Outlandish

I'm sorry for the wait, though it's only been a day, here is a longer chapter! There's a lot to swallow, so I suggest you buckle in! You'll regret it if you don't...

Roughly one year has passed since Rimi and Yuudai made peace with each other. She's nearing her second birthday, and her sister is growing more excited. Sometimes, Rimi watches her sister test out countless makeshift hero costumes in their room while sitting in her crib.

It's slightly irritating, but Rimi has not awakened her quirk yet, leaving her behind Yuudai in the most important category this world has to offer.

The reason that Rimi hasn't become a sore loser is that she discovered that even with the boy's quirk, she learned faster than him. Maybe it's because of her head start of having a basic education in her past life, but Rimi could study and comprehend things much better than Yuudai could once she put in the effort.

Rimi is currently on edge, something alarming has been taking place in her home.

Because of her small stature, Rimi cannot physically do anything, but she has been keeping tabs on the issue since it started.

Her mother and father—although they'd only had her a year ago—have been flirting.

While peeking down the hall one day, Rimi heard her mother and father giggling with each other.

"Oh~! Koji, cut that out!" She hears her mother say with a chortle, but she isn't able to go into their room to see what's going on.

"Hehe," Rimi hears her father chuckle, "Kimi, where are you going? You can't run out like that."

"I'll run out however I want if you keep poking me there!" Soon, she hears her mother yelp and laugh loudly.

"It doesn't look like you want to go anywhere," Rimi hears a slap through her parent's door, and then the two giggle once again, oblivious that Rimi can hear them.

When a shadow is cast over Rimi, the girl looks up to see her sister, Madoka, leaning over her, looking down the hallway with her. "Again?" She asks, and Rimi nods, yes. At some point, Madoka became her companion in listening to the two.

Even the young, innocent Madoka, had an idea of what the two were doing, and she knew where it'd lead. "I think we're going to have another sibling, Rimi." Madoka isn't even shocked when the 1-year-old girl nods, agreeing with her.

Unless something happened that'd stop the two lovebirds from getting in bed, Rimi and Madoka were certain that there would be a third addition to their family at some point in the future. For now, it seems like helpless flirting. Rimi and Madoka lock their eyes and nod.

Just as they'd rehearsed in the past, Rimi quickly ran down the hallway toward the living room, and Madoka shouts down the hall: "Mom! Rimi's riding the dog!" Then, there is a sudden bark. Just as quickly as she'd run down the hallway, their shepherd, Pearl, had swept by and lowered its head for the girl to climb onto it.

Rimi and Madoka were not the only ones trying to stop the two from having a third addition, Marble and Pearl, who'd usually be at each other's necks, had been implemented into the sister's plans to postpone the fertility of their mother.

It may be selfish, but they all know one thing; if Kimiko becomes pregnant, the household problems would become even worse for everyone. Kimiko still struggles to keep up with Rimi, who's far too smart for her age, and if there is a third child, the woman would stress herself to death.

Rimi couldn't help herself when she got the urge to explore. Even if her mother asked her to sit in one place, she could only stay there, thinking, for so long. Rimi isn't the only one to blame, obviously. Madoka still hasn't fully matured, and Koji, the only man in the house, doesn't have many opportunities to come home nowadays. Working in Japanese law enforcement is difficult and dangerous. Just the other day, Koji came out complaining about having to be saved from falling debris by the hero Gran Torino.

When she'd heard it, Rimi realized that she needed to consider what she'd do if her family were ever in danger again.

Barely, she'd been strengthing her body by repeatedly walking and even doing—for lack of a better word—pushups. Physically, she still couldn't keep up with Yuudai, who'd soon be turning 2 years old, but she was probably stronger than any non-mutant child her age.

Back to the present, Kimiko stumbles out of her room, and the topic of interest quickly changed. When Kimiko revealed herself in the hall, both the dogs and girls stopped, staring in her direction. Rimi and Madoka bathed with their mother on many occasions, but this is a state they didn't think they'd see her in.

Kimiko had nothing more than an oversized black shirt on, she didn't even have undergarments. Her smooth skin was bare and exposed, a sight that'd make any man or woman who laid their eyes on it swoon. Her daughters, Rimi and Madoka were incapable of looking at their mother that way. They both just shared the same thought, briefly locking eyes. 'Will that be us when we're older?'

