𝑸𝑶𝑻𝑪:

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕.

***

She laughed.  

Once again, Asami had locked herself up in her room.

Almost for the whole night, she laughed. Eerily, her eyeballs bulged out, her cheeks creased to form wrinkles as her grin spread from ear to ear. Holding her stomach, she laughed like madmen. Ironically, her mouth coiled up to show her smile- her hideous laughter- but her eyes looked terrified; the horror that swept into them from corner to corner as red, ominous red like the blood she wanted to see on Kiyoshi's torn up body, was being hidden or maybe was actually being portrayed through her laughter.

She laughed at her stupidity, how she thought he was just studying her beauty, how she was careless to forget to note his eyes, and how she couldn't kill him the moment she felt that dangerous aura from him.

She laughed at the turmoil in her mind. Was he talking about maturity and immaturity? Or about human or POWAN?

She laughed at her words; the words she spoke to him in front of the bookstore. If she wouldn't have, she would have known for sure what he was talking about.

The only way out of this- was to die as soon as possible. And for that, she needed to get her hands on the keys.
However, she didn't even know where he kept them.

The digital clock showed her it was about 4:12 in the morning. Her father went out on a jog. She had training too, but her father didn't nag her about it; not after the consequent series of recurrent aggressive outbursts he observed in his daughter.

She sneaked up to the third floor where she used to go up each day, to the gym. Moreover, it also had a separated library for her personal use. Her father's study was the last room in that hallway. The passageway was still dark, as the housekeepers were still asleep.
Asami checked the door; no signs of a keyhole. A Fingerprint Recognition Password Lock Door Opener Access Control Device was attached on the wall beside the door.

Her suspicions rose.

𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭.

She would never have noticed, if she had not possessed the keen senses of a POWAN. A wooden-furnished wall art with an image of god Bishamon carved out on it lingered on top of the lock system. But it reeked of metal; she ran her finger on the burnished metal near the fingerprint sensor.

𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵?

She decided not to do it. There may be an alarm system and she didn't want her father to know anything. Without leaving a trace of her presence, she sneaked back into her room.
***
After putting her strategy to work, Asami went to school. She seemed better than yesterday, but her body ached more every day, like a million needles were being passed through her insides and she could be torn apart at any moment.
With every passing second, it grew more intense. Each power comes with its own set of setbacks. You can wield any power if you have the courage to face the worst. But, a power which is not being accepted by the wielder is worse than the worst. The body is constantly weakened by the powers, first to get accepted and then because they were accepted.

With her sharp canine, Asami bit her tongue. A little trickle of blood escaped her mouth which she licked away quickly. This sudden shock dragged her mind away from the pain in her body. No matter what, she had to do what was needed real quick, or she would have to bear more suffering than she was facing then.

When the classes ended, Matsuha tagged along with Asami. Since they were little, he used to follow Asami around everywhere. She was like a big sister to him and they used to fool around together. That was when they had both parents. After the unfortunate incident, Asami became quieter and secluded. But, Matsuha was able to cope better with the shock; he was happy to have at least someone around yet. To see her every day, it was enough reason for him to be cheerful. His courage was highly appreciable. 

As Matsuha blabbered non-sense, Asami discreetly walked beside him. He was least of her cares, when she was going to die sooner or later. Her sapphire eyes caught glimpse of Kiyoshi leaning against the huge metal gate at the entry of the school building; his black hair whirling in the light and warm breeze and his slender legs straightening up when he saw them, his eyes piercing Asami's, seldom shedding a disgusted glance at Matsuha, to which he did the same.

Kiyoshi walked towards them, stopping at a distance, and then smirked. Asami stepped towards him when Matsuha grabbed her hand and pulled her back. It was for the first time, and her eyes widened when she saw him crossing her with a firm, sincere look on his face. He covered for her, hiding her behind his back. Usually, he was the one hiding behind her. But seeing his solemn expressions and strong gesture, she knew at once. He too, was on his guard against Kiyoshi. Although Matsuha was dumb, he was quick to pick on people's intentions. A god's gift; a little something to sympathize with the unfortunate. Although, Asami had lost her belief in Gods, after her mother died.

"You must not trouble Asami." Matsuha spouted, his tone was flawless.
But, Kiyoshi didn't look a bit fazed by his presence. He maintained the tedious but shrewd look on his face and stepped in front of Matsuha. He was way taller than him; Matsuha was about equal to Asami. Kiyoshi stood with his chin above Matsuha's head and advanced his hand, grabbing a flick of his hair.

"Gross!" he said with a frown. Matsuha looked abashed and Asami stood dumbfounded. She expected him to grab his hair and throw him away but he was just checking them out.

