A White Heron's Rise / MHA x GI

The sunlight breaches through the cracks between a curtain hanging loosely from above. A light flutter from the cloth opens up the way for the heat to direct its temperature to a sleeping figure beneath the bed sheets.

Kamisato Ayaka turns away from the sunlight, a wince from her once relaxed face indicating a disturbance as she tosses and turns.

A light breeze forces the curtain open, bathing her entire body in the relentless heat. She awakens with a grunt and slowly creaks her eyes open.

She sat up from her spot and yawn profusely while she lazily flutters her eyes open, revealing light blue-grey eyes that shone from the glaze of morning's awakening.

Ayaka stretches her pale arms and exhales deeply as she took in her surrounding. Confused at the unfamiliar location.

'This… isn't my room...'

Her pupils dilate from the harsh sun bearing down on her. She walks with a gentle step as she makes her way over to the curtain and shuts it close.

Spotting a nearby door, her face tightens as she determines to find the reasoning for her current state.

Approaching the door, she felt the cold metal rubbing on her palms as she twists it open. Walking inside, she eyes her reflection in a mirror.

Her left hand rises from its rest and caresses her cheek while she places her right on the mirror. Her eyes widen from a sudden realization.

'Where am I... What happened?'

Temporary amnesia takes hold of her memories, locking away how she had come to this strange and unfamiliar place.

Without much trouble in mind, Ayaka accepts the situation with a calm demeanor.

She sees a nearby wardrobe and opens it, surprised to see some of her attire from the Kamisato estate but included within were casual modern clothes.

A simple pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt, nothing too special among her other more elaborate attire.

Yet, she took a keen interest in clothes she hadn't had the chance to try out. It was still her first time wearing a completely different set of clothes after all, and it seemed like the perfect chance to try out new things once in a while.

'Curious.'

Ayaka has always been wary about others looking at how she presented herself. It was always her duty as the eldest daughter of her family to uphold a perfect image.

Now that she was sort of free from the pressure of her social status, she could try at least one thing foreign to her.

Her hands take the clothes respectively as she folds them beneath her arms and heads toward the bathroom.

She tries them on and closely looks at the mirror after she had changed. To many, it would be unfashionable, but for her it somehow made her feel excited to try out what she considered distinct and peculiar-looking clothes.

A rustling of clothing was heard as she swings the door open and steps outside the bathroom. She happily tugs on the clothing while humming a tune.

'Hmmm... So this is what the common folk wore in their daily lives.'

Ayaka prepares herself in the morning, tying up her let-down hair into a ponytail and sweeping her bangs into a proper shape.

'There, proper and presentable.' She warms up her face by rubbing her cheeks and practices smiling. 'I should find out what transpired for me to be in this place.'

Taking note of the keys nearby on the desk she holds them with her closed palms and heads for the door leading outside.

She opens the door and finally sees the modern urban city landscape for the first time. Locking the door behind her, she kept the keys in her front right pockets.

Ayaka takes in a deep breath and relishes the feeling of the air. The wind from being up higher rushes around her and lifts her hair up, waving in the breeze.

She notices the surrounding buildings, blocky in their exterior, and almost nothing to differentiate them from one another.

'What an odd style of architecture.'

Ayaka walks down the corridor to see an elevator door open with an audible ding. She observes people leaving out of it and others going inside.

'A lift? It looks a lot like those Fontaine design concepts the Traveler once showed to me when he came by.'

Ayaka's smile suddenly faltered at the memory of one of a few of her friends back in Inazuma and Teyvat as a whole.

'Traveler...'

She clutches her hand tighter at the memory resurfacing. Her older brother (Ayato), her most trusted friend and who she considered a second brother(Thoma), the Traveler, and everyone else. Maybe now they were far away and out of reach or gone entirely, she held hope but she feared for the worst.

"Though I cling to that which has given me the strength to hold on, the weight of letting go is ever-foreboding." She says under her shaky breath. A poem she remembers well and one that she dreaded its authenticity to her situation.

It made her shatter her composed look with a single tear escaping. She stops and holds out her hand to wipe away the tear and stare at it.

It had happened to her. The one thing she feared ever since the loss of her parents.

'I had lost… what I had gained…no, I can't assume for now.'

She felt her mouth frown even deeper but despite that, she needed to weather the storm and keep herself steady.

'I need to stay strong. Keep smiling, my problems are my own. No need to seek out for others to trouble themselves with my sulking.'

She approaches the elevator and enters it without troubling the others. She observes them pressing buttons all over the panel and sees that the 1st floor had been chosen.

Unbeknownst to her, everyone in that elevator was intensely staring at her. Awestricken by the arrival of Ayaka and her appearance.

Looking up at the display, Ayaka notes that her floor is on the 28th. The door closes and starts descending to the lower floors.

