Serpent (Mahoudeva, Honoken, Seiryu, Yamata)
Four figures walked towards the outer edges of Kyoto.
Yuusei Atsushi is known (or rather, unknown) by the hero name of Seiryu. Despite the cold face he had, his heart rang loud with excitement over one of the few things money couldn’t buy: a kaiju research center.
The chance to see and get to know more of those impressive creatures.
Beside Yuusei was Orochi Atsushi, still not known, or even graduated, going by the hero name of Yamata. Her expression was one of disinterest, her tails which ended in goofy hydra heads snapping at each other.
She wasn’t too thrilled by the chance of seeing kaiju, her mind full of doubts and unsolved fears, her brain crowded with inside voices.
Ahead of the two dragons was a tanned-skinned woman, her eyes burning with passion, impatient to see the magnificent creatures studied by the research center. She was Kalianne Sato, known (or rather, not known at all) as the hero Honoken.
She grinned from ear to ear, looking at the tower-like mobile structure ahead of them.
Last but not least was Imai, a hero trainee going by the hero name of Mahoudeva. Outwardly, he was the coldest member of the Seiryu association, but in his heart, he was also excited, even if only a little, to get to know more about kaiju.
“Shouldn’t we get to fight against criminals or something like that? I know you are underground, but we are on working hours, and… seeing kaijus is not hero-like behavior,” Orochi complained, getting a slight eye roll out of her cousin.
“Not everything is about fighting crime! Sometimes you have to wind down, besides! How many times can you see those research centers?” Honoken answered Orochi's question.
The hydra girl pouted. She felt they could do more; she had to do more. Thus, seeing some oversized animals was a little waste of time; they could be ready or on standby to face crime. The buzzing and crowdedness became worse all of a sudden.
{B̷͙̯̯̭̂̇̀̔̊͋̊̉ĩ̷͖͉̘̰̻͚̭̎̈͋́̂̕̚g̸͈̦̈́̾̊̽̓͜ ̸̨͎͔̂̆͌͑̓͛͒i̴̠͈̝̻͎͕̻̐́̀͛̚̕͝n̶͉̄́́͒̾̕͘ś̷̝̩͍͚͔̕͝e̴̩͎̭̽̈́̓̿̕͜͠c̶̡̣̲͖͖͚̘̍̔̓ț̶̨̡̱̯̕.̶̫̲̥̹̯̹̎̕ ̸͉̬͈͇̔́͂͗̚͝B̴̛̺̫̗̑͑̂̃͘͘i̵̡͙̼͚̻͙̟̓g̸̬͈̖͇̰̥̠̣͆̌ ̵̞̩̞̝̫̳̥́̆̿f̴̡̒̚o̷̗̭̮̤̽ò̶̟̹͍̀̽͋̓͒́͑͜d̵̛̞̊}
{M̸o̶m̶’̴s̴ ̶m̸a̶d̶?̵}
{̸̡̧̬̗͕͍͉͍͇̟̠͙͂͑̂̎̆͌̚̚͠ͅI̸̜̺̰̣̪̐̒͌̌ ̷̢̹̬̄̀́͜͠ċ̴͖̭̀̚͘o̸̻̫̔̀͗͑u̴͓̾̚͜͝l̷͈̬̣̇̂͘d̵̳̪͖̭̀͋͊̎ ̵̢̼̫͆̊͂͝h̷̼͙̝͔͋a̸̧̩̅v̷̧̖̺͖͝ę̶̥̖̰̪̿͆͠ ̵͓̑̀̀ͅḇ̴̨̾̈͆ͅȩ̶̢̬̻͊́͝ė̶͇̤͒̿̒̋ń̶͖̩̙̮͐̍́ ̷̮̾̏͛͘è̶̡̢͘͝á̷̱̰̽͊̄ṯ̴̪̈́ị̶̱͂͑n̷̘̺̝͋̏g̶̡̘͔͒̌͑̚…̸͉̫̖͖̀̒͒̕͜͝]
For a moment, Imai turned his gaze to Orochi. Outwardly she seemed the same, but inwardly, it was as if a deep haze and static were around her, making his head hurt. ‘Tsc, is it like that?’
Imai didn’t want to trigger or use his quirk intentionally, but Orochi had a feeling of wrongness in her; it irritated his quirk, somehow. “Hey, look to where you are going.” Honoken rushed over to the boy and pulled him by the neck of his shirt.
She avoided him hitting a metal wall. “Hey Imai, is something bugging your mind? You have been like that since morning,” Honoken arched her eyebrows with a teasing smile, as Imai got a little embarrassed over how he zoned out.
“It is nothing. I just zoned out. Sorry,” Imai shook his head. As he looked at Orochi, she went back to normal, without the strange static.
