Teru Momijiyama/Synopsis

**This article contains *FANSLATIONS* and needs to be updated to official translations.**

## History

During her sister's funeral, Teru isolated herself, being found by her grandfather, who asked her what she was doing there, to which she said she liked how empty it was. He sat down next to her, agreeing that he too gets tired of being in crowds sometimes, so Teru asked him what they get for helping others. He replied that humans cannot live alone, and that by helping others, they give life meaning. Again, she questioned him if even after death life has a meaning, since they no longer exist, but he countered by saying that living for someone makes them live in that person's Heart and that the bonds that they make will live on, surprising her. He also said that Teru would one day understand what he meant, as she has a kind heart.

At some point, Teru was chosen to be the Japanese Heroine even though she was merely fourteen.

## Synopsis

### Volume 1

A few months after becoming Japan's Hero, Shy is invited to make an appearance in Himawari Land where the Heartman hero show was being held. However, her shyness ends up boring the audience, to the point that she leaves the stage and only a child cheers for her, which she silently thanks. In her dressing room, Shy can't take it and vomits from the embarrassment she thinks she's gone through and N-Villio listens to her wail as it tries to convince her that she just needs to get used to being in public first.

Shy sighs, convinced she can't do it, but they both hear a scream outside. Since the roller coaster cart stopped mid-loop, Shy quickly jumps into action, assuring passengers that they will be okay and asking N-Villio to stand by. She tries to take a girl out first, but when she suggests that she saves her brother and the others first, she comes in last. Shy saves everyone, but when she thinks about saving the girl, the cart starts to roll backwards and goes off the rails. Shy immediately jumps in front of it to try to stop it and lighten the impact. Shy succeeds and is congratulated by the public, but as soon as she sees the girl's condition, she gets scared.

A month later, Teru is in her room and N-Villio tries to convince her to perform some heroic activity, but in vain, since she can no longer transform. Again, N-Villio tries to convince her but Teru starts crying, showing herself to be very affected by the public opinion of what happened in Himawari Land. Despite N-Villio's words of encouragement, Teru continues to blame herself for what happened to the girl, Iko.

She is surprised when Spirits appears in her room, having come out of a portal, and she encourages her in a way that Teru doesn't understand. Teru asks what she came to do there and Spirits doesn't seem to know, disconcerting the Japanese Hero. Suddenly, Spirits takes on a more serious tone, telling Teru that it's impossible to make the whole world a happier place, using an example with beer that confuses her. Teru gets exasperated, asking her if she had come there just to make fun of her, to which Spirits tries to be clearer in her words.

Teru tries to answer her, but before she can, Spirits is called and even tries to spend more time with Teru, but she knows it's her duty, saying that she would come back as soon as she remembered what she wanted to tell her. Disconcerted, Teru says goodbye to Spiris and sees her pass through the portal. She asks N-Villio what Spirits meant by that and it just says she's not good with words.

For the next few days, Teru thinks about Spirits' words. While looking through some books, she tries to understand how she could follow the Russian Hero's advice, but when she hears two boys talking about her heroic identity, she leaves in a hurry. Continuing to question herself already on the street, her attention is called by the loud siren of a fire truck and she notices a building on fire and that a mother with her baby were still inside. Desperate, Teru tries to transform, but remembers her last fiasco and fails.

However, when a child boldly claims to be Shy to a firefighter, she is surprised. Saving him from a building wreckage, Teru soon contacts N-Villio and says she would do it. The boy asks who she is and, agreeing with his speech, reveals to be Shy when she finally manages to transform. Although on the outside she acted bravely for the boy, inside Shy was panicked. She jumped into the building, looking for the woman and her child. Focusing on listening to her, he finds her in terrible shape and, before she thinks negatively, grabs them both and tries to get out of there. An explosion takes her by surprise, however, and the baby flies out.

Shy desperately tries to save the baby, jumping from where she was to catch the baby in midair and she is then saved by Spirits, who tells her not to throw herself into danger that way. Shy asks her what she was doing there, but Spirits diverts her attention to her duty first. Once the fire is suppressed, Spirits and Shy stay behind, watching the firefighters do their job since they've already done theirs. Spirits notices that Shy is down and tries to cheer her up, but the people around her soon recognize her as a Russia's Hero.

