[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

"-has the best resale stores. Lots of thrift places, or those second-hand shops which are pricier but always have good stuff," Miroru explained as she led Freja through the energetic streets of Shinjuku, weaving through side streets to get to the little clothing district she knew of faster.

"You won't have so much trouble as I used to. It's easy to buy masc or femme clothing as long as you're a chick on first glance, but for me, until I wriggled my way past that marker, it helped to shop places with people less likely to be... y'know. Uptight?" She wasn't sure if that was the right word. Overly polite way to phrase it, probably, but she wasn't trying to bring herself down right now.

"Do you know what sorta duds you might wanna grab?" The redhead asked as they moved past hole-in-the-wall bars and little food shops, half of them deliciously smoky from the charcoal grills. Grilled chicken, grilled mochi, all sorts of snacks in place to take advantage of the drunk crowds pouring out of the little bars late at night.

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

Freja listened intently as Miroru went through the list of shops she needed to check out in the future. All the while, Freja kept a hand ready to draw her bat, just in case. They were in Shinjuku after all and Freja had already experienced two bad run-ins with some bad types out there. She definitely didn't want to make that three. Although, would it be the same? Miroru was here with her, not a hint of worry in the other girl's eyes as far as Freja could tell. N-Not that she was staring or anything!! Miroru just had pretty eyes, that's all!

Wait, did she refer to her as the other girl? As if Freja was a girl herself too? Well, she was and she wasn't... It felt alien, being in a woman's body. Was it really right for her? To chase her own happiness when this was her sister's body. Elias had been so scared of doing anything to ruin his late sister's image that he had almost forgotten how to live.

''I-Is that so? I guess I never really thought about that.'' She had trans friends back home, but for some reason it wasn't anything she had ever really thought that hard about herself. It wasn't until recently that she realized she was getting a different type of attention from people now that she didn't use to when she was a man. ''Less likely to be bigoted idiots.'' She corrected with a grin. ''Well, you look very feminine to me now. If you hadn't said anything I probably never would have been able to tell.'' Seriously, Freja could only admire how brave and impressive it was of Miroru. At times, Freja felt kind of bad that she probably looked like a girl, but sounded like a guy, or maybe that was just her own paranoia. ''D-Duds, me? Uh..'' Her mind raced for an answer. To be honest she wasn't fully sure.

''Well, I mostly wear clothes that hide my figure, you know the big jacket and stuff like that. Maybe a dress or a skirt?'' She was blushing just at the thought alone, scared that she might be perceived as some kind of pervert for wanting to wear more feminine clothing. ''How about you?'' Miroru would probably slay in pretty much anything she wore. ''It smells kinda nice around here.'' She smiled, remembering how she used to go to the city a lot back in Copenhagen. There was good and bad about remembering her home. It did bring one thing to the forefront of her mind.

''Ever had a crush before, Miroru?''

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

Miroru seemed pretty at ease in the rough neighborhood. Despite what should have been a pretty high-end upbringing, she'd been insulated from almost all of it, and her life since emancipation had been anything but richly appointed, leaving her lots of time and reason to travel to cheaper districts for food, clothing, and leisure with what pocket money she could scrape together.

"Well, sure, why would you? You've been pretty focused on... like, walking these miles in Freja's shoes. You don't really have any reason to let people in on any unimportant details like, oh. Who you really are, the feelings you have yourself, or any of that sort of pointless stuff, do you~?" Miroru elbowed Freja gently, putting the point on the tease about putting themselves so far on the back burner that they were just about on the stove three apartments back. "Ah, yes, there's the word, thank you~" She thanked as Freja dropped the accurate and less polite indicator for the progressive-challenged individuals in richer boutiques.

Her cheeks blossomed red at being called feminine, and Miroru tittered nervously, unsure what to do with the compliment. "Ahaha- thank you!! It's taken a lot of patience and work, but I do like how I look these days. Honestly almost shocking that I get to like how I look. I used to think I never would."

The idea of deliberating hiding Freja's figure made Miroru curious. "Do you dress frumpy because you feel weird showing off HER body? Or showing off YOURS?" Miroru asked simply. "But yeah! A simple sundress or something would be a good way to test how you feel dressing less... plainly!"

The redhead grinned as Freja commented on the tasty smells in the air. "It really does, doesn't it? This district doesn't really wake up until after dark when all the salarimen show up to drink themselves silly before going home with junk food to shove down before bed. But even now, it does smell awesome, don't it?"

