A/N: Massive apology for my lack of updates. I actually got to do some amazing work experience in a real hospital and I couldn't pass it up, so writing took the back bench. I'm really sorry but . Thanks to all my lovely reviews, though, for sticking with me. This chapter goes a bit fast, I think. But I re-wrote it so many bloody times that in the end I settled with this. Hope you all enjoy it. End of drabbling nonsense nobody wants to read.

Chapter 7

I sped down the motorway, feeling the cool evening air whistle through cracks in the seal between my helmet and leathers, the road seemingly sucked underneath the wheels of my bike. I saw an old couple look at me scathingly as I passed them in the fast lane, but I'm most reckless and childish when I'm on my bike, leaving the tarmac behind me. I can't help it- driving is always calming and liberating to me, the sort of feeling I actually needed right now.

My junction came up, so I swerved into the left-hand lane, earning an angry horn from the Peugeot behind me. Let him be stressed- I'm chilled. Chilled so much I'm in the fridge. Yeh.

I was actually on the way to nowhere when I realized just how close I was to my parents' house. Should I go? I knew where the spare key was. I could go in, tidy up a bit… but I'd just end up depressed. I decided to at least call my mum's mobile. I hoped she was still using the same one, because Shizuru's taunt was really beginning to get to me.

I veered off the A-road I was following, twisting through tiny backways streets and passing idyllic middle-class houses. I used to be able to name all the people who lived in them, but now I felt cut off from this neighbourhood. I live a very different life- Natsuki Kruger, ex-badass. Now, I'm a boring academic. Well… maybe not so boring when you can shoot condensed bullets of mist out of your hands, but still… I pulled into my driveway. Damn, this was nostalgic, even if the hedge was overgrown and weeds were currently in control of the garden, the quaint little house was very much home.

Mum had been into gnomes- heaven knows why- and kept the spare front door key in the hollow one with the fishing rod. He was perched on top of a gaudy red and white mushroom, which totally reminded me of Mario. I took it out and turned it in the lock, which was rusty from lack of use. So far as I knew, we'd paid off the mortgage, but when they left on their world tour my parents had stopped the gas and electricity for the house, since by that time I'd just moved into my first flat- a horrid one-bedroom sinkhole in downtown Fuuka with mould growing in the toilet. When I thought about it, I could have done better, since my parents were heavily subsidizing my living costs, but I think I wanted to prove something to myself. And plus, I had to save up for my bike.

The porch was damp and covered in spiderwebs, but beyond that, my house was still cozy and innocent as I remembered it. I ran my hand over the dusty surfaces, perhaps a couple of tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes. I couldn't help it- everything seems to have changed so violently since I was a child, including me.

As I went into the kitchen, I heard the upstairs floorboards creek. Weird, because they only creak when someone steps on them. I froze, suddenly very worried. Was there someone in my house? A burglar?

Light steps descended the stairs, like something from a horror movie, and I was rooted to the spot. All right, calm down. I'm a hero. I can handle a human burglar. The steps moved closer, along the hallway, until a shadow was cast on the wall just outside the kitchen.

"Natsuki." The figure said, revealing himself to be Nagi, dressed as usual in his stately, billowing cloak, but he had a book- dad's book- balanced on his head. "Why would you be here of all places?"

"Uh… I don't know. Just felt like visiting." I shrugged (hopefully) nonchalantly under his reddish gaze.

"I see." He looked around. "What a charming domicile."

"What brings you here?"

He chuckled. "I like you. You're not afraid to ask questions. I know where all my heroes are at any time, and I thought I'd come and visit you, since your presence hasn't been felt in Asgard since you ascended. Why is that?"

"I've been… busy."

"Do you know the reason that you were picked in the first place?" He asked triumphantly. "I have coordinated many things, but you were always a loose end. You and your mother."

"What does mum have to do with it?"

"Your mother was one of my most promising. She was a born hero, from a long line of heroes, and yet…" He looked half annoyed, half crestfallen. "And she still betrayed me for a human."

"…My mum was…?"

"One of the best I've ever known. Saeko was as beautiful as she was powerful, but she was… obsessive. A wild card in my perfect deck. And still, I gave her chance after chance…"

"Don't talk about her like that!" I said, fuming. Nagi leered at me, hands in his pockets, radiating power. "She was the best mother she could be to me!"

"People change. People lie. Your mother was very good at both, little hero." He growled. "You have no idea what she tried to do- no, not even that. What she'd already done by the time she died. You know what she'd made? You."