They'd never noticed it before, but their mother had a body unbefitting of a housewife. If she tried, she could become a venerable model. Instead, her body was wasted in this home, taking care of them—it was nearly enough to bring a tear to the sister's eyes.

"Rimi!" Their mother snaps them out of their trance, realizing that their plan was put to a pause by the sheer shock of the situation. Even Pearl had forgotten that she should be running around with the girl on her back.

Kimiko reached Rimi before they knew it and scooped the girl off of the dog. "How many times do I have to tell you? Pearl isn't a horse!"

Rimi didn't know what to say, so she only stares at her mother blankly. It seems that her stares were enough for her mother to sigh, remembering just how old her child is. Rimi had barely started attending daycare a few months ago, and in a few years, she'd be attending kindergarten. Kimiko had no doubt that her daughter would become a prodigy in the future, but she was still young and clueless in the present.

"Madoka, please try to look after your sister a bit better." Although Kimiko's words sounded gentle, her sharp gaze bore into Madoka's soul, knowing that the girl was involved with this and let her little sister ride the dog.

"Eep!" Madoka squeals and retreats back into her room before her mother's gaze can pierce her any further.

From over her mother's shoulder, Rimi can see her father peeking out of the room, shirtless. Rimi had never seen her father's bare body, but she had to admit, he was more toned than she'd expected. She might need to start giving him more credit, he may not be as 'useless' as she'd been calling him.

"Papa's strong," Rimi says into her mother's ear, causing her to turn around to see her husband sticking out of the doorway with his shirt off. "...Koji!" Kimiko's voice is brimming with rage, and Rimi turns to watch as the man retreats back into their bedroom.

'Like father, like daughter.' Rimi concludes, seeing that Madoka probably inherited most of her father's personality.

Then, an unlucky day arrived. This time, at Rimi's daycare.

She and Yuudai were sitting down on top of one of the small tables, throwing cards down in front of each other. "Draw," Rimi said, a shadow cast over her face.

Across from her, Yuudai, sitting with his legs crossed, scowls and reaches to the side, plucking cards out of the deck that was lingering off to the side.

"You pig-tailed witch," He rants as some of the other kids surround the table, watching the scene intensely. Rimi, dressed in all black today, had her hair tied into two short pigtails. There was glitter on her cheeks, probably from some hard-fought battle earlier in the day.

Yuudai, who was sitting across from her, was dressed in all white, contrary to her. He was wearing a small necklace around his collar, a cross attached to the end of its chain.

Rimi throws down another card, and then Yuudai throws down his own, a wicked grin appearing on his face. "Skip," Then, the boy throws down another card, "Skip again," Rimi's eyes go wide, finding that she'd been skipped for two cycles.

They were playing a game that most wouldn't agree could be played with only two people: Uno.

"You're cheating!" Rimi exclaims, refusing to believe that he'd drawn two 'skips' of the same color. Yuudai only snickers, "It's how life works." The boy says smugly.

Just as their game is heating up, one of the kids spectating sneezes, and suddenly, all of the cards are blown off of the table in the most anti-climactic ending imaginable. Rimi and Yuudai turn to the boy in unison, their monstrous faces causing the boy to burst into a crying mess, tumbling away from the table.

It couldn't be helped, since the boy's quirk was literally called 'Highpower Sneeze'. He's a living disaster, born to ruin any party game that lays before his eyes.

"I was going to win," Rimi declares before sliding off of the table, catching Yuudai off guard. "W-What!? No, you weren't!" The boy hops off of the table, quickly following behind Rimi as she walks away, sticking her nose up.

From the perspective of their parents, Yuudai and Rimi were two friends who had fun and were looked up to by all of the other children in their daycare. But, in the eyes of the attendant and the other children, they are a devilish duo who rule over everyone else.

They each have their own title already: Empress Rimi, who's believed to be the smartest child in the city. On the other hand: General Yuudai, whose quirk easily makes him stronger than any child his age could hope to be.

"The Empress and General," Behind them, the voice of a man calls out, earning gasps of awe throughout the daycare. Rimi feels sweat drip down her face, having failed to notice someone entering the room. "You two do look a bit different than the other kids, huh?"