That question, though, made Miroru tilt her head. "Hm... not one I ever felt bold enough to act on. I've thought lots of people are pretty, and wondered if it'd be fun to go on dates with some of them, but I keep myself so busy it's always an afterthought at best. Feels like there's tons of pretty people at uni, though, doesn't it?"

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

''Not really.. Not like talking about feelings and stuff like that is easy. With family or friends, let alone strangers.'' She blushed a bit when Miroru elbowed her, blurting out a defense and embarrassed, ''W-What? W-Well in any case that needs to change, I need to live my life and all that, you put it a lot better back then.''

She smiled at Miroru after having said the word. ''If anyone ever gives you any trouble about who you are, they're getting the bat.'' She blinked her eyes at Miroru when SHE started blushing after being called feminine. ''Really?'' A lot of work? ''But you make it look so effortless.'' Freja did understand that point about not liking how she looked, though. Back when she was Elias, there were many things she would have wanted to change about her appearance too.

''Eh? What?'' She was taken by surprise by Miroru's question. ''A-A bit of both, maybe? Most people only like what they see, right?'' There was a pause as she continued to walk, mulling over her words before she started up again. ''But who they see isn't me. It's not even my sister either.'' She tightened the grip on her bat subconsciously. ''It's a weird feeling. You're probably somewhat familiar with it too, not that I want to assume anything.'' She smiled somberly down at Miroru. She couldn't fathom how hard Miroru's journey had been, but she was probably experiencing some similar things herself. ''Yeah, I think as long as I try out new stuff, eventually I'll find what I like? T-Thank you for going with me, by the way. I don't exactly go around and tell everyone my secret, so there aren't many people I can rely on for things like this.''

''It does. ~ I used to go out drinking on the weekends back home. There was just something so relaxing and freeing about it.'' She was a night owl through and through. Before the swap she used to go on a lot of night walks too. It wasn't like she had lost the interest to do it either, but rather that being a woman walking on her own at night versus being a guy doing it garnered a whole different level of attention she had to learn to live with now.

''Really? That's totally different from my experience.'' She smiled. ''I've only really had once.'' Her mind wandered back to her homeland. Even though he broke her heart part of her still missed him. ''About uni...'' She put a hand up to her chin, blushing faintly. ''Now that you mention it.. There's lots of pretty people at school isn't there? Like everyone is unreasonably pretty.'' She cleared her throat. ''A-Anyway! That's interesting to me. That we both have different experiences with that.''

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

Miroru elbowed Freja again when she tried to state that she "didn't really" have reasons to talk about herself and her feelings, squinting in a corrective glare. Those things WERE important, after all. "No, they're not easy, but it's important. Isolation is murder. We're social animals. Nobody does well completely isolated, and more so when the topic is mental and emotional stability specifically. So it's not easy, but you need to keep doing that." She folded her hands behind her head and quietly crowed, "But don't worry~ you've got me for that~"

The offer to defend Miroru's right to be herself made the foxgirl's cheeks light up a little, and she grinned. "Oh, really, the bat, you say? Are we talking traditional usage, or "where the sun don't shine" application here?"

Effortless. Hardly. Miroru glanced away as it brought to mind how hard it'd been to cultivate any appearance of femininity before her body started to respond and develop secondary characteristics. "Yeah, well... before my curves came in, I just looked like a small guy wearing girl's clothes. If I was lucky, I might have managed to look like a preteen girl in her big sister's clothes. Which wasn't that bad, but still a little embarrassing."

"Well, sure, I get your point, but... what people see is never the other person in their entirety. You're just more aware of it than just about anyone." Miroru looked up at the sky. "See... for most people, it's easy to assume that everyone looking at them must obviously understand them as they know themselves. There's exceptions, obviously- lots of insecure people assume the opposite, of course, and never feel properly seen- but you know that the person on the outside doesn't match who you are inside. Which you're right, I do understand," she admitted, reaching to touch Freja's shoulder gently. "And you're welcome. I like helping my friends get more comfortable in their own skin. Or in their own outfits, as the case may-"

Miroru's ears perked up abruptly as she stopped dead in her tracks. "... Freja, get your bat out," she stated quietly, turning into an alley and moving fast. "Either someone set off a firecracker inside a store down the block or I just felt a gunshot."

