Not a Hero

Three years have passed since I awakened my quirk and met Itachi Uchiha.

Over these past years, I have lived as well as I could, maintaining high grades in school, being friendly to teachers and other faculty members, helping Naomi around the house, and occasionally going out and having fun around town with both of the women in my life.

Speaking of maintaining high grades. I've been offered to skip ahead several times, which is flattering but quite frankly I don't want to. I recognize that I could easily get academic scholarships with my grades and get college over with by the time I'm sixteen or seventeen at the latest. But I'm no genius, I just have a head start, and when I enter college they'll know I'm a fraud. Yeah, I've taken some online tests at the college level, yes I've been keeping up with my studies. But there is a marked difference between going at my own pace and being pressured into deadlines whilst having unrealistic expectations put upon me.

What would be the point of skipping ahead and going into college early anyway? It's not like I could graduate and immediately enter the workforce. Yeah, experience is important and I could get a minimum wage job a sixteen and build a resume. But if you could go back in time and enjoy life as a kid again without the responsibilities as an adult, wouldn't you do it and live it up? Because that's my situation and I'm not about to hop off this gravy train. Is this view pragmatic? No. Is it smart? most likely not. But I refuse to burn out in my twenties and still have sixty to eighty more years left of life to dread ahead of me.

So that's why I am quite content with remaining in middle school, being around preteens as a peer again might be incredibly annoying. But I'd take it over the, 'why aren't you at work' text in the morning after forgetting to turn on an alarm.

Right now I am eating lunch at the dingy water-logged dining room table within mine and Naomi's apartment whilst I idly chewed my beef ramen with fried shrimp, The sound of people walking along the streets gently filtered through the open window as everyone enjoyed their Saturday on this warm spring afternoon.

Thankfully I have gotten quite good at not allowing the idle thoughts of everyone and their mother to pass through my mind, I still occasionally need my inhibitor every other week to allow my brain to rest but those times are fewer and far between these days.

Next to my bowl on the table was my end-of-year project for history worth a quarter of my grade. We were given three time periods in Japanese history to write an essay on, the Sengoku Jidai of feudal times. The early modern period, which was the broadest as it covered the beginning of industrialization all the way to post world war two. Or the modern period, which is any time after quirks were first introduced to Japan.

As it was the better documented and newest information for me, I chose the modern period. Specifically, the period soon after the great collapse at the end of the third world war where Japan had emerged from the ashes in a new warlord period led by meta-humans. It was as bonkers as it sounded, literal demigods ruled over their own fiefdoms within Japan for nearly sixty years.

Much of my essay went over the exploits of Kiashi Hayate, a man who traveled around Japan during this time and documented his experiences in his journals. His quirk was extremely useful in such an endeavor as he had the ability to calm people's emotions through the use of his voice. He was also an incredibly skilled singer and guitarist which opened a lot of doors for him into the courts of these superhuman warlords.

His life read like the exploits of the classic fantasy bard, going from place to place, performing for the most important people of post-apocalyptic Japan, following around adventurers, and wooing women, lots and lots of women. So many women in fact that according to DNA tests, at least thirty percent of the Japanese population who is alive today can trace their lineage to him and that was the conservative estimate.

But not only did Kiashi write down his experiences, but he also wrote down his inner thoughts and ideas. He believed that Japan should return to what it once was, a united nation led by democratically elected officials that held meta humans accountable for abuse of their powers. When one of the warlords overheard Kiashi expressing these thoughts aloud, he was hung off of what remained of the Akashi Kaiyo bridge, thankfully one of his wives saved his journals from being destroyed and later published them.

Kiashi was the closest thing Japan had to a rock star at the time so he was mourned far and wide. When his ideas were published he became a martyr for all the people who felt oppressed by the pseudo feudalistic system. While many factors lead to the nationwide revolts, Kiashi's work is often cited as the spark that ignited the powder keg. Today he is honored as the spiritual father of Japan's reconstruction he is also recognized by the Hero Commission as the first-ever meta-human hero of Japan.

