This had to be some kind of joke, right? There was no way that what Minji was saying, what Satou had told him... Neither of them could have been telling the truth. This was just some sick joke.
"Taichi, I─" When Minji reached out her hand for his shoulder, Taichi immediately lifted his head upon hearing her voice, his eyes shining a vibrant emerald green. She opened her mouth again to say something, anything to comfort him after what he's just heard, but she just wasn't quick enough.
━
The rest of the day, Chieko couldn't pay attention in class. The voices around her blurred out and the only things she could hear were the thoughts in her head. What had happened earlier during recess... she still couldn't comprehend. To be honest, all of it still felt like some kind of weird dream.
Like she was going to wake up from this any minute now, and she'd experience her real first day at school. Though, something told her that wasn't going to happen. All of this was real, whether it felt like it or not.
She tried falling asleep in class, not caring if her teacher scolded her. Unfortunately, her mind wouldn't allow her to even rest her eyes for a few minutes. The voices in her head refused to stop, even for a few seconds, and it slowly started to drive her insane.
Her tired eyes glanced at the clock conveniently placed above the door, and to her dismay, there were still thirty minutes left of class, but at least it was the final lesson. Once it was over, she was free to go home, back to mom who she knew would make her feel safe again, she might help out with a few chores or she might just go straight to bed.
Oh wait, she couldn't, she forgot that she still had training with Minji after school. Sure, she could stay home for a few minutes, maybe fifteen, to get herself back in the mood and calm herself down after the exhausting day. She'll surely feel better once the bell signalling the end of class is heard throughout the school, because that meant she no longer had anything to worry about, not until the next day at least.
Yeah, everything will be fine once it hits three o'clock. She'll be ready for Minji's training, and hey, who knows, maybe she'll be able to convince Minji to reveal her all powerful ability. It had to be something spectacular for keeping her under all this suspense for so long, and that just made her all the more excited for when the time comes, and she'll get the chance to go up against Minji with her full power.
No matter how excited she was, she knew why Minji wasn't revealing her power just yet, because if she can't beat her now, without her using her ability ─ she surely won't stand a chance once she shows off her full power. So maybe Minji was right, not revealing it just yet... That just made her even more determined to grow stronger to actually witness, and fight against it.
Thinking about just how strong Minji truly is, her mind brought up a conversation she had with Taichi some time ago, before she became a hero, which really... was a while ago. Taichi looked away, letting out a light scoff. "Yeah, I guess I know what you mean. She's energetic and childish, yet somehow older than me..." he grumbled the last part, sounding slightly annoyed. He became silent for the next few seconds, and she thought that the conversation had finished, but...
It was when Taichi and she were taking cover from the rain after having gone to the amusement park together, she could never imagine herself doing anything like that with Taichi again, not with how they left on bad terms.
"But... don't underestimate her, you've gone up against her before." Thinking back to when she had a fight with Minji, and actually ended up winning ─ which was really quite the surprise ─ it felt like it had happened so long ago, and honestly, she can't remember exactly when it had took place.
"Y-yeah, I remember ─ and I actually won against her!" She couldn't help but feel proud saying that, as if it was some sort of huge accomplishment. Even now, she was surprised that she has even managed to win against Minji. She kind of wanted to go against her again to see if she could once again win, but she almost immediate dismissed the thought upon realizing the condition Minji was in.
"Yeah, well, don't feel too proud about that..." Taichi speaking up had both snapped her out of her thoughts, and confused her, looking up at him with curiosity and confusion. Before she could ask what he meant by that, he answered the question for her.
"Remember, you only managed to take her down because you caught her off guard, then I'm pretty sure you collapsed out of exhaustion afterwards."
She hadn't truly realized just how long it's been since she became a hero, since she met Taichi, Minji and Satou. Even though, she felt like she hadn't gone far at all since that point... Sure, she became a hero, but... despite how long it's been, nothing much apart from that has changed.
She still hadn't fixed her relationship with Taichi, she rarely ever saw him anymore, oddly enough. She knew pretty much nothing about Satou, and Minji... it was the same situation, she hadn't really realized because of her cheerful personality and the way she acted like she had nothing to hide, but she didn't really know anything about her, either.
But with how Taichi described her that one rainy afternoon, she had been underestimating Minji a lot. Not only did she want to know more about her, but she had a bitter taste in her mouth after the way things ended with Taichi. Especially thinking back to the amusement park, that Taichi asked her to join him to as an apology for the way he reacted after Minji was badly injured. She couldn't blame him, Minji... really wasn't doing so well, but she seemed to have made a full recovery.
She can't just expect him to take her to another amusement park or something just to apologize. If she wanted to fix the problem between them, which she did, then she'd have to confront him about it, even if she felt like it was mostly her fault, he was the one who ended things on bad terms.