When the two turn around, they're supposed to see a tall man; a hero, standing in front of them. Rimi remembers seeing this person on the news a few months back; the 'rising star', Ringtune. He'd defeated his nemesis, Audiovile, at that time. "How'd you little guys make a name like that?" Although his costume has changed a bit, he still has his signature headphones on.

He crouches down to their level, or at least, as low as he can get. Yuudai is the first to pridefully respond, "Because we're smart!" If Yuudai weren't so young, someone might try to pull his head out of his ass. Though, the boy was not wrong in the slightest. He and Rimi were both exceptionally savvy children for their age.

"Oh? Are you smart enough to know what you'll be in the future?" The man decides to test Yuudai's wits, and Rimi chuckles, already knowing what's coming.

"A villain!" From across the room, Rimi can see the daycare attendant turning her head away in shame. No matter how much she tried to talk sense into the boy, she couldn't get him to give up on his dream of becoming evil. Rimi certainly could, but it's because of her that he acquired this dream in the first place.

"O-Oh, is that right?" Yuudai's ability to render someone speechless will never fail to amuse Rimi. Speaking of the girl, Ringtune turns in her direction. "What about you, little girl?" Rimi could tell that his fingers were crossed, spiritually. "I'll become a villain, and Yuudai will be my evil sidekick." Rimi hadn't actually thought about what her future occupation would be, she just couldn't let the opportunity to see Yuudai's face twist in disgust at her words. The girl giggles, leading Ringtune to see her words as a joke.

"There's nothing but danger going down the path of a villain, kids." The man stands up, puffing his chest out to strike a subtle pose for not only the duo but all of the kids who'd been watching from around the daycare. "Just think, would you rather be a symbol of peace and justice, like All Might, or one of the heartless monsters who you see in handcuffs?"

Ringtune must be here to talk with many of the children, but Rimi has deduced that the attendant requested that he speak with the two of them first. Right when Yuudai opens his mouth to say something, Rimi speaks up first. "Maybe, but can we really be like All Might?" The child asked with a forged frown.

From this close, Rimi can see the glimmer in Ringtune's eyes past his goggles. There's still hope left in his eyes that the two won't go down the path of villainy. Rimi didn't have the intention of becoming a villain, so long as her family was safe. In hindsight, becoming a villain or criminal would hurt her family more. Her father is a police officer and her sister wants to become a Pro-Hero.

It'd probably form an irreparable tear in their relationship if Rimi ever went down that dark path, again.

"You're pretty well-spoken for a 1-year-old," Rimi hears the man say under his breath, though he continues after. "It's very possible for you to be like All Might, you may even surpass him someday! Just keep a smile on your face, look high, and leap as high as you can!"

Ringtune is a Pro-Hero through and through, it seems. He'd even give these words of encouragement to children who couldn't be sure if they wanted to become an engineer or a showman. Many Pro-Heroes wish to be role models for the younger generation, and thanks to All Might, they are a light that brightens the world. In the future, thanks to a string of unfortunate circumstances, that light becomes dim.

'I couldn't save Toya Todoroki even if I wanted to, as far as I'm concerned, that event has either already passed or is passing. It'll be complicated if I even involve myself with anything since in the end, I'm certain that the heroes will be victorious despite their losses.' Rimi did not intend to become too involved with the flow of the story if anything were accurate.

Never while reading or watching the story did Rimi see a character named 'Ringtune', nor did she see any hero with a description matching her sister's name. This world feels more immersive than the true story since she is living inside of it. From nameless side characters to extras who ridicule heroes for their failures; there are many things that solidify how real this world is, despite having originally been fiction.

'It may be nice to have fun once in a while,' she thought, considering her options. Then, she remembers the hero posing in front of them, and she mentally stretches. A big grin appears on the child's face. "I'll be like All Might, then!" Without looking, Yuudai manages to catch on and nods his head, agreeing with her. "Right!"

Continuing the conversation with the hero would really enlighten her on the state of the world, but Rimi knows that besides the few minor heroes appearing every once in a while, she doesn't have much to worry about. This is All Might's era, where villainy is at its lowest. It is only after he passes the torch to Izuku Midoriya does everything slowly start to crumble.