His journals made researching him and the period he was from extremely easy, the only difficult part however is that Kiashi was a horn dog, so often I had to sift through chapters upon chapters of him describing his latest conquest in lurid detail. It's so bad that most of his work isn't allowed in schools, the man lived like a hentai protagonist, if a warlord hadn't killed him then an STD definitely would've.

I rubbed my head with a sigh, I was more than halfway done with what was hopefully my final version of this essay, I've written and rewritten it at least twice now. I was a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to this sort of thing, history was my shit, and not doing a good job would be embarrassing.

After finishing my lunch I decided to rest my mind a bit so I put away my essay into my binder and sat back with my eyes closed.

In my mind's eye, I sat behind a translucent orange wall. The muffled thoughts of the other people around the apartment block and the surrounding streets gently brushed against my mental shields like the rocking of waves on the shores of a calm lake. I smiled softly as I thought back to all the progress I've made when it comes to controlling my quirk.

Through three years of trial and error, I have figured out how to single out individuals and listen in on their thoughts exclusively whilst my shields remain active for all others. Or I could listen to groups of people, right now my limit is ten. If I try to listen to any more than that the information gets jumbled, like hearing too many songs of completely different genres at once.

I've also discovered my limits when it comes to distance and familiarity as well. If I wanted to listen to the thoughts of a complete stranger, I had to be within a half-mile of them. However, with someone I am familiar with, like the classmates I've spent years alongside my range increases to two miles. However, with someone that I know like the back of my hand, like Naomi for example, that distance reaches up to five miles.

Talking telepathically to someone follows the same rules, however, when it comes to groups it is far easier to give information than it is to receive. No surprise there, anyone can run into a crowd and scream fire but it takes actual concentration to listen to people.

But telepathy wasn't the only thing I've been working on, as I've discovered another aspect of my quirk over these last three years.

My eyes opened to see the pencil I was using slowly orbiting over my head as a very dull pressure on the back of my head was felt. My quirk had matured and with it was the gaining of Telekinesis. I discovered this ability nearly three months ago a few days after Christmas of last year.

It was such a mundane thing that had led to the ability to awaken too, there was no adversary to conquer, no sudden threat to mine or anyone's life, nothing like that. I was simply laying on my couch, covered in Cheeto dust and candy wrappers on my fourth hour of binge-watching the entire John Wick series.

The dialogue for a scene was too quiet so I wanted to turn up the volume, unfortunately, we didn't have one of those fancy voice-activated TVs so I made to reach for the remote. But to my despair, the remote was a foot too far away from my reaching grasp, out of habit I pretended to be a Jedi, trying to will the remote to my hand just for private amusement.

To my utter shock, the remote actually responded and floated into my hand, I was stunned for a few minutes. Until it gave way to excitement, I immediately set about trying to levitate any object within sight that could fit in my hand towards me. Stray coins, handheld gaming devices, kitchen utensils, dust balls, I messed with everything.

During all this experimenting, I noted that pressure was building in the back of my head like someone was holding it in a tight grip. The sensation was negligible for the first thirty minutes, but after that half-hour mark the pressure began to build as the tightness grew stronger, I played around with my new powers for another hour until the pressure began to hurt and I quit before a migraine could truly set in.

I showed Naomi my newfound power as soon as she came home from work later that day, she was happy for me and even gave me some tips to help advance my development with this new skill. No doubt her knowledge came from her time spent with my father so I listened with wrapped attention. Funnily enough, the advice she gave me was identical to what a Jedi would give their Padawan.

Emotional control was key, a calm mind could more easily control the precision of the thing I was levitating, trying to move things with a troubled mind was more effort and put more mental strain on me.

Luckily I did not need to change my training routine all that much with this new addition, Itachi had already been helping me with meditations in an effort to keep my darker thoughts in check. So as to prevent me from accidentally attacking myself psychically like I did during our first quirk training session.

I was happy to play with the new aspect of my quirk but I didn't want to rush and try to push myself into lifting something very heavy quite yet. Slow and steady wins the race and I don't want to pile on too much so soon. I will have plenty of that when I reach adulthood, so I was content to live it up whilst my responsibilities were low and my freedom was relatively high.

Speaking of freedom, I felt like going for a bit of a walk right about now.

The pencil hovering over my head fell as I pulled a flip phone from my pocket and texted Naomi.

-𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.-

It must be a slow day as Naomi texted back within a minute.

-𝘒 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.-

I texted back as I stood up and made for the front door.

-𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 <3-

Soon after I was out the door and hopped off the ledge three stories high. The wind whipped at my face and through my short crimson hair, exhilaration rushed through my very being as a laugh escaped my lips.

With a flick of my wrist, I decelerated dramatically and began to float gently downwards towards the pavement. I looked around and sighed in relief when I found that no one had seen the casual misdemeanor I had just committed.

I wasn't yet ready to fly with telekinesis but I could definitely fall with style. One day though, one day I will soar through the skies and bite my thumb at gravity.

But today is not that day so I resigned myself to walk towards my destination ten miles away like the normal plebeian that I am.

______________________________________________

The warm spring breeze felt refreshing against my skin as I idly laid down against the cool grass at the shores of a gently flowing river.

I had found an out-of-the-way spot within the park, away from the hundred or so other visitors, the nearest people to me were around fifty yards away as a small family of three had gathered together for an afternoon picnic.

I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as I glanced at the father of the family who was sitting down with his little son in his lap.

Had I not died, would I too be spending the weekend with the family I had created? Would I go to sleep at night with the love of my life next to me, would I have been playing catch with my son or learning to braid my daughter's hair?

It wasn't fair, I died because some random dipshit wanted to get to their destination just a few seconds earlier. I had it all planned out, get enough money to pay for college, get a degree that was in a high-demand industry, and then step into the dating pool once established after a few years.

But now, now I don't even know. I still held on to my old dream, but in this world, with these powers, things have changed. Should I become a hero? I've always toyed with that idea since being reborn here but I haven't sat down and really contemplated it.

I couldn't deny that helping people made me feel good, my dopamine receptors gave me this warm fuzzy feeling when I did something for another. Even if it was something small like holding a ladder for a random painter or giving back someone's dropped wallet.

Was it selfish of me to help people just to experience this feeling, was I actually being genuine if I wanted to chase this high to its logical extreme by becoming a hero? I don't know but I hope this doesn't mean I'm secretly a bad person. I don't want to test it either because that would involve actually hurting someone and seeing if I found greater pleasure in that as opposed to helping someone. If I discovered that I enjoyed seeing others in pain more than seeing them prosper, I wouldn't know what to do with myself, it would either lead me to a path of enlightenment or a full-on mental break.

Being a hero would give me the opportunity to help many people, but at the same time, it would put me in situations where I would be tempted to abuse my powers and break all the self-imposed rules I have given myself. What would I do if I stumble upon a human trafficking ring, what would I do if I busted a dog fighting arena, and what would I do during a domestic dispute? I truly don't know, if I was quirkless it would be easier to answer, but as I am not the simple fact is I have the means to make evildoers suffer.

I know myself enough to know that I would at least be strongly tempted to deal out justice in my own fashion and bite my thumb at the courts if the crime was extreme enough. I also know myself enough to know my own moral compass isn't entirely in line with modern Japanese society.

So this begs the question. Should I even allow myself to be tempted in the first place? I don't need to become a hero to help people. With my quirk, I could easily become a therapist or social worker. Hell if I really wanted to fight crime I could be a cop, which would still put me in those questionable situations but without the temptations to use all the power and influence a hero could gain for my own ends.

But at the same time, if I was a hero I would be able to help the most people as I would be tasked with going up against situations that a cop or therapist just wouldn't be able to find themselves in. Is it not also wrong of me to not use my powers for the greatest good possible, does great power not come with great responsibility? Would I not be squandering this second chance at life if I didn't go full throttle and try and become the greatest hero that had ever lived?

But what of my dream, what of that simple apple-pie life with that white picket fence and loving family? Could I do both, would it be possible to create a world where heroes aren't needed and I could live that peaceful life I craved so much?

I saw a crossroads in my future, in about four years I would have to choose. A path of doing most good whilst fighting the temptations of power, or a path of peace and quiet while still doing some good.

