Am I Too Evil? [MHA Isekai]

Voices cloud Rimi's thoughts, black and red mixing together but never producing any results in the imaginary landscape she finds herself floating in. The loud voices of her past cry and scream, louder than they'd been before. Hands reach out, clawing and grasping at her, attempting to drag her deeper into the despair she'd long since suppressed.

"How?! How could you do this to me?! What did I do to you!?"

"You murderer! You freak! You killed me! You killed me!"

"What did I do to deserve it?! My eye! You stole my eye!"

"Die! Die! Go to hell, you disgusting fucker!"

The words were more violent than before. They were filled with more rage than sorrow, the rage of her victims. 

Floating through the space, Rimi pulls herself free of the vengeful hands. "Sorry," she speaks with a saddened tone. "I can't let myself get drowned in that pit yet."

"You can't?" The familiar voice of Karma unceremoniously reaches Rimi's ear. The crimson visage of herself is sitting in a chair by the time Rimi's floating form rotates around. "How cold-hearted of you. Don't you think they deserve to tear you apart?"

Rimi doesn't reply to Karma's attempts at striking her nerves. She knew that the vengeful spirits of her victims deserved nothing more than to make her experience the things she'd done to them in her previous life, but Karma would bend this in any way she could to make Rimi despair.

"Buzzkill. You're a bit less emotional now. You haven't come to terms with your slaughter, though. You probably never will."

The killer speaks at last. "What do you want, Karma?"

"Oh? We're on a first-name basis now? Great! I love it, love it. What I want isn't really important right now though. I mean, I don't know what I want myself. All I need to see is you with a sad face. That's all I've ever wanted." Karma's words confuse Rimi.

"So if you don't want anything, why did you drag me here?" 

If Karma had a face, Rimi could see the confusion playing on it. "You think I dragged you here? Nope, you've not despaired enough. I haven't gotten a good laugh since you killed your best friend's daddy." Her snide tone irks Rimi's eardrums.

"Then why am I here?" 

Somehow, Rimi can see the sadistic visage roll her eyes, despite lacking any. "No idea, maybe it's finally time for you to confront your sins of the past and accept the fact that you're a cold-blooded killer who's ruined countless families and lives, and now dares to live for your selfish reasons."

Karma's words hurt Rimi, even though she's heard them many times in different ways throughout the duration of her current lifetime. No matter how many times she hears this truth, it's undeniable that her living is selfish.

The thought of Izumi lying on the ground beside her ceases her thoughts, and Rimi's head starts aching. "I need to wake up..."

"Yeah, sure. Go wake up and check on your damsel. Maybe you'll kill her dad next."

Shame fattens like a balloon in Rimi's chest. "I—" Before she gets the chance to retort if she'd even thought of anything, the world around the child is warped and fades.

She wakes up.

---

After the few days she'd spent in this bedroom, Rimi came to familiarize herself with the lavish space. It was disparate in comparison to her bedroom at home, a staple to the wealth Izumi's family possessed. This wealth certainly came through questionable means, however.

Pulling herself up from the comfort of the pillow she'd rested in, her eyes searched around. Recounting the fight in the laboratory, a nib of indignation is held at the tip of her tongue. The two teenagers that'd arrived in record time would've undeniably captured her and Izumi had Pinnley not shown up.

"K-Kiyabu!" Yelling Izumi's surname as she pulls herself out of bed, she's surprised when her legs lose strength immediately. Collapsing the moment her upper body's weight transferred to her legs, the girl groans from the pain surging through her limbs. 

The door clicks open, revealing one of the mansion's maids on the other side. A tall, dark-skinned woman with a thick afro on her head. Rimi immediately recognizes this woman as a foreigner, yet can't muster the strength to say anything about it. Her unfiltered tongue was filtered by her body.

Indifferently, the woman approaches and crouches beside Rimi, who's unable to resist when she gently scoops her up into her arms. "Ms. Yonamine, you'll have to relax. You're hurt and frankly, exhausted. Pinnley's orders." There's a slight accent when the woman speaks. Japanese isn't her native tongue if she'd been questioning it before. This woman is an American, something she'd not seen in person since coming to this world. 

Recounting her memories of her previous world, besides the grim reminders of her sins, the words she'd learned surface in her mind.

