What am I?
Ayano awoke to the sounds of the busy city streets. Her hotel room had small sun beams poking through the curtains. Sitting up in the bed, she looked over at the small clock on the bedside table.
10:43
“Did you sleep okay?” She heard Ophelia say. She was floating over by the window. “I didn’t want to disturb your rest.”
“.... Thank you.” Ayano said.
“There’s a lot I want to go over with you, but you should freshen up first.”
Nodding towards her new friend, Ayano moved the comforter off of her and made her way towards the small bathroom. Even with the missing gaps in her memory, the routine of preparing a bath was still ingrained into her, but it was like something was missing.
As the water was warming up, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her raspberry hair tumbled down to a little past her shoulders, and her face was still really young looking. Her eyes were a nice shade of black with some purple swirling within her irises. She tried to smile, but it was like her face was incapable of it. Maybe it was a side effect of her revival.
After her bath, Ayano found a new set of clothes, probably left by Ophelia. It was another white short sleeved dress, though it was a bit less basic than the last one. It had a collar with the string of a red bow laying beside the garment, as well as some tights. After putting it on, she went back into the main room where Ophelia was waiting for her.
“I know you must have a lot of questions, so I will try my best to answer them.” Ophelia said.
Ayano thought for a moment before finding her voice. “What exactly are you? And why me?”
“I am a Ghost, created by a paracausal entity known as the Traveler. The Traveler moved from system to system running from an entity known as the Witness, who used the power of the Darkness, Light’s opposite, to its own twisted end. Wherever the Traveler went, it brought life with it, in the form of Light. The Light is what created me and allowed me to bring you back. The Light is a force that lives in all things, and through us Ghosts, it can even be wielded. For centuries, I was searching the system for my chosen, but I never could. But then, I found you. For us Ghosts, finding our other half is what we were made for. Though the Traveler is not infallible, I trusted that one day I’d be able to find you. I was heading to the outer ring of the system when an anomaly composed of Light and Darkness pulled me in and I found myself here.”
“So, you aren’t from this universe?” Ayano asked, her head tilting in thought.
“That appears to be the case,” Ophelia answered. “But I can still feel the Light, so I can still give you access to your powers.The Guardians, through us, channel the Light. As a consequence of your revival, your past is wiped away, to let them be free to be themselves without tethers to who they were. And thanks to the Light, the Guardians are practically immortal. Most guardians are split into the three classes, those being Titan, Warlock, and Hunter. The Titans are the shield of the Last City, using their strength to defend the people. Warlocks are known as the warrior-scholars, using intimate knowledge of the Light to empower their allies and defeat their enemies. Then there are the Hunters, who were the scouts of the City, using tactics and stealth to their advantage.”
“So what am I?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t really know. If I had to guess on it, I would say a Hunter, but the energies of this universe are strange to me.”
“...”
“Do you need a break, I know this is a lot to take in, especially at such a young age.”
“I… I don’t know.” Ayano breathed. “I don’t even know how old I am, I can’t remember anything about myself. All I know is my name. Who even am I?”
“I’m sorry,” Ophelia said, her shell drooping as she floated to her chosen’s clenched hands. “I know you didn’t choose for this to happen.”
Ophelia felt tears hit her shell. She remained there as she let her chosen, a girl only 13 years old, cry for the life she no longer has.
“Am I stuck like this forever?” Ayano said quietly, the two now lying down on their bed.
“In terms of being alive, yes.” Ophelia answered. “However, I can unpause your body clock to let you grow up some. It wouldn’t do for you to be stuck as a 13 year old forever.”
“Do you hear that?” Ayano said.
“Hear what?”
“That sound. It’s like someone crying.”
Ophelia did a scan on Ayano’s body. She had been meaning to do so for a while now, as the majority of the populace has physiological mutation, showing themselves as quirks. From her scan, she can see that Ayano possesses a mutation in her aural canal.
“From my scan, it seems your quirk allows you to hear sounds from a larger distance than most other people. If someone’s in trouble, we should check it out.”
Ayano opened the door to the balcony, trying to see if she can see where the sounds were coming from. The city was a cacophony of noise, but she closed her eyes and tried to focus in on the sound she wanted. After a few seconds, she was able to focus it, looking down towards an alley a street over.
“It’s in that alley over there.” She pointed out to Ophelia.
“I see it.” Ophelia said before looking back at Ayano. “Here, I’m making a cloak for you. It’ll protect your identity.”
Ayano felt something cover herself. Looking down, she sees a black cloak cover her entire body as well as a hood to cover her head.
“This will be a good opportunity to test your abilities. Hunters, unlike Warlocks and Titans, can channel the Light to enhance their jumps rather than float. We’re high up, so you’ll need to time it right. With some more practice, you’ll be able to do more than one jump, but we need to start small. I can heal injuries just fine, so if anything happens, I will protect you.”
“So how do I do it?” Ayano asked, looking down towards the ground.
“For some it comes naturally. Just feel it within yourself. You are a Guardian. You are my Guardian. If anyone can do this, you can.” Ophelia encouraged. “I’m going to cloak myself, but if you need me, all you need to do is hold out your hand.”
Using a chair, Ayano managed to get herself onto the railing of the balcony.
