Fog

She covered her face in fear as the fist collided time and time again with her back, knocking the air out of her lungs.

The kettle on the stove was whistling loudly as the vaporized water streamed out of it.

It was normal. She had always reminded herself. The woman would suddenly do that sometimes, turn on her, beat her, but then apologize and cry. She got used to these mood switches by then. Although... they were growing in number.

" I hate you! Bane of my life! Why were you even born! Without you, I could have been free!"

" I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she repeated to herself more than anything, for the other woman could never hear her over her shouts and the whistling of the Kettle...

The vapor swirled around her...

" Useless scum!" The big palm hit her face hard, throwing her to the ground. " You think they would pay more for their granddaughter! They don't care! What a waste! Why did I even get your mother pregnant with you!"

The man wobbled back to the low table, grabbing his can of bear and lighting a cigarette. " Tsk! If only I could find someone else..."

The smoke from the cigarette rose up to the roof and swirled around her...

" It's your fault! How can't you convince them? They're your parents!"

The sound of the belt whipping through the air.

" I tried! I swear! I swear that I tried but they don't want to listen! Please!"

She could never bring herself to watch anymore. She only sat there, crouching by the slightly open door, hugging her bunny and listening on to the voices of the fight rising from the other side. The shadows were projected on the wall in front of her. As the larger shadow grabbed the petite one by the hair and dragged it away, she put her hands on her ears to muffle the sounds.

There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to escape. No one to turn to. " I wish I had a happy family."

Smoke swirled around her again... No, that wasn't smoke... they were threads. Silvery thin threads slithering around her.

" You're a good girl."

" You did well."

She smiled broadly. Her wish came true. They no longer fought. They no longer hurt each other, nor did they hurt her. As long as she kept them like that, they were truly a happy family...

But then...

Snap...

All came to an end...

Looking down with face tainted with blood at the corpses. The woman held a kitchen knife and drove it through her abdomen. The man used his pocket knife to cut his. They were dead. The moment her threads snapped... They...

More smoke...

No! No! NO! That's not what I wished for!

No, it was fog...

It was my fault...

✦ -─────────- ✦

She screamed into the night. Her eyes flew open, her hand extended up. A few moments went by before she sat herself up, running her hand through a matted hair.

Sweat ran down her face and her breathing was unstable. A dream. She thought.

She could never go back to sleep again. So she pushed herself up and made for the kitchen to grab a glass of water. By the time she gulped the whole thing and then more and headed back to her room, her mind worked, processing something.

Retracing the few steps she took backward, she pressed her face against the kitchen window. The city outside was calm, eerily dark, and quiet as a thick fog settled through the street.

" Bloody hell that's not happening..." She ran back to her room and retrieved her phone, but it had no service. " The hell..." She ran a hand over her face as she thought what she could do.

" The Agency... first I must get there..."

Quickly changing her clothes, she stood by the genkan with her rucksack hanging over one shoulder and one hand extended towards the darkened apartment, ready to summon her threads. If I'm going out in this situation, I better be ready.

However, nothing came out. No silvery threads dancing through the air. Nothing at all.

" My ability..." Kath looked down at her hands as she realized it. " It's... gone..."

A thud slapped her mind back to the apartment. Something heavy was walking towards her. What the?

She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket, pulling her gun out. Footsteps got closer.

I need to move. Her hand fumbled behind her for the door knob. Just as she unlocked it and pulled the door, the moonlight fell on the thing standing before her in the lounge. Panda, her largest plushie, was peering down at her. " What!?"

But she had to move, for Panda lunged. She quickly pushed herself flat through the door, escaping Panda's punch which split the wooden surface into two. As she looked back, Kath could see a silver thread coming out of its neck. But where it went she didn't know. And she couldn't afford to linger to figure that out either. Since it wasn't coming back to her, it only meant trouble.

So before she could be flattened by another punch from her strongest plushie, she hopped into the elevator.

Panda lunged at her again, but the door closed, and a dent appeared where its fist collided.

As the elevator descended, Kath slid down against the wall and breathed out in relief.

✦ -─────────- ✦

" I pretty much get it now..." Kath mumbled to herself as she readjusted her backpack while making it through Yokohama's empty streets. Shops, restaurants, vehicles, and even houses were abandoned as they were, as if someone magically removed everyone from the world all of a sudden save for her.