Me? What was he on about! The revelation that my mum had been a hero was shocking, but why did he keep going on about lies and changes and betrayal? "Of course she made me. She was my mother."

He pulled out a necklace he was wearing- a slim sliver chain, and dangled its centerpiece before my eyes. "This is a vial of Saeko Kruger's blood. Do you know what it does?"

"No."

"Drink it, and any hero will become human. Irreversibly. The whole of our race could be rendered powerless in days. She had been developing it for years, testing the 'cure' on herself- all she ever wanted to be was human. And when she perfected it, she got married and had a child, who she thought would not inherit the 'cure'."

"…Me."

"Correct."

"But… surely if I inherited it, I'd be human even after you turned hero, since my blood would fight the… whatever."

"Wrong." He grinned, his white hair luminescent in the moonlight from the windows. "The two genes bind together, creating something much worse than a hero. You, Natsuki Kruger, you are the most dangerous person on this planet. A danger to me, especially. I rule Asgard because I can 'turn people into heroes', which is a lie in itself. If any power were to usurp mine, we'd return to chaos, at which point villains would overrule us."

"Why am I dangerous? I'm pretty normal." That sounded off even as I said it. Why this, now? Why me? I just wanted to be normal- well, as normal as I could be. Special was for high-schoolers looking for attention. I just wanted to live my life… I didn't have cast iron plan, but at one point I wanted to settle down. Find love. All those childish notions that we grow up on, playing mummies and daddies in the plastic house in the local park, drawing pictures in the sandpit- everything we work for, I thought I wanted. Not this.

Nagi took the book off his head and held it at arm's length. The author's picture of my dad on the back struck me like an arrow to the heart. "You could destroy everything I've worked for over forty years. All security in the world. Some humans are born to be heroes; they just need a push in the right direction from me. You, though- you could prevent the next generation of heroity."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Of course not." He dismissed me. "You are the daughter of Saeko Kruger. You have the same sense of justice as her… but you needn't do anything willingly. Not from a villainous perspective."

"Oh." I realized. "So, villains could… use me, to turn all heroes into humans, and therefore rule the world. Properly."

"Exactly. I had hoped that they hadn't discovered Saeko's research, but Rad is always five steps ahead of everybody else. That bastard." The cussword sounded wrong coming from someone with the body of a child. "He let me change you, knowing full well the effect it would have. And now he'll be after you and your mother's legacy. It's not safe."

What had my mum done?

I couldn't help but think of her, for a moment, as selfish. Selfish to develop the cure, and selfish to use it on herself without definitely knowing she wouldn't pass it to me… selfish for giving up heroism to be with dad. But… she only wanted a normal life. How could you begrudge her that?

I remembered my blackout after Shizuru had poisoned me. Had… had they done something? Taken my blood to use in effectively neutering heroes' powers? I shivered even in my leathers, thinking of that dream. Was that my destiny? To either stay cooped up under heavy protection or to lie strapped to a table, being sucked dry by villains? I would not have either, thank you very much. Last time I checked, 'Natsuki' was not an anagram of 'victim'.

"You understand?" Nagi asked. "If I were less of a gentleman, I'd have killed you as soon as possible, but I believe you have your uses."

"Oh, great."

"Villains are also heroes. We just give them another name. I believe we can play their own card against them, to go back to my analogy. I have given you your grace period to get used to being a hero. Now, you have to work for your power."

"I don't get it. Surely if you neuter villains, more will rise to take their places."

"Incorrect. You see, heroism is inherited on a dominant gene. Theoretically, each child of a hero-human pairing had a fifty percent chance of gaining powers naturally. The others, who did not inherit the gene, still have dormant heroism inside them. These-" he gestured to the gems on his jacket, "Merely contain the dominant H gene that awakens those powers."

"Are there a finite number of those?"

"No, I make more every couple of hundred years."

My heart skipped a beat. So old. It should be impossible. Heroes may fly in the skies, but everybody dies. His expression was one that said 'and if you're impressed with that, wait until you see my…'. Apparently, I looked shocked. "Yes. I am quite old."

"That's an understatement, like saying that the cookie monster just likes cookies."

"I'll pretend to know what you're talking about." Nagi said, looking a little confused. "Natsuki… please, for all our sakes, be careful."

"I can't promise anything."

