► GENESIS — PART I.
❛ Just know that if you hide—it doesn't go away. ❜
☤
There was nothing May wanted more than for the staff meeting to be over. Her eyes wandered through the room as heroes argued with each other about security measures and budget. She tried not to blink. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see blank white ones staring back.
Midnight's elbow rested right next to May's pens. She made it a point to sit next to the heroine. When she raised her voice and it echoed throughout the room, it drowned out anything else tormenting May's mind. And when May would let her eyes rest on the heroes, they always found Present Mic's citrusy glasses reflecting back at her.
"And that concludes the budget allocations for the coming months!" Nezu's cheery voice cut through the arguments.
Midnight turned her sharp chin toward May. "I'll be by later this evening. Don't worry; we won't do anything too crazy."
Truth be told, May dreaded asking Midnight for such a favor. But after hearing story after story about escapades in her Hosu penthouse, it felt like the only real option. She just... she just couldn't handle facing her friends and family. When she thought too hard about their smiling faces, she'd spiral deeper into her personal abyss.
Their phone call was much more pleasant than May could've ever expected. It just so happened Midnight had patrol anyway.
"Thank you. I'm sure you'll find something to ask me," May had said, sprawled out on the floor of her apartment.
"I already have an itemized list of at least fifteen things!" Midnight had screeched, voices and pounding music deafening anymore of her laughter or random comments.
As Midnight sauntered away from the room, May shouldered her bag. It wasn't easy to avoid conversations, though it seemed no one else caught wind of her abhorrent response to Hiroto's appearance at the Sports Festival.
She kept her head down and counted the lines in the tile. It stretched on for miles, her heeled shoes tapping at her eardrum with each walk. The hot needle burned at every bright light, at every face, and at every mirror.
I can make it out of here, then I'll think about what to do next.
Yeah, that's it. Just make it to the door.
To the door.
Where's the door again?
May tore her stare away from the floor and found herself in an entirely different part of the school. Empty and cavernous walls greeted her. Her hand scraped down her face.
Nothing was ever easy, was it?
She started to retrace her steps, clenching her hands into fists.
Alright, I was at forty-eight cracks, I seemed to have lost count right about he—
"Dr. Kataoka."
Chills raced down her spine. She stopped dead in her tracks.
"Are you available to speak now, or is there something else that's more pressing?" Aizawa's voice sliced through the air of the empty hallway.
May kept a hand tight on her bag, and she pivoted her foot, twisting her head to face him. "I need to get home, but I have some time. Is it about your injury?"
She knew it wasn't about that. With the way he glanced at her sideways, there was something else. Something more.
"No. If it was, I'd hope you would've responded to the message," he said. Though the hall had ample lighting, it was almost as if a shadow had stretched across their conversation.
May's brows furrowed. She didn't have time for this cryptic guessing game, and her tone reflected that.
"If this is about the Sports Festival, I was blindsided. Surely you can understand that."
He was quick to fire back. "It's not about that either. As you probably know, I was reluctant to add another staff member to our roster with the addition of All Might. But we didn't have a choice."
Aizawa's footsteps grew louder, and he began to close the gap between them. May took a step back, her eyes wide.
What is he getting at?
"The events at the USJ are proof that there's a conspiracy at hand. Nothing at that level has ever happened before, and they're beginning the questioning process."
"Are you accusing me of something?" May blurted, her heart rate picking up.
"No," he said flatly. "But if you have any information you'd like to give up, it would be wise to do it now."
"I... I don't have anything," May said, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was hard like concrete, but her stomach twisted and contorted into knots. She knew it was over when her fingertips went numb. The thoughts flooded in.
What was she going to do? What was she going to say? Should she relent? No, what would the consequences be? Would he even believe her? It's too outlandish. It's too close; it's too—
"After all of the blood I gave up, after keeping you alive, after everything—" May's voice stretched like a vine on the verge of snapping. "—You really think I have something to do with the USJ? With Villains? That I would actually risk my license? And give up everything I've ever worked for?"
Silence scattered between them. Slowly, he moved to pass her. Aizawa's eyes weren't dead like before. Instead, there was a glint that she caught as he stepped ahead of her. May did her best to keep her breathing under control. Her nostrils flared, and her chest started to hurt.
