) haired girl, he was even more taken aback when his younger sisters told him that she had saved them. He was amazed that despite the fact that those four men were way bigger than the girl, she was still able to knock them out.

"All right, let's head home and take care of her injury."

~

Her eyes fluttered open when she felt a soft finger poke the tip of her nose, she was instantly welcomed with a set of lavender eyes gazing at her. Her violet hair was beautifully arranged into a cute two buns, with a few baby hairs scattered over her forehead.

"Finally, Oneechan, you're awake!" The little girl beamed and abruptly whirled around, shouting as she bolted from the tiny room.

Y/n studied the room with a puzzled expression on her face, the room was unfamiliar to her, so she assumed the two girls she saved at the park had brought her to their home. She also overheard the little girl yell "oniichan," which she assumed was the person who carried her to their house. Once she got out of bed, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and lifted up the strange shirt she was wearing to reveal a dark bruise on her stomach. She sighed and thought the bruise on her cheek must have been darker than the ones in her stomach, biting her lower lip as she pulled down her shirt.

"Principal Yoshino would give me detention if she saw this bruise." She said as she touched the bruise on her cheek. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as the bruise on her stomach, which is strange.

Suddenly, the room's door opened, revealing a teenager her age. He had the same hair and eye color as the two girls she had rescued from the high school delinquents earlier, so she assumed he was their older brother straight away.

"I see you're awake, Hanagaki-chan." Mitsuya smiled politely, his younger sister grasping the hem of his sleeve, the one with a two-bun hairstyle. "I just finished cooking dinner. Come join us for a meal. You've been unconscious for nearly two hours, so you're probably hungry."

"How do you know my name?" She inquired as soon as she followed the siblings out of the room, casting a final glance at the room she slept in and concluding that it belonged to the older sibling because it smelled like a guy's room, but not the same like Takemichi's. Mitsuya's room smelled better than her cousin's.

"I'm Takemichi's friend." He answered. "Your stomach was growling earlier. You didn't actually faint from the punches you got, you fainted because of hunger. Right?"

The lavender man chuckled as she heard her tummy grumble. However, he was correct. She wouldn't have fainted back there if it hadn't been for her hunger. It was a complete embarrassment. She had never fainted before after taking blows, she fainted against her will and she will not let it happen again.

"I'll eat twice next time," she said as she took note of this in order to avoid getting fainted again.

Mitsuya let out another chuckle as they arrived at the dining table. She just noticed how small their house was, but she just kept it to herself and sat in an empty chair. The dinner had already been made and was still warm on the table. She waited for someone older than these three siblings, such as their mother or father, to come out. But the longer she sat there, though, the more she realized that it was just the three of them in this house.

"Our mom's not coming home yet."

"Huh?" Her face was painted with confusion, trying to process what she just heard since she almost believed that these three were living alone together.

"She's working overtime today so she'll be home around 12 in the morning."

"Okay," she replied as she took the chopstick beside the bowl.

"Oneechan, let's start eating!" In unison, the two girls said, making her smile a bit at their adorableness. Mitsuya saw her smile before it quickly faded away, but he was sure as hell that she looked pretty when she smiled.

"Itadakimasu!" The four of them said in chorus as they sat quietly on their seats and started to devour the food on the table. During the meal, the younger siblings asked the older girl a series of questions, which she answered honestly. They wanted to know her age, name, place of residence, and whether she had a sibling, but she was an only kid. Mitsuya took it as a cue to stop his sisters from asking inquiries when they asked her more questions to the point where she just responded with a smile. She doesn't mind answering questions, but the last one was very personal to her.

As the two of them cleaned out the table, Mitsuya remarked, "I'm sorry about them."

She insisted on helping him because it would be embarrassing for her to do nothing. His siblings were inside their rooms and making their assignments and she doesn't want to bother the two.

"It's not a big deal." It was a big deal for her but she doesn't want to sound rude or something. "Whenever someone talks anything about parents, I just have a flashback," she said, something she later regretted. That was a mistake on her part. (Y/N) slapped herself on the forehead for speaking about something she had sworn to herself that she would never say to anybody else.

"I apologize again."

"Stop apologizing, alright."

While they were conversing, the two cleaned the dishes together. Mitsuya discovered that (Y/N) was the friend that Baji had previously mentioned to them, and that he would always sneak out of their meetings to hang out with her. It was no surprise that (Y/N) had the same guts as Baji, thus it's no surprise that he always seems to be fighting. He recalled what happened earlier, four members of the moebius gang being beaten up by a girl. How strong is she actually?

(Y/N), on the other hand, felt comfortable talking with Mitsuya that she almost forgot about what time it was. She was never one to engage in conversation with strangers but Mitsuya is an exception.

"So, Chifuyu rode you home that night?" He asked curiously.

She nodded in response as she began tying her shoelaces. Mitsuya offered her a lift home after she had said her goodbyes to the two Takahashi sisters, but she refused. She didn't want the two girls to be left alone at their home late at night.

"My mom's coming home in an hour. I can give you a ride home, you know."

"Takahashi-kun, don't bother. I can handle myself."

Mitsuya shook his head disapprovingly. Something about her reminded him of someone he was close with. "You're also hard headed. Thanks for saving my siblings earlier, though."

"It was nothing. I don't like people like them so I beat them up."

"You need to be careful when you fight sometimes, Hanagaki-chan."

"I can say the same thing to you, Takahashi-kun. You're part of a gang, and I am not," she added as she eventually stood up from the floor, emphasizing the word 'gang'. Mitsuya accompanied her as she walked out of the house. He was glad she didn't object because he wanted to at least walk her outside of their home.

"That's the point. I'm part of a gang and you are not. I have my friends to back me up, while you are just alone."

Mitsuya has a point but she refuses to admit it. She had been fighting by herself for the past years, so why would she bother about it? But there were occasions when she and Baji would battle people together.

"Well, I'm going now. Thanks for the dinner, I enjoyed it." She waved her hand off as she started walking away from Mitsuya's house. As she contemplated Mitsuya's words, she kept her attention fixated on the streets.

'I'm aware that I'm on my own. But it's better to be alone than to be attached to someone you'll never see again. So, absolutely, I'll fight and do things on my own.'

She slowed down her feet as she gazed up at the dark sky.

'I don't want to go through what I've already gone through. Never again. No one is going to die on me this time.'