Chapter Text
Musutafu was home to one of the most thriving hero schools in all of Japan. Everyone admired it for a reason, and it was common to see heroes patrolling left and right regardless of the scarse population- it wasn't a big city, though everyone couldn't argue with the fact that it felt like one.
There were... many parts of that city that were overlooked. It was on purpose- every police officer and hero refrained from wasting their precious time checking if everything was in order. They simply believed that specific individuals just couldn't be saved, that it was too late to take them out of their misery. That was something they'd never admit out loud, and everyone turned a blind eye on it given how the majority was living in absolute bliss.
What about the people that weren't? Well, they lurked in the alleyways- small parts of the suburbs that decayed quicker than the hearts of the cities: buildings were vandalized and abandoned, people took their last breaths sleeping on the streets- it was truly survival of the fittest. The large amount of people living in villainy and taking pleasure from tormenting innocent dispossessed were too much for heroes to deal with and they never thought once to try and save who resided there.
Anyone could say the alleyways held nothing but pure agony roaming throughout the ghost roads and nobody would turn and look back to help them. They couldn't help themselves either after all, knowing they were reaching their end one way or another. Sometimes they'd be the ones taking themselves away from their misery, others didn't have time to make that choice before someone did it for them.
The few survivors, or at least "sane" enough people who hung on a thread had their ways to find joy in their hapless lives. Prostitution, drugs, alcohol or even becoming felons- those were the easiest choices they had unless money was something they had in abbundance.
For all of them, money was the anthem of success.
Ayumi couldn't believe it had been a month since the New year, marking exactly a year since her arrival in the alleyways.
She lived in a small apartment in the suburbs and the nearby streets were close to the main areas of the city. It was the least costly one she could find, and yet it was still draining her entire paycheck by the end of the month. It was horrible, really, but she found that complaining didn't get her anywhere- it was either that or sleeping on cardboard in the shivering cold.
There was one thing she couldn't be more thankful of: her job. As a waitress in a local izakaya, she found that it was better than any other job she could find near her apartment. The place was called "The Corner," and given the crowds of customers she served with a permanent, forced smile on her lips, she could say the place was popular enough. Not with heroes or salarymen, but with thugs and whatever criminal that roamed nearby- they'd get hungry, invite their crew to eat, and spend long hours occupying the tables between liquors and rowdy chatter. She'd gotten used to the regulars, and she'd also learned how to act whenever they'd get... a little too out of hand.
Customers were coming minute by minute, and as she scrubbed the wine glasses until their shine nearly burnt her irises, she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. Her black heels were giving her throbbing blisters, and her constantly rounded shoulders only added to her various body aches. After a year, she hadn't gotten get used to it somehow.
“Need any help?”
Ayumi's eyes turned to one of her coworkers, Yoshimi Hasegawa. She was swarthy skinned and in her mid-thirties with short, purple curles and lilac eyes
“I’m fine, I still have a few dish— “
“Give me that.” She demanded, but she knew she meant no harm with her harsh tone. Without giving Ayumi time to comply with her insistence, she grabbed the sponge and moved towards the sink, releasing lavender scented dish soap from her palm which she used to roughly scrub a few plates.
“Hasegawa…” Ayumi whined, gently trying to push her away only to be elbowed on her side, hissing sharply from the momentary pain. It wasn't anything new- Ayumi was 17 years old, and her working hours were much shorter than her coworkers'. Regardless of her shorter labour, they always tried to get some weight off her shoulders by offering to do some of her tasks, and no matter how many times she refused, they would always go against her wishes. While she appreciated their concerns, she was more than capable of handling her job herself.
“It’s almost time for you to clock out, remember? Relax a bit, talk with the others too.” She encouraged, and she knew the only acceptable answer was to agree.
She nodded shyly, looking down at her feet. “Okay… Thanks again.”
“Stop thanking me- just go.” She gave her a small nudge on her shoulder, which she used as her cue to move to the kitchen.
