Chapter 2 - Chapter II

It was a new day which meant that Kurmara had to endure another day of hell at school. She laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling before letting out a small sigh. 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠... She thought, lifting one of her hands and trying to use one of her Quirks, but barely anything happened, a frown forming on her face as she allowed her arm to fall back. "I was so used to using them before... why can't I now?" She asked herself out loud as she laid there in silence until there was a knock at her door. "Hope you're almost dressed otherwise you'll be late when you leave." She smiled at the sound of her brother's voice. "I'm almost done, give me a few minutes." She shouted as she sat up. "Maybe he can help me.." Kurmara muttered as she got her uniform on and smoothed her hair down before walking out of her room. "Finally. It's almost time for your classes to start." Her brother joked which made her smile and shake her head.

"I leave at the normal time, so there's no need for you to knock at my door every day." She said as she brushed her hair and he shrugged. "Hey, who knows? You might forget to wake up properly so you need me to be here to make sure." She stuck her tongue out at him, earning a chuckle. "Hey, are you sure you're okay after yesterday?" He finally asked what she expected him to. Kurmara gave a long sigh before responding. "Honestly? Not entirely, but I will be as long as I continue to do what I've always done." "Yeah, but I'm just worried that same thing will happen again. Maybe you should leave your sketchbook here this time." She stared at him, a look on her face which made him shake his head. "I know you get inspiration back to back sometimes, but I don't want to see you upset again." "I'll be fine. Once classes are over, I'll head straight home this time than I normally do." He crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "Fine. Just make sure to tell me this time. I am your guardian until Mom and Dad get back."

"Yeah, yeah. I promise I will." "Then give me your hand." She rolled her eyes and gave a long, dramatic groan before turning her head to him. "Seriously? We're not kids anymore." "I don't care. I want you to do this." He said and she could tell that he wouldn't let her leave until she did. She let out another groan before walking over to where her brother was and holding up her hand, pressing it against his. "Now, promise me that if anything happens, you will tell me." He voiced and she rolled her eyes. "I promise." "No, tell me you will." "Fine. I, Kurmara Mae Hayashi, promise that if anything happens to me that I will tell you, older brother." She said her promise as she followed his hand movements and he nodded before pulling her into a hug. "Thank you." She smiled and returned the hug before pulling away. "I can't believe you made me do the stupid promise." "Hey, that's only so I know you'll stay true to your word." He laughed. "But we haven't done that in years."

"I know, but still." Kurmara fixed her bangs and made sure her hair was brushed before grabbing her bookbag and heading towards the front door, slipping her shoes on. "Alright, I'm off. I'll see you earlier than usual." "Better not skip any classes." He shouted after her and she laughed before closing the door, walking down the street towards the city and to her school. Today was calmer than it was yesterday, but it was still nice to her. She couldn't help but take out her sketchbook and draw a new idea. It wasn't the same sketchbook from the other day, a few of the pages were ruined beyond repair and the sketchbook had holes in it, so she couldn't use it. She walked down the street, sketching as she headed to her school, putting the sketchbook away once she finally arrived, and walked onto the campus with a sigh. She walked into the building and to her class, luckily none of the bullies from yesterday were there at that time, considering that the bell was going to ring soon.

Kurmara quickly entered the class and over to her desk, sitting down with a silent sigh. Soon, everyone began to trickle into the class, chatting amongst themselves. "-yeah, it happened yesterday after classes ended." "No way, really?" A few of her classmates were talking about something that happened. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡? She thought, listening in but those two were a bit far away so she couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. "I heard it involved someone from another school." "What? No way, that's terrifying." "A villain took a student with an explosive Quirk." Kurmara internally gasped. 𝐴 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒? She thought, not remembering anything from that day that talked about it happening. "I heard another student came and tried to save him." "I saw that. Guess who showed up after." "Who?" "All Might." She felt goosebumps go over her body when she thought about the situation. She wouldn't know what to do if something like that had happened to her.

Soon the rest of the class arrived as well as the teacher to begin the class.

* * *

Once her classes ended for the day, Kurmara put her things away and grabbed her bookbag, exiting the class and out of the building, taking a shortcut home that didn't go through the city. She pulled out her phone and messaged her brother as she walked home. It only took her about twelve minutes until she arrived home. "Hey," she greeted once she walked through the door. "Hey, hey hey!" He ran over to the door, almost falling forward which made her stumble back. "Woah, what's going on?" "I just thought of something we should do!" He had the biggest grin on his face and she was just confused. "Uh, I just got home, so I need to eat first before you tell me anything." She walked past her excited brother and into the kitchen, him still following behind. As she made something quick to eat, she watched her brother and he looked as if he was vibrating. "Okay, I'll bite. Why are you so excited?" "I was thinking that maybe we should get you a piercing." Her brother gasped with a smile and she looked at him.