"What... happened?" Her eyelids stretch up and open. Rimi's use of English at a young age surprises the American woman who carries her to the bed she'd crawled out of.

"Where'd you learn English at such a young age?"

"I have... always known... it." Rimi wasn't lying, but the woman must've thought she was kidding since she laughed. This is what she hoped for anyway. It was hard to believe a child who was only 7 years old could know English. Since forcing herself to learn the Japanese tongue, Rimi's English has deteriorated to broken sentences. 'I might have to brush up on my speech later. There's no telling when I might need it.'

"To answer your question, Pinnley found and rescued you after you were 'trapped in the basement' with Ms. Kiyabu. Complications arose, and now you're here resting. You've been unconscious for a few days, which is what Pinnley wanted to talk to you about."

'You're kidding? It's barely felt like a few minutes have gone by, but it's been days. No wonder I feel so exhausted, my body's gotten weaker.'  The dark-skinned maid seemed cordial enough for Rimi to keep asking questions while being laid in her bed. "You said it's been a few days, but I don't feel hungry. Did someone feed me while I was asleep?" 

The maid curtly nods, then shakes her head. "Actually, during the first few days, we had someone with a biological-based quirk feed you by injecting blended food directly into your body. It wasn't a good sight." Rimi shudders at the thought of someone bending her innards about without her knowing. "However, after those first few days passed, your body began resisting the quirk. Since your body no longer accepted her help, it became impossible for us to give you nutrients no matter how hard we tried."

"...So, you were going to let me starve to death, for short."

The maid deadpans. "Don't think of it in such a grim manner. You have a special body, one that I'm not qualified enough to explain. Go to a doctor sometime." 

From the woman's informal speech and the way she ignored Pinnley's honorific that all of the other servants carefully added, Rimi could tell the maid was a loose cannon. 'No point asking for her name. I'll figure it out later if it's ever important.'

"...Izumi, how is she?" 

She glimpsed at Rimi like she was ready to riffle through the complex layers of emotions that make up her flesh.

"You'll be happy to know that Ms. Izumi is more lively than she was after returning from the museum. She suffered from a major headache for a day, and was fine the next." 

Memories fill Rimi's brain. While she was on the ceiling, Kamisami Yoshiyuki had done something to her to knock her unconscious. During their short debacle, all of Rimi's instincts warned her to avoid letting herself get grabbed by Kamisami's powerful hand. There was a feeling of nostalgia over it, but Rimi was certain she'd never felt anything as concise as the looming fear that birthed a shadow around her and the teenage girl.

"The lab—" Interrupted by the door flying open, Rimi looks past the maid to the well-dressed man in the doorway. 

"For somebody who's lived for so long, you've got terrible timing, old guy." 

Pinnley nearly simpers at the children's sly remark. "Has anyone ever informed you of how empty your expressions are, Ms. Yonamine?"

"A few critics, from time to time. I figured they'd just gone senile."

The butler chuckles, arriving beside the bed. "I'd laugh more, but you aren't kidding." Rimi's humor and personality had developed much since her initial cruel bluntness, but she had a long way to go. The child rarely knew when to filter herself.

Pinnley ushers the maid from the room. The conversation he and Rimi will have is clearly confidential. 

'Hm, so her name's Dharia. That's actually pretty unique.' After hearing her name, Rimi was fully persuaded by the idea that the maid was a foreigner. Though, she didn't doubt it after briefly speaking English with the dark-skinned female.

Once they're alone, Pinnley discards their small talk. "You'll be leaving from here soon, Ms. Yonamine. By the weekend, you'll go back home to your family so you can attend school."

'That's not what I expected him to talk about,' The child thought before responding. "You're not going to address the major elephant in the room? Like the fact that there's a lab beneath your nose as we speak?"

"I didn't know you were the type of person to care for those kinds of things, Ms. Yonamine. Here I thought you were more selfish than that. In regards to the laboratory, there is nothing to address. I hope that you won't address it either. The Young Miss is doing well, and her father will be visiting here by tomorrow. So you will be gone by tonight."

There was a trace of emotions in Pinnley's words that Rimi caught onto immediately: hesitation, the familiar sound of regret, and the uncharacteristic feeling of fear. 'Izumi's dad is scary enough to shake this guy...? He doesn't just sound concerned about me, he sounds downright fearful.'