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

''Y-You?'' She asked sheepishly, ''I've already bothered you plenty with my problems.'' She looked down at the ground as they walked. More than plenty. She hadn't told anyone else her secret yet, and it was completely unprompted too! It's not like Miroru asked to be told something that personal, but honestly? Freja didn't regret that she had. The only way she could regret saying it was if knowing somehow bothered Miroru, but that didn't seem to be the case. ''Well, likewise anyway.'' She glanced back up at Miroru and flashed her a brief smile before looking back down again. ''I've always been a better listener.''

''Either or, maybe both depending on how much they bothered you.'' She grinned wickedly. Just because she was a hero student didn't mean using dirty tricks were out of the question! She was a former delinquent after all. On the fast track to become a young criminal until fate had decided otherwise.

''Yeah.. Sometimes we don't notice the progress we've made until we look back at old pictures? Then I think to myself, 'wow I looked completely different back then'. Uh- n-not because of what happened with my quirk or anything, it still applies from before the swap!'' She hastily put her hands up to clarify. It sounded like Miroru had been through a lot of tough times. She could only sympathize with her plight.

Oof. That way insecure people saw themselves definitely fit the bill for Freja. She blinked her eyes and glanced at Miroru's hand as it touched her shoulder before looking back into her eyes. They were so pretty, she swore they were sparkling somehow. Wait, don't get distracted!! She smiled, feeling a light blush coming on before Miroru stopped. ''Huh?''

Her face grew pale as she whipped her bat up, ready to bonk the nearest evildoer. ''A gunshot?'' She followed behind Miroru. ''You felt it? How did you feel it?''

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

"Oh, I disagree~ to have bothered me plenty, you'd have to have bothered me first~!" Miroru taunted, grinning at Freja as the other girl tried to evade the reminder that she had a safe space to share. "Likewise has been noted. Your listening exams shall begin on a later date. Please look forward to it~" All that, followed up by a sharp, delighted snicker as Freja implied she'd make a jerk shishkabat if someone was enough of an asshole!

"Relax, Freja-chan, I knew what you meant. It's okay!" Miroru gently nudged Freja's frantically negating hands back down, hoping the physical shift might take a little anxiety off her shoulders.

Then shit got real.

"It's part of my quirk. Gunpowder ignition is an exothermic reaction, which-" Miroru paused, condensing her point. "Fire is infrared light and I can sense the flare-up when a bullet gets shot." She kept scampering down the alley, not looking back. She knew Freja was right behind her. "I'm not- entirely sure which shop it was fired in, but-" As they reached the end of the alley, Miroru paused. "... you know what, I think I know how to sneak a peek."

Holding her hands up, Miroru started to focus, bouncing the light at the end of the alley towards them, then repeating the process at the street corner, and then along the storefronts on the other side, turning the space between her hands into a crude periscope.

Sure enough, a trio of thugs with guns- two shotguns and a handgun- had trapped one of the boutique owners at their register and were forcing them to open it!

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

''W-Well..'' She muttered out shyly as Miroru taunted her. ''You didn't ask for any of that trauma dumping.'' Even if Freja had desperately needed someone to open up to, it wasn't like Miroru had signed up for any of that. It was even more embarrassing that she had opened up to Miroru the first time they really spoke together in private. Talk about carrying a lot of baggage. She smiled at what Miroru said next. ''Yeah. I'll look forward to it.'' She nudged Miroru's shoulder gently. In a way, this was kind of the perfect solution for her. She would get to talk about her problems, get to hear about Miroru's and through all of it, she got to hang out more with her, which she really liked.

''..Right, there's nothing worse than being misconstrued.'' She whined, finally calming down at Miroru's reassurance. Her anxiety gone just like that. She would have liked for them to stand like that for a while longer, but sadly fate had other plans. Much more sinister if Miroru's senses were right, and Freja was pretty certain they were.

Exothermic reaction? That some kinda sciency stuff right? That checked out! Miroru knew these things better than her. She was panting just to keep up with the fox girl, how did she get so fast?? Note to self, do more cardio when she gets back. ''O-Oh yeah? By all means. I'll follow your lead.'' She used the bat as a support as she caught her breath. ''Do you see it?'' She whispered, watching in awe as Miroru used her quirk in creative ways yet again. Seriously, her talent couldn't be understated.

''This'll be the debut of BBB.'' She gave her bat a confident pat with her hand. ''You're faster than me so if you need me to run in and distract them I can do that.''

