Hero Complex

Volume 001: Chapter 001: time, set in motion

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 "𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮!"

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"Otōu-san...Otōu-san, wait...I don't want—! No—please!" 

The sound of a young girl's hoarse voice from screaming was heard as the overhead abandoned warehouse lights flickered, casting tall shadows into the misty night, the only other source of visibility coming from a parked car's headlights.

The sound of wooden geta sandals clacked against the cracked black asphalt as a tall man folded his arms into his yukata sleeves and bent down before his sobbing daughter.

"Please..." The young girl tried once more as her small body wracked with pitiful shivers before she was interrupted from speaking further by the man pulling her into his arms and shushing her by stroking her head softly.

"Shh. I know it hurts," He murmured, though a sharp undertone was heard through his warm voice. "But you can handle it, you're strong. And I'm going to make you stronger."

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Bleary eyes of a pretty high-school senior fluttered open, her long eyelashes brushing against her cheeks as she groaned with a stretch of her arms above her head. 

The clock next to her bed showed the red digital numbers of six o'clock, showing that she had two and a half hours before school to get ready. Her phone was resting on the same side table which she picked up as she shuffled out from under the blankets, starting her day.

This was actually a later time than normal for her to wake, since she had been instilled in as a child to wake at five in the morning without fail. Though not that she was living on her own, she allowed herself the extra hour.

Her face was paler than usual when she got up, her body taking some time to gain back her colour as she padded into the kitchen to make herself breakfast while tying her long hair back smoothly in a high ponytail, leaving two strands of hair loose and framing her face.

From her own apartment to school was a thirty-minute walk and a fifteen-minute bike ride so she wasn't particularly rushed as grabbed her freshly pressed uniform which was hanging on the wall. 

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A cool spring breeze rustled through the blossoming cherry trees as students walked onto the school grounds, greeting one another with cheerful waves and the swishing of navy pleated skirts and ties. 

As the girl wheeled her bike into the bicycle rack shed, her eyes scanned the grounds for familiars faces before she heard the shy voice of a younger girl hiding right next to the shed.

"Good morning, Himikō-senpai." The short-haired girl greeted with a small wave of her hand, poking her head up from some bushes where she was hiding. 

Unsurprisingly turning to face the voice she beamed cheerfully at her kōhai and returning the hesitant greeting energetically, her bubbly personality showing perfectly despite it being morning.

"Good morning, Izumi-chan! Still having a rough time in your second-year?" 

The girl nodded slowly, her strangely cropped hair falling in her eyes as she stepped out of the bushes, brushing the leaves off of her uniform.