:: Attempt 09 | Superman ::

"I can't stand to fly;
I'm not that naive.
I'm just out to find,
The better part of me.

"It may sound absurd but don't be naive;
Even heroes have the right to bleed.
I may be disturbed but won't you concede,
Even heroes have the right to dream?
And it's not easy to be me."
- "Superman" by Five for Fighting

x + x

[Location: Okinawa, Japan.]

He's here once again.

Without hesitation, he steps out from the sleek, darkly colored vehicle, clutching the bundles tight in his white-knuckled grip. He barely spares a glance at the younger man following after his hurried footsteps, and he passes beneath the marble arch leading to the path, which is now nearly covered all over by overgrown vines.

The man strides purposefully forward, never stopping, never hesitating; although his pale complexion states otherwise regarding his mental state.

As much as he wants to see him again, he doesn't want to be here. He doesn't want to remember anything about this place: the nights he was left alone with his sister that he had to keep watch over her in her bedroom, resenting the way their parents' yells resonated through the walls; the days he took her out to see the sea, away from the constant mess in their house with all the screams, the pleas and the crack of his father's belt snapping into his skin; the copper taste in his mouth as he collapsed to the floor after receiving another one of his father's punches.

As much as he hates Okinawa, he's here once again.

And it is because of him. It always is.

The grass crunches beneath his shoes, and not long after the ground changes into the cement pathway of stairs leading up to his destination. His gaze flicks to the side, just once, taking note of the way the sea looks eerily calm at this time of day.

As if there isn't anything lurking beneath their depths. A deceptive mirror of the skies, indeed.

He finally starts to halt his footsteps, stopping just before several markers set in the middle of a fenced in space on a cliff overlooking the sea. There are three, spaced evenly in a row, with familiar names traced upon their surfaces.

This wasn't their hometown, he is sure, but it was what he would have wanted. They had always wished to see the place where the man himself had been born, after all.

Albeit he had left for Britain with his mother and sister when he had only been ten years of age, and he'd only come back eight years after that. It wasn't exactly wise to stay in the place where they'd grown up when his parents had recently separated then, after all.

He walks to the marker set on the left, placing a bouquet of white lilies in front. He does the same to the one on the right, and as he's bent his head down low, as if in prayer, his companion walks up to him, keeping a respectful distance.

The younger man walks toward the leftmost marker as well, kneeling before it as he sets down a bouquet of tea roses before he gets up and does the same to the one on the right; this time with a bouquet of cyclamens. He looks up, his brown eyes staring questioningly.

"Sir--"

"No need for the formalities, Shinobu." He interjects, his eyes never leaving the path his fingers take upon the marble. The young man straightens immediately, warily taking his place beside his mentor, his posture stiff with formality.

"But what should I call you, then?" 'Shinobu' asks, and the elder man stifles a chuckle.

"You're the opposite of your biological father; you took after Emiko too well.." he muses to himself, before he turns his head to meet the latter's gaze.

"Call me by whatever name you wish; I doubt your uncle--" he casts a look, filled with bittersweet longing, upon the name etched into the grave marker. "--would mind."

A pang of realization hits, and the dark-haired, twenty-three-year-old lowers his head by the tiniest fraction.

"You've never forgotten about Uncle Makoto, have you, Father?" Shinobu looks toward the red-haired man, whose azure eyes betray his long-nurtured grief and regret.

"We only truly die once we are forgotten," Hanazono Sousuke murmurs, and his gaze lingers upon the bright blue flowers he's placed upon the grave.

Forget-me-nots.

"Tell me, Shino, why should I forget the person who's saved me so many times with his presence alone?"

The man looks down at his shoes, unable to speak. As an awkward silence pervades in the air, they hear the slight click of heels upon the gravel, and they both turn to see a dark-haired woman in her early forties climbing up the stairs towards them.

"A-Aunt Misaki.." Shinobu utters, his one visible eye wide with surprise.

The woman smiles sadly, placing a hand upon her nephew's shoulder. "You've grown a lot, Shino." She says softly,  before she glances at the red-haired man standing some ways off.

He meets her gaze evenly, an unreadable look to his azure eyes.

"Welcome back, Sou-nii."

x + x

It isn't an easy feat - to get lost while you are completely familiar with the twists and turns of Tokyo, that is.

Fujimoto Tsubaki sighs, running a hand through her short, dark hair. She stares at her fingertips, at the tiny amount of chocolate-brown powder dusting her fingers. The color is washing out, she knows that better than anyone; as fast as possible, she needs to purchase that same dye she needed.

Supposedly, it is just a simple enough errand, along with picking up some odds and ends that Aoi had craved for the night before. Tsubaki is honestly starting to think that her close friend is bipolar, what with the constant changes in her mood.