"I'm in danger, aren't I?" 

"...You are." He nods his head solemnly.

She releases a painful sigh, rolling her head back in frustration. Her forearm covers her eyes as she collects her thoughts, understanding the situation fully. "You're one messed up man, you know that?" Based on his words, Rimi assumed Pinnley was roughly aware of the experiments happening in the lab.

Silent, the old man momentarily lowers his head. Again, a sight Rimi won't find herself used to seeing.

"Lift your head, gloom ball. I hope you don't expect me to leave without getting an explanation."

"Hah! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hopeful this morning, Ms. Yonamine." Shaking his head in resignation, the old man explains what happened to the best of his ability.

* * * *

"The young girl who you fought was Kamisami Yoshiyuki, a relative of yours. I'm sure you've had your suspicions, but her quirk allows her to manipulate the memories of those she grabs. She can insert, remove, or alter existing memories so long as she knows they're there. Subsequently, the victims of this quirk lose consciousness and suffer from many pains in their heads from this."

Rimi interrupts to ask, "She erased Izumi's memories."

Pinnley nods his head. "If she'd caught you, she'd have done the same to you, if not worse. It's a good thing you managed to avoid being caught by her, otherwise, I'd have been helpless to save your mind."

'I'll have to take her hands if I see her again.'

"The boy was Hopachi Kiyabu, one of the Young Miss's older brothers. I'm afraid I can't disclose his abilities or information to you, but I'm sure you'd have been able to fend for yourself against him properly had Ms. Yoshiyuki not been there."

They were sweet words to hear, yet they offered zero assurance to Rimi. If she can't fight two teenagers, she doesn't believe there's a way for her to survive against the larger threats in this world, such as the villains commonly shown on the news. 

"I'd have thoroughly punished the Yoshiyuki girl had my Master not contacted me through the laboratory's intercoms. He was watching everything and has taken an interest in you. Right now, you have no hope of defending yourself against him or the full might of his projects."

Her ear twitches. "Projects? That's a kind word for experiments."

"He is my Master, Ms. Yonamine." His stern voice and cold gaze silences the girl. Her words may come out as truths, but they are uninvited at this time. "The most important part of your vulnerability is your quirk. I've only been able to study it through our training and other means, but it is undoubtedly powerful. Just as I suspected, the usage of your quirk is based solely on your mind and its limitations."

This time, Rimi is the one with an unfitting expression. Dumbfounded, her mouth opened to retort, and no sounds escaped. 'I never actually stopped to think about my ability... I've trained it because using it has come naturally to me. Without much restriction, I figured I could bend the world around me freely, but now that he mentions it: it's gotten weaker. No, more accurately, I've mentally exhausted myself over the past few years, repeatedly.'

"Based on my deduction, the limits and capabilities of your quirk are not only based on your mind, but your quirk also strains your mind as well. The more you use your ability, the more likely you are to experience fatigue and other bodily issues based on the blowback to your brain. In a way for a child like you to understand: the more you use your quirk, the more damage you do your imagination." His words were understood, and this is what made her so fearful.

Clouds of depravity gallivant her thoughts. Throwing her mind into turmoil, recollections of the last few years reached her mind. Her fits of insanity and tears, the encounters with Karma that left her feeling worse about her crimes, and the rapid change in emotions and scenery she'd forced herself to become accustomed to. Everything was beginning to make more sense to her now.

"I'm no doctor, Ms. Yonamine, but I must advise you to use your quirk in moderation from now on. Your drawback threshold is broad, based on how consistently you used your quirk during the last several weeks. Still, you have to take mental breaks. Let your mind drift away from anything negative—learn to cope quickly. You're a smart girl, I have faith you can."

Pinnley abruptly turns around, walking to the door. "With that said, all of your things are already packed. I hope you'll be ready by tonight."

"Huh? I didn't have anything when I came here." Pinnley didn't stay to elaborate on his words further. Rimi was left to think on her own.

---

The two children walk side-by-side, Rimi lagging behind Izumi's hyperactive figure by a fair margin. "Sorry for making you go into the basement. I didn't think you'd fall down the stairs!" The child's face was filled with regret, so much so that Rimi was nearly perplexed by the sincerity in her words. 