Boiling blood, but not from anger.
Maybe from fear?
The fire of deception?
It was something she couldn't control, and it felt like the more she played, the more it burned. Stretching up her arms and searing down her neck, it was starting to set her heart aflame. Not with bright passion, but with seething darkness.
Before he was too far, Aizawa paused to stare at her with his hands in his pockets. The mop of hair on top of his head concealed the rest of his face, but his posture remained slouched.
"I don't pretend to know people's motivations," he said with no added sharpness. "I only know what you choose to present to us."
"Then, why even say anything?" May uncrossed her arms, letting them hang by her sides.
"Because... I do know when people are lying, especially if they're bad at it," Aizawa said. "And I also know that hands don't look like that after a fall. So, do you have anything to say?"
The urge to vomit swelled.
He must've talked to Toshinori.
Without thinking of a next response, the fire exploded from her lips and into her words.
"I would never put people in danger," May said through her teeth, but as soon as she said that, she broke away from their stare down. "It goes against my oath."
More silence. Heavy and thick, like wading through a foggy lake.
"Hm." He finally sighed to himself. Aizawa's chin tilted downward as if he was thinking. "People may be able to look past this strange behavior of yours and chalk it up to a quirky personality. But if you know anything that puts direct harm onto my students, I'll be the first to know, and I won't hesitate to kill your career."
The wind knocked itself out of her.
"Since clearly, it is what's most important to you."
An arrow right through her heart. She couldn't find any words. Instead, she stood in complete silence with her lips pulled tight. Any arguments would incriminate her further and give Aizawa fuel to his own burning blaze of truth. At least, truth in some way.
She could scream to him. Tell him everything that had happened and beg him to fix it. Grovel and admit defeat like a pathetic bystander.
She could ask them to hunt down Twice and retrieve his head. His very sick head and cracked psyche that forced him to lead the kind of life he did then.
But what if they couldn't?
And she put Sara and her kids in even more danger? Eiko?
They didn't deserve any harm just for being her friends.
What if he knew and passed on a note about hurting them? What if Twice lied? What if there's a whole line of people waiting to get on her patient list?
Every analysis she ran on the situation led to someone dying. Fatalistic, perhaps. But it wasn't a risk she was willing to take.
So, she stood with her mouth closed, her nails digging into her palms. When his back turned to her, and his shadow disappeared around the corner, she exhaled and doubled over.
I have to try harder. What more can I do? How can people put on unshakable masks? I can barely... I can barely outsmart the one person who seems to see right through me.
With shaking fingers, May headed in the same direction and stumbled out of the school.
➥
"So, tell me about this procedure again," Midnight asked, adjusting her rearview mirror. Two bouncy gold dice bobbled at her hand movements. Her golden sunglasses caught the setting sun and burned a hot orange color.
"I'm getting direct venous access," May explained. "A port, so to speak. It takes extra steps to keep sterile, but if I don't do this, the scarring on my arms will be irreparable, and I won't get that access back. It'll also keep the pain at bay."
"Damn, that sucks," Midnight said, jerking the steering wheel. The bangles on her wrists clattered in an ear-splittingly high chime. "I don't know very many people that need something like that just to use their quirk."
"The goal wasn't to use it unless there was a dire situation. But it just seems easier with this line of work." May gripped the bottom of the car seat, fighting down a screech as she was subjected to Midnight's chaotic driving. "It won't be too bad. It's only a local anesthetic and sedation process, so I just need to rest for a couple of days, and I'll be ready to go."
Midnight kept her eyes ahead. "Everything I searched for on the internet said there are new advancements, so your recovery time will be cut down by a whole week, right?"
May's eyebrows furrowed. "You searched for more information?"
"Duh, I needed to know what I was getting myself into," Midnight said, turning her cheek to May and giving her a wink. "We'll hang around my place for a couple of days. We're super lucky Nezu decided to give the kids a break after the Sports Festival. It's much needed, in my opinion. Their little hearts need a chance to recharge."
May rested her cheek on her palm. "You're the only one that really spoke out against everything."
"Of course I did! I didn't join this career to sit around," Midnight scoffed. "Certainly, feels like it sometimes."
