Scars

Chapter 1

"Are you two ready?" The hero looked back at us, holding up the card that would give us access into one of the most dangerous blocks of the prison. Her solid black eyes bore into ours as if they were searching for any sign of doubt. The male beside me was sone-faced, as if seeing the top criminals in Japan was an everyday occurrence for him. I'd only known him for a few days, as we were both recently hired as sidekicks under Kijo, the Demon Hero, and he seemed to express little to no emotion.

I nodded my head despite my stomach seeming to turn on itself. I wondered if Mikeranjero, the other side kick, was internally feeling nervous as well. Despite his stoic features, I saw the black wings on his back spread slightly before settling into their relaxed state.

The two guards on either side of the door seemed unbothered, as if they knew exactly who Kijo was. They probably did. Her features stood out, with scarlet skin and worn down stubs she called horns sticking out of her forehead, and they made her hard to forget. They stepped aside when the pro hero approached the door. Kijo pressed the card against a small keypad before laying her hand against a scanner. A blue line ran along her palm, taking in every curve and line of her hand, before the door beeped three times. It rose up and revealed a large corridor.

As Kijo took a step forward, walking into the room that held murderers, gang members, arsonists, and maniacs, I took in a deep breath, trying to relax. Kijo had been adamant that we showed no fear or nervousness around them. As heroes, we had to control our emotions in moments like this. That was the whole purpose of this little field trip. We needed to not express the fear we would potentially have when fighting. She could've put us in the room with the most intimidating heroes, rather than taking us to a prison filled with real dangerous people, but it wouldn't have been as efficient. It wasn't the people with terrifying physical quirks like hers, that changed one's appearance past what was considered the average human. It was those who looked like every other civilian we had to watch out for.

"Hurry up before the door closes, Seishin," Mikeranjero said to me, giving me a stale look. He really had a poker face. I just hoped the prisoners wouldn't be able to read into the slight flapping of his angel-like wings like I could.

"Coming," I said, keeping my voice flat. I didn't want to risk any tightness in my voice expressing how I truly felt at this moment. I walked through the doorway, stepping into the prison block. The cells were blocked off by a thick glass, revealing prisoners working out, sleeping, or staring at their guests in curiosity. In their cells were a toilet, a bed, and a small hole in their walls that were barred up. This was their only view of the outside world. I wondered how well the glass actually separated us from these murderers. I was aware of the other floors that had different cell structures in order to restrict their quirks from being used. One floor was dedicated to those with a power-up ability, who were placed into a thick iron cell with no window. This floor was for the more dangerous emitter quirks, ones that typically could be held up by the thick glass. The glass wasn't normal glass. It was the warden's quirk, so it stood much more durably against quirks.

I peered into each cell with interest, looking at just how different each person was, but it was hard. They were all put into a bright orange jumpsuit, unifying them and making them nothing more than the printed number along their sleeves. We wore jumpsuits of our own, ours being a greyish blue, as some heroes could have too much skin showing or body clinging hero suits. The prison decided to have guests wear jumpsuits to prevent prisoners getting too riled up in their cells.

Most of the prisoners didn't seem too interested in our little group. Of course, we were met with glares and looks of disgust as it was those in our line of work that had put them behind the glass, but nothing more than that. Most of the prisoners in this cell had been here for a while and had expressed enough of their hate for the heroes that regularly came through. I turned my head to look at a cell to our left as we passed by.

A pair of sharp turquoise eyes met mine. They seemed to almost glow because of how bright they were. They were beautiful. But they were filled with something that turned my blood cold and sent a shiver down my spine.

Absolute hatred.