MHA: An Alchemist's Vengeance

Chapter 2: Fragments of a Veiled Past

Yurina had had a problem. That was what Keigo called it at least. Upon one wall of her bedroom, Yurina had a large wall, covered in different masks. When she first debuted as a hero, Yurina was already wearing a full-faced mask. And as she continued to rise in popularity and strength, her fans would give her masks they made. Sometimes children would give her paper masks, poorly crafted from construction paper and markers, others crafted wooden ones, a few welded metal ones. Soon enough, she had amassed a large collection of fan-made masks. She often wore them to press events, but never during work.

"I don't want to destroy them." Yurina said fondly when Keigo asked her. But her collection was growing a little too large. So, Yurina began pulling some down from the wall, putting them in a storage bin for safe keeping.

In their shared apartment, there were separate rooms for both of them. Keigo and Yurina slept together, but separate living spaces were nice to have, especially with the amount of stuff they both had. They hardly went into each other's rooms. It was a silent agreement; knock and don't invade.

That wasn't to say that they were always in their rooms. They enjoyed meals together; lunch if they could, with breakfast and dinner merging into "a meal eaten far too late in the evening, and far too early in the morning". They slept well in each other's arms during the nights if they were together, or sometimes late in the afternoon when their schedules aligned. It was truly the only time Yurina could sleep, truly sleep. Only when she felt safe.

They made it work.

Yurina closed the storage bin lid and hauled it into the closet. New masks were hung on the wall. Her actual uniform and mask were held in a glass closet, waiting for action. She made her way to the kitchen, smelling something savory sizzling in the pan. The time was irrelevant, as the sun began to ascend into the cloud-filled sky, sending an orange blush across the living room.

It had been one of the better nights, where Keigo had already gone to bed, and Yurina arrived later in the night. She had showered quickly, pulling the excess water from her hair, and brushing her teeth. If Keigo had been in a deep sleep, it didn't matter, as his arms and wings seemed to sense her presence, opening up to grab her. She settled into his tangled limbs, enveloped in a warm cocoon. Even if it was only for a few short four hours, Yurina slept soundly. She had woken up to a few stray feathers, waving in her face before they zipped out of the room. After freshening up and organizing her masks, Yurina began a new day.

Keigo moved between the kitchen island and stove, chopping up meat and stir frying vegetables. As he moved, his red wings caught the sunlight, dipping them into a fiery blaze. Yurina padded over in her lounge clothes: a pair of joggers and a Hawks T-shirt. Keigo matched her, with boxers and an Alchemi-symbol tee. His eyes brightened upon seeing her, and she fell into his arms, shifting so he could jostle the pan in his hand whilst holding onto her.

"Finished organizing your creepy masks?"

"They aren't creepy."

"It's creepy to hang up so many." Yurina could only stick out her tongue, reaching for a plate in the cupboard to give to Keigo. He scooped sweet fried pork and bokchoy onto the plate. It glittered in the rising sun, drenched in whatever seasonings Keigo had added.

They sat together and ate the pork with small bowls of white rice. The clock read 4:13 AM. The two heroes had planned on getting into the office by 5:30. They left without one another. Keigo flew out, while Yurina walked. He would get there first, early, while she would arrive exactly on time.