This inner debate has given me a new appreciation for heroes, they've chosen the path of heroism and turned away from that quiet life that they could've lived. Yes, some did do it for selfish gains such as money and power, but the majority of them were genuinely good people. They had to be, otherwise, the neo-warlord era would've never ended.

My thoughts were interrupted by a strange sight, hovering a few feet in the air above my head was a small dark cloud of opaque black gas. If the day was not so bright and sunny and if it wasn't so close, I would have dismissed it as a storm cloud.

"What the hell?" I questioned as I sat up and narrowed my eyes at the black gas.

It wasn't doing anything but float there as any cloud would, there was no smell to it either. But it did feel cold I could feel the chill radiating from this dark phenomenon as if I was standing outside an opened freezer.

A sudden desire to touch it then gripped me and before I could register what was happening my hand was raised and reaching out for it.

The cloud undulated like a quivering mass as I came closer, and a strange white noise began to fill my mind.

Just as the tips of my fingers came within half an inch of making contact, a sudden feeling of pain in the back of my head erupted, making my vision go white for a split second.

"Sorry!" A voice shouted as I glared down at the soccer ball that had just thwacked me.

The sound of running feet then reached my ears, I turned towards the noise to see a blond-haired teenager running towards me with a concerned look on his face.

"Oh man I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." The teen said with evident worry.

I rubbed the back of my head as the throbbing slowly faded and glanced up at where the strange dark gas was. It was gone, leaving no trace behind, that was weird.

"You're fine, ain't nothin but a thang."

"Oh no you're speaking gibberish, I must've hit you harder than I thought. I should probably take you to the hospital!"

My brow rose in confusion as I tried to understand what the hell he was talking about. It took me a minute to realize I had accidentally slipped into English. "That won't be needed, I'm fine." This time I did not forget my moonspeak.

The teen's unique blue oval eyes continued to look at me with apprehension. "Are you sure, you might have a concussion or something?"

"I'm sure," I said as I stood with a groan whilst brushing off the grass from my cheap black nylon jacket.

"Well alright, still I'm really sorry about that."

I waved off his concern, "it's fine, my Sensei hits harder than that in training anyway."

That apparently piqued the stranger's interest. "Oh really, what martial art do you train if you don't mind me asking?"

"We don't really train a specific style, Sensei says it limits your mindset, but I'm partial to standup fighting rather than ground grappling myself," I answered with a shrug.

The blonde grinned, "same, it's really fun to just go with the flow of fighting you know."

There was an awkward pause as I didn't know how to continue this spontaneous conversation, after all, I'm eleven years out of practice when it comes to conversing with people around my age and this guy looks like he's at most fourteen or fifteen.

The stranger then spoke again. "So do you play football?"

I looked down at the 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘳 ball that was resting near our feet, "not really, haven't done much sports lately."

"Do you want to join me? I was just practicing my shooting at the net over there." He asked whilst pointing to a net about a hundred yards away in the distance.

A low impressed whistle escaped my lips. "Damn dude, you domed me from all the way over there?"

The guy chuckled sheepishly, "I get a bit over-excited sometimes."

With a shrug, I said, "sure why not, I ain't got nothing better to do anyway." That was a bit of a lie, I should probably stop procrastinating and get my essay done, but eh that was a problem for future Samuru to deal with.

"All right, let go!" Shouted the blonde excitedly before he rushed off with the ball.

I followed in a light jog, for now, I will allow myself to forget my worries and just be Samuru the eleven-year-old kid and at this moment, that's all I want to be.

_____________________________________

After a few hours of playing soccer, that strange blond-haired boy's parents picked him up from the park and they left. I never did catch his name but that's how guys are, we don't really need to know each other's names to have a good time.

After he left I decided to visit one of my favorite places in the whole city, the Kakegawa animal shelter. It was a no-kill shelter funded by both the city and private citizens where they handled the adoption and care of various animals. Mostly it was just the normal cats and dogs, but on occasion, there would be less common pets like foxes, birds, and turtles that would occasionally pass through.

I entered the beige-colored building and instantly recognized the person sitting behind the front desk. It was impossible not to, Kayu Komoto was a beautiful young woman with short dark black hair and yellow feline eyes, instead of normal human ears she had two cat ears resting atop her head and I knew for a fact that she had a long black tail. The woman was the first cat girl I had ever seen in real life, I was more surprised that it took me nearly ten years to find one in this world than actually seeing one.