Shy notices how popular Spirits is, but that same child from before comes to thank her not only for saving him from the wreckage, but also in the amusement park, making her realize that he is Iko's younger brother. He tells Shy that she has recovered enough to go back to school, thanking her again. After saying goodbye, Spirits returns to Shy's side and tells her that the woman he saved has regained consciousness in the hospital and that she should be proud of that, to which Shy agrees, whining.

They both say goodbye to the audience, and Spirits says he finally remembered what he wanted to say to Shy. She asks her how much she believed in the power of her Heart and when Shy looks confused, she adds that the heroes' duty is to protect the Heart of the Earth. Spirits takes her to a portal and they both appear at a nearby space base near Earth and Shy is impressed, having never been there before. Shy asks why the heroes' base was in space and she is answered by a woman who introduces herself as Uni-Lord. Claiming to wish she had met her sooner, she teases Shy by asking her to call her Unnie, despite Spirits actually calling her that when requiring her to cut to the chase.

Uni-Lord thanks Shy for saving so many people, but says that Earth would face greater danger, and at that time it would need Heroes like her. Uni-Lord explains that even if the war has been avoided, there are still people who take advantage of the hidden side of their Hearts and who do not desire the light, but that Shy, as a Hero, must shine that light in their hearts. At school, Teru thinks about Uni-Lord's words until the teacher introduces a new student and Teru is surprised to see it's Iko Koishikawa, the same girl Shy saved in Himawari Land. Iko introduces herself and sits next to Teru, the two exchanging greetings.

After class, two girls come to ask Iko questions and when she mentions that the transfer is because it's closer to her house, as it's been difficult due to her leg, Teru feels guilty. Iko is called by a teacher and leaves, so Teru, minutes later, also decides to leave, while wondering what Iko thought of her. However, Teru finds her at the bottom of the stairs, trying to bear the pain in her leg, and immediately goes to help her, introducing herself and taking her to the infirmary.

There, the nurse scolds Iko for forgetting her painkillers at home, offering weaker medicines but recommending that she rest there. As soon as she leaves, Iko apologizes for making Teru bring her there, but she says it was okay, blaming herself for Shy not doing her job right, but Iko compares her to Shy, surprising her. Iko tells her that she was saved by Shy, saying that she thought Teru was her when Teru called her down the stairs. Teru is disconcerted, then asks if Iko was mad at Shy, to which she replies, also in a questioning tone, why would anyone be mad at someone who did their best to save people.

Iko leaves Teru speechless with the comparison, as well as worried, seeing her cry. Teru then leaves to wash her face, relieved and comforted by Iko's words. As soon as she finishes, she mentally realizes that Iko was right and that she should strive to make more people like her happy. Thinking about it, Teru returns to the infirmary, only to be shocked by the sight of a monster-looking Iko.

Even scared, Teru asks what happened and Iko replies that she didn't know, just that there was a boy. Seeing that she was in pain, Teru tries to calm her down only to be scared even more by the crystals she was producing. N-Villio contacts her, saying that it will analyze the energy surge it has detected. The aforementioned boy then appears, claiming that it was the pure essence of her Heart and that he had just freed it from its cage. Teru doesn't understand what he is saying, and N-Villio warns Teru that it has detected a mental energy leak and that Iko's thoughts are out of control, reminding her of what Uni-Lord had told her and that her enemy was right in front of her.

Stigma soon reveals that he knows Teru is Shy, surprising her. Teru asks what he wanted and, causing Iko pain, he replies that he just wanted to free the Hearts from their cages. Iko falls and Teru immediately goes to help her, whereupon Iko herself, asking her to move away, attacks her, but Teru manages to dodge it and she hits the bed instead. N-Villio explains to Teru that those crystals are the manifestation of Iko's Heart's strong emotions, theorizing that it came from her hatred for someone. Teru immediately thinks that such hatred should be directed at Shy, but she is denied by Iko herself who tells her that her parents died to save her, blaming herself for that and threatening to kill herself, saying goodbye to Teru.

Teru, transforming into Shy, stops her, questioning why Iko doesn't ask for help, countering her lines by saying that her parents would like her to live, claiming that she would bear any pain if she had even the slightest chance to save her. Iko lets go of Shy and hesitates, but extends her hand, asking for her help, which Shy assures her that she would help her. However, Iko hits Shy who tries to defend herself with her arms in front of her body. She soon asks N-Villio to open a portal to some empty place, which it does and Shy pushes Iko inside, apologizing to her as it was dangerous to keep fighting in the infirmary. While Iko is stunned, Shy yells for N-Villio to give her instructions.