" This fog, it removes those without abilities and separates us gifted from ours. Panda from earlier, it should have been controlled by my ability..." She stopped by the window of a café, the lights were still on, and the drinks and food lay untouched on the table. " It really seems like a city of ghosts."

" Hanazawa!"

Kath snapped and looked back to see Kunikida running to her. " Kunikida-sensei!"

" There is no time!" He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her through a side alley. " For now, I should gather those closest to me and get you to the agency!"

The sound of gunshots behind them vibrated in the air, making her turn over her shoulder. " What..."

" My ability! Keep going!" A bullet zoomed by her head, nicking her ear. " Damnit, it came this close!"

Kunikida rounded with his own gun but was immediately shot in his left side. Kath's eyes widened when she saw the blood seeping from his wound and dirtying his shirt and vest. " Sensei!"

" Leave!" He tried to push her but he was too weak to do so properly. Kath wasted no time, she reached inside her rucksack and pulled out her teddy bear.

" What are you..."

A silhouette was walking up to them from the end of the alley, one that very much resembled her teacher except for its greenish hue, the red gem adorning its forehead, and the fact that it had no face, only yellow glowing eyes.

" My friend always told me. Abilities are a mystery and no one knows if we will find them when we need them. So all of his stuffed animals..." her hand delved through the zipper of the teddy bear before she pelted it at the silhouette. It shot it, tearing its arm and leg, but by the time it got too close, the teddy bear blew up, causing a strong explosion. " Could be activated manually."

She rounded on her teacher, putting his left arm on her shoulders. " Let's move! I doubt that killed it!"

And they hurried towards the main street. However, by the time they stepped out of the alley, they were surprised by cars being thrown left and right as though they were small pebbles left on the side of the route.

One almost crushed them if they hadn't hopped away. The car exploded behind them, it was loud, sending her ears ringing. She struggled to her feet, and looked around for her teacher, only to find Atsushi and Kyouka there as well, Atsushi seemingly tripped over the lying body of her teacher.

As the ringing subsided, she joined them. " Hanazawa-san! Kunikida-san!"

Kunikida was hardly able to push himself off the floor. " I got the bullet out, I'm fine," he assured Atsushi who was fussing over his wound. " More importantly, I know what's causing the serial suicides."

Something crushed behind them, and that didn't bode well. Behind them, a great shade of black stood, ogling at them. Kunikida noticed the spark of electricity beneath its feet, caused by the traffic light it had just broken. He took out his pistol and began shooting. The shape didn't move a muscle.

But his true aim was the vehicle it was standing on. He hit the tank, the fuel spilled, and by the time it came into contact with the electricity, an eruption occurred.

" Humans are capable of parallel processing! Two things at a time! Talk and run!" Kath told them as she helped her teacher to his feet and they all scurried away under the darkness.

Kunikida led them to another alleyway, one that was blocked save for a small square aperture at the bottom of the metal barricade. Kunikida let them cross first before crawling through the hole and slamming the door shut.

Kunikida took two steps and then fell to his knees, the stain on his vest growing larger. He won't make it to the Agency like this.

She exchanged a look with a Kyouka. The girl seemed to share her very same thoughts.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

" I sure can borrow your skills." Kath gestured towards the other street and they crawled throw the next barricade to get to it.

" We need a car, one that's still in good shape and has a key in it." Kyouka summed.

Kath hastily scanned the area, checking every car she passed by before finding the one. A white car, its motor still working, the only problem was that it was shut closed, windows and doors.

" Leave this to me." Kyouka pulled out her blade and wedged it in the crevice of the door, with swift twists and jabs, it was open. The rest was easy from there.

" Let's go!" Kath hit the accelerator and did a U-turn, zooming back to the alley. There, she was taken aback by the sight of Demon Snow dissecting the barricade and towering over Kunikida and Atsushi.

" Get on!" Kyouka cried as they both opened the car's left doors. Kunikida and Atsushi lunged forward, avoiding Demon Snow's blade by a hairbreadth and slamming the doors shut just as Kath sped away.

When the rearview mirror showed Demon Snow's diminishing form until she was no more visible, Katherine breathed out. She listened carefully as Kunikida explained the situation to Atsushi and Kyouka, eyes still fixed on the route before her.

Well, everyone could have guessed it. Seeing how our abilities came after us, the same must have happened to all those victims as well...

 Her sole concern now was to get them safely to the agency...