Superhero and Supervillain

Chapter 9

Rin woke up feeling amazing, the best she had in a while. Though she had had an admittedly weird dream, she was refreshed and free of worry. She couldn't even remember why she was so scared last night. She was just so relieved that she almost didn't notice Len passed out on the ground in front of her. She screamed.

Len woke up with a start. "What? Where? Where is he?"

Rin stretched herself out and sighed. "He who?"

"You know, the guy! The guy that was here!"

The guy? Rin remembered what had happened last night. She giggled a little at how sweet and nice he had been. She did wonder why he looked like Len, but maybe he just did that to make her feel safe. She had to admit it had worked.

Still, she was more than a little curious. Had Len tried to prank her by pretending he was the baku? The resemblance was uncanny...

"Hey Len, were you in my room last night?" Rin wondered.

"Yeah, I was. Trying to keep the guy out!" he pressed.

"Were you in my room wearing a suit?"

"A suit?" Len jolted. "Rin, he didn't pretend to be me, did he?"

"Is it really your business?" Rin shot back. She let out another sigh. "I don't know if you pulled a prank on me or what, but there was definitely someone here, and he looked a heck of a lot like you"

"Rin, you don't understand!" Len tried. "That guy last night? He was a supervillain who was trying to brainwash you!"

"So now you're pretending to be a supervillain too?" Rin was starting to get angry, but then she realized something.

The pointed ears. The grey eyes. Neither of which Len had, and neither of which he could mimic. That meant...

He really had been there last night.

He had to get to the bottom of this. Now Rin was the one being brainwashed, and Len was being made out to look like some sort of hallucinating idiot. Some wannabe.

Len wasn't a wannabe. He was a superhero. Superheroes don't give up if someone calls them crazy.

Rin would have thought he was even crazier if she knew what had been happening in her room last night. That was expected, brainwashed people don't know they're being brainwashed. Len had had a reason, however, and he wasn't going to let some supervillain touch his sister. No way, no how.

He shifted Gumi off of his chest before standing up, the former letting out a loud mew that startled the misty-eyed Rin. Len almost felt guilty for not trying to un-brainwash her, but he wasn't that kind of superhero, and besides, he didn't know anything about un-brainwashing anyway.

Fortunately, there was an easy, tried-and-true way to un-brainwash somebody. He had to defeat the one who brainwashed her.

Len hadn't told a soul about his plan to spy on the supervillain, but he couldn't risk anyone finding out, lest they blow his cover. Rin was included in that list. He didn't want his sister getting in any more danger.

He checked under his bed for the equipment he'd stored for tonight's escapade: a pair of binoculars, a camera (for evidence) two volumes of Defender comics (for inspiration) and a pair of running shoes (for quick getaways). Obviously, Len had no idea how to actually spy on someone, and had just gathered up whatever he thought would help. At last, he was ready.

Hang on, Rin, Len thought to himself. I'm going to save you.