One minute, she had been crying, filled with hurt. The next, she was faking a smile, asking for two different ice cream flavors at once.

She is honestly confusing, the dark-haired Fujimoto thought.

Now... Tsubaki furrows her brow, scanning the throngs of people crowding the streets. Where on earth did Aoi go?

The redheaded Hanazono had been forced to come with the brunette, much to her annoyance. Tsubaki had turned away for a few minutes, lost in thought with choosing several items, and when she looked back she noticed that her companion was gone.

However, it isn't exactly an irrational situation. There is a high percentage that they were separated by the crowd; they both possessed slight figures, after all.

But still, it isn't doing any favors for the petite brunette as she weaves through the crowd, opposing the rush of pedestrians as she crosses the street. She ends up in front of a nearly abandoned alleyway, a weird transition from the overflowing crowds subsequently brought about by the weekend and the extremely hot temperatures.

Well... Tsubaki sighs, adjusting her grip upon her purchases, the plastic straps digging into her palms as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. I suppose I should go and search for Aoi, then..

At that moment, she hears the scream.

It is loud and piercing, more like a cry for help than the anguished shriek of the dying, so goes Tsubaki's bitter internal reflections as she breaks into a run, never minding that it abruptly cut off her search for her red-haired friend before it even begins.

She's sure to turn up, eventually. Right now, however, there's someone who needs her help.

And she isn't sure if she would make it in time.

x + x

She's lost. Completely, irrevocably, undeniably lost.

And it irritates her to no end.

It isn't as though she no longer recognized the streets of her hometown; rather, it's due to the excessive crowds which swept her away from her preoccupied companion. She had initially been rather surprised at the fact that Tsubaki can be distracted by several flavors of ice cream.

She mused that mochi might have been a more reasonable food item to pore over.

Now, Aoi is rather at a loss at where she might have ended up; it seemed that she is nowhere near the mall they had been in earlier, although she is still in the shopping district. It is a rather fortunate fact that if she had decided to take refuge in a small bookstore tucked into the corner of the said street; if she hadn't, she would have been stranded in the middle of a swarm of pedestrians.

She is just lucky the place has air conditioning; otherwise she might have sweated bullets at the excess heat.

A sigh escapes her lips as she tugs at her headphones so that it settles comfortably over her ears. Five for Fighting's "Superman" sings into her ears as Aoi hums along, singing beneath her breath as she peruses the shelves. It will be worth her while to find the fifth book to the series she is currently agonizing over, after all.

However, it is a little overwhelming to see the bookshelves stocked with Japanese manga rather than the English titles she is accustomed to seeing. It might just be an aftereffect of her three years away from the country, she internally infers as she picks up a familiar-looking manga, turning it over in her hand.

"'Kagerou Days'..?" She murmurs under her breath, scanning the summary. It clicks in her mind; if translated literally, it would be "Heat Haze Days", so she thinks. "Interesting."

Taking the copy into her arms, along with the fifth and sixth book of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare ("City of Lost Souls" and "City of Heavenly Fire", respectively), Aoi proceeds toward the counter, purchasing the books and tucking them into her messenger bag right after. It isn't worth it to lug it all around and read bits and pieces of it simultaneously, after all. She has plenty of time later on if she was bored.

Plus, she needs some time to calm down from Jace Herondale's sudden disappearance in the previous book.

Taking a deep breath, Aoi takes out her phone, scanning her inbox for any messages. There are none, much to her surprise - and worry.

Why isn't Tsubaki contacting her the first chance she gets?

It bothers her, to say the least. Carefully, she tucks her phone back into the pocket of her jeans after selecting another song from her playlist: "Sunset Yesterday", as performed by IA. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, Aoi steps out of the comfortable confines of the bookstore, tugging at the straps of her messenger bag.

Why the hell is it so crowded? She internally grumbles, weaving through the crowd. Her azure eyes are narrowed, uncomfortable in the harsh light. Refraining from drawing yet another sigh, she gathers up her hair into a loose ponytail at the back of her head, several forelocks framing her face. It certainly helps that she is merely wearing a lavender tank top beneath an unbuttoned white blouse along with her plain jeans.

"Momo-chan's performing live today!" A voice squeals excitedly, to be heard even above the song blaring from her headphones ("Indigo" by Kishida Kyoudan & the Akeboshi Rockets).

Momo..? She internally muses, her brow furrowing slightly as she rocks back onto her heels.

"Hidoku chiisa na kono sekai ga

  Ookiku kiba o muite

"Issho ni itakatta na" to

Kimi no kokoro o utsumukaseru." 