Walking through the kitchen door, she saw her other coworkers talking to each other. In all honesty, they weren't supposed to be slacking off- actually they were well aware of the fact- but they all clocked out off work at around 2 AM, and chatting after their shifts wasn't an option. Ayumi was the only one who left at 10 PM.
“Clocking out soon?” Reika Mori beamed, an ivory skinned girl with dark green hair and eyes that were entirely black, including her scleras. Alongside her and Hasegawa, both of them were in charge to serve the food and the drinks- they dealt with the harder part of the job since the customers could get violent at times. The other two, Koharu Tsuchida and Saki Ogawa stayed in the kitchen to prepare some of the few meals they offered.
“I'm leaving in a bit. Mom told me to talk to you.” Ayumi joked, leaning on one of the counters before popping a few kinks in her neck. “Were you three talking about something?”
“Mostly about Ogawa’s shitty boyfriend.” Tsuchida rolled her eyes annoyed. She was a woman in her mid twenties with amber hair that matched her sun-kissed skintone and lilac eyes similar to Hasegawa's.
“Huh!? He is not shitty! For your information, all he did was forget our anniversary, no biggie!” Ogawa retorted while crossing her arms. She was umber-skinned and had coily, plum hair with midnight eyes.
“Which makes him shitty.”
"It does not! People forget things, y'know?"
Ayumi chuckled, glancing at the clock occasionally. “I think your boyfriend should put more effort in your relationship- it doesn’t seem like he cares much.” She commented, watching Ogawa’s eyebrows furrow even deeper.
“You two are unbelievable! You shouldn’t talk about other people’s relationships when you two can’t even get a date!” She retorted, causing Tsuchida to scowl. Ayumi knew what was going to happen, so she decided to pass the time fixing her cuticles instead while counting down how long it took for one of them to snap.
“Excuse me? Did I hear that right?” Tsuchida's voice was traced with irritation.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I stutter?”
“Better take it back now if you don't want my fist in your neck.”
"Try doing that and I'' shove my foot up your ass!"
“Stop it, now!” Mori put herself between the two, her tone serious and strict. “You’re going to get us all in trouble- you know Hasegawa’s in a bad mood at this time of the day!”
The two girls side eyed each other before turning in opposite directions, both of their arms crossed as their let out loud huffs. Ayumi couldn’t help but laugh until she noticed the time- it was her cue.
“I’m clocking out!” She sounded cheery while rushing to the entrance, not letting the girls give her a proper goodbye. After grabbing her purse and putting on her jacket, she squeezed herself amongst the tables before finally reaching the exit door.
The cold, February breeze hit her face, allowing the initial tiredness to fade away temporarily. Her purse always felt so light at the end of the day, constantly reminding her of the situation she was living in. Ayumi wasn't excited because she was going home, but because it was time to switch to a more... unethical job.
The issue with money was that her salary was incredibly low. It was barely minimum wage, and it didn’t allow Ayumi to pay for all the bills and her rent. Even if it wasn’t an enjoyable job, theft was the only way she could guarantee a roof under her head every month. Thanks to an entire year of experience and particular, heightened senses she was born with, it became much easier to get the job done every night- the alleys were always packed by the end of her shift.
While clutching her bag so it wouldn’t make noise, she silently began to walk around, analyzing her surroundings carefully. The closer she was to the busy city meant she had more targets, but it also meant that there was an increased risk of getting caught by patrolling officers. On the other hand, ambushing farther away meant dealing with the worst kind of villains. There was only one safe option: the middle.
Ayumi was lucky, in a way- her ears worked better than the average person's. It wasn't a quirk, rather a rare trait she developed before birth allowing her to hear even a pin drop in a large crowd, both a blessing and a curse. It allowed her to mug people with ease because she could follow and analyze their every move based on their steps, but defeaning noises induced horrible headaches.
As she walked, keeping the noise to a minimum, the sound of coins clattering together finally caught her attention.