Ringtune is satisfied with their answers, so he makes his way over to the other kids.

As soon as he's gone, Yuudai almost says something snarky, but Rimi covers his mouth with her hand. Her eyes are locked on Ringtune's headphones. Assuming that it's a legitimate gadget, it probably has many different functions, including increasing hearing. Ringtune didn't beat Audiovile out of luck. He isn't a notorious villain from the series, but that doesn't mean that he's weak. Just from hearing that he has a sound-based quirk, Rimi deduced how much of a danger he posed for Ringtune to make headlines for capturing him.

"Quiet," Rimi gives Yuudai a simple warning, and the boy catches on. Ringtune is not Rimi's enemy, but the fact that he could possibly be listening to anything that they talk about leaves her unsettled. As far as she's concerned, he might still be on duty as a hero, meaning he'll be prepared for any incoming attacks. The chances are slim, but they are still possible.

Rimi and Yuudai continue until it's time for them to go outside to play. That is when Rimi figures it's safer to talk without being listened to.

"So, you think he's listening to everything we say?" Yuudai looks a bit nervous after Rimi explains her theory to the boy. Even he feels uncomfortable thinking that the hero could be listening to their every word with the equipment on his head.

Rimi nods, "I don't think he's going to do anything, though." After finding out that someone manages to break into her home, Rimi found heroes and law enforcement to be a bit more trustworthy. After living her past life avoiding the police as best as possible, this is a breath of fresh air.

"Anyway, I want to get all the other smart kids to be friends with us," Rimi tells the boy as they swing back and forth on the swings, supposedly having a serious conversation as they went back and forth through the air, Yuudai using his quirk to propel the both of them with great strength.

Yuudai looks confused at first, "There are other smart kids?" As far as he was concerned, he and Rimi were the smartest kids in the daycare. Rimi was only 1, and he'd recently turned 2, yet even the Pro-Hero admitted that they seemed smarter than the other kids their age.

"Of course there are you dingus. They aren't as smart as us, but they'll be different from the other kids. Like radio girl." Across the ground, there was a child sitting alone, with a radio for a head. The girl was a transformation-type quirk user who had a fairly unique property. She can easily record conversations and replay them through her speakers. Rimi knows that the girl keeps her transformation active since her mother wants her to get used to using her quirk.

The radio girl, whose name is Hana Kai, is clearly smart enough to obey her mother's orders and may very well be better at learning than Rimi and Yuudai combined. Anything she hears, she can not only remember, but replay through her speakers perfectly. Her transformation is premature, so it could develop to become more normal-looking or absurd in the near future. "Go flirt with her, Yuudai." Rimi suddenly commands.

"Huh!?" The boy shouts, surprised by the sudden request. "Why should I flirt with her!? You do it!" Rimi scoffs at the boy's words. "I'm a princess, Yuudai. The princess never goes on her own." Childishly, Rimi retorts, and she swears she can hear Yuudai growl. "What kind of princess throws rocks at people!? Huh!?" Rimi doesn't even argue back, turning her head away and sticking her nose up yet again.

Her mother had suddenly taken an interest in princesses and other medieval topics, so she's been feeding Rimi a lot of nonsense such as: "As a cute girl, Rimi, you'll seduce a lot of boys who'll bend to your will! Use them well, Princess Rimi! For your mother!" Rimi didn't understand what compelled her mother to say such a thing with a smile on her face. Her mother wasn't the kind of woman to become intoxicated around the children, so she must've been trying to instill some suggestions into Rimi's mind about who she'd be when she grows up.

A spoiled princess who relies on others, possibly, her mother. Rimi concluded that it might've been a possible ploy that her mother started early to try and keep her daughter from going into the hero field when she's older. Rimi has more than a decade to make up her mind about what she wants to be when she's older, so she tends to ignore her mother's words at times.

Yuudai abruptly grabs the chain of Remi's swing, throwing the girl off balance and sending her fall down. "Woeugh!" The girl shouts, falling to the ground with a bit of a thud. By the time she gathers herself up, her face brimming with annoyance, Yuudai is already walking halfway across the playground toward Hana. "Why you-"

Rimi quickly turns around, looking in the direction of one of the buildings behind her. She'd have sworn that she'd felt something watching her. It might've been one of Ringtune's sidekicks or standby, or an animal. Maybe even a hero who'd stopped to see the situation at the daycare. 'Yeah, it wouldn't make sense otherwise," she concludes.

