Chapter Text
When Adzumi Sato first started serving her decade long prison sentence, it did not take long for her to make a name for herself.
After all, she wasn’t just any inmate. Adzumi had killed the daughter of the most powerful Yakuza clan in the country, and almost succeeded in framing the male heir for the murder. Within the cells of the prison, a name started circulating: the Dragonslayer.
Adzumi despised every second of it.
She never wanted any of this. Even killing Natsumi hadn’t been intentional, because from the very beginning all she wanted to do was protect Mahiru. Instead, Mahiru had ended up in prison as well.
“Don’t listen to what everyone else is saying! I know that you’re a good person deep down,” Mahiru would always say when Adzumi felt down. “We aren’t going to be in here forever!”
Those words helped Sato through each individual day, for the first five years. However, that is when Mahiru’s prison sentence ended, and Sato knew she couldn’t selfishly ask for her dearest friend to spend another day behind bars.
“I’ll wait every day until I can see you again,” Mahiru said, the day before she was released. “The day you are out of prison, Adzumi, I will be there for you.”
That was the last time that Sato had seen or heard from Mahiru, for five more years. She had started her prison term at the age of 17. In the decade since, Sato watched her body change, from awkward young teenger to adult woman.
Adzumi Sato was 27 years old when the warden of the prison told her that she was finally free to go. “Although, when you look at the ugly sight beyond the prison walls, you might be tempted to turn around and come back in.”
“I don’t care about what’s outside. I’m going to see Mahiru again.” Sato didn’t have any possessions, only wearing an orange prison jumper. Even then, she waited for the double doors of the prison to open, and…
Mahiru wasn’t there. In fact, there wasn’t a single person in the vicinity. This was likely because the entire landscape looked completely barren, and the sky was red as far as the eye could see. As Sato was processing this, the prison doors closed behind her, followed by the clear sound of a lock sliding into place.
Sato had ignored all news of the outside world during her time in prison, and clearly something had happened in the intern. “Mahiru… I need to find Mahiru!” She ran off in the direction directly in front of her, praying that at least, she could find a nearby settlement.
It seemed that luck was on Sato’s side, because she did find a small town nearby. While she wasn’t sure how far away Hope’s Peak Academy might be from this place, as soon as she found someone she could at least ask for directions.
However, no matter how much Sato walked, she couldn’t find a living soul in the area. With the red sky looming over her, she started to feel herself become worried.
“What on earth happened here? Where is everyone?” Sato muttered to herself.
Finally, right before Sato felt she would go crazy, she heard the sound of people walking in the distance. When she went to go see who was there, she found a group of women dressed in red kimonos. And in the middle of all the women was none other than-
“Mahiru!” Sato ran towards her dear friend, only to be pushed to the ground by one of the other ladies.
“Hey, don’t do that!” Mahiru cried out. As Sato got a closer look at her, she observed how the photographer had changed in the last decade. Mahiru’s face looked more refined, with only her freckles retaining a youthful look. She still wore her same camera around her neck, worn down by age. Mahiru was dressed in a red kimono like the ladies around her, but one that was much fancier than the others.
“But, this woman was clearly trying to attack you!” The lady that pushed Sato exclaimed.
“No, she wasn’t. This is… someone very important to me,” Mahiru said, helping Sato back on her feet. “I wasn’t there to greet you when you got out of prison, and I’m sorry.”
“I’m just happy to see you again! But what’s going on here?” Sato gestured to Mahiru’s entourage, along with the barren landscape and the red sky.
Mahiru’s expression was crestfallen. “The world was like this when I got out of prison, Sato. I’ve actually been looking into how this happened, but it’s been difficult.”
A lady of the entourage gasped. “Wait, Sato? As in Adzumi Sato, the Dragonslayer?”
“Shh, don’t say that too loudly! In fact, it might be best if we find somewhere more private.” Mahiru walked off, and Sato followed after her. As they walked, Sato felt her mind racing.
I finally get to see Mahiru again, and she’s changed so much! She has all these other people around her, and I’m getting a weird feeling about all of this. But now that we’re together again, things should go back to how they were before.
The route they walked was certainly strange, walking between alleyways between the eerily quiet houses. Mahiru didn’t talk, and the other women around her kept glaring at Sato. There was still so much she wanted to know, but it seemed like no one was going to talk.
Finally, they entered a random office building, about three floors tall, and the group walked up the stairs before they climbed onto the roof. Once there, Mahiru walked towards the edge, gesturing for Sato to follow after her.
Approaching the end of the roof, Sato briefly looked down, and saw nothing of interest except for some bushes lining the edge of the building. The viewpoint from the roof seemed to only be of the rest of the town.
“It’s been a long time, Adzumi,” Mahiru suddenly said. “The past five years without you have been painful, and I can only imagine what it’s been like for you.”
“The thought of being by your side again is the only thing that’s been keeping me going,” Sato said. “So please, enough with this act! Be yourself, the kind person I know you are!”
Mahiru smiled, but it was a smile tainted by bitterness and remorse. “‘Enough with this act’ you say. You must still see me as I was when we were teenagers. Back when I was in Hope’s Peak Academy, and you were in the Reserve Course.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! Out of all the Ultimates in the school, you reached out to me,” Sato said, putting a hand on Mahiru’s shoulder. “I didn’t have any kind of talent, but you made me feel special!”
“You were always special, and you are still special now,” Mahiru said. “After all, right after you were released from prison you didn’t hesitate for a second, and you immediately set out to find me.”
“And I did find you. But what’s all this?” Sato once again gestured to the group of other women looming behind them. “What happened that made everything so messed up?”
“In short, a horrible event washed over the world. Only recently have rebuilding efforts been underway,” Mahiru explained. “And I’ve been a part of them, along with some of our other classmates.”
Mahiru shrugged off Sato’s hand from her shoulder, and walked closer to the edge of the roof. “Even so, I missed you every day, Adzumi. That makes everything all the more painful to me.”
Sato approached Mahiru, starting to feel worried. “We’re here, we’re together again! Nothing else matters anymore!”
“Oh, how I wish I could believe that. But so much has changed. We can’t go back to how things were before.” Mahiru put a hand on Sato’s back. “You can’t be here right now.”
“Why can’t I be here? You’re the one that-”
It all happened in an instant. Sato felt the hand on her back suddenly shove her, and out of surprise she lost her footing. She tried to correct her footing, but failed and felt her body start to go over the railing.
Sato felt her body twist and turn in a futile attempt to keep from falling. As she turned, she happened to catch a glimpse of Mahiru’s face, and saw that she had tears in her eyes.
The next few seconds were filled with the sensation of air rushing around her, as Sato watched Mahiru getting farther away from her, and her mind filled with thoughts.
Did you really change so much? What happened to you while I was in prison? Why did you push-
Then Sato hit the ground, and there was nothing but blackness.