Looking up ahead, she noticed a tall, middle-aged woman checking her wallet as she walked. It showed that she wasn’t from around the area, because most people from those suburbs knew how dangerous it was to have your most precious object displayed out in the open- luckily for Ayumi it only made things easier. By creeping up behind her steathily, she swiftly thrust out her hand from the side and grasped the wallet. The lady gasped in surprise, panic visible in her eyes as she desperately tried to retrieve it with force, but Ayumi made her trip by kicking her in the ankle, causing her to fall onto her back and let out a pained yelp. It took the blink of an eye for her to run away before any passersby could see- not that they would do anything about it, but it was better to take precaution.
She panted softly, not allowing herself to properly catch her breath before opening the wallet to check its contents. Like every other time, she hoped her targets had a certain wealth, but unfortunately for her the money totaled to 1039 Yen. The frustrated groan she let out echoed in the ghost street, followed by the sound of the wallet hitting the ground when she tossed it. The credit cards inside meant nothing to her since her landlady only accepted cash.
It was always like that, day after day, working at The Corner and robbing the innocent. All that precious time Ayumi could’ve spent living her teenage years to the fullest flew down the drain as the years passed by. It was a miserable life, and she was starting to doubt if she could survive living in the alleyways any longer- all it took was to be short a couple of yen to be kicked out into the streets, and oh boy, they weren’t any kinder than her landlady.
Midnight approached, though the streets didn't get any quieter. After two hours, she only collected 2978 Yen. There were only a couple of days left before she had to face the abhorrent knock on her door, loud enough to rattle every bone in her body.
Her exhaustion was reaching its peak, and her apartment was nearby. Her purse was clutched carefully under her arm as she continued to walk with her guard up, and she could hear her surroundings perfectly. There were around three people walking in her same direction keeping a moderate pace. It allowed Ayumi to release a relieved sigh, but it was quickly interrupted by the sound of a panting, trembly breath. It came from a couple of steps behind her, and it caused a shiver to run down her spine.
It came from a man, a very tall one based on how heavy his feet stomped to the ground. Initially it didn't seem as if he was doing anything out of the ordinary, though she couldn't help but focus on his pace and movement: he moved at her exact same pace, stopping whenever she did and moving from one side to the other based on her trajectory. It wasn't normal- he was following her.
Ayumi panicked, unsure of what to do- nobody ever attempted to pursue her. Should she turn? Make him realize she was aware of his presence? No, it was too dangerous. She couldn't face him in any way, and while she might've been skilled in mugging people, she wasn't capable of defending herself from anyone who could fight.
As she continued walking she made the decision to play dumb. It didn't sound as if he was going to speed up or pounce on her, though she remained wary. Thankfully she could see her apartment from where she walked, and she took a few quiet, deep breaths to assure herself that she was going to be alright.
Act normal, act normal...
Her apartment building looked a little more decent than all the abandoned, run-down ones in the area- the only things that made it look nicer were the clothes hung up in the balconies which colored the tall, grey plywood walls. She lived on the tallest floor, so without appearing guarded she hurriedly turned to the building and climbed up the stairs, managing to tilt her head enough to get a glimpse of the man. Just as she thought, it was a guy wearing a dark, oversized hoodie that allowed him to cover his face and barely cover his all-white pants. What struck her the most was the fact that he was barefoot, and she instantly questioned if he was actually a homeless man trying to find a place to stay, stirring a feeling of pity in her. As she pondered, and climbed higher up to her apartment door, she heard him leave.
A beautiful view- is what she would say if she was an optimist. Her entire apartment was extremely small, and she felt as if she was inside a dollhouse sometimes. It consisted of only one, squared room that functioned as the bedroom, living room and kitchen, with only a miniature bathroom cramped up in a narrow room to her left. There were no carpets, no bookshelves, no posters or paintings. It was as plain as it could be, but it was her only option since furniture wasn’t very affordable- all that mattered to her were the essentials that kept her alive.
Ayumi dropped her purse on the floor along with her jacket before plopping onto the only furniture there was other than the miniscule, old sofa: her futon. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it felt like heaven after a long day of walking back and forth and slumping over sinks. Without even having the time to cover herself with the blanket, the exhaustion knocked her out completely, making her forget about the man lurking in the alleyways.