Dusting herself off and picking the chips out of her hair, Rimi storms across the playground, following Yuudai.

Before the two can bicker once they're across the playground, Hana turns her attention to the two kids approaching. There is a low clinking noise coming from her radio that draws their attention back to the prize at hand. "Hey, Hana," Yuudai waves to the girl, only for her to back away a little.

Hana is one of the oldest girls in the daycare currently, being 3 years old. That made her smart enough to talk with them a bit more normally than the other kids. "Do you need something, Yuudai?" Hana's voice is a bit distorted since she happens to be a talking radio at the moment.

Rimi steps in, "Do you mind changing your head, please? It's hard to understand you."

"No." The girl flat-out refuses, hurting Rimi's pride a little.

Then, it's Yuudai's turn to tag back in. "We wanted to have a chat with you," the boy says, forming the friendly smile he can. "You've looked lonely." The other reason why Rimi didn't approach Hana first is that the girl can admit that Yuudai is better at conversing than her.

"Lonely...? I guess so, but why me?" There are many children who are similar to Hana, ones who seem lonelier than others. It's primarily the mutants, who the other kids oftentimes pick on. Rimi and Yuudai have made it a habit of theirs to stop the bullying of the mutant kids since it'd leave a terrible taste in their mouths if they sat back and pretended like nothing was happening.

Kids their age are young and impressionable, so it's easier to nip it in the bud while they're here. Rimi's method might be criticized since it involves inducing such fear into the children that not even their parents can easily overlap the lesson she taught them.

"Why you? Because, you're super smart, right? It's good to be friends with smart people," Yuudai explains to the girl, and although they cannot see her face, Rimi and Yuudai can tell by the soft static when she looks away that the compliment was appreciated.

Again, during their conversation, Rimi gets the feeling that something is watching her. She turns around to see what it is, and that's when she sees Ringtune in the distance, looking off at the building that she'd been staring at not long ago. Did he feel it too? Rimi figured that she wasn't hallucinating.

"Let's go to the slide!" Rimi suggests, taking Yuudai by his hand and beckoning Hana to follow them as she yanks him away. Her instincts were warning her that staying there would be dangerous. She didn't know why, perhaps there'd be a falling pot or something from the crossfires of a fight between a hero and villain.

* * * *

Hana quickly follows behind the two of them, and they eventually reach the slides, sitting at the bottom of them. "So, Hana, how's your quirk?" Rimi is the one to bring this question up first—of course she is.

"M-my quirk?" The girl stutters before answering, "Fine... mommy says I should 'learn self-control' so I don't 'go haywire'." The girl roughly quoted her mother's words, and Rimi felt a bit of sympathy for the child. Her transformation doesn't seem like the kind that can be problematic unless she transforms and starts playing the thoughts in the back of her mind through her speakers.

"That sucks," Rimi frowns, reaching to place a hand on the girl's shoulder. She flinches away at first, out of nervousness, but lets Rimi put a hand on her shoulder. Hana's mother doesn't seem like the abusive type, however, Hana is also very anti-social, avoiding contact with the other kids because of her mother's teachings.

"My mom's been teaching me how to use my quirk as well, so I get how you feel." Yuudai comes in for another save, earning a spiritual nod from Rimi. "A few months ago, I lost control while I was cold, and my body heated up so much that I passed out and had to go to the hospital," Rimi remembers hearing about that from Yuudai's mother. At that time, Kimiko gave her a look of concern, trying to comfort her, as though she'd be feeling major concern for her friend's safety. Honestly, Rimi was more surprised that there was such a weakness to Yuudai's quirk. It seems to adapt to any situation, except for a phenomenon caused by itself.

Truthfully, after learning so much about Yuudai's quirk, there was a thought in the back of her mind that made her guts twist: 'I'm confident I could kill him if he ever tries to harm me again.' This isn't a thought someone should have about a friend, and Rimi knows it. As she progresses through this life, she can feel bits and pieces of her 'frozen heart' starting to thaw away. She began to understand emotions more. The more she spoke with people and had good interactions, the more she felt like an actual person.