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

"Maybe not explicitly, but I sure don't mind that it happened. So you can't say you've bothered me, now can you~?" Miroru teased, smirking at Freja as she protested! "And good. You better! Failing tests will be punished with... uh... I dunno. Something ostensibly unpleasant!"

---

"Yeah, I see it. There's two guys with hunting guns-" Shotguns, in other words. "-and another with a handgun. Where'd he even get those? Those are super illegal. Maybe cribbed from police or SDF supplies..?" She shook her head. It wasn't important. "Actually, I think we go in together. I can stop the guns from firing, but I can only take down one, and I don't have a weapon to do it. If you can get the other one, we'll outnumber the last one pretty quickly. I think that's the play here." She glanced at Freja, nodding encouragingly, even if her face was a bit pale at having lives on the line. "We can do this. I'm right on your heels. I'll go for whichever hunter you don't!"

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

Freja sighed, “Okay okay!” She finally conceded, “Your insistence is making me embarrassed.” She looked away, feeling the warmth flood her cheeks. Miroru wasn’t just pretending, she was the kind of person that really cared, and her teasing was way too effective! “Unpleasant? Like more tests?” She cooed, putting her arms behind her back. Although, maybe for Miroru that wouldn’t be so bad. She came across as a brainiac after all. If anything she probably found the time to enjoy tests.

Two with guns? She swallowed her nerves as she prepared herself for a tricky situation. It always felt way scarier when guns were involved. “I don’t even want to think about it. They already sound horrible.” She shivered, so three guns total that Miroru could make out. Seeing Miroru’s face grow pale too, Freja quickly tried to take her hand and give it a firm squeeze. “Yeah! Together, we’ll get through without a single shot being fired.” She smiled, trying to act braver than she was. “That guy on the right.” She pointed with her bat. “I’ll take him.” She had already planned out how to do it too.

Charging in Freja, raised her bat a few feet from him, just in time for one of his allies to notice Freja and take aim. If Miroru wasn’t able to stop bullets, this would be the part where Freja died for sure, but she had to put her trust in her friend to capitalize on the gamble that could win them the fight in seconds. Aiming her bat at the guy on the right, she clicked a mechanism to fire her grappling hook at him, trying to have it smack into his gun and knock it out of his hands. Unfortunately for Freja, the hook was just a glancing blow, enough to make the ruffian stagger, but not enough to disarm him.

“Shit!” She ducked behind a shelf as he fired in her direction. Panting, Freja weighed her options before giving her bat a yank, turning the grappling hook wire into a tripwire, making the shooter stumble over himself and drop his gun. As soon as he fell to the ground, Freja would roll out of her cover and kick his gun away, before bashing him over the head and retracting the grappling hook back inside of her bat. “Miroru! You and me!” She called out, turning her attention to the final guy. Hopefully they would be able to tag team him together.

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

Miroru was not, as it happened, able to STOP bullets. That would be an entirely different branch of physics in which she was entirely ungifted. However, she was able to stop exothermic reactions, and by forcing the infrared heat released by the blasting caps in the bullets outwards to harmlessly heat the barrels of the guns as triggers were pulled, no propellant ignited- and Freja was not forced to suffer death all over again!

As the girl swung to the right and attempted her disarm, only to be forced to deviate into a trip and pounce on him for the knockout blow, Miroru sprinted forwards towards the shotgunner on the left, taking two steps up into midair and leaping forwards, twisting to bring her knees in- and piston them outwards to catch the thug full in the face with both boots, triggering their airburst to add insult to injury by catapulting him backwards into the shelves, separating him from his weapon and dazing him heavily!

Before he could get up, Miroru stood on the barrel, breeched the gun, and stomped on the receiver, snapping the mechanisms allowing it to close and properly fire, turning towards the third thug- only to find his gun discarded and a large knife held to the shopkeep's throat, glaring wildly at the pair.

"BACK OFF, BITCHES, OR THIS ASSHOLE GETS IT!"

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

A few hits was all it took as Freja, panting looked over to Miroru, smiling as she caught the other girl wrecking her gun guy just in the nick of time. Freja was ready to move on to the final thug, however, she felt a sharp pain in her ankle just as she was about to take another step. Had she twisted it somehow when she was getting out of her cover? Crap. The adrenaline in her body was probably suppressing the pain now, but it was about to hurt a whole lot more once her and Miroru got out of here. Curse her mortal body and its mortal limitations. Why couldn't she be super tough like Emilia?