"Hey, Komoto-san."

The woman behind the front desk greeted me with a sharp-toothed smile, "oh hello Ishii-san, here to volunteer again?"

"Yeah. What needs to be done?"

Kayu scrunched her cute button nose up in thought, "hmmm, well a new dog just came in this morning from what I've heard, but I've been too busy up here today to know what's going on with it. Maybe you could go and help get it acclimated?"

"Cool, where's it at?"

She typed in a few keys on the computer sitting on her desk before answering, "She's in room E fourteen."

"E fourteen got it." I then grabbed a radio charging behind the desk and a slip lead hanging on a nearby wall before opening the door to the back.

As soon as the door opened loud barking reverberated around the long hallways from hundreds of dogs of all shapes and sizes. I ignored them as I walked along the hallway, passing by windowed doors that would lead to individual four-by-five rooms that housed the animals. This place was very well funded so they could afford such a luxury for every animal, there were no wired cages here. Well, there were but those were for emergencies or quick transportation only.

It took me a few minutes to navigate my way to room E fourteen, here the sound was quieter as this was a space where the less energetic dogs would be placed. The label near the door read, 'Masa.'

I peered through the window to see a skinny black Labrador retriever resting in the corner of the room away from the blankets and cot that was given to her to use for bedding. the food put there was untouched but thankfully the water bowl was half empty.

The door opened quietly as I walked inside, the dog immediately became alert and turned towards me with her haunches raised. "𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺." Masa's thoughts read.

I gave her a gentle smile and spoke in her mind, "𝘩𝘦𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶."

Masa stood up on shaky legs and tried to back further away into the corner. "𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦."

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦."

The dog looked at me with scared eyes that hurt me to my core to see on such an innocent face. "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘐'𝘭𝘭… 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶." She barred her teeth at me

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵?"

Masa slowly sat down but kept her eyes trained on me distrustfully.

I sat there for several minutes with my eyes closed and relaxed, letting the poor thing get used to my presence.

It was after ten minutes that I opened my eyes and finally asked. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?"

"𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘢," the dog's thoughts answered.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦," I telepathically said back to her.

Despite herself, I could see her tail wag a bit.

I waited another five minutes until I slowly lifted a closed fist, "𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦?" It was common courtesy in canine culture to offer your scent first in greeting.

Masa's eyes shined with hope."𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦?"

"𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."

She then leaned forward and sniffed my closed hand.

A dog can tell many things from a person's scent, their diet, where you've been, who you were with, and even certain sicknesses. I don't know what deduction dogs use to tell if a person is good or not, when I tried to read their minds when they are smelling something, their thoughts become difficult to read. I theorized this was due to how different a dog's brain is to a human, the only reason why I could even read their thoughts so easily to begin with was most likely due to the fact that they were social animals who communicated in ways humans could understand even without telepathy.

Masa then began to lick my hand, "𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦."

I smiled, "𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭."

Her tail wagged. "𝘐 𝘢𝘮?"

The way her thoughts projected that question felt so sad as if she didn't believe it.

Slowly my hand came to rest atop her head, her fur was thin where I touched. "𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦."

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦?"

It took a great deal of self-restraint not to tear up at that, poor pup. "𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵."

Masa leaned into the hand that I was using to scratch her ear.

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺?" I asked whilst willing the food bowl over to me with my telekinesis.

"𝘠𝘦𝘴."

For the next half hour, I hand-fed Masa little bits of dry food, petting her and reassuring her everything was going to be okay.

__________________________________________

After spending a few more hours helping out around the shelter, I decided to head home as it was starting to get dark.

The streets were getting less and less populated as the street lamps began to flicker on, bathing the black asphalt and grey concrete in a dull yellow glow.

I texted Naomi whilst I casually walked home.

-𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.-

There was no immediate reply back, she must be busy.

The shelter was a bit further away from the apartment than the park, so it would take me about forty-five minutes to an hour to get home on foot. I lost track of time when the cats decided to use me as a mattress so Naomi might be upset that I didn't leave earlier.