So maybe after she finished her training session with Minji, she could have a quick chat on Taichi, depending on how it goes. Hopefully the arguments they've had in the past will be forgotten, they'll put the past behind him, and at least will be able to speak to each other without any awkwardness.
Snapping her out of her thoughts, the school bell finally rang, immediately causing every student to rise from their seats. Chieko did the same, packing up her things and waited for her classmates to leave before following them out the door. The halls were crowded with students making their way to their lockers, eager to go home.
Chieko calmly moved through the crowd, heading to her locker. She looked around her, looking for a familiar red head in the crowd, just in case. She grew nervous, despite the red head and her friends not being anywhere in sight, but that just meant they could be hiding, waiting to pounce at the right moment.
Pulling her bag out of her locker, Chieko shook her head and slipped it onto her back. If they really weren't anywhere nearby, then it'd be best to hurry up before they head this way. Taking one last look towards the large crowd of students, she turned away and started walking towards the exit.
She tried not to think about the three girls, she had been lucky that day ─ for once, she hadn't received some kind of beating from them, for the first time since she could remember, she had managed to escape without a scratch. There was no guarantee she'd be as lucky the next time, though. Because of her miraculous escape, the three would go harder on her the next day, showing no mercy.
She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, she didn't have to worry about such things until tomorrow. She had other things to focus her mind on, such as her training with Minji, fixing her friendship with Taichi, and maybe even trying to get to know Satou a little better, just a few words were enough.
But most of all, she had to question Minji about the strange thing that had occurred that day, her "second ability" when she had somehow managed to slow down, even stop, time itself. It still felt like a dream, but she knew it was far from some kind of dream.
She's not even sure if it's possible to have two powers, but there was no other way to explain what happened. All of this thinking started to give her a headache, so she cleared her thoughts and took a deep breath. A better way was to just keep her mind clear until arriving to the warehouse, but first, she had to go home.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Hey, mom! I'm home!"
She pushed open the door with a smile on her face, relieved to finally be home, where she was safe, and she had nothing to worry about. "Chieko, welcome home!" She followed her mother's cheery voice to her mother's room. Judging by the towel sitting on her shoulders, she had just gotten out of the shower.
For once, Chieko couldn't see the exhaustion in her mother's eyes, her smile didn't appear weak or forced, and her face was lit up with happiness. Seeing that, Chieko's expression immediately brightened up as well, eyes slightly widening before a smile spread across her lips.
"You look great!" She exclaimed, and she truly meant it. Her mother's expression softened and she let out a short laugh, moving a hand to her neck.
"So, how was school?" Reaching out a hand, she rested it on the top of Chieko's head, slightly crouching over to almost meet Chieko's height. Who found herself hesitating to respond, her mind blank. She couldn't tell her what actually happened, being chased by bullies, and especially not the time freeze situation.
"It was... okay, not much happened." She didn't like lying, especially to her mother, but she had no other choice. So she put on a smile, and lied in the most convincing, casual voice. Which, obviously, her mother instantly believed, just like every other time.
She pulled her hand away and straightened her posture, continuing to smile down at her daughter. "Hmm, maybe tomorrow will be more exciting," Chieko nodded her head, as always, relieved that her lie wasn't detected.
She followed her mother out of the bedroom and past the kitchen. "So, um, I was wondering... If I could go to a friend's house? Not for too long, just a few hours..." she was hesitant when asking, as if thinking that her mother would decline her request. Other times, Chieko had told her that she was going to the city for no particular reason explained, or simply wanted to take a walk to the park, or some other place. Hopefully her hesitance won't make her sound suspicious.
When she looked at her mother, she was surely surprised to see her mother looking at her with wide eyes full of both astonishment, and glee. Before she could say anything, her mother immediately cut her off with her loud voice, full of pure happiness.
"Oh of course! You can stay as long as you want! Let me just quickly pack a lunch for you ─ or do you think your friend's parents could prepare a proper, nutritious meal for you?" Her mother was talking so fast Chieko could barely understand a word she said, but she knew that she was... excited, to say the least. Maybe a little too excited, about her daughter leaving for a friend's house.
"I-I'm sure I'll be fine, mom..." Even she wasn't as excited, then again, that was because she wasn't actually going to a friend's house, the truth was even better. "You don't need to pack me a lunch," she didn't need to show up to the warehouse with a packed lunch, then again... With Minji, Taichi and Satou living in the warehouse, do they get enough food...? Do they have jobs, money?
"Still, just in case," her mother happily packed her daughter a mostly nutritious meal, which Chieko couldn't help but feel embarrassed about. Though, not as much once she realized that it wouldn't be that bad turning up to the warehouse with some food that she could share with the others.
"Wait," remembering the cupcake she had been saving, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to have it. Despite her mother wanting to pack a "nutritious" meal, she didn't argue with Chieko when she put the cupcake in the bag. Which was the final thing, and now, she was ready to leave.