''Hey, hey, easy! Let the man go!'' Freja held up her bat with both hands, showing that she wasn't about to hit him and that she could drop it any moment if he commanded it. Hopefully Freja had somehow managed to look more imposing. Taller build and a big weapon, as opposed to her fox friend who was smaller, held no weapons, but was by far the scarier of the two. Still, if Freja could draw his attention, maybe Miroru could figure something out? Hostage exchange situations wasn't exactly something Freja was equipped for, but she was ready to let these armed idiots go if it meant saving the civilian. The shopkeep's life was the top priority right now.

''We're not gonna fight you, okay? Let the guy go.'' She kept her eyes locked on the knife wielder, but offered a quick glance towards Miroru. What did she think? How were they going to get out of this one with no casualties? Miroru could stop guns from firing bullets, sure, but unless she could melt the knife or move faster than him, they were in some real trouble.

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

Miroru went wide-eyed and pulled her hands over her head, ears back in clear distress as she stared at the thug hold that blade to the shopkeep's throat, terrorizing the man as he manhandled him around the counter. "Either of you stupid sluts move and I'll open this fucker's throat like a cheap bag of wine!" The fox was just as motionless as Freja, holding her position as directed.

Which Freja had every chance to realize was very, very unlike the fox.

The thug dragged and wrangled the poor shopkeep towards the door, making it halfway past the counter, staring at the two girls wildly, refusing to get taken down like his "friends" he was clearly abandoning.

Unsuccessfully.

Without warning, his knife arm yanked straight outwards with a startled hoot from the thug, suddenly held outright over the counter. The next instant, his elbow bent the wrong way, his howling, wide-eyed face slammed against the counter, and his nose crunched inwards and exploded with blood as his head bounced off of... something unseen and sent him careening to the floor, unconscious.

A moment later, Miroru straightened up as she took her illusory double's place again, whistling. "Man, I dunno what happened to him, but I sure am glad we're all okay. Good things those guns all jammed at the same time, that was super lucky! Why don't you call the cops, sir? If you've got some zipties, we can get them locked down so they're ready to go when the police arrive," she asked, conspicuously limping towards the counter to take the zipties offered.

And if that was blood spattered all over one of the toes of her sneakers, she wasn't saying anything about that.

I can pay no price too great for justice.

Template by: Monkey

[Freja Helt]

''W-We get it, we get it! No one is moving!'' She was getting more and more desperate. From the looks of things Miroru was terrified too, which didn't really seem like the fox girl. Odd... Was she actually looking at Miroru right now? As the criminal slowly made his way through the shop towards the door, all Freja could think about was hoping he would ditch the hostage when he got to the door.

She went wide eyed too when Miroru suddenly reappeared and made short work of the last thug. She made it look so easy, so completely effortless, like she had done it a million times before. No, Freja could barely follow what was happening, but it had to be Miroru, right? When she took her doubles place and started moving again, she turned to look at her, mouth still hanging open in shock. Then she felt something else build up inside her. Relief. Tears welled up in her eyes as her bat hit the floor with a clank and she ran over to scoop Miroru into a big hug. ''We did it. You're incredible, Miroru.'' Thanks to her everyone was saved. Well, all the innocent people anyway, the thugs weren't exactly dead, but they were definitely feeling those injuries all the way to prison.

''That was you before, wasn't it? I could barely follow what was happening..'' She whispered, making sure the civilian didn't hear them as for whatever reason, Miroru was acting oblivious about how awesome her powers were. Once it came time to tie up the criminals, Freja would do her part, but not without whining as the pain in the ankle she had twisted let her know the adrenaline had faded from her body.

Miroru

[Miroru]

Rokuhane Miroru

Department of Heroes Freshman

Prism, the Spectrum Hero

Freja Helt | ### | notes

No one is moving. Easy to say.

Impossible to obey, as Miroru soon proved.

In those brief instants, it must have seemed like the thug's body betrayed him, breaking and smashing and bleeding all of its own accord with nobody there to do it to him- nobody anyone could notice, anyhow. Freja's guess was right, though, and Miroru confirmed that after the squeak of being hugged so tightly- even if she did return the hug after a moment. "This's nice." Not a lot of good touches back home. Hugs were lovely.

"Shh. Who knows what happened. It's a mystery to eeeeeveryone," Miroru insisted, though she winced as the hug ended. "In an entirely unrelated issue... do, um. Do you know where the nearest pharmacy is? You need ice packs and ace bandages... and I think I need some toe splints."

I can pay no price too great for justice.

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