"A piercing?" She echoed and he nodded vigorously. "Yeah, you know, like a nose piercing, a tongue piercing, a lip piercing. All of those." He said and Kurmara thought he was the most excited about it. "Wouldn't that be a bit extreme?" "No. You're old enough for one. Not to mention I got the okay from Mom." He showed the messages between him and their Mom from last night. "Huh. I guess she said it's alright. But she didn't say what kind." "Ah, she said that you could pick it as long as it's not in-between your eyes, on your cheeks, or your ni-" "Okay! Alright! Please don't finish that sentence." Kurmara's face burned from embarrassment as she covered her brother's mouth, afraid of the last word he was about to say and he just laughed before removing her hands. "Alright, alright. Now, let's go. I know a place that's very good and where I've got my piercing." He said, tugging her along towards the front door.

"You have a piercing?" She questioned and he looked back at her before smiling. "I didn't show you the new one, did I?" He asked and she shook her head as she slipped her shoes on. "Huh, I thought I did.. guess not." She then looked at him, waiting as he got his shoes on and grabbed his keys. "I got this one I think two months ago now," he said as they walked out the front door. "Well, where is it?" Kurmara asked, suddenly regretting she asked in case it was in a strange place which made her brother laugh at the face she was making. "It's in a completely normal spot, I promise you." He said and stuck his tongue out to reveal a small dark red, metallic ball on his tongue. "A tongue piercing?" "Yup. It hurt a little but was hell when it came to eating and cleaning it." He said with a sigh as they got in the car. "At least it's healed though. It's a nice look don't you think?" "But why red? It looks like a little blood spot in the middle of your tongue." She queried with a smile as she buckled up which made him frown.

"I thought it was a nice colour.. but then again, you're right, it wouldn't hurt to change the colour a bit. Maybe something brighter?" Kurmara giggled as they drove away from the house to the place where her brother got his piercing. "So, before we get there, what kind are you thinking of getting?" He asked which made her think for a minute. "I was thinking maybe getting it on my nose or lip, depending on how much pain there will be." "Well, from what I've heard from a few friends of mine, the one on your nose hurts a bit more, so are you sure?" Kurmara thought about that for a second before shuddering. "I don't like having pain too long in one area, especially on my nose.." "Soo? Your lip then?" "Yeah." He nodded as he slowed the car at a stoplight. "What kind are you thinking of getting? You know, like the jewelry." She stared at him which earned her a chuckle. "I guess we should've had this conversation way earlier. There are a few different ones, two of them being the most common among everyone." He began and she listened with interest.

"Well, there's a stud and a ring, many different types of lip rings actually." "Name three for me." She voiced. "There's a segment ring, spiral barbell, and a horseshoe." He named the three different ones and Kurmara already knew which one she wanted. He parked the car and turned it off before looking at his sister. "Figure out what kind you want yet?" He asked, getting out of the car, her doing the same, and gave him a vigorous nod making him smile. "Alright then, let's go get it done. When we get home, I'll show you how to clean it so it doesn't get infected. That would be the worst first piercing experience." She followed her brother into a building, immediately taking notice of the sudden atmosphere. It was strange, but intriguing at the same time so she didn't know how to feel about it. Her brother walked up to the counter that was next to a bunch of different jewelry pieces in a giant case and she walked up to it, looking at the many pieces, taking notice of some stranger ones.

Kurmara's brother talked with one of the body piercers and she looked up to see a woman with black and purple hair with a few piercings. "Alright, hey hun, would you mind picking out the one you'd like?" She asked her with a friendly voice and she nodded, looking over the jewelry pieces before pointing to the one she wanted. "This one, if you don't mind." The woman opened the case they were in from the other side and pointed to a few until she landed on a horseshoe ring, making Kurmara nod quickly. "Alright, a good choice. Now, if you two could follow me to the back please." She then led the two Hayashi siblings to the back of the shop into a nice little room. "If you could sit right there and I'll be right back with the bit of equipment so we can get started." The woman had the fourteen-year-old sit at the edge of a bed-like cushion before walking out of the room. She looked around the room, suddenly feeling anxious as if all of the excitement and confidence had been stripped of her.

