DBZ New Age: Masked!

Chapter 1: (Introduction) Second-In-Command

Aina was a well known person around the place - an ordinary, everyday hero that never asked for a thanks or notice on the news, or anywhere for that matter. Nothing more, nothing less. The acts of kindness that everyone knew about mainly made her up to other people. How she was composed, and how she went from being a figure in the shadows, to being followed around in school. It only took her about eight and a half months to get to this placement though. Her family was not much different than others', or your own, in fact. Her cousin whom she lived with, was more like a brother than what he truly was.

She went to the same school with him, got an education, and pretty much had fun with her friends from time-to-time. Average teenage life. Her life up until this point had gone pretty well. Or should I say, that's the way she thought it was going for her. She didn't know what to expect in the next few days, because there was hidden darkness looming. A day or two even, when things would go downhill. No one can predict the future, so there was no way of knowing. Unless you were a Mage of some sort like that... some are unknown to that when they do.

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"Hey, Aina! Have you read the newspaper yet? The criminals have struck again!"

Aina was in the time of the school hours, as the person who had just said this was one of her best friends that she had known since the two of them were children. She went by the name of Ayane Ishida. Quite a nice girl that helped Aina get through tough times, and had always been there. Even though Aina rarely had classes with her, she made time for their hang-outs and such. Restaurants, theme parks, etc. Despite this tiny disadvantage, she had time to talk to Ayane at lunch when the bell rang. And just at this moment, the school bell rang... which meant they had to get to class.

Such great timing they had.

As soon as the bell hit the noises of everyone's ears, everyone rushed to their classes, hoping not to be late. Some got yelled at for being late if they decided to dwell. It was regular, though. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"I... I'll talk to you about it at lunch, Ayane! I promise, we'll sit together like we do almost every single day!"

Like that, Aina was rushing off to class with one of her best friends running to her class in the opposite direction.

---

"Alright, so... what was it that you wanted to tell me about the criminals again, Ayane? It's surprising how they got pictures of them, yet they never caught a glimpse of their full bodies. So how can we be so sure? How do we know they aren't lying to us?" Aina asked, curious.

This is the question that hung in the air for an amount of time. The one question Ayane seemed stunned at. The part where Aina had asked about the people that wrote the newspaper, and that they perhaps could have been lying. Ayane stared at her for a few seconds, before she moved her glance to the ceiling of the cafeteria.

"Aina, they aren't lying... you know the news barely lies. Why would they put it out there for the world if it was false? Some things are a hoax at times. I mean, who asks a dense question like that? I-I mean! I'm sorry for calling you dense. I didn't mean to, you know I would never do that. It's an in the moment thing, y'know?," Ayane said, sighing a bit after that.

Odd how she had been acting out of character lately; like she wasn't in the skin she was born in. Aina knew something was up, and so did her cousin, Isao. He was just jumping to conclusions on what it could be. Yeah, that was a normal trait of his to do something like that.

"Hey, Aina!," called out Isao.

This was the cousin that felt like a brother to her. Don't know how he managed to find the two of them, but he did. He took a seat near Aina, since Ayane was sitting in front of her. By the looks of it, he had finished up his lunch in a jiffy. Haha, funny. Very funny.

"What are you talking about, Ayane, Aina? It seems like you're deep in thought, or it's very, very serious," That's just the type of thing Isao had to ask in the current moment.

"It's nothing much, Isao. Just about the criminals making another strike and ending up in the newspaper," said Aina.

She knew something wasn't right. He knew something wasn't right. Ayane wasn't the type that would look at the ceiling while talking, and she'd been doing it for the past few days. She always liked to have direct face contact when speaking. If no one had ever seen the criminals, how did everyone in the city know they were actually real? This situation had to be solved, and it needed to be solved soon. It seemed like Aina and Isao needed a real Sherlock to solve this case. Detectives weren't found around the area they were in, which sucked. If you were to find one, you would be damn lucky for them to solve a case for you. It really did seem like the criminals weren't real... but how did anyone know this? Or even Aina and Isao?

In the next chapter of Masked! we'll dive into the present events of our heroes in their world. See the type of shit they've got themselves into - or are going to get themselves into. Will Aina and Isao figure out what's been going on with Ayane? Next chapter in Masked!, we'll see you!