I can do this. I can do this.
She repeated it like a mantra as she stared at the street below. The cries could still be heard.
If no one else can help, it falls to me.
She moved one foot forward, her mind racing. She takes a deep breath. Then she let herself fall. She tried to keep her mind clear, but the rapidly approaching ground was making her hesitate. She braced herself for her inevitable impact when–
“Ayano.” It was a voice so unfamiliar, but yet so gentle.
“Ayano.” It was like she could sink into this voice.
“Ayano, you can do whatever you put your mind to.”
She felt it. It was like the air was merely another surface she could use. Tensing her legs, she grasped that feeling and pushed down and over with all her might. With a swooshing sound, she launched herself upward, stopping her downward momentum and moving her forward. She reached her hand out and grabbed the ledge of the building on the other end of the street.
Pulling herself up, she raced toward the sound of crying.” She stopped on the other edge of the building when she finally saw the source of the sound. In the alley, there was a couple being attacked by a small group of people wearing all black. She felt Ophelia materialize next to her.
“Oh no.” She cried. “We need to help them.”
“I agree, but what can we do?” Ayano asked.
“It’s too early to do a trial run of any other abilities, but you’re a small target.” Ophelia transmatted a piece of metal into Ayano’s hands. “If you can get behind them, you can take out their legs.”
Grasping the small pole in her hands, Ayano then leaped over the side and once again used her powers to stop her fall. She noticed that her footsteps seemed to be lighter, making less noise. Using the darkness of the alley to her advantage, she crept up on the group of muggers. She readied her makeshift weapon, aimed, then swung, hitting the back of a mugger’s leg with a thud.
“Ow! What the hell?!” He cried out, making the other two look at their attacker. When the one she attacked leaned back, Ayano swung again at his head, knocking the man out. His two cohorts dropped the couple they were mugging and ran at her.
Ayano braced when one tried to stab her with a knife, but she felt the pull again. Following her instincts she dodged sideways, doing a small spin. She used the momentum to try and hit her attacker but he was able to grab her weapon.
“Got you!” He growled, grabbing Ayano’s cloak and throwing her against the wall. She tried to crawl away but a boot to her body kept her back to the ground.
“Who do you think you are?!” The man cried. He was about to stab her with the knife when something wrapped around his body. “What the–”
He couldn’t finish his sentence before both him and his remaining partner were both being attacked by the newcomer.
Ayano was still laying on the ground in shock even after all the muggers were down. She quickly looked up and saw who it was. It was some scruffy looking man that had long black hair and some stubble. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He recalled his scarf thing and was ready to also tie up Ayano when she heard Ophelia’s voice.
“I got you. Prepare for transmat.”
A light glowed around Ayano and she went from the cold alley and fell back onto the carpeted floor of her hotel room. She breathed a sigh of relief and then promptly passed out on her floor.
Shota Aizawa was having a really confusing evening. First he hears from Nezu that All Might off all heroes had come to him about potentially getting a teaching position at UA. Aizawa was convinced that All Might was just like any other limelight hero, obsessed with the excitement of hero work, but the mere fact that the Number 1 Hero was even considering teaching made him re-examine his own biases. So when he decided to do a late night patrol to get his mind off of it, it came as a shock when the mugging he was about to foil was intruded on by someone else first.
The cloaked figure looked like they were definitely out of their league, but were able to take down one of the criminals. But that was the extent of their luck. He wasn’t the biggest fan of vigilantes, but he wasn’t going to let another person be hurt. After dispatching the muggers, he was about to capture the would-be vigilante to give them his “you should stop before someone gets hurt” speech when they suddenly glowed and disappeared.
That was new.
With a sigh, he turned his attention to the still shaking victims, who had run to each other.
“Are you both alright?” He asked.
“Yes.” The brown haired man said. “Thank you so much. We thought that was it for us.”
From the way his boyfriend was also nodding along, Aizawa assumed they would be fine.
“I’m gonna call the police to come get these guys, do you mind staying so they can get your statement?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you again.”
“No need to thank me.” Aizawa said as he brought his phone up to his ear. “It’s what a hero is supposed to do.”
Izuku Midoriya was excitedly looking at the grainy picture of Eraserhead’s latest catch from the night before when he got the message from All Might. He still couldn’t believe ALL MIGHT, the number one hero All Might, had offered a quirkless nobody like himself One for All. It was like he was dreaming.
All Might (he should probably ask for his name for safety reasons. Just for safety reasons and definitely not so he could know his idol’s name) had warned him that the training they were going to do was gonna be intense.
“Young Midoriya!” All Might called, getting Izuku out of his thoughts. “Are you ready?”
The duo were standing outside of Takoba Municipal Beach. Well, less a beach and more of a dump.
“Yes, All Might, sir!” Izuku cried, doing an attempt at a salute. All Might chuckled at the display but didn’t comment.
“I appreciate you meeting me here this early, but I wanted to further explain my plan.” All Might said. “You see this beach here?”
“Yes sir!”
“You, my boy, are going to clean it.” All Might said proudly.
“Wait….. WHAT!” Izuku cried.
“Onwards!” All Might buffed up, grabbing his charge’s arm. “We have work to do!”