"Okay, Chieko, are you ready?" Grabbing the small paper bag, she thought that she would've stayed for longer, but Minji was probably waiting for her. "Do you need me to take you to your friend's house?" She shook her head, "do you need me to pick you up?" Again, she shook her head. "Okay then... I guess it's time for you to go."
Her mother softly smiled at her, and Chieko for some reason, found herself struggling to smile back. Maybe it was because all of this was a lie, and it's been going on for so long... She wanted to tell her the truth, but now didn't seem like the right time. Tomorrow wasn't it, either, and neither was the following week. She didn't know when would be the right time to explain everything to her, maybe when she finally figures everything out. Though, that... might take a while.
So for now, she'll just have to lie, whether she likes it or not.
"Thanks... I'll walk home around six." Usually she'd only stay for half an hour, but because she had other things planned, she'll be heading home a lot later than usual. And staying at her friend's house for a little over an hour might seem a little odd.
She took one last glance at her mother, who smiled sweetly at her and gently held her face in her hands. "Okay, just promise me you'll be careful." Of course, she immediately nodded, though she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep that promise.
"I promise, I'm going now." Pulling away from her mother's soft hold, she didn't want to waste any more time. Her mother nodded and stood slightly up straight, "I'll see you soon." Her mother slightly leaned forward to plant a kiss on her cheek, causing her to turn away in slight embarrassment. "Mom..."
She shook her head, she couldn't waste any more time. "Okay, I'm going now, bye!" Turning away from her mom, she rushed towards the door before she got distracted again. Hand on the doorknob, she looked back at her mom, who hadn't moved an inch, and continued to smile at her.
She smiled back, pulled the door open, and walked outside with the door closing behind her. Seconds after it had closed and Chieko had already walked a distance away from the house, her mother remained stuck in place in the same position. Her expression seemed to soften, and gain almost a sad look. Her crystal blue eyes stared at the door, tears glistening behind her eyes.
"She's fine..." She mumbled to herself, slowly lowering herself onto a chair. "She's okay... I was wrong..." Her voice gave off a feeling of relief, as she leaned her head back, running a hand through her hair. Her smile grew, but a tear dripped down her face. "I was wrong..."
Chieko waited until she was just out of sight from the house before activating her power, and running off into the distance. She knew that there wasn't a set time for practice, but she still felt like she was running late. She also knew that Minji wouldn't be upset in any way if she didn't arrive exactly on time, but she still wanted to get there as soon as possible.
Once reaching the city, there should be a path she could take that is completely abandoned that leads straight to the warehouse, meaning that she could run as fast as she wants and no one will see her. She had only recently discovered it, and she couldn't wait to use it.
The wind blowing through her hair, despite having left school in a foul mood ─ she was feeling herself again, actually, she felt better than usual ─ she felt amazing. She found it hard to believe that she had been scared of this power, her power, it was understandable when she didn't know what was going on, and she had no clue how to control it. But it was different now, things were different...
Or so she liked to believe.
Without warning, the memory of the incident at school popped up in her mind. How she had to run away from her bullies, and how differently it would have ended if it weren't for her power. Not to mention the whole time freeze thing... despite how hard she tried to keep those thoughts out of her head, they kept on coming back.
Minji better have some sort of explanation for this.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The sounds were almost deafening, he couldn't even hear his own voice anymore. When the sound finally faded away, the first thing he heard was heavy breathing and an exhausted heart, both belonging to him. His limbs felt weak, either like they were about to fall off or he couldn't feel them at all.
The next thing he noticed was how his vision slowly faded away, he didn't even notice it at first. He tried taking a step forward, but nothing happened. When he tried to force his body to move, he slowly moved forward, but not in the way he wanted. His body started to lean forward, and he couldn't stop himself, his body failed to respond.
"Taichi?" He heard a voice, but it was so faint that he couldn't recognize it. "Taichi!" He heard it again, louder this time, next thing he heard was the sound of running footsteps that sounded to be heading towards him. He thought that he'd be safe from falling to the cold hard floor, but he was wrong.
With a loud bang, he crashed onto the floor landing on his side. His vision had gotten worse in just a matter of seconds, but he could still make out a blurry figure frantically sprinting towards him. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out who it was, but his vision only decreased to the point where all he could see was darkness.
"Hello? Minji?" Slowly pushing the door open, Chieko peeked inside and glanced around. The place seemed empty, but then again it was the first floor. She walked inside and closed the door behind her, continuing to look around. The place really did seem abandoned, but even if it was supposed to be a secret hideout, they could at least clean the place up a bit.
She doesn't know how long the three had been staying there, or if they even had anywhere else to go, like a proper house and this was only their hideout. Though, with how much time they spend at the warehouse, it seemed a little odd if that really was the case.