"I know." He bowed slightly and tucked the vial of my mother's blood back under his shirt. "Still, If anything were to happen, Natsuki, I would not hesitate to kill you."

Great.

I sat; fat and unmoving like some kind of resplendent bagpuss on the sofa, staring numbly into an empty tub of ice cream, the World Cup on telly. I wasn't really paying attention, since I'm not into football, but anything to take my mind off what Nagi had said. It was dark outside, August having relented to September, and I was down way lower than I'd ever been before. My eyes reflected my mood, almost wholly taken up by the brownish-yellow that Shizuru had stained them. If I continued this way, I'd gain weight. Nao had started buying low-fat ice cream.

Speaking of Nao, she was cooking dinner at the moment, a stir-fry that filled the otherwise musty flat with the rich scent of soy and vegetables, making my stomach rumble. Thank god for small mercies and flatmates.

The doorbell rang but I didn't get up; Nao would answer it, I decided. Dutifully, she did, and I heard the low murmur of conversation. She led the caller in. "Nat, it's someone for you from the paper… What did you say your name was?"

"Fujino."

My blood froze in my veins at that voice.

"Well, come on in then. She says you two were going to do an interview? Natsuki? Oi, space-case, wake up!" Nao clicked her fingers. "Stop staring at stupid men in shorts and do whatever you arranged."

Shizuru gracefully came into view, dressed modestly, carrying a briefcase and wearing a coat. She smiled sweetly at Nao, who excused herself back to the kitchen. "I'll cook for three, if you want, Ms. Fujino?"

"I wouldn't want to impede on your kindness," she replied. "But supper smells delicious. I would be very much honoured."

She sat down on the armchair, which was at an angle to the sofa. Usually, since it was only me and Nao living here, we shared the settee, but Nao'd seen the armchair very cheap and so had bought it anyway. Shizuru crossed her legs, pulling out a tape recorder and a pad of paper. "Good evening, Natsuki."

I gritted my teeth, careful not to re-open the healing wounds on my lower lip. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Not so loud, lest your flatmate hear, ne?"

I lowered my voice, glaring at her through narrow eyes. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Something I rather regret. I do miss the brilliant green of Natsuki's eyes."

"Cut the crap."

She shifted in her seat, remaining playful, but now slightly businesslike. "I am not here to hurt you. My comrades would like to, but I hold significant power amongst villains. Second only to Lord Rad."

"If you're not going to hurt me, tell me what you did last week after Linden Baum." I demanded.

"I was accompanied by someone who reports directly to Rad. I could not go against his wishes."

"Tell me."

"We took a blood sample. Nothing extraordinary."

"Just that?" She nodded. "What has your poison done to me? How are you connected to the hydra in Asgard's sewers?"

"Ara… Natsuki asks so many questions." She tutted. "It would be unfair of me to divulge too much of my own information without you doing the same, yes?"

"It would be a shame for me to shoot your face off."

"How crass." Shizuru sat back in the armchair, at ease and still overpowering me with her presence. The way she moved- her mien, her voice, everything added to a person so confident that I couldn't understand her. How could you never have any moral doubts or developments? How could an individual be so set in their ways that nothing anybody else said or did could cause them to lose assurance in theirself? "Natsuki does not seem to fully appreciate her position."

I frowned. If I kept doing this, I'd get worry lines. "Why do you keep referring to me in the third person?"

"Just one of my little idiosyncrasies." Score one for the Literature freaks. Shizuru smiled, knowing I'd clicked.

"I know what's happening." I said tensely, thinking that Shizuru's eyes were the same colour as the blood in Nagi's vial. My mum's blood. My blood. "And I know where I stand."

"Do you now?"

"Yes."

"Then you know that both heroity and villainy fear and despise you. You mean destruction for us all. I wouldn't be surprised if assassination attempts are forthcoming."

What was she getting at? "So?"

"I fought you. Yes, you have great power. However, you lack any formal training whatsoever. You are fodder for any superbeing who wants rid of you."

"And? I don't see where this is going."

"I'd like to offer my skills. To train you."

"…Are you shitting in my cornflakes?"

"I will pretend Natsuki did not just say that." Shizuru said exasperatedly. "I stand by my offer."

"Why the hell should I trust you!" I hissed under my voice as the sound of sizzling noodles quieted, indicating that Nao was finishing supper. "You're a heartless villain."