Unfortunately, there are still many things that leave Rimi unable to rid herself of her instincts from her past life. No matter how peaceful things are, her instincts and experience still remain, warning her of the many dangers lurking around the corner. Rimi may know how a good portion of the main storyline is supposed to go, but her childhood is her own story. It does not follow any set chain of events, it's all random, like ordinary life.

Tomorrow, a lightning bolt could wipe out her family, leaving her an orphan with an insatiable bloodlust for revenge on the gods above. Yuudai's mother could have a heart attack, leaving him with his father who's barely ever home, and that could lead the child to become a real villain in the future. It won't be for about 14 or so years that Rimi can comfortably declare her safety, having knowledge of future events.

In short, her current task is to live through her childhood and experience as many things as possible. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying it. She's experienced many new things such as friendship and true friendly competition. It feels good to compete with someone without needing to murder them.

Back to the conversation, Yuudai and Hana have had a heartfelt conversation about the issue of their quirks. Rimi feels oddly excluded since her quirk has yet to awaken after nearly two years. At least Hana seems to be laughing every once in a while. Her shyness is slowly subsiding.

Chatter ensues behind Rimi, and she turns around to look at what's going on while Yuudai and Hana talk.

Ringtune is standing in front of the gate to the playground, talking with the assistant. He points in the direction of the kids, seeming to be quite frantic. The assistant raises her hands over her mouth and quickly pulls out her phone as she turns and starts walking toward the children. 'Oh, she's heading this way. Is it time to head inside or something? There might be a storm coming, I hope.'

A storm did come, as a powerful boom sounds off just beyond the gate, creating a strong gust of wind throughout the playground.

The kids turn in the direction of where it came from as the assistant appears to be speaking on her phone. Ringtune seems to have been prepared, almost unbothered by the sudden burst of wind. He's taken on a fighting stance in the direction of the thick cloud of dirt, and Rimi hears a high-pitched frequency in both of her ears. 'Is this his quirk...?'

She doesn't have a lot of time to bask in its glory.

Ringtune slaps his hands together in front of himself, and a powerful frequency is thrown, powerful enough to shake the air in the direction of the thick cloud. Quickly, the cloud disperses, revealing what's lurking inside of it.

Rimi does not recognize the person inside. A massive, overweight man stands there, grinning wide. "Children!" Their assistant cries out as Ringtune prepares another attack. "Everyone, please come to me, and stay calm!" While shouting, the woman is running around gathering as many children as she can into her arms. Many of the kids are confused, but still, grab their friends by the hand and pull them along to the daycare center.

Yuudai and Hanna nearly stand, but Rimi stops both of them. "No," she shakes her head. "Dangerous."

Rimi doesn't know how to explain her instincts, but every part of her body is telling her not to go anywhere near the building. Hana is obviously confused, but Yuudai just trusts Rimi's instincts. "What do you mean?" Hana asks, looking over Rimi's shoulder to see the rising star, Ringtune, standing in a combat stance as the frequencies grow even louder.

The massive man starts to laugh as his fat stature grows wider. She sees him sharply sucking air into his body, his size growing more and more. Every instinct in her body is telling her to move as the assistant brings the children inside. It isn't telling her to dodge—it's telling her to warn them. "Stop!" Rimi screams to the assistant who's standing in the doorway, trying to escort the children inside. The woman turns in her direction, looking confused. "Stop!" Rimi repeats, trying to stop the woman from leading the children inside.

It's too late. Ringtune releases his soundwaves, and the man unleashes a valley of wind in Ringtune's direction. His body deflates as the wind is released. Having gathered far more wind than Ringtune had sound, the Pro-Hero didn't stand a chance.

Blades of wind ravage his body and continue past him, cutting into the building. The walls are torn apart in an instant, and the stray winds throw the children and assistant around wildly. Some of the kids are unlucky, they're caught in the middle of it and torn to shreds, heartlessly.

Rimi's heart pounds as she watches the scene. "No..." The girl says under her breath, watching as blood flies into the air.

Ringtune's arms drop from his body. Blood spills.

