Taylor was scared.
She had admitted that to herself almost as soon as the air raid sirens began because there was no point pretending otherwise. Endbringers terrified everyone. Cities disappeared when they came. People died by the hundreds, sometimes the thousands, and afterwards there were always more names than anyone wanted to read.
So yes, Taylor was afraid. It didn’t stop her.
Rain hammered the streets as she jogged toward another family struggling to load the last of their belongings into the back of a station wagon. The sky had turned an ugly shade of grey, thick clouds swallowing what little daylight remained, while the emergency sirens continued their endless cry across Brockton Bay.
“Leave the furniture!” Taylor shouted.
The father looked up, soaking wet and still trying to wrestle a small bookshelf through the front door.
“But—”
“You don’t have time!”
He hesitated only a second before letting go.
Taylor didn’t wait to see anything else. She was already moving again.
The entire neighbourhood had devolved into frantic motion. Doors slammed, engines roared to life, and people ran through the rain carrying bags, children, pets, anything they could grab before fleeing toward the nearest shelter.
But some were moving too slowly, and others weren’t moving at all.
Taylor spotted an elderly woman struggling to drag a suitcase over a cracked section of pavement and crossed the distance at a run.
“I’ve got it.”
Before the woman could protest, Taylor had lifted the suitcase as though it weighed almost nothing.
“Oh,” the woman said, blinking. “Thank you.”
“This way.”
Taylor walked beside her until they reached the evacuation route, where a pair of PRT officers were directing civilians toward waiting transport. Only then did she turn back.
“There!” Her dad pointed across the street.
A little boy had fallen in the middle of the crowd after someone knocked him over in their panic. People were already moving around him, too frightened to stop.
Taylor was running before her dad finished pointing.
She slipped between two adults, scooped the crying child into her arms, and carried him back to the sidewalk.
“Where’s your mum?”
The boy only cried harder.
“Blue jacket!”
Someone shouted from farther up the street.
Taylor looked up just in time to see a woman forcing her way back through the crowd, her face pale with panic.
“There you are.” The relief in the woman’s voice was almost painful to hear as she took her son back into her arms. “Thank you.”
Taylor nodded once before moving away again. There wasn’t time to stand around.
“Dad?”
“I’m good,” Danny called back.
He was helping an older man down the front steps of a nearby house, supporting most of the man’s weight without seeming to struggle.
Taylor smiled despite herself. A few weeks ago, that would have been impossible.
Naruto had never set out to repair their relationship. He hadn’t even known it needed repairing, nor had he ever met her dad, which was funny considering how much he’d changed their relationship without ever trying.
It had started with Taylor asking if Danny wanted to exercise with her. She’d shown him the breathing exercises first, then the stretches, then the rest of the routine Naruto had taught his students. They’d stumbled through most of it together, laughing more than either of them expected.
The conversations came afterward, and they started small.
How was school?
How was work?
Eventually they stopped feeling forced and simply became part of the routine. Then one evening, after training, Taylor had finally told him about Sophia, Emma, Madison… all of it.
Danny hadn’t interrupted, and he didn't try to offer solutions. He had simply listened. Taylor hadn’t realised how badly she needed him to do that until she finished speaking.
The strangest part came afterward. She hadn’t wanted revenge anymore. She didn’t need her father marching into Winslow demanding expulsions or threatening lawsuits.
She had just wanted him to know, to finally stop carrying it alone. And the memory of that day still eased something inside her whenever she thought about it.
“Taylor.”
She turned.
Her dad tossed her a bottle of water, and she caught it easily.
“You’ve been running around for almost an hour.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know.”
That made her laugh. “I’ll drink it.”
“Good,” he said before vaulting a roadside barrier to help another family.
Her dad wasn’t Naruto—nobody was—but he moved with an ease that would have surprised anyone who remembered him from before. His footing was steadier, his balance better, and carrying heavy loads no longer left him winded after a few minutes.
Taylor had shown her dad everything she was allowed to. Nothing dangerous. Nothing Naruto had asked them to keep among his students. Just the exercises, the breathing, and the conditioning. But even that had been enough.
Taylor tightened the cap on the bottle before slipping it into her bag, watching her dad disappear into the rain before turning back toward the street. It was beginning to empty now. Most of the people who could leave already had, while the rain continued to drum against rooftops and pavement alike, washing abandoned bicycles, dropped toys, and forgotten shopping bags toward the storm drains.
Taylor looked east.
Somewhere beyond the rain, Leviathan was coming. Soon the evacuation would end, and there would be nothing left to do except fight.
She wondered how many of her fellow students were making the same decision she already had. Greg almost certainly was. Sophia too.
She hoped the others were alright.
A knot formed in her stomach as she wondered how any of this was going to end. Whether Brockton Bay would still be standing tomorrow. Whether any of them would.
Rain rolled down her face as she stared toward the dark horizon.
More than anything else, one question refused to leave her alone.
What would Naruto-sensei do?