"Ara, very interesting. So, you'd say that many university students are uninterested in politics, then?" She completely changed the subject as Nao emerged from the kitchen with three plates of stir-fry. "Ah, Ms. Zhang. Thank you so much."

"Nao is fine." She said, setting the food and accompanying chopsticks down. "So, Miss Fujino… what brings you here, of all places?" she asked politely. Too politely.

"I have covered many aspects of the struggles in my work, but not yet the effect of heroes and villains on education. Natsuki and I met at a coffee shop quite a while ago; she seemed a very learned and intelligent individual. I thought to use her for my article."

"I see." Nao said. We ate in slightly stilted silence, shoveling stir-fry into our mouths with reckless speed. I nearly choked, but the thought of receiving the Heimlich maneuver from either of the women opposite me made me go red and stare balefully at a limp noodle that was scrambling out of the side of my bowl. Poor guy. I gobbled him up anyway.

"I'm going to grab a drink. Want a tin?"

"Uh, go on." Nao left into the kitchen to get beer.

"Drinking will only lower your inhibitions." Shizuru warned me. "And heroes with lower inhibitions tend to make bigger messes than humans."

"So?"

"What a great sense of duty Natsuki has. Are you sure you're Saeko's daughter?"

"Shut up. Of course I am."

"Then believe me when I say that you should trust me."

This confirmed that she was barmy. "Shizuru, I have about as much of a reason to trust you as a dog has to practice tai chi."

She narrowed her eyes, briefly pausing to skewer a prawn with one of her chopsticks. "This is not a 'who can make the silliest analogy' contest, Natsuki. This is life and death."

"Then why the hell are you offering to help me?"

The older woman averted her gaze for the first time and looking just a little human. Only a little. "I… I'm unsure. It feels like the right thing to do."

I laughed out loud, prompting Nao to come back out and place a can of beer on the table. "I'm going into my room now, to leave you two to get on with your interview."

"Cya." She sauntered off; looking over her shoulder at Shizuru in a way I could swear was so very bloody familiar. I turned back to the villain, my knuckles white on my lap. "The right thing to do? You wouldn't know right from David Beckham."

"Who?"

"Exactly." I said triumphantly. "He's a footballer, by the way."

"What an excellent but nevertheless useless piece of information." Shizuru replied scathingly, setting her chopsticks down. "Natsuki does not quite grasp just how dangerous a position she's in."

"Pssh." I waved her off, putting on a confident front. "You honestly expect that some psycho is going to come to my flat? Sorry, but there's already one here at the moment."

She clenched her teeth, visibly straining against my barrage of abuse. "Very well. If Natsuki wishes to subject herself to a painful death, I will not interfere."

She stood, a storm of emotion and unfathomable power swirling like a maelstrom behind her burgundy eyes. She picked up her briefcase and promptly left, closing the door with a faint click behind her. Shame, I hadn't gotten to the joke about video games yet.

I sighed and sat back on the sofa, prawn stir-fry partying in my stomach. I was worried. Of course I was bloody worried. My life is in danger, if I trust what Nagi and Shizuru say. Can I, though? If you can't trust the lord of heroes, who is there left?

Tate. I need to call Tate.

Several things in my life are not particularly spiffing, but of all of them, my social life seems to have suffered most. I'm twenty-two, and I haven't been to a party in months. How depressing is that?

The Deputy came around the corner, wearing (smartly) a coat to cover his uniform. Cops attract a lot of interest in Fuuka these days. He looked tired, I decided, with more bags under his eyes than Nao accrues after a day out at the mall. His hair was the same ridiculous blonde as ever, but it seemed to droop today. It seems we all have the September blues.

"Natsuki." He greeted me. We were at our 'favourite' bus stop, since it's not that far from me and not that out of the way for him either. "There better be a damn good reason you want to see me on my day off."

"I assure you, there is." I replied, gesturing for him to follow me. It was just starting to drizzle, so I decided to go to a bar, the same one, incidentally, as I got drunk at the night I got nicked by Diana. Why was that so long ago? It was full of grotty alcoholic old men, but a few broken noses later they all knew to stay well away from me. We went in and I was immediately comforted by the gloom and the smell of whiskey. It seemed very… recognisable. We sat down, far far away from the bar, with a little booth to ourselves. In a brief moment of insanity, I noted there was no tablecloth to hide my identity if we got attacked. Shame.

"So?" He asked, looking around nervously. Obviously, these were the kind of pubs he shut down, rather than drank at.