Ringtune's legs slide from beneath him. Blood spills.

Ringtune's ears drop to the ground. Blood spills.

Ringtune's nose slides off. Blood spills.

Ringtune's intestines slip out of his body. Blood and guts spill.

Ringtune's head tumbles to the ground. He is dead.

The massive man stands there, not even bothering to recollect the air he'd been gathering as he bursts into a fit of maniacal laughter.

Rimi stares at the sight before her. The assistant was laying on the ground with a child in her arms, the closest one that she could grab. The woman's right eye had been slashed, but she was alive. The child, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The assistant trembled, whispering desperate pleas into the child's ear. The boy in her arms was missing his lower half. He too was dead.

"We..." Rimi turns in the direction of Yuudai and Hana, seeing the two of them completely stunned in fear. At times like this, Rimi had completely forgotten, the pieces she hoped to use were still children. No matter how properly they spoke, no matter how mature they behaved, they were all still infants who weren't even in kindergarten yet.

A gust of wind blows by, and she quickly turns to the side. Before she can react, a foot crashes into Yuudai's chest, sending the boy flying through the steel of the slide."Yu-" Rimi can't even get a word out before the man spins around, sending a kick into the child's head which throws her far.

Hana stands up and tries to run away, but the man reaches and catches the girl by her head. "A mutant, are ya'!?" The man falsely believes Hana to be a mutant, raising her into the air by her head as the girl kicks and squirms. "What a fucking joke!"

Rimi cannot see what happened, but the girl had a crack and then Hana's body is dropped to the ground in front of the man. Her head has returned to normal, but the girl is thrashing around, but cannot produce a sound. No sound is released as her head turns to its original form. She's alive, at least.

"That was the rising star!? I'd been storing up all that air for two days for this, and he couldn't even take it!"

'Energy culmination for two days straight!? What kind of monster is this!?' Rimi thinks as she slowly pushes herself off of the ground, only to find that she can barely find the strength in her legs to stand, almost like she'd been shot.

The man is far from done, however. Mercilessly, he steps toward Yuudai, whose quirk has kept him from getting crippled by the man's sudden assault at blinding speeds. For a big guy, he moves very fast.

Yuudai tries to push himself away, his strength and speed rising as his quirk works to find any means of surviving. It's pointless, though. By the time Yuudai stands up and tries to gather his footing, the man is standing over the boy with his arms crossed, as though he's waiting for the boy to do something.

Rimi can see a fear in Yuudai's eyes that she's never seen before. The boy is trembling, his legs are shaking, and he knows that his quirk cannot adapt enough to survive this situation. Rimi was a fool, she'd mistaken Yuudai, her only friend, for a monster who could help her with her goals in his current state—he's 2 years old! She was 11 when she died, but she knew enough about survival to know what was a good idea and what idea was downright horrible!

"What are you waiting for, brat?" The man asks, his presence alone leading to Yuudai taking a few steps back. "Yuu!" Rimi cries out, groaning as she can barely stand.

Hearing Rimi's voice, Yuudai gains a sense of courage, barely enough to keep him standing.

Yuudai thinks of those words: "Just think, would you rather be a symbol of peace and justice, like All Might, or one of the heartless monsters who you see in handcuffs?" Those were Ringtune's words, but now look at him—one of the monsters he swore to arrest has dissected him.

If it weren't for Yuudai's quirk, he'd be pissing himself, literally. He curls his fist into a ball, slowly starting to hyperventilate as his quirk malfunctions.

The boy screams out, gathering all of his courage into one fist, and goes to punch the man in his leg, the only place he can reach. But, the man sends his leg flying into Yuudai's body, a snap being heard as the poor boy's arm snapped from the kick.

Yuudai is sent flying into a nearby tree, and by the time Rimi has a clear visual, his eyes have gone blank and he's unconscious in the log. "Man, I love fucking with you little shits," the man—no—the animal snickers. He isn't done with Yuudai. He continues walking up to the boy, seeing just how durable he is. "You're a natural-born punching bag, kid!"

The villain crouches down beside Yuudai, and he brings his fist crashing into the boy's body, snapping him out of his unconscious state with a violent scream. The villain does not stop, however, he only continues to pound his fist into Yuudai's chest, purposely avoiding his head. Sometimes, he'll change his target to his other limbs, stopping a short while after they've snapped as well.