As for Hydra, she brushed off the sweat from her brow, her ears ringing with the echoes of voices that she never heard. ‘Did I get a bad night of sleep?’ It is likely given recent events.
“Anyway. Let’s enter! We won’t have a chance like that for a while. Better enjoy it while we can!” Ryuusei was the first to enter, radiating childish joy despite his best attempt at hiding his emotions.
Kalianne smiled as they entered the building. The slick and futuristic hallways were the first things to catch their attention. Orochi bit her lip. It was an impressive sight, but she wouldn’t say it.
‘Yuusei-nii won’t get off my neck if I say this was worthwhile.’ She could hear the teasing of her cousin and Honoken from miles away.
(scene break)
They walked towards a presentation. It was a scientist talking about things Orochi didn’t know, while her cousin and his (not) girlfriend paid almost a worshipping attention to those words.
‘Cool big monster and all. What is the drawl?’ Orochi has been more of a hydra than a human for a long time. ‘Tsc. What is the drawl?’ She bit her lip harder, eyes narrowing.
The scientist was talking about something she didn’t want to hear.
{M̷̻̿̔͂̽̈͜a̷͚̝̠̠̦̍̇̃͠k̵̡͕̓̏̃͘͜e̸͙̩̪̻̱͒͗̾͝ ̶̡̝̰͎̳̈́͐n̶̩͇͚̬͗̏̉͝o̵̜̹̙̼̘͋i̸̭̫̅̋͂̊s̵̡̲̗̤̔̔̓̄e̴̢̮̣̕!̸̨̡̯̱͎̅͗̊͝ ̸̢̱̼̃Ṋ̵̞̲͕͍̍́́͊o̸̧̫͕͉̱̔͋͂̈́i̵̡̩̋ṣ̵̡͇̍̍e̴̢͔̻͗!̸̥̥̋̂͜ ̴̯̹͍͕̅͊̕͝ͅS̶̳̭̙̘͗̑ḥ̸̛̠̙͙̈́̒ě̵̠̲͕͑̓̔̾ ̴̟̠̥̌̽̔͊͝d̵̥͒̒͝o̸̲͔̬͛̉̒̅ë̶̪͓̳̥́̑̆͝s̴̳͐͘͠n̶̖̓̏’̵̡̙̪̇̃̊͒t̷̡͈̲̰̜͌̌́͠ ̶̟̤͉̤͙͗̓̅͗̽w̴̫̯̞̭̹̓̌̐̎ạ̴̮͖̭̗̈́̍̒͋ṇ̷̭͍̑͊t̵̡͚͍̣̤̐̔̾ ̵̰̲̱͑̀̚͝t̴̻͚͕̅̀̏͝o̵̝͒̌͗̽ ̸̜̝͛̏̚ḫ̴̢͇̪͊͋̇͒ȅ̸̛̺̉̔͘ȧ̵̩̱̐͒͌͌r̷̩̋̓̂!̸̦͉͊͊̓̿ ̴̮̐̚D̶̹̽̓̄ō̸̥̝̱͒̚n̸̖̐̉̃̌̾’̷̢̖̥͚̇͠t̴̢̡̻̩̓ ̶̡̜͆w̵̩̲͔̽̃̒̀ă̷̫̖n̶̡̪͈̈́͒̈t̴͇̠̲͆́͜ ̴̨͒̄͗̒̽t̴̛̫͚͍̓̅ȏ̷̢̬̩̼̫͋͠!̴̣͕̭̖̍͑}
{H̸i̸i̴s̴s̷s̸s̸s̷s̴s̵s̴}
{I̵̟̊ ̷͓̟̙͖́c̷͇̠͇͉̖͝a̶͔̱͚̭̿̊͝n̷͎͒͆́’̴̛̛̟͊͑̇ͅt̷͇̻̎̇̿͠ ̶͚͊t̷͈̦̓̀́͂̀â̸̫͈͎̈́̑́͝k̴͔̖͕̲͐͑͐e̷̯̟̯͊͋͜ ̷̲̗̙̰̣̎̍t̵̛̝̤̟͆̀h̷̰͕̱͉͇̔̋͋̄̄o̴̜͇͔̻͛͆s̴̡͇̣͌ẽ̶̙̟̇ ̸̟͗̃̉̅ģ̷̋͌̀̕u̵͓͓̻͖̽̈́͋͌y̶̮̝̽s̴̰̤͆̃ ̴̯͎̊̏͊ǫ̷͉͍̣̞͛̅̉̿̑n̵̢̔͝}
The voices in her head came back, and a hurtful sensation spread through her brain. Orochi placed her hands over her ears as if they could muffle or silence the voices that came from inside.
“Hey.”