She looked down at her lap, taking a shaky breath. "I... I don't know if I can do this now..." She whispered. "Hey, look at me. Focus on my voice. It will only hurt for a second, alright? Here, you can squeeze my hand." He offered his hand for Kurmara and she took it shakily, obviously nervous to get a needle through her lip. The woman walked back into the room, a gentle smile on her face as she stood in front of the fourteen-year-old. "It's alright. It will be quick, I promise." She reassured as she sanitized the needle and piercing Kurmara had chosen. She took a deep breath and nodded, giving her brother's hand a slight squeeze and he squeezed back with comfort. "You can close your eyes if you'd like, most people do." The body piercer suggested and she did it, hearing a low chuckle from her brother. There was something cool and damp on the lower right side just below her lip and a light tug before she felt something poke on the outside and inside of her lip.

Kurmara tensed a little, bracing for the needle to go through but she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand which made her relax. That's right, her brother was right there with her and he wouldn't allow anything to cause her any worse or unnecessary pain. There was a poke and a tingle as the needle went through her lip and she couldn't help but furrow her brows as to not wince too much. "And.. there we go. You're all done." The body piercer voiced and Kurmara opened her eyes to see a smile on the woman's face. She then looked over to her right where her brother was standing, a wide grin on his face which caused a small smile to form on hers only for her to feel a dull pain. It wasn't a lot, but it was still a little painful. "If you'd like to see, there's a mirror right there," the woman voiced as she pointed to a small wall mirror and Kurmara nodded, standing up. "Mr. Hayashi, if you could come with me to-" "Ah, yes of course. But please, it makes me feel like my father if you call me that."

She heard her brother and rolled her eyes. He was flirting. She ignored them and went to the mirror to see what the piercing looked like. As soon as she saw herself, she looked closer at her lip. There, right there on her lip was the horseshoe ring she chose before they got to the shop. She stepped back a little, moved her bangs from over one eye, and stared at herself for a long while, unsure if it was actually her she was seeing. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡... 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡... She thought, gently touching the cool metal that sat nicely on her lip. She liked it. She really did. A sudden thought came into her mind which caused her ears to burn and she shook her head, looking at it closer again. It was a little red but didn't hurt so bad. She was tempted to touch it a little. Kurmara looked over her shoulder at the doorway and heard her brother talking with the body piercer about the payment before looking back into the mirror and lifted her hand to her piercing, gently pushing the area around it.

The dull pain turned less dull which made her gasp and cover her mouth, face warming up. It had hurt but for some reason, she liked it. 𝐷𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛. A hidden voice in her mind said as she stared in the mirror again but she shook her head and fixed her bangs before walking away from the mirror and to the front where her brother was. "There you are. Ready to leave now?" He smiled at her and she nodded, thanking the woman before she walked past him to the car, not uttering another word as they got in. The entire drive back was silent but her thoughts were loud. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡? 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡? Those many thoughts bounced around, untangible than the last while she tried to wrap her head around it but just ended up more confused. Her brother cleared his throat, breaking her attention from her thoughts. "You seem distracted. Does the piercing hurt?" He queried, slight concern in his voice which made her shake her head.

"No.. it doesn't hurt that much.." She responded, looking out of the window when the car slowed. "Are you sure?" "Yeah, I'm sure." "Then is there something else?" Her ears burned when he asked as she thought back at the shop and quickly shook her head. "No. I think I'm.. just hungry is all.." She voiced, half lying as she was too embarrassed to tell her older brother what happened, afraid that he'd laugh at her or tease her about it. He might've been an adult, but he acted like such a child towards her at times. But it was better than him being serious all the time, she needed him to joke around with her when she was feeling upset, uneasy, or stressed. "Well then, we can fix the problem once we're home." He had a smile to his voice, some concern staying behind a little but she didn't pay too much attention to it. Once they got back to the house, Kurmara tried to open the door, but her brother stopped her, making a confused look form as she looked up at him.

"Are you sure nothing is bothering you?" He asked and she couldn't help but smile and shake her head. "Asking this question again? I don't know if you've noticed but I'm fine." She responded and he leaned down to be face to face with her. She was shorter than him by a whole six inches, so sometimes he had to be lower to face her when he was serious. He lifted his hand and moved her bangs with his Quirk making her stare at him. "I hate when you do that." She sighed with a smile shaking her head, her bangs falling back into place but when she looked at him, his face was serious which made her sigh again. "What's making you all serious?" She questioned and he stood up straight again, crossing his arms as he studied his sister, making her impatient. "Did something happen back at the shop?" He asked which made her eyes go wide but she fixed them before shaking her head. "Nope. Why.. uh.. why do you ask?" She tried to not seem suspicious which would work considering she could hold her facial expressions to seem normal, but she could tell that her brother knew something was up.

𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒... She cursed under her breath as she fidgeted. He lifted a hand again, this time blowing her hair back from her face entirely and she frowned. "Stop that." She said to him, slightly getting irritated that he wouldn't answer her now. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑... 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒. She thought about what to say but couldn't figure out a proper way to make it come out. He used his Quirk again and she glared at him. "Stop. I don't mind when you do that to my bangs, but this is beginning to get irritating." She told him and he still stared at her, waiting for her to tell him what happened, but she had too much pride to confess. She tried to open the door again but he stopped her again, this time locking it and putting the keys into his pocket, making her groan. "Why can't we just go into the house? Why are you being an-" "Watch your mouth." He said calmly yet still seriously. "Sorry.. but why are you being a jerk?" She queried and he shook his head. "I'm not." "You are!" She raised her voice, making him raise a brow and she took a breath.

"Sorry, but I want to go inside." He shook his head and she whined before remembering that her window was still unlocked and walked past her brother to the backyard. She walked over to her window and opened it. "Sorry, but you can't get inside that way," her brother voiced behind her but she ignored him and tried to climb into the window but felt a hand on her ankle, pulling her back out and tossing her onto the grassy earth. She quickly looked up at him and knew what he was doing which made her sigh heavily and stand back up. "You know, if you wanted to do this, you could have spoken up." She said as she put her hair back. "But would you have wanted to if I had?" He questioned, raising a brow and she pursed her lips. "That's what I thought. I want to see if you still have some knowledge from the last time." "It's only been four years, of course I do." "Then try to," he pulled the keys out of his pocket and held them up for her to see. "Get these from me."

She smirked as she ran towards him, immediately reaching for the keys only for him to move his hand and push her away but she tried to grab them again. "Too slow and too obvious, like always." He voiced, swiping at her legs which caused her to fall forward. Kurmara groaned and quickly got up only for her brother to kick her down again. "Dammit.." she groaned and he sighed. "I think you need to brush up on your close combat a bit as well as how to properly approach-" She turned and kicked him but he blocked and grabbed her leg, tossing her to the side. "Like I said before, too obvious." He voiced and she got irritated. She stood up and faced him, he still had the keys in his hand and that look on his face. The look that told her to try and use her Quirks to get them but she couldn't. She couldn't properly use either of them and he knew it. Or he didn't know and just expected her to use them. "Just give me the keys." She said to him and he shook his head.

"Then what's the point of testing you? It's been a few years and it seems like you forgot how to fight and defend." "I haven't forgotten!" She shouted and he smirked. "Then try to land a hit on me if you haven't forgotten." He tested and she went for him again, trying to hit him but he kept skillfully dodging every hit she wanted to land. That was beginning to infuriate her. She stepped away and looked him over, trying to figure out how to land a hit but decided to try and get the keys. She ran at him again but this time, she tried to grab his hand but he grabbed her wrist and was soon behind her, pinning her to the ground with one arm behind her back and the other pinned next to her. Kurmara struggled under his grip and tried to break free but was stuck. He lowered his head close to hers and let out a chuckle. "It looks like you have forgotten how to defend and fight," he voiced close to her and she frowned. "I didn't forget, I said!" "Then why do I have you pinned? You would've gotten out of this by now." He retorted and she struggled again.

He's right. A voice in the back of her head said but she ignored it, trying to get free. "Looks like you've changed, dear sister. You forgot the training we did before. Guess you can't be a hero." After he said that, it made her angry. Something hidden sparked in her because suddenly, she was able to release from her brother's grip, the strongest he could do, and pushed him back. He stopped himself before he could fall and faced his sister. He saw something in her eyes, but couldn't figure out what it was which concerned him yet he still shook his head and faced her. She ran at him again, he was prepared for it to be the same thing, however, it was something else. She came at him with a strength she didn't have before and he didn't have time to react because she swung her leg to kick him. He barely had time to block the kick and ended up dropping the keys so he could give a proper block. He stumbled back and stared at his sister, arm stinging from her kick.