May lifted her head and studied the woman beside her. "Why do you teach then? You could go out and get all the action in the world."
Midnight erupted into laughter. The car started swerving all over the road. May grimaced, reaching at the side door for anything to grab. Midnight eventually stopped cackling, her ruby nails tapping on the top of the steering wheel.
"Dr. Kataoka, you have very little understanding of what we do. Not all of it is for the cameras. Why do you think I'm going to Hosu for several days at a time?"
"You said you had patrol."
Midnight lifted her chin, grinning down at May. "They don't ask me to patrol, Doctor. I get to the root of the problem."
What is she talking about?
May rubbed her eyes and scrunched her face together. "Wait, hold on, you're a... you're a covert operative?"
"Don't tell, or I'll have to send my dearest Boys after you!" Midnight said in a sing-song voice.
May's face fell, and her stomach flipped. "Isn't it bad to tell me something like this?"
"I'm not too worried," Midnight said, sticking her tongue out. "Besides, I don't participate in general fieldwork anymore after I took this teaching gig. My last venture succeeded, of course, but I find a lot more satisfaction in giving than receiving."
She giggled at her euphemism and then continued.
"It's one thing to be the center of attention. But to be the center of attention and to be behind the curtain? That's where the real fun is. You should see my closet."
"And again, you're telling me this... why?" May used her finger to stretch the side of her eyebrow.
Midnight's face evened out, and she took a deep breath. Her tone switched. "I assumed that once you got your hero license, you'd help me out. Since no one even knows who you are."
May was immediately transplanted back to the first conversation they had in the darkened and electric purple karaoke bar. Midnight's intimidating gaze soaked in May's anxiety. And the same words spilled out beside her drink.
"I see," May huffed. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you since that's not what I have in mind."
"So you keep saying," Midnight said. Her shoulders then perked, and she broke into a wide smile. "Would you like a dissertation as to why you should change your mind? I'm very convincing."
The city lights scorched the red sky up ahead.
"I won't stop you, but I'm a tough audience," May replied.
"Okay, well—"
Midnight launched into a thorough discussion involving her journey to hero work. May nodded along, but she wasn't focused. Instead, she thought about Aizawa. She thought about the lies she kept piling up.
Her mother used to say that once you start a lie to hide the truth, there was no stopping it. It was like covering up a giant silver rocket in a shallow dirt grave.
May could hear her pointing toward one of those 'lesson' children books with a giant snowball rolling down a hill, threatening to wipe out the unassuming little kids playing at the bottom.
And the thoughts swirled in her head until they arrived at Midnight's—
"Fourth!" She had said.
Fourth home.
It was along the outskirts of the city, surrounded by unassuming buildings. It matched the other brick buildings, and trash similarly littered each alleyway. However, when Midnight unlocked her door, May was assaulted by hot pink and neon violets. Animal prints of all kinds splashed themselves across furniture, and crystal light fixtures illuminated every gaudy portion of the apartment.
A gigantic filing cabinet outlined in glitter dazzled in the sunset.
"What do you think?" Midnight beamed, flinging her purse onto a white marble countertop.
"It's..." May tried to find the right words. She didn't want to insult the woman's house, but there was a breast lamp just hanging out in the corner. The door slammed before she could get her words out and she stumbled over her choice.
"It's... um... er... exotic!"
"Perfect! By the way—" She tapped May's shoulder, pointing toward the lamp. "Those are mine."
Midnight stormed off, giggling while May scratched her head, asking herself why that needed an explanation. May used to go to trivia night at the bars all the time. However, that was the kind of trivia she thought she'd be better off not knowing.
The rest of the evening, May took to the extra bedroom and decided to crawl into bed early. Her interaction with Aizawa haunted her mind, playing like a personal movie on the ceiling above her.
What did he want from her? Did he know what was going on?
That was impossible. There was no way he could know. If he saw her... incident... and didn't stop it—what did that say about him? If he followed her, she would've seen him at some point—
Right?
The window lent itself to vivid city lights. Whites and reds streamed in and cast a million shadows into thousands of crevices, not only in the room but in May's hollowing body.
She tried to occupy her head with the procedure she was facing, but then what?
What was she going to do next?
Stuck in a stalemate, frozen in ice, trapped behind steel bars.
