───

toes dipping onto the grass that's endured many winters and summers, mikoto glanced around the murky forest that held no well intentions nor mercy.

"I'm hungry...", mikoto mumbled to herself.

after all, she's been sealed for way too long. and she was sure that the official gods and goddesses will be sending people to come after her soon enough.

the dark-haired woman then heard a few grunts a few feet away.

     hooking her interest, mikoto leisurely headed towards the one sided brawl, with her usual red brocade — sewn with heavens' most valued silk — that trailed behind her.

     the demons were seemingly kicking around a nine-tailed fox, who had many broken bones and bruises, though one would not be able to tell with how dark it's fur was.

     "huh? a human?", one demon commented, to which its other two comrades had swiftly snapped their heads around.

     mikoto just stood there, unaffected.

the woman's attention drifted to the demon that was so beaten up that he was on the verge of using one of his nine lives.

"doesn't smell like a human...", the other sniffed.

"either way, I haven't ate a good meal in a long time. what perfect timing!", the oni in the middle exclaimed.

"yes indeed!! forget about the stupid fox. a human's way more filling", the one on the right agreed.

mikoto glanced around, sighing, as she had no weapon on hand.

though they just seemed like regular demons; no gifted powers or such.

"how unfortunate. now I'm going to have to get my hands dirty...", she grumbled, calmly walking towards the three oni, as they prepared to pounce on the woman.

mikoto hastily grabbed one of them by their arm and swung him around, smacking the other two in the process, as she dropped the middle oni.

jumping up into the air, the woman landed a blowing stomp onto the back of the oni, breaking its spine, as it watched his two friends run off.

     "w-who are...you...? how can...a mere human be that...strong?", the demon choked out.

     "mikoto", the woman blankly answered, stepping off of the demon that was pulverized into the ground, as she made her way over to the nine-tailed fox.

     "y-you mean the one who served—"

     "shut up", mikoto interrupted, kneeling down, as the dark furred fox had struggled to get up.

     however, it's feistiness was no less, as he attempted to growl at the woman, barring it's fangs.

"relax, I'm not hungry enough to eat fox meat", mikoto stated, causing a huff of air to be released by the fox.

"I don't have any medicine on me, but I suppose some bandages should subdue the bleeding for now", mikoto softly said, ripping the under layer of fabric to produce strips of tourniquet.

carefully addressing the cuts, mikoto had nearly wrapped the entire fox, as she sighed once she was finished.

     "I don't have food on me either, so this is as far as I can help you. try to avoid moving too much in these few days", mikoto advised, gently scratching the back of the fox's ear, as she displayed a small smile before leaving.

     the dark furred fox simply laid there, twitching, as it attempted to rise.

though to no avail, he just watched the woman slowly walk away. he would forever have her face engrained in his mind, especially those jade-green eyes that held no sort of ill will.

mikoto had traveled quite a short distance, thankfully, for she was about to faint due to dehydration.

     entering a small bustling village, the dark-haired woman realized that she had no money.

"unfortunate", she muttered beneath her breath.

"HELLO CUSTOMER!! I SEE YOU'RE NEW AROUND HERE. WHY DON'T YOU COME CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE BIRDS?!", a salesman exclaimed.

     mikoto raised a brow, clearly disinterested, but was nevertheless hauled towards the man's shop, where multiple birds were trapped in cages.

     one had specifically caught her eye.

     following her gaze, the salesman hastily grabbed the cage that mikoto was looking at, bringing it closer to her.

"this one's a special crow. he's got these golden eyes and is the leader of the rest of those back there", the man explained.

mikoto stared at the dark feathered bird, to which it had glared back with the same intensity, and perhaps even some animosity.

"you're going to die", the woman bluntly stated, causing the man to choke on his spit, as he offendedly gasped.

"e-excuse me?!"

"they're not just normal birds. look how much fatter they are compared to the normal crows", mikoto pointed, to which a few of them had started squawking at her, disgruntled.

"they're obviously tengus. I don't know how you managed to detain them, but it's best if you release them. they look quite vicious. they might even come back for revenge", mikoto explained.

     the shop owner just gawked at the woman, clearly in skepticism.

     "though if you don't believe me, it's fine. just in case you didn't know, crows are also the harbingers of death. have a nice day", mikoto said, as she was about to leave.

     "w-wait!! is there...a way that you can help me?! I can't just set them all free! I still need to run a business to support my family", the man protested.

mikoto's gears started turning, as a smile fell onto her face.

"for sure. I'll capture more birds for you, and in return, may I have food and shelter for the night?"

"are you sure you're capable of detaining at least ten birds today?", the man unsurely questioned.

"of course. in fact, I'll get you fifteen", the woman stated, grabbing a few cages that were large enough to contain at least five birds in each.

     "please excuse me as I go attend to the business now", mikoto said, swiftly leaving, as she promised that she'd be back before sunset.

the shop owner groaned, as he took a seat on his bench, only awaiting for the woman to return.

"YOU WHAT?! YOU SET HER FREE?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!", endeavor raged, as midoriya, todoroki, iida, and uraraka all kneeled in front of the official gods and goddesses.

"w-w-well I...IwaschasingthedemonandIjustaccidentallybrokethestone", midoriya blurted out.

     present mic — yamada hizashi — snorted, as eraserhead had just shook his head in disappointment.

     "it's alright, young midoriya. we all make mistakes sometimes", all might assured, to which the green-haired boy had just awkwardly nodded.

     "what if she's plotting her revenge against us right now? we need to prepare! who knows if she's conversing with the demons and attempting to recreate that war centuries ago?!", endeavor grumbled.

     "relax!! we can just send some people to go track her down", midnight casually waved off.

     "this is serious, midnight! you out of everyone should know what she's capable of!", endeavor retorted.

     todoroki raised a brow, intrigued, as for once, even his father was cautious of this person.

     "how about we send young midoriya and his team to go follow her? consider it a chance of redemption, and they can always contact us if something's wrong", all might suggested.

     "YES!! I-I mean...of course...thank you for this opportunity", midoriya mumbled.

"it's no problem. though you should probably rest first, so that your bones recover faster", all might smiled, rushing off, as the rest of the heavenly people were dismissed.

"who is this person that you released anyways? how are we supposed to find them if we don't even know their name or appearance?", iida questioned.

"I heard from my old man that she fought alongside the most wretched demon centuries ago, even though she made it to the gold rank in less than a thousand years", todoroki informed.

"so she's a traitor?", uraraka gasped.

todoroki shrugged.

"something like that. and it's said that she was born without powers, so every technique that she manifests is her actual raw strength".

midoriya's eyes widened, as he hesitantly repeated todoroki's words.

"s-she was able to get into the gold rank without powers?! I thought that wasn't possible!!"

"she was the best in her rank. though whether that's true or not...we'll just have to see for ourselves".