A voice sings in the distance, prompting the redhead to take off her headphones and search the bustling streets for the source. The melody is soft, delicately upbeat, coaxing her to take a step forward and find its owner. Entranced, she pushes through the crowd, ducking enthusiastic fans all turning towards the direction of the voice.

"Found you." Aoi breathes, staring at the spot where a girl around her age is singing, dancing along to the rhythm as her blonde hair bounces upon her bare shoulders. Strangely enough, her eyes - which look to be naturally of a bright orange - shifts to an entrancing crimson as she stares out at her crowd, grinning radiantly.

A sudden movement sends Aoi crashing to the ground in a heap, mildly dazed from her abrupt descent. She blinks, looking up at an unfamiliar girl around her age who offers the confused redhead a hand.

"Sorry," the girl - who she now notices has bright purple hair reaching just past her chin and intelligent amber eyes - mutters under her breath, pulling up a bewildered Aoi. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's fine." Aoi utters calmly, brushing off her clothes. The girl looks unconvinced, staring at the red-haired girl  with what looks like slight sheepishness and.. curiosity?

"What is your name?"

The purple-haired girl blinks, as though unsure of her choices. Aoi sighs, rocking back onto her heels as she smiles reassuringly, showing that she means no harm. (Not at the moment, in any case.)

"My name is Hanazono Aoi; if I may ask, what is yours?"

"...Amaya." The girl replies quietly, clearing her throat as she looks down at the petite redhead. (Aoi internally curses her lack of height at that moment.)

"Katsuragi Amaya."

x + x

Being a hero has never been a role tailored to suit everyone.

Such is the lone thought which has entered Tsubaki's mind. She halts  her hurried pace,clutching at her temple as yet another vivid image comes into view within the confines of her cluttered head.

"What do you mean 'escape'? We can't!"

The girl turns, staring at her companion with fierce determination in her eyes. She clenches her fists by her side, hissing beneath her breath, "What else are we supposed to do? We'll never know if we don't try."

The other hesitates, glancing at the dirt smudged upon her fingertips. Blood had long since dripped from the cuts adorning her tan skin, trailing down onto her small hands.

"Why don't we wait for my brother?"

The blonde grits her teeth, clutching at her mangled dress in a vain attempt to rein in her impatience. "What good will waiting do for us? It'll be too late!"

A shadow looms over the two girls, snatching the younger brunette by the collar as yellowed teeth are bared in a leering smile.

"Where do ya think yeh're goin', brats?"

Breathing deep, she closes her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

That was two years ago. It doesn't bear any resemblance to the present. She mentally insists, opening her eyes to the glaring light of the sun. With the resolve in mind, she presses onward, ignoring the biting sting of the plastic bags digging into her scarred wrists. It won't do me any good to pay attention to old injuries, after all.

It is strange; there didn't seem to be any other people who had heard the piercing shriek from before. They were all seemingly preoccupied with a certain "Momo-chan" - a name Tsubaki has, to her slight annoyance, heard too many times to even count on fingers and toes. (Not that she has a mind to do so, at the moment.)

With a sigh, she presses a hand against the concrete wall to her left, shifting her weight to her left foot as she shuffles forward. Sweat drips down from her flushed cheeks, soaking into her green, long-sleeved shirt. A near-imperceptible snippet meets her ears, subsequently causing her to pause and reconsider.

Voices?

"Oi, apologize already, Class E!"

"Give back what you stole, morons." Another one demands, holding out a hand to the petite duo. An androgynous personage with sky-blue hair looks toward his companion, his hand clenching into a fist. The other - a girl with bright green hair - shakes her head slightly, turning back to look at the insistent delinquents.

Defiance shines in their eyes, and they stare up - for what else could they do with their admittedly lacking height? - at their aggressors.

"We didn't steal anything!"

If only she isn't  in a hurry to find the source of the scream, she might have rolled her eyes. Tsubaki knows all too well that such a crude method will never work. She herself had tested it - almost resulting in the demise of her only friend in that hellhole.

"Huh?" The taller of the two grunts, grabbing the green-haired girl by the collar and raising her a few feet off the ground. "You wanna end up like those friends of yours over there? Screamed her throat hoarse, that girlie did. Gave us a bit of entertainment."

With a smug grin, the burly boy juts his chin in the direction of two children, both looking to be at least three or four years younger than Tsubaki herself. They seem to be siblings, twins at best; the boy holding his possible sister as close as he can, glaring at their 'enemies'.

Realization flits through the Fujimoto's slate-gray eyes. Without a second's pause, she dumps her purchases upon the pavement, striding towards the clump of delinquents.

"How cowardly," Her lips curl into a sneer, altering her once-innocent looking face. As of the moment, it is as though her demeanor took a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

"To pick on those smaller than you. Don't you pity yourselves?" She tilts her head slightly to the side, a cruel grin tugging at her lips. "Or should I pity you instead?"