"What shampoo do you use? It's– never mind! Sato, I think we have something to talk." Again with his lips coiled up in a devilish smirk, he stepped away from Matsuha, who looked confused and troubled. His eyes told Asami to stop but Kiyoshi was right; she had something to talk.

Asami went near Matsuha, who shed a pleading gaze at her. He looked like a dog, crying to his master to not step out of the house because it could sense something was wrong.

"He is not right. I can sense it."
He said, with a voice that sounded cowardly.
"I know. I will be okay. Don't worry." She whispered, her voice barely audible.

They matched their paces and walked away from the boy who stood there with his hands clasped together and biting his lip.

The auditorium for cram-classes was an underground facility under the garage beside the academy. The door opened with the same fingerprint sensors like the one in front of her father's study. They walked there together. It was rather dark and cold, considering the hot, suffocating weather outside.

Kiyoshi turned his face to look at her. With his large hands sliding against Asami's hair, he said, "What shampoo do you use? It's good. Your goofy friend should use it."

Asami was beginning to get irritated by his freaky behaviour. With unwavering eyes looking straight ahead, she said, "Come straight to the point."

Kiyoshi stopped and leaned against the wall. Asami turned back to face him.

"You have something to say. Say it."

She wondered what kind of answer he was expecting. Her answer must be safe enough and devoid of slip-ups, but also, she needed to figure out what he was thinking.

"I didn't undersrand your question back then. If it is about what I said in front of the bookstore about being mature, then I think I am mature in my way, if that's actually what you are asking. If it is something else, I don't feel obliged to answer you. Stop wondering about me, it's not good for your health." She said. Her act was flawless. Not a drop of sweat, not a single expression was showing her inner conflicts. The last sentence would have given him enough warning. That is what she thought anyways. 

"Hmm." Kiyoshi didn't look surprised. Not even disappointed. He was studying her, like he always did. After a moment, his mouth corners rose up into the only expression he made on his nonchalant face. His gray eyes scared her. But, as if she could admit it.

"Hey, Sato," he said walking towards her and putting his arm on her shoulders. He had to bend his legs to do that. Still smiling, he moved his other hand towards her bangs, "why do you keep your hair like that?"

A shiver ran down her spine when she noticed he would lift her bangs. She flung her hand toward him with technique. He jumped back, chuckling. His agility and body movements were pitch perfect. The efforts put into his training were visible. His body moved swiftly yet he maintained his balance, keeping his hands at bay, to attack and defend at the same time. A perfect defense-cum-attack position, one she had learned already.

"Oh! You don't want me to see. What is it?" He started slowly and then ran towards her to hit her bangs. She slid to the side to evade and caught hold of his hands. He quickly coiled his hands around her. Sensing what was to come, she released the hold and kicked him away.

𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘛𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

She plunged on him, jumping down from a jeep in shackles. Evading to the side, he ran. Her continuous attacks made it difficult for him to guard himself. She was hitting without a break, finding a chance to land a blow somehow as he moved his body just in time to evade the attacks. Hatred and blood-lust filled her eyes. Every single move she made portrayed her intention to kill him. If he provoked her even a little more, either she would kill him or her aim would get disturbed.

"I'll kill you." She screamed as she crumbled the car deck with her fist.

"Woah. What power!". He laughed nervously, his heart thumping as he missed it just by an inch and jumped back. "Humans don't have such power."

"ARGHHHHHHHH, YOU'RE DEAD!", she aimed her fist at the wall. A loud thud sound echoed as a crack spreaded on the walls like spiderweb. The skin on her hands tore off. But it started regenerating. She was not in her right mind or she would not have been so careless as to let him see her regenerating. The only thing that filled her mind was to kill him.

Balling her fist, she tried to focus all her power in one single blow.

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

As she used brute strength and jumped on him, Kiyoshi vanished from before her eyes. She stopped on the floor to look around but he thrusted his elbow on the nape of her neck. Her breathing stopped, and saliva gushed out of her mouth. Her voice got blocked in her throat, and her vision blurred.

Kiyoshi gasped for air. He was still in the terror of a near-death experience. A second more and he would have been dead. He panted, looking at Asami, who struggled to speak and get up. The knock he made paralysed her body with a slight shock. It numbed her senses, so for another half an hour, she was immobile.

"Ha!", he let out a slight laugh, sarcastically, wiping sweat of his black eyebrows; his eyes still looking out for danger. "Who would have thought this gentle girl could be so monstrous? I think you are a little immature, even if I didn't ask anything about that, idiot. As for my health, I can take care of it on my own. See? " He chuckled again. Asami's hearing dulled. But she could understand him. She wanted to pierce him, tear him apart. But her body didn't move. He was strong. She underestimated him. She even gave away evidence of her identity; he saw her regenerating.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴?

She flinched while trying to move her body.

Kiyoshi dragged her immobile body behind the cars and went away.