Someone touched Orochi’s arm, and her back straightened as she turned around, worried, her tails instinctively going into fight or bite mode. Behind her stood Imai. “Oh, Imai, don’t scare me like that.” Her shoulders relaxed, and her tails followed suit.
The other two looked around aimlessly, as if their brains were fried. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Are you all right? You broke off from the rest of us and are just… staring around.” Orochi looked ahead, holding her left arm. “It is… I don’t like kaiju that much. I've never seen a drawing of one.” Against his will, a stray thought of Orochi appeared in his head.
‘I’ve just played that role my whole life. I hate it.’
It was a grim thought, but Imai decided not to act or speak it. ‘Sometimes, that’s how spontaneously my quirk acts.’ He shook his head. “It’s okay. Do you want to see the search logs? Sometimes, it’s easier to read than to hear.”
Imai almost bit his tongue off as he finished speaking, his face turning red as he realized the implications of what he had said. Orochi noticed it too, but only responded with a wink and a playful smile.
“Alright, let’s read those logs.” Magenta eyes identified where they were, and before Imai could speak up, Orochi dragged him by the hand.
Orochi felt more at ease by Imai’s side. While she loved her cousin and liked his sidekick, their interests in this topic clashed with hers. Imai, at least, seemed to not share the same burning interest.
‘I can moan and whine all I want about how I don’t like kaiju if it comes to that.’ Yuusei would spark a discussion, and Kalianne would back him up.
She couldn’t state why she hated those things without souring the mood and ruining their… ‘They are dating, I bet my mom’s car on that.’ It was more like a date Imai and Orochi were forced to attend because of internship hours.
‘Yes, it definitely is a date, but why your mom’s car?!’ Imai was exasperated at how readily Orochi threw thoughts to the surface of her mind, almost as if she lacked a filter.
They stopped before the logs. A digital screen showed many journals and research papers about and on kaiju.
The image of a sea serpent breaking through ice was the most eye-catching article.
THE ICE-BREAKING SERPENT DISCOVERED FIFTY YEARS AGO IS A FILTER FEEDER!
The ice-shattering serpent named Jormungandr-II, after the first Jormungandr found in the Atlantic, differs from its namesake! It doesn’t feed on colossal squids and other kaiju as previously thought, but it is a filter feeder.
Eating tons of plankton daily. In the last thirty years, few pictures have been taken of it, but the few we have show its armor plating and a long beak that it uses to break through ice in the colder areas of the planet.
While we theorized at first that its demeanor and habits could be the same as a Humpback whale, another colossal filter feeder, we were proven wrong as Jormungandr-II lives only near the colder waters of Greenland and sometimes migrates to the South Pole.
We have never managed to capture a full picture of its form, but its plate-looking dorsal fins and armored scales were captured while it moved near the surface of the water, as shown in the pictures below.
It is a behemoth of a fish, judging by its dorsal plates, scales, and its tail. Despite its size, we have never captured an attack or hostile behavior from Jormungadr-II, contrary to Jormungandr-I, which sometimes mistakes boats and small ships as prey.
“Imai, isn’t the North Pole cold as hell? Why would something like that live there?” Orochi knew Greenland was dangerously close to the North Pole, and anything that lived near it would endure perpetual cold.
“Yes, but kaiju tend to… disrespect things we thought were fundamental, much like quirks.” Imai mused, as they both saw that the picture and article were not made by the MKOL they were in but by another one.
“The picture says it was captured as they flew near Greenland in search of kaiju life forms there.” Orochi arched an eyebrow.
“There are more kaiju living there?” The hydra girl stared at her classmate with expectation. He was smart and savvy; he should know, right?
Imai groaned. “We don’t know. Some of the harshest places on Earth look like breeding grounds for Kaiju. While there are many MKOLs, some places have stationary labs that observe kaiju in the wild. While the North Pole lacks one, the Antarctica has one.”
Orochi's mouth gaped slightly, impressed at Imai’s knowledge. “Why do people go to those places, though?”
Imai raised his head, staring Orochi in the eye as the middle hydra raised itself to even the ground against Imai’s third eye. Imai had an impassive look, as Orochi’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment.
“I don’t know, but I've read articles that people go there to escape society’s lives, and focus on studying kaiju. It’s like a refuge for those who… just want to live in peace and observe nature.”
Orochi nodded her head in understanding, moving to read another article. ‘Living away from society and just watching nature… maybe those research centers weren’t that bad.’
(A few days later)
Orochi had bought a miniature of the MKOL that had a picture of Jormungandr-II. She expected it to be just a foot or two tall and wide.
She hadn’t expected one the size of a car.
She hadn’t expected her father to love it either.
Her father had placed it in his office. She hadn’t seen her “miniature” since.