Aizawa was going to put more pressure on her.
She would have to keep lying to Twice.
The morning sun brought no comfort, and with a restless night at her back, she trudged out to the kitchen.
Midnight, clad in a cheetah print robe, deliberated with another party on her cellphone. May caught her eye, and Midnight beckoned her to the muted television.
>> BREAKING NEWS: BODY OF RANKED HERO MISSING FOR WEEKS, BLUE DAZZLER, FOUND DEAD. ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE NOTORIOUS STAIN?
"I hear you," Midnight said, pacing. "I'll see what I can do over the next couple of days. What did Sakai say? Ah, yeah. Figured. It's why they brought me here. Uh-huh, yeah. You've got the street footage? Send those images to me as soon as you can. Thanks, Takao doll. Have you contacted the Boys yet? No? Okay. Do that for me. See you soon."
The blonde reporter with icy blue eyes described the scene in detail while police went in and out of the perimeter.
"So this is why you're here," May said, standing next to Midnight.
"Who made you the brains of the operation?" Midnight teased, then she flipped open her laptop. Her pointed eyebrows relaxed while a sigh led her into her next thought. "Unfortunately, yes. Ingenium was the main reason the Hero Commission called me here. This—demon—who goes by Stain, wounded him pretty severely. It's not like anything we've seen for a long time."
Seems to be a lot of firsts going on.
May scratched her brow. "How bad is it?"
"He's— urgh, it sounds like pure failure," Midnight muttered. Her teeth gritted together. "He's crippled twenty-four heroes and has killed seventeen."
Her eyes blazed, and May could see the increasing rise and fall of her chest.
"How come no one's done anything?" May asked gently, but her mind sticking itself onto a different villain entirely.
Midnight sat down on her couch and massaged her forehead. Then, after a moment of apparent introspection, she rested her elbows on her knees. "Some villains are easier to pinpoint than others. The ones that are all about power are pretty easy. It's these guys, the most violent ones, the ones with a cause, that elude us. It makes you wonder who you pass on the streets."
"No kidding." May let her voice trail.
"The last one I managed to take down had such strong convictions." Midnight continued to stare at the television. "It was embarrassing how long it took. This is even worse."
She kept herself close to the news, watching Midnight flit about until her procedure appointment. Midnight was close to two intelligence agents that she called on and off.
May clutched a pillow, watching how Midnight interacted with the hero world, relieved to focus on someone else's problem.
When Midnight would talk to one, her voice was calmer, and she'd listen more intently. Her blood pressure would spike and push out the veins in her forehead for the other individual. And she wasn't even fighting— she was completely in agreement with them!
"That's what I think too, Sakai. What are they telling you?"
May would wander over and peer over Midnight's shoulder, seeing an odd arrangement of words and phrases.
This is gibberish. Who does she even work with?
When she'd speak to the so-called Boys, it was all a flirtatious game of code words and strange phrases that May's foggy brain couldn't unravel.
Even on the way to the hospital, Midnight was yelling with an individual named Takao. Takao's feminine voice could be heard snarking away at the other end of the line.
But May found herself drifting again. With each street sign, May pulled herself deeper into a hole of doubt.
If so many heroes couldn't figure out where Stain was, how would she trust that they would protect her friends? How could she trust a system that couldn't take down a man that's killed so many of their own?
It only made her surer in her decisions.
But also reminded her of the swinging ax above her which was only hung by a thin string. With the wrong move, May's head would roll, and it wouldn't be pretty.
The blinding white of the hospital awoke May from the sinking feeling in her chest. They stopped at the secretarial desk, and Midnight leaned against the counter while May handled any extra papers.
"How long will the procedure take again?" Midnight asked, clacking at her phone.
"Should only take an hour or two. I'll be out soon," May reassured, and before heading in, she stopped. "Thank you. This means, um, a lot to me."
Kayama glanced up from her phone. Her facial expression melted, and her eyes sparkled. "I could kiss you right now. Just so cute.Don't die! I don't want to be the one to tell Nezu."
Kayama's phone rang, and she whirled around with a wave, starting a new passionate conversation with the person on the other line.
When she saw the hospital sign, May felt revitalized. But when she crossed through the doors, the world started spinning.