N-Villio analyzes the source of the mental energy leak and quickly finds that it comes from a ring on her finger and Shy soon moves towards Iko to remove it, but is surprised to notice that she covered the ring with the crystals, getting hit by her. Iko starts questioning her about why she wasn't there to save her parents. N-Villio tells Shy not to listen to which Shy refuses not to listen, claiming it is her duty to do so.

Shy then opens her arms and asks Iko to gather all the hate she had and throw it at her, much to her and N-Villio's surprise. Iko starts attacking her and Shy takes every blow without fighting back, just listening to her enraged questioning. Teru remembers her grandfather's words long ago, and, using his teachings, succeeded in taking the ring from Iko's finger, reversing her monstrous form. Even injured, she assures Iko that help was there and that everything would be fine.

Iko apologizes to which Shy just confirms that she could take the pain. N-Villio contacts her asking for confirmation since it didn't feel any more crystals and Shy replies that somehow she was able to take the ring out, but then asks where the boy was, receiving the information that it couldn't feel him. Iko apologizes again to Shy, but the Hero paraphrases her grandfather, telling Iko that to thank her, it was enough to be kind to others, completing that seeing smiles makes her happy, to which Iko agrees and then thanks her for having her saved.

A few days after such an incident, Teru is invited by Iko to spend the day together as compensation for the trouble she put her through. They meet on a street and Teru is still surprised that her leg has been healed, a side effect of the ring according to N-Villio's theory, and she regrets not knowing much about it. Her attention is called by Iko, who pulls her by the hand and the two spend time together.

Iko finally notices that Teru isn't the type to do a lot of activities in a short amount of time, justifying her tiredness. Iko immediately apologizes and takes her to a coffee shop so they can get some rest, but she still resents having just made things difficult for Teru, which she just denies, even though the other remains disappointed in herself. Teru gets nervous thinking that it was her fault that Iko was getting depressed again and tries to change the subject, failing when she mentioned the excuse the two gave the nurse to justify destroying the infirmary. This only reminded Iko that she was responsible for such destruction and Teru mentally scolds herself for it.

Before Teru finds some other way to change the subject, Iko speaks first, saying that she's amazing for being her age and having seen and done a lot of things, ending by claiming he respected her. Teru blushes and Iko then asks if anyone else besides her knew she was Shy, getting a negative response from the other as she would find it embarrassing for anyone to know it was her in that costume, although Iko thinks it was a really cool costume.

Iko notices that, by default, she is the only friend of Shy's who also knows her secret identity, getting excited about this fact, which leaves Teru disconcerted. Iko soon invites Teru to continue their hangout as they have rested and both walk through the mall together. Teru says she wants to go to a cat photo exhibition, but they are interrupted by the crying of a child who couldn't find his parents. Iko quickly takes matters into her own hands, calming the boy down and putting him on her shoulders, assuring him that she would find them, apologizing to Teru as they strayed from her route, to which she just agrees.

Teru notes that she is very good with children and Iko says it must be because of her taking care of a younger brother, thanking her for saving him in the incident at the T-1 Hotel. The boy soon spots his parents and Iko comments how they found them quickly, putting him back on the ground. He quickly runs to them and as the two girls are leaving, the boy came back to thank Iko for her help. Iko guides him to also be kind to others and he agrees, returning to his parents.

Teru tries to say something about the situation, but is interrupted by an excited Iko who believes she said something Shy would say. Teru claims that they are both equal and that he respected her for handling the lost boy situation with kindness, saying that Heroes are people too and that their good deeds connect them and that what she did reminded her of that. Teru apologizes for talking too much, but Iko just smiles at her, quickly leading the way so they can continue their hangout.

A while later, the two end up passing by a poster of Stardust and Iko asks Teru if she knows him, to which she replies that she doesn't. Iko describes him in detail, claiming it was only because she read a book about him, then imagining that he must be a passionate man to have done so many good things. Then Teru receives a call from Spirits informing her that they have been called to the hideout and that she is supposed to bring Iko along. Iko asks what was going on and is surprised that she was also called. Spirits complements saying that Stardust will also be there and Teru asks her what he is like. Spirits describes him calmly, until she ends by saying that "he's sort of a psycho".

After transforming into her heroic identity, Shy and Iko go to a rooftop where they are greeted by Spirits. Shy introduces Spirits to Iko, who is excited to meet the Russian Hero in person, and Shy then asks why they needed them. It was because Shy managed to retrieve the ring, an admirable feat according to Spirits, so without answering her question, she invites them both to the hideout.

