Double Trouble

Chapter 1: Origins

The livestream begins with a person in a white cat mask with red whiskers, holding the camera in a selfie position. The person waves at the camera.

"Hey there Internet! I'm here with my lovely partner Ko-chan on a random rooftop, overseeing the debut of hero Kamui Woods -"

The red-whiskered mask is interrupted when another white cat mask with blue whiskers comes into view. "Ru-chan, please don't get ahead of yourself yet. We haven't even introduced ourselves!"

"Ah, right. My mistake~" Red-whiskers admits freely, singsonging her last words.

The frame shakes and shifts until it steadies to show the two masked people standing together with the backdrop of the city of Tokyo.

"Let's try this again. Hello there Internet!" The red-whiskered person repeats with a wave. "I'm Ru-chan and this is Ko-chan, my partner. To shortly introduce what exactly we are doing in masks -"

"- We promise we aren't planning anything bad," Blue-whiskers, or Ko-chan, adds, waving one of her pinkie fingers like the sign for 'promise'.

Ru-chan nods in agreement to Ko-chan, then continues talking. "You see, every time we went to see a fight between our favorite heroes and infamous villains after an update from the Hero Association Page, we were either too late, or the taller and older people took the best seats, always saying that 'kids should stay safe' while pushing us to the very, very back of the police line."

Ko-chan sighs in disappointment, shaking her head. "'Kids should stay safe,' yes, yes. We don't disagree, per se. But we want to see the fight too, you know?"

"Yeah. The police line is already too far away, and we want a closer look at the fight. Then we thought, why not share what we see with everyone else as well?" Ru-chan chirps. "So we - Whoops!"

Suddenly the camera frame shakes and moves too quickly for a few moments, then steadies to show a lopsided view of Ru-chan and Ko-chan.

"Ru-chan, please refrain from dropping the camera." Ko-chan says as she crosses her arms.

"So-rry~" Ru-chan says exaggeratedly, giving the camera a little pat on the side. "But I caught it, so no harm done?"

"I guess," Ko-chan mutters. A large boom comes from behind them, and the blue-whiskered 'Ko-chan' perks up and grabs for the camera. "Ah, that's right, we have to film the hero!"

The camera moves towards the edge of the building, and steadies as it pans to show the general damage to the area.

"Kamui Woods-san seems to be having a hard time containing the fight to one location," Ko-chan's voice comments from the right side of the camera. The frame shows a particularly badly broken building. "The earlier explosion was from the smoking green building."

"It appears we are far enough away from the danger, but a lot closer to the actual fight," Ru-chan notes, content with the location of their vantage point. After a short pause, she turns to her partner with a giggle. "Ko-chan, I've had a thought - I'm going to call the hero-san 'Tree-san'."

"Tree-san? Why?"

"Look at all his wood-moves that create branches from his fingers! It's perfect!" Ru-chan exclaims. "I bet he plants trees all the time in his free time."

Ko-chan giggles back. "It is perfect, Ru-chan. Nickname accepted."

"Anyway, back to the fight," Ko-chan declares after another giggling session, her voice shifting to a little more business-like tone. "To those tuning in now, we're watching Kamui Woods, a new wood-type hero, debuting in a fight against his first high-level criminal, Elasta-boy."

The shot zooms in closer to the fight in the square below as Ko-chan continues. "Tree-san came into the fight with the usual hero-shebang, running into the crime scene with a stereotypic proclamation of justice and an unconventional heroic pose."

"He came in with what I like to call the 'Phoenix-Point-hand gesture'," Ru-chan says with a chortle.

"I'm half-expecting him to shout like a lawyer," Ko-chan adds blandly, though her voice betrays an edge of humor. "But for viewers unfamiliar with the pose... Ru-chan, a demonstration?"

The camera turns to the other mask-clad girl, and she strikes a ridiculous pose with her shoulders drawn up. One hand is on her hip and the other outstretched to point into the far distance.

"Taaaake that!" Ru-chan yells to her invisible foe, pointing ferociously. "My finger of justice points your criminal actions into submission!"

Laughter shakes the camera, then pans to track the slightly blurry brown figure on street-level, leaping to avoid the punch of the long arm of the would-be criminal.

In a calmer voice, Ko-chan returns to commenting on the fight. "Tree-san's opponent 'Elasta-boy' seems to be a physical-augmentation type, with movements that are fairly wild and uncontrolled. However... I think Tree-san's panicking, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's not as willing to dive in as he had before. I wonder why?"