Men and women in white coats around her, doing what she had been doing months ago. Now, she was stuck in an endless loop. Getting ahead was an illusion, but stopping wasn't an option.
A woman with a long black ponytail passed her by, slinging out her stethoscope, and May could've sworn she was staring at herself.
Herself in another life.
"Right this way, Ms. Kataoka," a nurse guided, tearing herself away from what could've been.
May didn't even bother to correct him and just gave a smile with a nod.
Walking down the halls didn't quite feel real. May kept checking her shoulders for her own white coat and reaching for her neck, where a stethoscope would be. Instead, after changing into a gown, she found herself on the other side.
"Why're you here today?" the nurse asked, his voice bright and chirpy as he wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm.
"I'm receiving a port-a-catheter," May said, clearing her throat twice.
"Do you have any questions? I know that can be frightening, especially when you..." The nurse started reading through her chart and grew silent. Then, after several moments, he lifted his smiling face. "Are you sure, miss? Name and date of birth?"
"May Kataoka. November third, 2148," May said, nodding twice.
The nurse made some notes, his brow still pushed together. "Can you repeat your name?"
Oh! No wonder.
"I changed my name a while back. It's just May now," May said, nodding once. "I guess I haven't adjusted that in the records I transferred."
"As of 2163, you're still marked as Mayuri Ito-Kataoka." The nurse marked a couple more things. "You can change that with the administration office later. We can't prove it without the administration's okay. We'll go by Mayuri for now, is that alright?"
May lifted a hand, shaking her head a couple of times. "Yes, it's no problem. I'll change that as soon as possible."
It had been a long time since she heard that name.
But before she could think about anything else, her colleague came bursting through the door. He had sandy blonde hair and electric green eyes. His lanky stature almost made it so he had to bend through the door. May remembered him so clearly from class.
He was hunched over and reserved, but he became so tall in such a short amount of time.
"Doctor Kataoka! Glad to see you finally trust my skills," Nakamura exclaimed, going in for a sturdy handshake.
"What're you talking about? I always thought you were one of the best in the class," May said, laughing between her words.
"Now you're just being modest. Did the real-world humble you a bit?" Nakamura joked and waited for her to catch on. When May gave a blank response, he tilted his head. "You mean, you don't remember correcting my sutures?"
Images of a lab setting and Nakamura's strawberry red face broke through the mental dam.
"Ah, it's coming back now," May cringed. "Sorry, I, um, I thought I knew what I was doing."
Looking back, she was hard on her classmates. And for some reason, it didn't feel like she was doing anyone a service anymore.
"But you did! That's what is so funny. Anyways! You're getting a—" Nakamura lifted the clipboard. "An Implanted Central Venous Access Device, correct?"
"Yes."
"And you never specified why over our phone consultation. I just knew you had to be right about whatever it was," Nakamura said, his eyes softening.
"I'll just give you the short explanation," May said, the crinkling of the hospital bed sounding under her shifting weight. "Did I ever tell you about my quirk?"
"I don't think I remember, but I remember that one incident during our rotations. Something with blood, right?"
May wrinkled her nose and pinched her brow.
She didn't have time to open that doorway.
"Ah, um, well, yes. My new job requires it. I've put this off for long enough," May said, slamming her hand back down onto her thigh.
"I get it, Kataoka!" Nakamura said without hesitation. "Sometimes I think it'd be nice to have a quirk, and then I remember the ones like yours. You know, the ones that take immense physical tolls. That's beside the point, though! You're solving that crisis. Let's get started."
May elected to remain quiet as she waited for the anesthetic process. She tried not to chase the rabbit as thoughts flitted by in her brain. Her given name, her time as a student, and that incident so long ago. She was under the impression that only a select few classmates knew.
Maybe there were others.
But the rabbits stopped flying out of their burrows as May counted down.
It wasn't long until she faded into nothing.
➥
It was the purest form of relief she received in weeks.
Waking up and not remembering anything.
"Hey, sleepy-head! Everything looks good," Nakamura said, hovering overhead.
May blinked a couple of times, the entire room spinning. "Did I win?"
Nakamura chuckled. "Sure! Your ride decided to come up early."