I came upon a crosswalk and made extra sure to look both ways as I do not want to get isekai'd again. Knowing my luck I might be reborn into one of the Warhammer universes, which is honestly the worst option I could think of other than literal hell.

Thankfully no truck-kun came, nor any runaway motorcycles. After that perilous crossing, I continued on my trek peacefully for several minutes. That was until I heard a loud cry within my mind that was so intense that it was able to pierce through my mind shields and set my head ringing.

"𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦!" A high-pitched voice shrieked into my brain.

"Gah shit," I mumbled, staggering with the sheer force of the emotions behind that desperate plea.

"𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦!"

Where was that coming from? I braced myself against a nearby wall and closed my eyes.

Like a ripple of water, I sent my awareness outward to scour the surrounding city block, immediately thousands of consciousness came into the view of my mind's eye each and everyone as vivid and real as my own. But none was displaying any sort of intense terror that the voice had held, at least not immediately.

For the next few minutes, I continued to search for the source of that voice.

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦!"

There it was, they were in a building I knew to be a mattress store that was down the block from my current position.

With haste, I ran in that direction, as I did so I pulled out my phone and called the person that would be of most help at the moment.

The phone rang only twice before it was answered.

-𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦.-

"Nemuri I don't really know what's going on but someone is in danger at the mattress store on Tokimura avenue, I don't know how bad but they're loud enough to break through my shields."

-𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥!-

She was right, I took a breath and slowed my sprinting pace. "Well what should I do, should I call the cops?"

-𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥?-

I neared the store and looked at the hours posted on the glass door, "no, it closes in about an hour."

-𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.-

"Okay, good idea."

-𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.- I could almost hear her smug smirk.

The store was fairly spacious and cold as I walked in, there were a few other customers milling about and two visible employees.

One of the said employees approached me and bowed, "hello sir, how may I help you?" Asked a man whose quirk made him appear to be a satyr.

"I'm just looking for now, taking notes for a present for later."

The man smiled, "well let me know if you find anything that catches your eye. Also, we are having a sale of queen-size mattresses at sixty percent off."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After the satyr walked away I pretended to look at the prices of random mattresses but my mind was completely focused on trying to find the person who had managed to break through my mental barriers.

My awareness ghosted through the building in this pursuit. There were six people in total in the building including me. "I see five mattresses I'm interested in."

-𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪-𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.-

"Okay, but I'm not sure which one to get."

-𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘻𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.–

"Will you get me help to move it?"

-𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴.-

"What should I do until then?"

-𝘛𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘤.-

I took a deep breath and began to probe further, my brow furred in frustration when I couldn't find anything. "No, still just the five."

-𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.-

That was a possibility, I haven't heard whoever it was crying out for a few min-

My track of thought was cut off by the sudden scream of the person's inner turmoil. "𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱!"

Immediately I turned on my heel, that voice didn't come from a backroom, it came from across the store.

A little girl with short dark black hair and vibrant violet eyes looked over at me pleadingly. She was holding the hand of a middle-aged woman who had messy long brown hair. Upon further look, the woman seemed to be gripping the girl's hand a bit too tightly to be normal.

Oh, oh no, this girl was probably kidnapped by this woman. This made the situation more complicated than just busting down a door and scooping up the damsel. Thankfully the woman's back was turned to me and was too preoccupied with what the employee was telling her to see me speak into my phone.

"I found her, little girl, around five or six, black hair, purple eyes. She's with a brown-haired woman wearing a red turtleneck and blue jeans. Possibly a kidnapping."

-𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭?-

"She's holding her hand."

-𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺.-

"What should I do?"

-𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥.-

"How do you expect me to do nothing?"

-𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘋𝘖 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.-

I couldn't just do nothing but I know I couldn't be too risky in this situation, so I did the next best thing and spoke to the girl via telepathy.

"𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘈 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱."

The girl's eyes watered as she gave me a hopeful look. "𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺?! 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺," I assured the girl.

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰."

"𝘖𝘩…𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐-" Her train of thought was cut off as pain spiked through her causing her to wince.

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?"

"𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺?"

I saw her frown, "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

A down tummy? Oh…oh fuck no.

-𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦?- Asked Nemuri.

"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦."

-𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦?-

"Nemuri I'm not a child, I can handle this without being physical."

-𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵.-

"Well get a lawyer ready just in case, cause I'm not stopping."

-𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴.-

"Is that a good thing?"

She didn't answer.

That was fine, I didn't want to have that conversation right now anyway.

I narrowed my eyes at the woman still speaking to the store employee and dipped a toe into her mind. I just needed to know her name which I soon found to be Rei Yoshimi. That's all I needed, at the moment as I don't want to go into this woman's whole life story.

I sent a physic bellow, shouting in her mind. "𝘙𝘦𝘪 𝘠𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘪, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦!"

The woman yelped in fright. "Who said that?!"

"Ma'am, are you alright?" The employee asked in concern.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸!" Yeah, I was going there, bitch needs the fear of God put into her.

"What the fuck is going on?!" The woman wailed as she clutched her head, letting go of the girl's hand.

As soon as the woman let go of the girl's hand, I gestured for the girl to come to me, which she promptly did as she ran towards me.

I continued to speak in the woman's mind to keep her distracted, "𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩!"

"Stop this, whatever you are doing stop it, it's not funny whoever you are!" The woman began to cry as she fell to her knees, unbelieving of the enlightenment I was giving her.

-𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦.-

"Just making her think God is talking to her," I whispered into the phone with a chuckle.

-𝘐𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥?- Nemuri asked incredulously.

"Never said I was a good Christian."

The little girl soon reached me and I took her hand, I smiled down at her, "hey sweetie, let's get you out of here okay."

The girl nodded with a small smile, "okay." She said in a small horse voice and surprisingly in perfect English.

The woman continued to wail as I sent images of perdition into her mind. It was an easy enough trick to send images to someone else's mind as I had discovered on that first day of quirk training. I wasn't able to attack someone physically but harassment was something I was more than capable of. It was basically the psionic equivalent of flashing a strobe light in someone's eyes.

Just as I exited the store, a hero wearing a buffalo skin poncho and a feathered headband rushed towards the scene. "Hey, are you with Midnight?" The man asked.

"Yeah, the perp is in there screaming her head off, I got the girl that was kidnapped right here."

The little girl holding my right hand gave the man a little wave.

-𝘗𝘶𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮.- Nemuri demanded.

"Midnight wants to talk to you." I handed the phone to the hero.

The man took the phone and held it to his ear, "yes ma'am? Oh, alright, yes I understand. Yes, ma'am, he wasn't even here." Man, my Aunt had this guy wrapped around her finger, poor simp.

He then handed the phone back to me.

-𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘱. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱.- She sounded so done with the situation right now as she gave a weary sigh.

"Thanks, Midnight, you're the best."

-𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴-𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥.-

I ignored that comment in favor of doing a bit of trolling. With a grin, I looked at Native, "understood, love you too Midnight."

The look on Native's face was one of shock as I just casually said those words to Japan's icon of feminine sexuality.

-𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦?-

"Yep."

-𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪-𝘮𝘦.-

I began to walk away towards the local precinct, leaving Native to deal with the mess."I know, but seriously I do."

-𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺.-

"Already on it."

-𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰.-

"I'm not a-" She hung up.

"Where are we going?" The girl asked with wide purple eyes.

"To the police, we're going to get you to your parents." I answered as we began to walk down the street hand in hand.

"Mkay." She gave me a little smile.

Girl If you don't stop being this cute I will adopt you.

We walked in silence for a few long moments until the girl spoke up once again.

"What's your name mister?"

"Samuru, what's yours?"

"Amelia."

That's not a Japanese name but I guess my first hint she wasn't from here should've been the fact that she's been speaking English this whole time.

"Where you from Amelia?"

"Texas."

Huh, small multiverse.

"Are you on vacation or something?"

She nodded, "Mommy wanted to visit daddy, he's a talky person for a big company."

Talky person? Is that kid speak for PR rep?

"Well don't you worry, we'll get you to your folks in no time, I'll be by your side for as long as I can okay," I reassured.

The girl gave a little giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." She said but continued to giggle.

Weird girl, cute but weird.

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