She stared back at him before trying to come at him again but this time, he used his Quirk which sent her flying into the air so he could catch his breath. "What the hell was that.." He breathed out before grabbing the keys and looking up to determine where Kurmara would fall. He stood in a spot and waited for a few seconds before he caught her in his arms and looked down at her, seeing that she had a confused look on her face before he sat her down, him kneeling next to her. "Why the hell did you do that?" She asked him and he tilted his head. "More like what the hell was that? What was that suddenly?" He countered, standing up. "It was me trying to get out of your grip. Isn't that what you wanted?" She queried, standing up as well only to stagger forward and he supported her. "That wasn't all it was. It was like you had some like, super kind of strength." He voiced, proud yet worried. "I- actually... I don't know what that was.. it felt like it was something else. Like a-"

"Like a Quirk?" He asked and she nodded which made him frown. "How?" "I don't know! It was cool though." She smiled and he shook his head. "Well, I think it had something to do with your anger." He voiced his thoughts as he helped her walk to the front of the house. "Wait, what makes you think that?" "I just think it could be linked to your emotions. Maybe." "But then wouldn't it have shown up when I was upset from the other day?" She questioned and he thought for a moment. "Maybe it shows for the stronger ones? Anyways, I think we should keep those kinds of emotions in check so that doesn't happen again." He voiced and she began to complain. "But wait, it was so cool! It would be very helpful for when I'm a hero! I could help and-" "Kurmara, you can barely stand after using that kind of strength. It's something I've never seen before and I think it would be best if we keep your emotions normal in case it is linked to those." He said sternly and she stopped walking, making him stop as well and look at her.

"Kurmara?" She pushed him away and staggered back before regaining balance. "Just because I can barely handle it now doesn't mean I won't be able to later on," she began and he turned towards her. "I know but-" "Why don't you help me with that then? You were already doing that earlier." She voiced and he sighed. "That was for your close combat. I don't know what the hell-" "You don't have to know! You can just help me like you normally do!" She looked up at him and he frowned. Her bangs were in her face but showed both of her eyes and she was angry but also upset because she had tears in her eyes. He stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh and walking to her, pulling her in for a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm just.. nervous about this is all." He voiced and she wrapped her arms around him. "This is something I haven't seen before so it.. scared me. You know I want the best for you, but if it's something like this, it's only natural for me to not want to help." She breathed in as her tears kept flowing.

She wanted to learn how to get a hold of it and thought her older brother would help. "But, I'll help anyways." She gasped and looked up at him, meeting his soft look. "You.. you will?" She asked and he sighed before nodding. "Yes, I will. I hate seeing you get hurt, but I hate seeing you cry even more." She hugged him tighter and he chuckled. "Thank you." "Of course. That's what a big brother is for, to help you out when you need it." He kissed her on her head before pulling away. "Now, let's head inside to discuss what to do this weekend." He voiced and she nodded with a determined smile. "Yes!" She took a step but fell forward onto the ground. "Ugh," "Yeah, we should figure out what to do soon." Her brother sighed with a chuckle as he helped her onto her feet and into the house.

* * *

Later that night after both Kurmara and her brother talked about how to help her control her new strength, he waited until his sister went to bed before he made a phone call. He cracked her door open and peeked to check if she was asleep before he silently closed it, walking into the backyard before dialing the number. He waited as it rang a few times until someone finally picked up. "𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨?" The voice on the other end answered. "Hey, it's me," "𝐀𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫?" The voice asked and he smiled. "Uh, my parents are both good, despite being overseas right now." "𝐀𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?" "Well, junior high isn't as good because of the bullies, but it's not horrible." He responded. "𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬. 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞." "That's true. Hey, listen, I wanted to talk with you about her, actually." He began and the voice on the other side gave out a sigh.

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝? 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞?" "No, but something happened earlier when I wanted to test her close combat," "𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝? 𝐄𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞." "Well, it's going to be hard to explain but, I said something to her to get her angry, and well, it worked but something was different." The other side was silent and he continued. "I think you might've been right." "𝐎𝐡? 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?" "Yes. I, unfortunately, think so.." "𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭!" The voice barked with laughter before it finally stopped. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝?" They asked and her brother let out a sigh. "Her strength? She was suddenly extremely strong to where she was able to break out of my grip and almost break my arm." He responded and the voice let out a hum. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭." "I know. Is it connected to her emotions?"

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞." The voice told him and he sighed. "Well, she got hurt when she calmed down." "𝐀𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡." "I know. But I also don't know what to do." He rubbed his face with a deep sigh. "𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭." "Alright. I'll talk with her about it this weekend." He responded and was about to hang up the phone until the voice stopped him. "𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬." "Alright. But why?" "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐲, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬."

"Alright, I'll make sure to watch out for that." "𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢." "I will, thank you, Zhou." And with that, he hung up the phone, sat down, and put his head in his hands. "What the hell.. why did he have to be right.." He whispered, many emotions washing over him all at once as he thought about his sister.