"Kayama?" May asked, seeing a spinning woman with red glasses ahead of her.
"You got it, Champ. Gold star for remembering my name!" Midnight said. A hazy thumbs up appeared out of nowhere. "Dr. Nakamura, thanks for letting me in early."
"Of course. Did you receive the bulletin from the women's health staff?"
May blinked a couple of more times, unable to differentiate the two blobs of humans in front of her. Without glasses or contacts, everything was so much worse.
"Oh yeah." Kayama's voice sounded like it was stuck in a fishbowl. "I can't believe those crimes are on the up again. Do you know if they got the updated donation and contact information from my organization?"
"I'm certain of it." They appeared to shake hands. "You're free to take her home now. Here are some papers. It shouldn't be so bad since it's under the skin."
May lifted her hands toward the light.
Ouch. I don't like that.
"Stay still, for now, Kataoka," Nakamura said, hovering again. "I'll get some staff to help you into the car, alright?"
"They better be strong," May said, yawning.
The rest of the time out of the hospital felt like a blur. A constant swirling white tornado, more like it. It wasn't long until May was curled up in Kayama's guest bedroom again. Nothing about the ride home stuck and nothing about the rest of the day resonated either.
Instead, it was a lot of dreamless sleep.
"Hey, Doctor?" Kayama knocked on the door several hours later.
May didn't move. "Hm?"
Heeled boots alerted May that Kayama was going out to do her job. "I'm going to meet up with some of the others involved in this case. If you need any help, call me. Your medication is on the counter. Don't have too much fun without me!"
"Bye," May mumbled.
And after several hours of sleep, mindless shuffling throughout the house, and popping some pain medication— nothing quite felt right until drifting off again.
But the moment before she closed her eyes, she'd see herself in the lecture hall. Asking questions, bothering the professors, correcting her classmates— being... correct.
And she wondered what that was worth.
And what that girl would think of her now.
➥
The next couple of days were the same. May would wake up, scoot out of the room, eat something, take medication, and go back to bed.
It was the longest she had gone without studying or reading something. That was mostly due to persistent nausea.
It wasn't until a couple of days later that she felt ready to tackle whatever was heading her way. So much so that the sounds of multiple voices woke her up.
"What did Midnight say she needed again?" one voice asked.
"She needed a particular file from her green folder marked with a moon sticker. See? It's all that history crammed in there. Steel-trap, baby," the other said.
The other voice sighed. "What would I do without you?"
"Starve."
May flopped out of bed and zipped up her grey hoodie. The voices struck some kind of memory, but not anything of actual substance. She walked, without swaying, toward the door and the hallway.
In Midnight's living room, two women were rifling through drawers.
Was I informed of two strangers that were supposed to be here? If so, when on earth was that?
May crossed her arms and leaned against the hallway wall. Files scattered the floor and countertops, haphazardly left with inky redacted splotches.
"Oh! Hey, look, it's the squatter," a woman with bangs and exaggerated eyeliner said. She was completely decked out in black head to toe. Even a black trenchcoat dusted the floor above her boots. Gold rings decked out her fingers, and her ponytail accentuated her angular face.
Wait, am I a squatter? May pointed to herself and then scratched the side of her head. A small orange haze bothered her line of sight. I guess I am.
Another woman with short blonde hair nodded once, not even bothering to glance away from the cabinet. "Hello, Dr. Kataoka. Don't mind us. We'll be leaving momentarily."
Chains rattled around the blonde girl's hand. She had silver-rimmed glasses and a forest green pantsuit. Even though she bent down to the floor, May could tell she was much taller than the other woman.
May's eyes narrowed, blinking a couple of times to try to get rid of the orange. This isn't a side effect I know of. "It's fine, um—"
"And I found it," the black-haired woman said, yanking out a file. "Pack it up, towhead. We've got shit to do."
"The cards said you should stop calling me names," the blonde-haired woman said coolly, slowly pushing up her glasses. "And to stop using your quirk on unassuming individuals."
May frowned but stayed quiet.
"That's pretty rich coming from you."
The blonde woman thought for a second. The ten layers of crystal necklaces wrapped around her neck jingled as she got to her feet. "And once again, you've bested me. How many times is that today?"
The orange haze faded.