Ayaka waited and as soon as the doors opened she exited and saw the area in the lobby for the first time. The reception was deadset in the middle of the room with the elevators being to the right and left of it.

'My suspicions need to be addressed first and foremost.'

~

The reception lady was lazying around while she was in her job, she was watching the news feed on a new hero coming in which was Mt. Lady's debut.

As she was scrolling through, the voice of a person called her attention.

"Excuse me?"

The receptionist rolls her eyes, not visible to the person though. The person behind the desk expected another lousy tenant to complain to them about a stupid reason.

She raised her head to lock eyes with whoever interrupted her free time. Only to freeze at the sight of someone she definitely didn't expect.

'So… beautiful.' The receptionist thought.

Ayaka was looking at the woman in front of her with a worried look, the receptionist was frozen as a statue. She was not even blinking slightly while she blankly stared at Ayaka.

"Are you all right?"

The girl behind the desk snaps out from her shock.

"Right… what is it?"

"Do you know where Inazuma is?"

The receptionist raises an eyebrow.

"No? The forecast says it's a clear day today."

"My apologies, I meant the nation of Inazuma." Ayaka clarifies.

The receptionist thinks about it before shaking her head. "None that I have ever heard before."

Ayaka felt her emotions trying to resurface but she was in public. She wouldn't sully her family name so she kept asking questions, knowing fully well she wasn't going to like it.

"Do you have any knowledge on... Teyvat?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

Ayaka feels her heart tighten, she wanted to clutch it and soothe the pain. It was true, everyone was gone.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to lay down and let it all out but she was still a lady and she was taught to be one even in a crisis.

"Are you Japanese? It doesn't sound like you're from here." The woman asks.

"Pardon me for asking but what's a Japanese?"

A genuine reaction of shock and awe gets plastered all over the receptionist.

"Japan, a country on earth where you are in. A language that you are speaking right now."

"...Thank you, I'll be on my way."

Ayaka walked away, turning to the streets beyond the apartment complex. As soon as she stepped onto the sidewalk she was bombarded with the sounds of engines and daily modern life.

Trains rattled along their tracks, hauling dozens of passengers' cars behind them. Cars sped by with their engines growling and their horns blaring out.

People ran along the sidewalk during rush hour and saw what looked like stores that had automatically opening doors.

She took in the scene slowly, it was a completely alien place. With nothing resembling Inazuma or any of the other nations, she had read about.

It confused her, saddened her, but also emboldened her. The technology around her was overwhelming to many if they were transported to an unfamiliar location. Yet it piqued more of her true personality of curiosity about anything new.

This was a different place but perhaps she could still return to her birthplace. Ayaka thinks she could handle it, she always does, if not for Inazuma then maybe for herself.

She needed to know if it was possible, no she wanted it to be possible. To return back to her home and get back to the Traveler and finally get the courage to invite him alone over for some tea and maybe something more.

'These... creatures? Are they human?'

Among the crowds were people who had mutations all over their bodies. Extra limbs, new limbs, no limbs, one didn't even have a head.

She thought they had a disability but she didn't want to assume.

She shook her head and walked along with the crowd to see where they were headed. A torrent of people rushing into trains while some got into cars.

Ayaka was like a kid in a candy factory, there were so many things she wanted to try out and satisfy her unending interest. Even the doors opening and closing caught her attention.

Ayaka walked up to the door and reached out as if she wanted to move it physically herself. She yanks her hand back after it opened, it looked amazing to her.

She repeatedly darted her hand in and out the automatic doors and was looking at the door and giggled.

The people around her watched Ayaka playfully opening the automatic doors. 'Cute.' is the collective thought.

Ayaka noticed the stares and recomposed herself while she almost lost herself there. Automatic doors were too fascinating for her to ignore. She quickly went on her way, leaving the people behind to wonder.

She found a bench on the sidewalk and sat on it, she was still embarrassed on the inside after she was caught testing out the modern door.

Relaxing on the bench, she laid back and stretched her neck. So far, she was still reeling from the knowledge that Inazuma and everything she knew and loved was gone.

But for now, with a calm heart, she wanted to enjoy the newfound freedom but there was a worry deep beneath her heart. There was no need to attend to the Yashiro Commission's duties but that didn't particularly sit well with her.

Her brother was going to shoulder more burden, she wanted to head back and share his responsibilities. She thinks to herself that such a foreign-looking place would without doubt mean she wasn't where she lived originally anymore.

She sat on the bench with her posture still pristine. (Looking at you fellow gamers.)

It was a very nice day, with clear skies and the sun shone brightly while Ayaka sat down. Everything was fine, there was nothing in sight that could ruin this day. It was peaceful-

*BOOM!*

"It's a villain!" someone shouted out.

-And there it goes.