I took a small sheaf of papers out of my bag and gave them to him to look over. His eyes went from bored to wow to holy shit in thirty seconds flat, as his mouth gaped ungainly. He rather reminded me of Takeda when I wore short skirts. All men are the same.

"Natsuki… are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Will you testify in front of a court?" He looked worried. "This will make you rather unpopular."

"I know." I said, wishing I had something else to say. I fiddled with the ends of my hair instead. "But on top of that, I have some other news."

"What could be quite as shocking as this?"

In answer, I flicked my wrist in such a way that caused my hand to issue a plume of mist, cocking my imaginary gun and dropping small blue bullets out of nowhere onto the table.

"Tell me that was a parlour trick." He lost his tan immediately.

"Nope." I replied, looking around. It was, like, mid-morning, and we were out of sight of the bar, so I was pretty confident about not being seen. My abilities are cool, but I feel uncomfortable using them because I always feel like a villain. And look the part, too. How many cats in trees want to be saved by a woman in biking leathers with icy mist crawling out of her glowing green eyes? My point exactly. It was problematic, this hero thing. I'd a a nightmare about my Lit final and woken up to a room covered in fog and about -10 degrees. Maybe Shizuru was a little bit right. I needed to learn some control.

"Shit." That was the first time I'd heard him swear. "Shit, Natsuki."

"Deep in it."

He scratched his chin as I normalized, feeling dirty somehow. "I can see why you want this. But… damn. We have hero consultants, like Diana, but for you to actually work and be under the protection of the city. I'd have to ask-"

"No you don't." I cut him off. "Nobody has to know but me and you, Tate. I don't care what work it is- desk job, toilet mopping, whatever, but I need the protection."

Ah, now he was frowning. How long has it been since I saw that beautifully hairy furrowed brow? "The job I could secure, but the other thing? Impossible, if what you tell me is true."

"Why!" I hissed, getting upset. "She's just a person."

"She's a villain! We have enough trouble getting minor ones in while they're under their real identities. To get one who has not even a smudge on her public record in court, and to then win the case… you'd need a miracle."

"How sure are you that it's a no-go?"

"Ninety-nine point nine nine recurring." He replied confidently. "It's a folly, Natsuki. Be realistic."

"Humans and heroes have different meanings of that word." I retorted. "I've seen crazy shit since that night, Tate. Things that would give you nightmares every minute of your sleep."

"Nao in her underwear?"

You've got to admit, that was a good one. I half-smiled, glad he still had his sense of humour. "Thank you, Tate."

"We haven't negotiated anything yet!" He said desperately, as I started to rise. "Damn, Natsuki, sit your leather-clad ass down and listen for once."

"I study History and Literature, Tate;I do a hell of a lot of listening."

"Not the point."

"Make yours, then."

He looked over the file again, wearing a thinking face. "Well, I'll assume you're safe at home, and I'm not wasting men guarding you. No offence. So I'll make up a job for you, but I don't know what it'll be. Spefo is always understaffed, but you have no police training. I suppose we could forge some records?"

"That would be appreciated."

"This feels so wrong." Tate mourned his integrity as it wafted away. "So be even planning to forge documents, especially as a police deputy."

"Man up."

"Whatever. Anyway, this protection is a big ask. I'll expect you to actually work."

"How much?"

"Minimum wage."

"What!" I said, appalled. "That's bullshit."

"You're not in a bargaining position. From what you've given me, I can see that you don't want to be the property of the villains, nor the proverbial captive of your own Asgard. Spefo are the only alternative with enough manpower and resources to protect you properly. Even Rad wouldn't move against you if he knew he'd incur the wrath of Spefo."

"Exactly. From what I know, he doesn't behave that way." I mused, agreeing with Tate. "Well, you have my number. Give me some details when you've got everything sorted."

I moved to stand up again, but Tate protested. "Natsuki."

"That's my name, don't take it in vain." I replied, agitated, sitting back down with a resigned pflumph on the plush seat. "What, Tate?"

Worry etched lined beyond his years on his young face. "This will sound odd, but… Can we trust you?"

"You're right, it does."

"Not to hurt your pride, but with dual loyalties flying around everywhere… it's difficult to know who to trust."

"You can, Tate. At the moment, at least, I'm only interested in saving my own skin; once I no longer fear violent abduction, I can focus on others. Not before."

"That doesn't sound very hero-ish."

With the weight of my situation, I didn't feel very hero-ish either.