"Five." The black-haired woman flung open the door, with the other following close behind. "Bye, Doctor! Nice to meet you. I have a feeling we'll see each other again."
She disappeared, but the blonde woman lingered for a moment. Her foot was halfway out the door.
But the blonde turned to May, and her face contorted. Wide white eyes pierced through the glasses, staring her down.
She opened her mouth only for the black-haired woman to return.
"Naoko, it's not for you to say," the black-haired woman said, trying to bring her voice down to a whisper.
May watched as Naoko nodded, decided against it with quivering lips, and closed the door behind her.
Murmurs sounded behind the door, but May couldn't come close enough to hear. Though, the way that woman looked at her. Filled with unwanted pity and—
—something else.
May's hazed thoughts scrambled together like breakfast. But that look.
What did it mean? Why did the other one speak so casually?
May concocted some toast, choosing to push the weird encounter out of her brain. It was taking up too much space. She only had so much room in her skull.
It wasn't too long after that May received several calls. One from her mother, which was a run-of-the-mill reassurance episode and explanation. The thought of staying on the line too long made the toast even more unappealing, so she said good-bye as soon as possible.
The second call was from Kayama.
"Hey! How're you doing? Sorry, those two interrupted your sleep," she said. "We struck a lead, and they wanted to grab as much information as possible."
"It's no issue," May said, staring at the bizarre portrait of a man playing the saxophone above Kayama's television. "I have an appetite today. Will you be home for that dinner I promised you so long ago?"
Truthfully, the last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere in the state she was in. But she knew that she would learn more about the current case from Kayama. She would be lying if she said it didn't interest her.
"Ugh! I wish. We're in desperate need of some girl time that doesn't involve bloodthirsty villains or medical procedures," Kayama said. "Tonight's gonna be a long one. You should order something. There are a couple of places just down the block, too. Maybe some light exercise will awaken something deep inside!"
"Alright, best of luck," May said and received a deadline shortly after.
Being alone in the purple and animal print house wasn't exactly lending itself to be fun. She tried her best to stack up the files, but they were so chaotic in their placement, May couldn't figure out the weird sticker system if she had half of her brain.
Instead, May lounged around on the couch and flipped through television channels and various game shows. Nothing stood out to her. The itch to do something started to bother her. Even more so than before.
So, after gingerly putting a couple of clothing layers, May exited the apartment in search of food. In her mind, clear as day, she had seen a small ramen joint several blocks away.
Some fresh air should help, as Kayama said. Maybe I can think of my next point of action. Ah! I have to call the administration as well. Get my name change in order.
The brisk evening air blasted May. It was a nice change from the fluctuating temperatures of that apartment. The sky above decorated itself with milky purples and inky black clouds, but the fresh scent of rain started to waft in between windy gusts. She was glad to take the only umbrella in Midnight's apartment, even if it was black as night.
White street lamps offered plenty of light along the stretch of sidewalks, and soon, the rain let every sign illuminate puddles.
May felt as though she had lost time surrounded by velvet couches. It was nice to see people again, going about their lives, and nice to see signs of living creatures.
The ramen place she had in her head seemed like it was worth it.
But she soon found out how wrong she was.
Getting turned around in Hosu was a lot easier than people made it out to be. Eiko always made it into an entire thing when traveling to Hosu. She'd have to have both a paper map and a digital map. What purpose did that serve? May didn't know.
Eiko.
Ugh, I need to sit down or something.
May rested against a wall next to a set of old looking buildings. She wrestled her phone out of her pocket and took a quick peek. No one had attempted to contact her, and staring at the tiny buttons made mapping everything out a little complicated.
I'll just retrace my steps.
The sky had fully submerged itself into royal blue darkness. Rain leaked from above, with distant rumbles and flashes of white brightening edges of buildings. Golden light from a single lamp flooded the street corner where she rested.
It was east up here. Right? Left? Right? Hm. I might have to find a cab and give them the apartment name. It was four turns to the left.
May did her best to retrace her steps but felt herself giving up with each new turn and each new crossroads. Though, through the downpour, a neon red sign screaming 'Ramen!' reinvigorated her. Four street lights gave a clear path ahead.
With a confident step forward, she grinned at herself.