Izumi was living in a reality different from the truth. In her mind, the two of them had gone into a basement and a series of misfortunate accidents happened, but Rimi didn't see the basement whatsoever. To Izumi, Rimi is the one whose memories are jaded.

"D-Don't worry about it. I should've... uh... used my quirk to stop myself." An excuse she formed on the spot.

"Hm." Izumi deadpans. "Yeah, you can do that, huh? You're so silly." Izumi somehow managed to look more flustered than Rimi.

Relieved that Izumi didn't pry further, Rimi continued limping behind her friend. "So, I'm going home tonight." Bringing a new topic, Izumi halts, which Rimi expected. Soon she does the same.

The white-haired girl is quiet as if she's lost in a million thoughts. Rimi expected this sort of reaction—their short time together was coming to an end.

Shoulders trembling briefly, Rimi wouldn't have noticed if there were anyone else in the room at the time. All of her attention was on Izumi. After some time, the white-haired girl turned around with her usual smile on her face. "Yeah, I'd bet you're homesick... Haha..." Her awkward laughter didn't alleviate the uneasiness in the air.

"I guess so, I've not seen my mom in a long time. There are a lot of things we have to talk about. I haven't seen my sister or my dad. My dog—" Rimi stopped herself, remembering the scenes from before she'd been torn from her home. Before she'd lost control over her emotions and butchered Yuuichi Yokota. Marble and Pearl had their bodies violated and morphed into a horrific amalgamation, one that she killed.

Waving away these grim thoughts, Rimi finishes. "I have to see my family." As if she deflated, Rimi's shoulders slouched, a half-baked smile present in an attempt at preventing the foreseeable response from her friend. They'd only spent a short amount of time together, but during the last few days, Rimi could feel the loneliness seeping from Izumi's energetic self.

Lightly, tears started to stream down Izumi's face. She tried holding back what she could, but it was pointless. "Yeah... I figured it wouldn't last forever... that you'd leave like the others." She lifts her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, but something aches in Rimi's chest.

'Mother said they'd resigned and moved elsewhere,' she remembers Izumi's words. Even if she couldn't remember the laboratory, she certainly remembered the repeated cycle of her 'friends' coming and going like a leaf in the wind. 'That woman claimed all of them volunteered. Bullshit, I could tell she was lying as soon as she started talking. My theory was only confirmed after she stalled long enough for that white-haired bandit to get the jump on me.'

"It was nice playing with you while you were here..." The sorrow and bitterness in her words were uncontrollably laced. 

'I can't leave her like this.' Rimi steps forward, extending her pinky finger. "Look, we can pinky promise or whatever. We'll meet again and I'll spend more time with you."

Izumi's eyes stared at Rimi's finger speechlessly. She didn't know what to say, not expecting Rimi to make this proposition. In her mind, this would've been the last time she'd seen the girl. 

Doe-eyed, Izumi looks at the girl with an indiscernible face. Some stray tears found their way down the cracks of her eyes and she sniffled. "Y-You promise?" As if to assure herself, she prays for confirmation.

Nodding her head, "Yes, I promise. Whenever I get the time, I'll see about having your butler or my mom bring me over. Maybe you can come over to Higure. I don't know where I'll be going to school, but I'd bet I—"

A pair of gentle, innocent lips press against the side of Rimi's face. Her eyes widen, starstruck by the sensation and sight of white hair flying in front of her eyes. Izumi approached suddenly and kissed her on the cheek.

An unfamiliar warmth runs through Rimi's body. She'd never felt something like this, the rise of heat across her entire face, the sensation of fluttering butterflies in her stomach. Her mother had hugged and kissed her plenty of times, but she'd never felt anything of the sort. Not even in her past life had she imagined this kind of domineering feeling, conquering her coherent thoughts. 'Did I... did she just brainwash me, or something?'

Izumi pulls away and locks her pinky with Rimi's, smiling endearingly. "Then it's a promise, we'll meet again!"

Stunned, Rimi is helpless as Izumi turns and runs deeper into the estate. The child was left to ponder what'd just happened and the newfound emotion swelling in her core.

She thought she'd learned all the emotions she'd need in life. 

There's still much more left for her to figure out about being a 'person'.