"Hey, Ko-chan, over there by the roadside - I think it's the Best Jeanist. He's probably overseeing things from the sidelines just in case things go out of hand. Maybe Tree-san's getting nervous because a high-class hero is watching?"

"Hmm," A beat of silence is followed by Ko-chan's chime of agreement. "Theory accepted."

"Oh dear, I hope Tree-san can subdue Elasta-boy quickly. The fight is blocking out half of the Nakamura district's main roads during the home rush hour."

"Yeah. Hey Ru-chan, did you see how the whole fight got started in the first place?"

"From what I've read on the Hero Association twitter, 'Elasta-boy' lost control after the police tried to confront him for some kind of crime he committed." Ru-chan answers.

Ko-chan tsks at the situation and pans the camera to check the damage of the area. "Well, it looks like Tree-san is having a bit of trouble because Elasta-boy keeps focusing on evading instead of outright fighting back."

"Oh no! I hope Tree-san has another ace up his sleeve!" Ru-chan says sympathetically. "It would be sad to mar his debut by needing help from a really good hero like the Best Jeanist!"

"I agree, Ru-chan. But Elasta-boy's quirk seems to have no chinks - he can escape whatever attack Tree-san sends his way by twisting his body just right."

There is a short moment of silence, then Ru-chan begins to cheer for the new hero. "Come on, Tree-san! Pull out your secret move! You don't want your debut to be besmirched by a loss!"

As if the hero heard them, he suddenly stretches out an arm; his fingers separate into small wooden threads that grow thicker quickly before Elasta-boy could escape after the first dodge.

"Yes! Tree-san wins!" Ko-chan cheers.

"Yeah! Go Tree-san~! That was a wonderful, heroic move!" Ru-chan cheers next to her.

There is a faint cheering that the camera picks up from the commotion the crowd of civilians make behind the police line. As the cheering below dies down, Ru-chan muses at her partner. "I wonder what that move is called."

Ko-chan snorts. "Well, if he's going to follow other debuting hero stereotypes, he'll be shouting the name of his technique right about -"

"Ha, take my Lacquered Chain Prison, criminal!"

"- now. So that's what it's called." The two share a short secretive giggle, then turn back to analyzing the hero.

"Still, he is a promising hero - that chain technique? It would be able to catch almost any sort of criminal, both big and small, as long as he aimed it just right!" Ru-chan notes.

"Yep. And here come the police to apprehend the criminal," Ko-chan says as she turns the camera back her way, nodding in agreement. "Well. That was a good fight! I'm so glad we came here to watch."

"Uh-huh. Oh, by the way, Ko-chan..." Ru-chan's hesitant voice comes off-screen, and the camera turns back to her.

"Yeah?"

The person in the red-whiskered mask points to the road directly below them, and the camera follows to show two police officers; one points up and shouts unintelligibly while the other talks into his walkie-talkie.

"Ah, nice catch, Ru-chan! Time to go!"

"Yup, let's go!"

There's a rustling and the angle shifts again; feet can be seen at the bottom of the frame, and the frame shakes a little as it crouches at the edge of the building.

There is a soft chuckle and a soft 'hoo boy, this is going to be fun' from Ko-chan. Ru-chan's high pitched giggle comes up closer, and the camera turns to catch her crouched at the edge of the building as well.

Ru-chan waves to the camera, throwing a cheerful laugh over her shoulder before she jumps off to the next building. The frame suddenly blurs and tumbles, and the brief snatches of scenery show roofs underfoot. For a few seconds, there are only snatches of laughter and joyful whoops.

The blurring scenery slowly comes to a stop, and a hand adjusts the focus of the camera.

Ru-chan's mask pops in from the side."Hiya there. Still here for the ride?"

Ko-chan's mask pops in from the other side. "If you're wondering what just happened, we just jumped over several buildings - using our physical abilities."

"It's what I like to call flying as close to the sun without wings!" Ru-chan says exuberantly.

"What you just vaguely witnessed us doing was parkour, an extreme sport," Ko-chan adds. "We are definitely not using any Quirks, so we're not breaking any rules!"

The camera turns back to Ru-chan, to show her perched at the edge of yet another rooftop. "It's a sport that changes the flexibility of gymnastics into stunts that can be recreated in an urban setting anywhere." Ru-chan informs the camera, before jumping up and over a gap between buildings with a somersault. Ko-chan whistles in appreciation, and from the other roof Ru-chan turns and gives an exaggerated bow, flashing a victory sign at the camera.

