The other person stood deeper within the alley. With the speedster gone and time resumed, I had no real reason to be there. I had the bag back: that was all I cared about. I turned to walk away, but just as I did, a hand grabbed my collar pulling me back. I stopped the flow again and turned around just barely keeping my balance.

  The figure still stood where they were, but right behind where I stood was a hand almost floating in mid air. I looked again, and the hand had come through some sort of portal.

  A spatial manipulator, interesting.

  Previously, they were very rare and difficult to take care of. I remembered targeting one on a specific mission.

  I had been called in since the grunts had miserably failed and got mostly wiped out. Eclipse even tried sending another assassin in before me, but the result was the same. That Number 8 died as he lived - as fast as a blur. He even gave me a hard time, but when time stands still, I stand above all.

  I grabbed the wrist and set up for a throw. Pulling them through the portal would be more difficult than if they were right behind me. If that was the case, like before, I'd create a fulcrum and use their body weight then let gravity do all the work.

  Here we go.

  I lifted a foot to get momentum, and time resumed. As expected, it was more difficult than the other way, but they came through the portal all the same. Their body hit the ground and they lost all the air in their lungs. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, so I stepped over them and started to walk away. As I passed, I made out facial features of a male about my age looking up at me dazed and confused.

  "Stay down, and leave me alone," I said as I walked away.

  "How did It feel hitting a girl like that?" he fired back as he slowly rolled over.

  Without even looking back, I responded, "I believe in true gender equality. Equal rights, equal fights."

  "Cut the crap!"

  He moved just a little, and I felt his fist meet my face. A moment later, another hit my stomach. This was getting annoying. Before he could land a third hit, I stopped time again. I was thankful that I had gotten faster at using my powers like a muscle instead of concentration. I grabbed his hand, opened the curled fist, and broke two fingers.

  I should have left after that; I don't know what came over me. I walked over to the rest of his body and stood over his legs looking down at him. I resumed time, and the pain rushed to his head.

  "Ahh! What the hell?! How are you doing this?!" He laid on the ground grasping his hand.

  "Last warning, leave me alone." I wasn't myself. I wasn't like this - angry, sadistic, twisted.

  His fight-or-flight response was clearly stuck on fight because he tried to launch at me from the ground. "Like hell, asshole!"

  I was done. My anger was swelling. I slowed the flow instead of stopping it. As he got up, I went to break his ankle with a stomp, but changed my attention at the last second. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone running full speed at me — the speedster.

  I turned to face her, ready to make the passage of time come to a painstaking crawl even for her. Just before I did, however, she ran past me and picked up the other one. I turned to see her looking back at me. Her gaze was hard to describe, but it almost seemed like a fearful understanding:

  "You win. We leave you alone. You leave us alone."

  She continued to sprint off with him in her arms, and as she rounded the corner, I fell to my knees. I kneeled there as I brought time to a stand still.

  What was I doing? I was a hair's width from killing the two of them. That's not who I am anymore.

  That was never me. Was it? No. It wasn't! Eclipse made me a monster!

  They trapped me like a fly in a web and forced me to do their dirty work. But I still did it — no compassion, no hesitation, no remorse.

  Was I a monster all along?

  The thought lingered in my mind, and my previous life replayed in my head. Makarov Academy. The Prestige Program. The countless assassinations. The betrayal and the hunt.

  Maybe I was a monster... No! So why? Why was I on the verge of taking my first life again?

  The weight of the situation and my actions hit me like a train, and I collapsed where I stood. I curled up and screamed at myself while everything and everyone around me stood frozen in time.

  I eventually regained control of myself. I climbed up and staggered out of the alleyway. Chika's bag was still in my hands, and she was still just outside of the shop. I passed by a store front and looked at the window. I looked rough, to say the least. Another fight and an hour or so of a breakdown really did a number on me.

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  I ran into a restroom and washed up. There wasn't much I could do for the cuts from two solid hits to my left cheek, but I did what I could to make it work. I fixed my clothes and my hair before heading back to Chika who was petrified as she looked around for me and her bag. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. The background noise of the plaza resumed, and I opened my eyes to see Chika turning toward me.

  "Kazu, your face! Your gift!" She was understandably surprised.

  "Sorry about that," I said with a smile scratching the back of my head. I handed the bag back to her and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

  "We need to get out of here, I'm sure it's still not safe." When I leaned back, I saw her cheeks were red and her gaze met mine. "Plus, I'm sure the heat is getting to be a lot. Let's go get something cold."

  "Kazu, what about your cuts," she grabbed my sleeve, and I pulled her along.