One of the mooks turns, a snarl etched upon his rather pimpled face. Tsubaki recognizes him to be someone from Class D, not that she cares. Harassing defenseless victims placed them on a much lower scale than scum, in her opinion.

"Get lost."

As soon as the boy charges towards her, she swerves to the side, catching his arm as he swings it towards her left side. She ducks beneath it, twisting the limb as she does so, and she throws the boy to the ground in one move. Tsubaki whirls on her heel, watching the other male with a merciless smirk dancing upon her lips.

She raises a hand, a finger beckoning - "Come and get me," she seems to imply.

A growl escapes the boy's clenched teeth, and he runs towards her, a fist at the ready--

When a familiar messenger bag clocks him upside the head, leaving the irate male surprised and irritated. He turns, about to snap an annoyed slew of profanity at the person who'd dared to hit him without his notice, when a foot - clad in a perilous-looking combat boot - slams its heel into the underside of his jaw.

He falls to the dirt, knocked out from the blow.

Tsubaki looks up at the newcomer, taking note of the girl's long, purple hair, which was tied up into a high ponytail. She flicks her glance to the left of the stranger, where another unfamiliar person stands - a boy with strange, mercury-gold eyes. (Though, seeing a weird eye color wasn't anything new to her now, having been in the black market business for more than a year.)

"So here's where you've been, Tsubaki." Aoi says, her arms crossed beneath her chest, kicking at the unconscious pair laid out on the ground with disgust upon her features. She glances at her companions, nodding briefly to the purple-haired girl, before she makes her way towards the dark-haired Fujimoto.

As she does so, the pair from before - the androgyne with blue hair and the girl along with him - seems to have awoken the little girl, the former helping up the girl's probable twin brother. The dark-haired girl tackles Aoi's companion to the ground with a rather energized call of, "Amay!" much to the snickering of a certain male.

"You found Yuta-kun and Reiko-chan, Amay; shouldn't we get going now?" The redhead asks, helping up his best friend. He glances at the petite pair, smirking at the androgyne. "You too, Nagisa-kun; sneaking off with Kayano-chan like that.."

The boy (?) - as it is implied by the latter's usage of the suffix 'kun' - flushed, snapping a retort at the mischievous male.

Still utterly confused, Aoi stands beside Tsubaki, looking at the six people they had met in a single day. Amaya has long since gotten to her feet, slightly disgruntled at the fact that the child - 'Reiko' - had caused her to fall to the ground in a heap, but that same irritation is overshadowed with relief. Meanwhile, the said girl is still yammering away about how the black-haired girl - Tsubaki - had stepped in to save them from the 'bullies'.

"--And then you came, Amay! Oh, and Karma-san too." 'Reiko' finishes, turning towards the said boy as her overly prolonged soliloquy comes to an end.

"Do you know them, Aoi?" Tsubaki questions, glancing at the puzzled redhead by her side. Aoi shakes her head slightly, turning away. It must be my imagination, the brunette thought. There's no way she-- To have longing that desperate, what must have happened to Aoi..?

"Let's go, Tsubaki." The redhead utters quietly, tugging at the hem of her white blouse. Shaking her head slightly, the Fujimoto follows after her friend, still acutely aware of the tense set of her shoulders, of the hollow look in her azure blue eyes.

"We aren't needed here any longer."

As they start to walk away, small hands hold onto the hem of Aoi's shirt, and she stops, looking down at the little girl.

She grins up at the bewildered redhead, amber eyes wide with gratitude as she looks from her to Tsubaki, who seems to be as confused as well.

"Thanks for helping us, nee-chan!"

She nods, her lips forced up into a smile before she turns away.

Silently, Aoi grasps her wrist, closing her eyes briefly as she takes a step forward, not looking back. I'm not a savior, she reminds herself, hastily walking as far away as she can.

I'm just a tool for my father's benefit. That's all I'll ever be.

-To be continued.

[Originally written January 25th, 2016. Edited: October 17th-21st, 2016. Word Count: 3,735. Dedication is to PokemonRio . The characters Amaya, Yuta, and Reiko Katsuragi belong to the Assassination Classroom fanfiction, Marionette, by my friend and mentor, Loki-Roki .]

Translation Notes: "Otsukimi Recital / Moonlight Recital" from Kagerou Project.

1. Hidoku chiisa na kono sekai ga

Ookiku kiba o muite

"Issho ni itakatta na" to

Kimi no kokoro o utsumukaseru.

[This horribly small world

Bares its huge fangs

Makes your heart look down and say

"I wanted to be with you." ]