Without warning, the frame suddenly spins with colors and stabilizes to show the duo standing together again.

"Like an actual action movie come to life, see?" Ru-chan tacks on, putting her arm on Ko-chan's shoulders.

Ko-chan giggles. "Ah, I think I can see our viewers' mouths hanging open on the other side of the screen, Ru-chan."

Ru-chan giggles as well, but she seems to notice something off-screen and elbows Ko-chan. "Hey, I don't think we should stay much longer in the area. We don't want to be caught loitering."

"Ah, right." Ko-chan says, sobering up immediately. "Well, it's time to say goodbye."

"Thank you Tree-san, for catching that criminal today! Thank you for your hard work~!" Ru-chan chirps, bowing slightly to show her appreciation.

Ko-chan fist pumps the air, and says, in English, "Fight on, heroes!"

Then Ru-chan high-fives the camera, and the livestream cuts off in the middle of the duo's laughter.

Top Comments

23 minutes ago (320 likes, 53 dislikes)

arumaitobest223: theres no way this is real... probs fake, staged LMAO

==View all 134 replies

==nightmare123: ? are you insane?! this is legit!1! .jpa/34QlkjI09 (319 likes)

1 hour ago (125 likes, 49 dislikes)

SpaceMandy98: This is the start of the decline of society, where people think they can just do anything and get away with it. It's a sad indication of how far we've come as humanity... (Read more)

==View all 121 replies

==memelordderp: And there is your mandatory moralist in the comments haha (34 likes)

3 hours ago (182 likes, 24 dislikes)

ladiesman47: I have found my new goddesses

==View all 32 replies

==kirakiracupcake10: How do you even know they're girls? For all you know they're two middle-aged men with voice modifiers (56 likes, 9 dislikes)

All Comments

28 minutes ago (27 likes, 2 dislikes)

parkour543: Those moves are awesome! What facility do you practice in? I didn't know they had that kind of thing in Japan...

==View all 43 replies

==skysneakers: well they did use english at the end... maybe theyre not japanese? rad moves, tho

43 minutes ago (18 likes)

bonsaitreearms: wasn't this supposed to focus on the hero debut? i mean hes pretty cool?

==View all 3 replies

==OfficialHeroAss.: lol how funny would it be if this was that wood guy from teh video ROFL (28 likes)

"That was amazing!" Hikaru sang, tossing up her mask and catching it when it fell. "And we didn't get caught at all!"

"We're already trending," Akiko agreed, scrolling down on her phone to read the comments. "Look, someone cross-posted it on YouTube."

Hikaru leaned over her sister's shoulder, scanning the words and giggling at the ridiculous ones. "Oooh, 'goddesses,' huh?" She hummed as Akiko scrolled back up, then gasped as she saw the number of views. "AKI-CHAN WE WENT OVER A THOUSAND VIEWS IN 3 HOURS!" she shrieked.

Akiko winced as the high-pitched yell pierced her ear and jerked her head away, rolling her eyes fondly. "I know," she said, grinning. "I think our video might be the most-watched one since the All Might video online."

"That's... that's... I can't believe it," Hikaru mumbled, eyes still wide with shock. "Aki-chan... we're famous!"

"We're definitely doing this again," hummed Akiko, who pulled out a pen to immediately begin planning their next shoot. "Tomorrow, maybe? We definitely have the time, Okaa-san and Otou-san have work, so we won't get caught..." A hand snatched her pen away. "Hey!"

Hikaru was frowning. "Tomorrow's too soon, Aki-chan," she scolded. "We said only three times a week, remember? We still have so much else to do!" She twirled the pen in her fingers. "Besides, this would leave the public waiting for more!" The girl giggled, evidently proud of her own idea. "I'm such a genius planner."

"Mmhmm," Akiko laughed, rolling her eyes again. "Of course you are."

"Hey! Don't think I can't hear the sarcasm in that statement!"

Akiko was just about to respond when they were interrupted by a faint call to eat dinner from downstairs. She got up and stretched. "C'mon, let's go eat. I'm hungry."

"Fine," Hikaru pouted, and got up after her sister. "But don't for one second think that this is over! No more streams until the next planned date!" Akiko's indistinct grumble was heard as the girls went out the room and closed the door behind them. On one of the beds, two cat masks gleamed under the sheets, sharing a secret.