"Your target is L'oreal, that outrageously looking bastard with smooth hair. He is currently flaunting his beauty and letting people recorded him, captured his grace as a common celebrity. He is just a faux hero, bringing shame to the legacy of true heroes."
Toga looked at where Stain's finger was pointing and listened to his explanation. She was staring right in the center of a noisy crowd just beside a car crash scene where a blond man was advertising for a hair product he had been using while chatting with fans.
" Hey Stain-sensei, can you tell me how you define a false hero?"
" I'm not your sensei. In my eyes, a false hero is someone who does heroic actions but with unheroic reasons. Look at the target. He is working as a hero and is using the status brought with his role to fatten himself up through brand advertisements. Heroes like him are the rot of this system and a disgrace to the term 'hero'. And I, Stain, will start the purge against these filth. "
" So in your eye, a true hero is someone who saves people for the sake of saving people?"
" Exactly! You are getting what I am striving for!"
' Stain-sensei is a weirdo. Heroes do hero workd and that's should be it. Why so work up on the reasons?'
Toga thought to herself. She was itching for actions and the sweet, red reward afterward but Stain was still the one in control so she was waiting for his next words.
" Your goal is to maim him, leaving him in such a mess that the public will have no choice but to face the abhorrent system of theirs. I will be hunting another target. This one is all yours."
" Yes."
Stain left without any noise, running and humping from roof tops. Toga expected some sort of metal clanking noise from his weapons but it seemed he had them wrapped in leather. The night remained cold up here, a complete opposite of the scene of her target.
'If Stain's words are correct then that means he will be easily lured by any incident that can promote his image. That works against my style of stealthy take down. Hmm... got it! He needs his image to earn money so by putting him into a situation where he cannot ignore me... let's stage an accident."
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"Help!!!"
L'oreal was swinging with his hair across the streets. He suddenly heard the plea for help. Currently it was still his shift so he quickly changed course and approached the alley where the scream for help was coming from. An elderly woman was trying to call for a hero through the national service when L'oreal landed beside her.
"Worry not, I will go check in there. Please get away from this entrance and call the medics."
Because of the recent renovations made to the houses in this area, the electrical system in some area was still unavailable, like here, and thus it was extremely dark in the alleyway. The moonlight was blocked by the tall buildings and that left an eerie black to venture into. The cries for help never stopped. They were still coming out of the alleyway, their rhythm
L'oreal had no time to waste. He weaved a layer of his hair all around his body, their extreme durability and his ability to control locks of hairs came from his quirk. He had low visibility inside but could still make out someone leaning against a damp wall, the sound of that person's breathing ragged and stressed. The smell ... it's blood! A heavy injury!
"I'm L'oreal, a hero. I will get you medical care ASAP."
Lying the chubby man down, L'oreal took out a piece of cloth from his basic med kit and began to wrap it around the wound on his belly. The usual wrap only managed to wrap half the number of wraps for a normal person but that was enough to temporarily limit the bleeding.
Securing the blood-soaked wrap, L'oreal was prepare to bring the man outside for better sight when the bleeding man said something alarming.
"The one who hurt me... he is still here with us."
'Fuck!'
Immediately cover the chubby man with his hair for protection, L'oreal decided to let his light armor tank everything. But to see his hair unable to cover the entire surface area, L'oreal focused on the vital areas. Helping the bleeding up and pulling his hand over his shoulder for balance, the two of them slowly made their way out.
"Argh!"
"Do not look back! And bear with the pain, we have no time t..."
Plap!
A knife was plunged into L'oreal neck, reaching the spine but not enough to make a clean cut through the bone.
"How!?"
Feeling his life seeping out into a warm blood beneath his feet, he frantically looked around in spite of the uselessness of the action. Sometimes death brought out the deepest fear.
"I'm sorry."
A mutter from his side. L'oreal brought his eyes to the man he was helping. What met his eyes were a pair of yellow orbs. Cat eyes, he recognized why he found them similar. It was similar to the black cat he was raising. He felt the support he was providing failed. And it was him who fell onto the ground with a thud.
The cold floor really brought up in L'oreal mind to which extent his killer would go. He was not out yet when he felt his nape being sliced shallowly. But then, a sudden thump came and he was lost.
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'Never know a spine is this difficult to cut through... I have just not been cutting through bones much.'
Toga thought as the camouflage mud fell off her body. Her entire body reeked in middle-aged-salary-man stench and her clothing was dirty. She looked down at the headless body of the hero who was trying so hard to help her, a disguised bleeding man.
'He is a good hero, try to save me. Him benefiting from his role in brand deals is not bringing harm to anyone. Stain is indeed extreme with his ideals.'
She thought as she began thinking about how to stage the scene... Maybe that could work. Pulling the body of a chubby man out from its hiding place, she began putting a scene of a double attack. She did not forget to fake some trails of running away from the crime scene. Full of pride for her work, she hastily made her way out of the other side of the alleyway. It had only been a few minutes and no other hero was at the scene, only a crowd of curious bystanders. No one noticed her slipping away.