Who's lost now?
She started passing by a divot in the buildings. It wasn't quite an alleyway; it wasn't quite a street. It was in-between. Four bags of trash obscured any view.
Wait, huh—
Her foot sloshed in a puddle of rainwater, sludge, mud, and something that was a disturbing deep scarlet.
May let the umbrella rest on her shoulder. The humidity caused her hair to fray out into tiny strands all around her face.
Her eyes narrowed, trying to understand what she was looking at. The street had reverted to a ghost town. The bright red of a stoplight glowed and banished the shadows ahead of her.
Murky burgundy continued to wash down the alley.
Was someone hurt? Bleeding out? Running? An addict?
She could do something about that.
Maybe if she knew what was going on, she could call an ambulance.
She peered further into the crevice; her phone clutched in her hand. Her umbrella hung loosely over her shoulder.
"Hello?"
It took a moment for her to hear over the rushing water.
A gurgling whimper in response.
And soon, when the light turned green, a man came into view.
Slash marks covered his back, leaking out onto the ground. A slice ran down the side of his arm, spurting and pooling rapidly at the side of his raggedy blue coat. A gun was just beyond his outstretched fingers.
May blinked.
Her mouth fell open.
And her clock reset.
"Hey! Sir! Sir!" May yelled over the rain. The umbrella clattered behind her, and her bag sloshed into the puddles. Her knees hit the ground hard as she began an assessment.
She didn't receive much of a response from her calls.
This is a red card. I—I need to stop the bleeding somehow. He's not helping me out much. It's like he's been rendered completely useless. He's got four lacerations on his back; they appear superficial. The one on his arm— it has to be deep. The blood is spurting I have to stop—
May dug one of her hands into his wound, right at the source of the spurting, and pressed her knee down as well. Her other hand was tight around her phone.
She dialed one-one-nine, lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello, yes, my name is May Kataoka, and I've—um—come across a man. On a street, yes. He's bleeding out. I—I'm sorry, I don't know where I am. I—"
The man groaned something incoherent. The rain slamming down on the roof and the roar of blood in her ear made it challenging to understand what the operator was saying.
"Yes, sir? Sir? Can you hear me? I—I'm a doctor I'm going to do my best to—"
The man's finger started to twitch. "He—"
"Who?" May returned to the phone. "No, operator. I—I don't have anything here. I told you I don't know—"
The pooling blood looked like syrup on her knees. Gleaming red splotches stained her hands up to her elbows.
His fingers started to shake even more, causing strain on his sliced arm. May's hand loosened and blood shot out, spraying across her chest.
"Sir, please stop moving!" May pleaded. "You're—You're gonna bleed out!"
This is happening—way too—fast! I—
May set down the phone on top of her soaked purse. The speaker was incomprehensible against the storm. She shoved both of her hands into the overflowing wound, breathing through her teeth while counting. It was too late to use her jacket.
If I—
If I remove my hands—
He'll—
May whipped her head to study the man further. His pale skin wasn't convincing her that anything was working.
"Sir, while we wait for help, you're going—you're going to have to stay still. I—I'm trying to pinch off the artery—"
"—He—"
May couldn't release her hands from the injury now that she had pinched the artery. The pain from her procedure struck back with a vengeance. Her arms shook, and she gritted her teeth together further, grinding them down until they might've cracked.
She searched for anything else to use to help. But when she saw nothing but flooding rainwater, she chose her voice.
Someone walking by has to hear this—
They have to!
Otherwise, it's—
She opened her mouth to yell.
Silver streaked past her cheek and landed next to her phone.
No, not next to her phone.
It landed on her phone.
Leaving it in shatters.
The rain seemed to fall in slowed droplets, and her legs seemed to dissolve into the street.
Fizzling out.
Her stomach dropped, and she froze.
A wave of dread washed over May.
"This night is turning into more trouble than it's worth."
DR. KATAOKA ORIGIN ➤ |... |... |... CONTINUE?
— Hello all! I wanted to thank everyone that's stuck around for hanging out. This fic has reached 100k words and I just wanted to sincerely thank everyone that's been around for either just this version, or the version previous. We've reached the point in the story where not much else will line up with the old version. So! Have fun. Much love to you all. —