  "Eh, I'll deal with it later. No big deal." I walked toward an exit, but before I could get there, she pulled back with all her might.

  "Kazu, stop!" she begged. I stopped and turned around.

  She took me into a pharmacy by the entrance and picked up some bandages and ointment.

  "Come here, sit down." I sat on a bench at the entrance, and she applied ointment to my cuts before bandaging them up.

  It initially stung, but I felt something else. A sort of warmth that I'd only previously felt from my mother when she would do the same thing. She put her hand on my cheek and locked eyes with me.

  "How does that feel?"

  Here we go again.

  My heart rate rose, and I was trapped in her gaze. Her hand was soft and cool, like a cloud on a hot summer's afternoon or a pillow after a long day of work. I couldn't look away; I couldn't even move. She gave a faint smile.

  "Thank you, Kazu. For the gift, for whatever happened when you used your power, for putting up with me."

  Again, I lost myself. I grabbed the hand holding my face and looked deep into her eyes. I don't know how long we held each other's gaze, but it wasn't long enough. I couldn't find the words to say, and by the time I almost did, her mischievous smile returned.

  "Kazu, how long are you going to hold my hand? Isn't that something couples do? Not that I'd say no if you asked, but we're in public, after all"

  I had fallen into another one of her traps. I felt my face flush red as I flinched back. "Y-y-you little!"

  She flung her head back in a childish laughter. "Kazu," she managed between wheezes, "you really should know better by now. You're too fun for me to not tease."

  "On second thought, give me the bag back," I fired back.

  "Nope, you already gave me my gift. It would be a waste after you worked so hard for it," she said pointing at my bandages.

  I sighed and leaned back on the bench. "Yeah, yeah, you're right."

  "I meant what I said, though, Kazu. Thank you."

  I looked over and her devious face was replaced with an infantile happiness, like a child receiving the toy they never knew they wanted on Christmas morning.

  "You're welcome, and happy birthday, Chika."

  After everything that had happened, I had almost forgotten that my mother and sister crossed paths with us during our outing. I came home just before dinner and barely made it in the door before I was attacked.

  "Zuzu!" Yui jumped onto me, and we both fell to the floor. "Don't worry, Zuzu," she said. "I'll clean the stench of that witch off of you."

  She had those eyes she always gets when she's thinking perverted thoughts. She started rubbing her hands and face all over my face and torso.

  "Would you get off of me? Honestly!"

  I wiggled free and ran into the kitchen where I thought I'd be safe. Waiting for me was my favorite curry with my favorite tea and plenty left in reserve. Mother sat at the table and called the two of us to do the same. The moment I sat down and had the first bite of the warm and delightfully spicy gift from above, my hopes of safety were shattered.

  "Kazuma," mother started. "Tell us how your date with Chika went."

  In a moment, the peaceful dinner became an interrogation with the calm and the storm surrounding me. Yui's menacing aura emanated from behind her horrible attempted straight face. Mother definitely had something to do with her keeping it up, and her deceiving calmness masked an intimidating presence. She was akin to a sentinel before a mighty gate declaring that none shall pass. I swallowed my food for what would likely be the last time for the evening.

  "It was good," I replied. Not a good enough response; I needed more. "We had ice cream and looked at clothes for our next group get together."

  That has to be good enough, please accept it.

  "I see," she responded as she put her hand on the side of her face. "So it was a date then?"

  Trapped by words again. Yui's anger flared, but mother kept her in check with a glance.

  "Um, I guess so. It didn't really feel like one, though."

  While my sister's anger seemed to subside, my mother was not convinced. "Well, it certainly seemed like you both were having a good time. I hope that you can continue to be close going into high school, college, perhaps the altar..."

  The last comment proved too much for Yui. "I'll kill her!" she burst out. "Zuzu is mine!" She clung to me like metal to a powerful magnet.

  Mother, however, pulled her off of me enough for me to escape then took her away to her room for what I can only assume was one of the sternest talking to's she had received in a while.

  With both of them gone, I was able to finish my curry and tea. They were a little cold but every bit as delicious as they were when they were piping hot. After that, I cleaned up the kitchen and went upstairs. Between the bro-con and the woman too interested in becoming a grandmother, it was a long evening. I finally got back to my room and laid back on my bed.

  The two metas at the plaza came back to the forefront of my mind. A speedster and a spatial manipulator who I never knew previously. In my previous life, I never dealt with metas before I went to Makarov Academy.

  Who were they? Just a couple of delinquents? My choices since coming back have led me to numerous altercations.

  Is something changing outside of my control? Am I causing a butterfly effect? Could I really avoid the dismal future that is to come?

  I ended up falling asleep no closer to an answer than when I started.