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"So you are no different from a villain?"
"Let's see you try killing me for your cause."
Blades were exchanged and Toga was focused on solely deflecting the katana and avoiding any cuts despite how shallow they were. She had just reported back to Stain but he was not pleased with her method. He began berating her, comparing her to a mere villain and deemed her death as his way to benefit society.
She just needed to hold out. She had already guessed Stain's action before hands and had contacted Kage to get her away from this mad man. His fervent belief in a true hero was too idealistic and that reminded her of how her parents had tried to persuade her to not be normal.
'You bitch, sooner or later a hero will put you in jail.'
Or the quirk therapist who used to beat her for acting out of line...
"You wasteful brat. Your parents are spending this much for you and you dare not getting better! I will beat your bloody quirk out of you!"
But this time she could fight back! ... Or so she thought. She had no window to attack; the only thing she could do now was trying to survive. A slash from the right, a puncture toward her core and a small knife passing right where her throat had been. Stain kept the fight close up, limiting Toga's space and unleashing continuous attacks.
Stain decided to use a heavy attack. Using the angular momentum from his hips and shoulders, he slashed horizontally aiming at her side. She had just dodged a leg swipe by jumping so now she was still in the air. Putting both of her knives in an X shape, Toga predicted the area and prepared herself. But Stain, with his training and experience, used the contact point as a pivot and continued on with his slash.
He had already changed his footholds and pushed hard against the concrete ground. The added power pushed the sword forward and cut Toga's side with the edge near the scabbard.
"Ah!"
The pain overwhelmed her senses and her grips weakened. The knives protected her hands but Stain had already utilized that moment to send a powerful kick into the bleeding wound, knocking Toga to the ground.
And just before Stain was able to reach her fall location and chopped her up, multiple gun shots one after another rang out.
"You really spare no expense to save her huh, Kageee..."
"You can still save yourself if you get immediate medical care."
"That is ... only possible ... if I can ... outrun your gun."
"Looks like we are on the same page."
A reassuring explosion of gunpowder. Stain had died on the spot. The pain around her side was still too much but Toga had opened her eyes to witness the scene. Kage was running toward her after shooting Stain in the head.
"Toga, I will quickly get you out of here... Let me do first aid."
After a minute of careful care for the wound near the stomach, Toga was able to get up albeit her strength is almost non-existent. Seeing the fawn in front of him, Kage decided to pick her up in a princess carry.
"Heh!"
"Please do not move around too much."
"Am I heavy for you to carry?"
"Of course not, you are light, light as a small kitten."
Toga could not help but blush at the current situation she was in. This much of a proximity, the scent coming off from Kage's clothes, the touch upon his body,... Everything was too much for a girl and she had already begun drooling inside. It was something very couple-like and her heart almost jumped out of her chest from the stimulation. Seeing the exposed neck, Toga pulled herself up by Kage's shadow and bit her fangs into the area. Sound of blood dripping into her mouth could be heard due to their proximity but Kage indulged her need.
Holding tight onto one another, they made their way to a private doctor's clinic.
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"Mendel, wake up. We are here at the sea."
It was late but a single car, a SUV, could still be seen by a roadside near a beach. The rhythm of the waves and winds sounded like a lullaby, soft and caring.
Giran was trying his hardest to wake up a sleeping girl in the back seat. She was rejecting his call, mouth muttering '5 more minutesss...'. After some moments of hesitation, he pulled the girl up and piggy-back carried onto the sand. It was still a bit of distance before his feet entered the wet portion.
"This is your idea of a reward, remember? Wake up."
Rubbing her sore eyes, Mendel walked out onto the dry cold sand. She took a deep breath of the night air. Void of any people aside the two of them, Giran thought about Mendel's out-of-place request. Letting the girl enjoyed her time for a few minutes, he decided to ask something.
"Why are we going here? I was going to take you to an amusement park next week seeing how sparkling your eyes have been when seeing the poster for the first time."
Giran had been taking care of Mendel as time went on. Aside from some child labor, he spared no expense in keeping her happy and bringing her a normal experience someone like her should have instead of what she was having (it was also to keep himself alive). But for the first time since when they had first met, she had made her own request: to come here.
"I just want you to meet my friend!"
'Shit, I have a feeling this friend of her is difficult to deal with.'
"Where is your friend then?", Giran asked, his eyes scanning around.
"She is over there."
Mendel was pointing at a 'rock'... Giran had a good look before the 'rock' turned around and stood up. 10 meters of meat and skin began to walk toward them. In front of the humongous pile of flesh was a beautiful lady in her twenties. She had white hair and red, carnivorous eyes. Her step elegant, contrary to the mountain following behind her. As she approached and began her greeting, Giran could smell the pungent and foul smell of the thing behind the lady.
"Hello Mendel, and who is this?"
"This is Giran. Giran, this is Kari!"
"Nice to meet you, Kari-san."
Cool sweat was on his back. Three possible ways for him to die, all standing in front of him.