Bringing in some furniture for the upper floor at least would be a huge improvement, but it was their decision. If they wanted to keep this place looking like it hadn't been used in twenty-or-so years, then she wasn't going to argue. Though, there would be benefits to fixing this place up a bit...
But she couldn't say that they hadn't done anything to the warehouse since they made it their hideout. They added a second floor with a kind of lift that she hadn't seen before, plus there were smaller rooms built into it (not sure how they managed that) so they had made improvements.
"Minji? Are you there?" Walking onto the platform, she couldn't help but flinch when it jolted and began lifting her up. When she reached the second floor, she immediately spotted the person she had been searching for, who had just walked out of a room. Chieko recognized the room, it was the bedroom she stayed in the first time she came to the warehouse.
When Minji slowly turned around, Chieko immediately called out her name, but almost cut herself off when she noticed the oddly miserable expression the older female wore. When she heard her name being called, Minji flinched almost as if startled, quickly straightened up her posture and turned around to face her.
The miserable expression she had been wearing disappeared, and replaced with a more familiar, cheery looking one with a smile spread across her face. "Hey, Chieko! I was wondering when you'd show up!" Jogging towards the girl, Chieko felt the need to ask what was wrong, because she wouldn't look that sad for no reason, but she didn't say a word about it.
"Sorry about that... I um, I brought lunch!" Holding up the brown paper bag excitedly, Minji eyed it almost confused, as if she hadn't seen a brown paper bag before, as odd that sounds.
Though, her smile soon returned. "Great! I'll be back in a jiffy!" Without another word, she sped past Chieko and towards the platform before she could even utter a word. If Minji had told her that she also had a speed enhancement ability, she would've believed her without a doubt.
"What ─ Minji!" Turning to face her, the older female gave almost what looked like a salute before the platform beneath her feet lowered, and within just a matter of seconds, she was out of sight. Chieko could only sigh and wait for her to return, and with how fast she is ─ that shouldn't take long.
Shaking her head, she turned around, and got a bit of a surprise at what she saw. Satou had just left the same bedroom Minji did, though she didn't see him do so. Either that, or for some weird reason, he had been invisible up until this moment as he stood somewhat on the side of the room.
Thinking about it, Satou and her haven't really talked much. She only knew his name because of hearing Minji and Taichi calling him by it. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to finally properly introduce herself, and perhaps even start up a conversation. So she turned around to face him and opened her mouth to call out his name, but quickly cut herself off.
"I should have killed her when I had the chance..." He said it just loud enough for her to hear, but she must have misheard it. He still hadn't noticed her yet, and she didn't dare utter a word. Left speechless and frozen from shock, a million thoughts ran through her head. Why did she feel so scared? It was impossible that she had heard him correctly, it was just a misunderstanding.
He sighed and ran a hair through his hair, then out of the corner of his eye he spotted her. His eyes widened in surprise and he looked shocked to see her, but in a matter of seconds his shocked expression reverted back to his usual blank, almost emotionless stare that seemed a lot scarier than it normally did.
"Chieko... right?" Despite feeling the need to introduce herself just moments ago, she no longer wanted to say a word to the blond, as rude as that may sound. There was a look of hesitance and nervousness clear as day on her face, but she hoped that it would still go unnoticed. She gave a small nod of her head, trying to stay calm and forget about the words she had accidentally overheard. It must have been a mistake, but the way he said it, he sounded so... serious.
"I don't think we've properly met, oddly enough..." Walking towards her, he held out his hand to shake, and moved a hand to his neck. "Hitoshi Satou, you can call me whatever you want." His voice was so calm, or was monotonous better suited? She glanced down at his hand, feeling a wave of hesitance hit her.
"It's... nice to properly meet you, Satou," calling him by his last name seemed more polite, but with Taichi and Minji calling him Satou, she couldn't help but feel weird calling him something else. She didn't want to seem rude, so she reached out her hand, and just as she was about to shake his hand,
"Satou! You heading out?" Minji was back, and just in the right moment.
Satou turned his attention to Minji, allowing Chieko to quickly pull her hand back. "Just thought I'd take a walk... I'll be back soon," Satou stated in his monotone voice, as all Chieko could do was stand almost completely frozen in place.
"Ah, okay! See ya later then!" The blond nodded his head and turned away, walking towards the platform to take him to the first floor, and for some reason his body faded away just before he reached the platform. Chieko watched as the platform lowered him down, and she couldn't help but feel confused.
Minji turned to face her with a grin spread across her face, hands crossed behind her head. "Alright, Chieko, you ready to start your training?"
Chieko's gaze lingered on the missing platform for a few seconds, thinking about the words she had overhear Satou saying, certain that she must have misheard them. But then again, maybe she wasn't so sure... She turned to Minji, a smile on her lips, and nodded her head.
"Ready as always!"
She wasn't ready.