Rimi is helpless. She can only stare. She can only watch. The hero that was supposed to protect them is dead. Her friend, her best friend, is being tortured before her very eyes. She cannot help him, even if she could get up, she does not have the power to stop this.

Tears roll down her face, her face turning red, her eyes becoming bloodshot, but the golden color of her eyes burns more intensely than the rest.

* * * *

It continues on for god knows how long, before the villain grows bored and hears the cries of the children who'd survived the attack on the building. The assistant had managed to pick herself up after the trauma of a boy dying in her arms, now pulling as many of the children as she can into her own arms, trying her hardest to protect them with her quirk, one that produces a small protective bubble.

It was useless when she used it in the split second that the attack was released. Her bubble had burst from the first attack which left the children thrown around, injured, or dead.

Just as the villain prepares to throw the final blow into Yuudai's head, his fist crashes into the ground. "The fuck...?" The man questions, realizing that his fist has struck the ground.

He raises his head and realizes that he's a few feet away from the boy. He's been displaced. "Who...?" The villain's confusion doesn't end as he looks around the playground, attempting to find the culprit. Had somebody just teleported him?

Then, he sees her standing there, the girl who he'd kicked aside earlier. She was standing there, but he could not see her face. The air around her was utterly distorted like the wind was bending to her will. That was impossible, though. Then, a thought occurs: 'how is she standing?'

The villain is about to take a step toward the girl, but somehow, his leg snaps. It's strange, he'd barely even moved, but his leg sprung up with a speed greater than anything the man could ever hope to release, even with how fast he is naturally.

He falls to the ground, screaming in pain at his suddenly snapped leg. The whiplash from the speed was the least of his worries. Through the haze around the girl, the screaming villain can see a light shining—golden eyes pierce through the flurry of air, preying upon him.

Was she closer, or was she further? He couldn't tell, everything bent around her. All he felt was confirmation that this girl was not normal. 'I should've killed her-' Just as the man is finishing his thought, the air around the girl disperses in his direction, and before he can even move, he sees his right arm has dropped to the ground. He hadn't even noticed that the attacks were near him—no, he'd gotten closer to her...?

He looks at the child in horror, confused about the nature of this quirk; this is not something he's ever seen before. It doesn't compare to Thirteen's blackhole, which practically erases anything caught within—this ability seems to defy law and reason.

"You..." The man manages to speak through the pain, his face brimming with confusion, anger, and fear. "What are you!?"

Returning to the day that Kimiko was talking to Hiroko about Rimi's potential quirk...

"Do you have any idea what her quirk might be?" Hiroko asks the woman, and she is shocked by Kimiko's response.

"Vectors: direction, velocity, hell, maybe even placement. I don't even know myself." Kimiko explains, proceeding on to the dream she's been having. "Every night, I have the same dream, giving me the same explanation. It's like something wants me to know like it's set in stone. I've been feeling like I've been going crazy recently."

Hiroko is speechless, having believed that the woman was joking at first until she went into further detail. "The consequences... what do you think the consequences of using a power that strong will be?"

Kimiko just frowns and shakes her head. "The worst case is that my daughter destroys herself, Hiroko..." Kimiko's voice practically cracked, and Hiroko quickly pulls the woman into her arm, holding her in a warm embrace to comfort her.

"That won't happen, Kimiko. Your daughter is strong and smart, she'll be fine, I know it!" Hiroko smiles, trying to reassure the woman. "And I'm sure Yuudai will be there to help if those two can stop going at each other's throats." She chuckles, nervously.

Kimiko remains silent, but smiles. She wishes that she can accept these words of reassurance, but nothing can tame her fears until the event finally passes.

'If she awakens this quirk if these dreams are real; will my daughter truly even be human? She'll be stepping into the realm of gods, bending physics to her will...' Kimiko, like any mother, wishes for her daughter to live a simple, normal life. But, if the dreams she's been having are telling her the truth; Rimi will be an existence that cannot be halted by the forces of the world.

Rimi is a smart girl, but if she cannot use her wits with that ability; if she uses it blindly with emotions; she will break herself.