Shy follows Iko's enthusiasm for being in space and they follow Spirits, who says that Uni-Lord wanted to talk to Shy, but since her meeting with her, she's been researching the "freedom of Heart", but that the biggest problem was that boy. The trio enter a room, finding Uni-Lord holding a pot of soup while surrounded by several robots similar to N-Villio. Shy is disconcerted that she seems so domestic, which Spirits recognizes the soup as Borscht. Iko asks Shy who she was and before she can answer, Uni-Lord introduces herself and asks for Iko's help to protect Earth, but that they should eat first.

Uni-Lord recommends they relax until Stardust arrives, so Iko enthusiastically asks to take a group shot with the Heroes. It seems that Uni-Lord would scold Iko for asking for that under the current circumstances, but she just suggests that Iko use the photo booth instead, surprising Shy for having something like that there. Spirits, Iko and Shy take a picture and Iko looks at the picture excitedly, making Shy asks her if she really liked Heroes that much, embarrassing her as she thinks her own behavior was weird and the Japanese Hero says that she should be the one embarrassed since she is in that costume, disconcerting Iko who tries to fix her speech, but when trying to walk towards Shy, she trips over her own feet and only doesn't fall because she is saved by Stardust.

Stardust makes an impression on everyone by arriving late and saving Iko from falling, so Uni-Lord announces that everyone is there so they should start. Stardust asks what they were talking about, and Uni-Lord explains how Shy managed to retrieve a ring, which makes Stardust curious. Shy tries to explain how he did it and he comments that he didn't expect to see a civilian in the hideout.

Shy asks Uni-Lord to explain what the ring is and she does, comparing it to the bracelets they wore. Stardust says they call the boy "Stigma" and that he first appeared in England, using a friend of his to cause a major atrocity. Upon asking how he handled it, Shy is startled when Stardust claims to have cut his finger, calling Iko lucky to still have it.

Spirits intrudes because Stardust is scaring the girls, which intrigues him since she was including Shy, saying he finally understood why he came. Uni-Lord asks Stardust to fight Shy and Spirits is immediately against it, however, the supervisor retorts saying that the Japanese Hero needed to prepare for her next encounter with Stigma. Spirits tries to offer to fight Shy but Stardust raises the point that she won't fight seriously and that her Heart is weak, angering her, but before she can do anything, Shy stops her, saying she could handle it since she needed and wanted to get stronger.

Stardust, despite saying that she sounded quite heroic, soon questions whether she would be ready to give up being a Hero once she lost. Despite Spirits' protests, Shy replies that she was, and that she would do her best to win.

### Volume 2

Soon, everyone is taken to a multipurpose room and, while shaking and scared, Shy tells a worried Spirit that she would be fine. Stardust reviews the rules and flips a coin to mark the start, with the Japanese Hero feeling encouraged by Iko Koishikawa's words. As soon as the coin hits the ground, Shy lunges at Stardust, but runs right past him and falls to the ground, confused.

With Stardust taunting her, Shy tries again, but in vain, unable to land a single blow. Stardust hits her in a demonstration of what a real attack would be and she screams in pain. He says that her compassion made her weak and that she should put such things aside if she hoped to win. Shy tries to attack him again, but Stardust's power stops her, and she is again hit by him, who stomps on her head. He suggests that she give up, but when she says that she could still fight, they both continue.

Shy is completely overpowered by the experienced Stardust, and Iko, unable to bear the sight of it any longer, begs her to give up. Shy, however, clenches her fist in a clear sign of determination and weakly stands up, telling Stardust that as long as there are people beside her, she will always get up and keep trying. She awakens her power, Flame, and Shy charges at Stardust, creating a torrent of flame which he deflects by moving his head. Stardust comments that she was too weak to have such a power, but she confidently says that he dodged her attack with his head, which meant that with that ability, she could hit him. It is soon proved not.

He tells her that she is weak for her naivety, and that she would be killed by another heartless man like him, but Shy is convinced that he does have a heart. She returns to attacking him incessantly, determined to land at least one hit, and when she does, she untransforms, being held back by Stardust. Teru is taken to a recovery room inside the base and wakes up two hours after her treatment has been finished by Lady Black. She is greeted by the Swiss Hero who scolds her for making her friend Iko worried, and is exasperated when Teru says she doesn't recognize her, even after she introduces herself as a Black Cross nurse, justifying it being her lack of glasses.

A man enters, apologizing for Lady Black's actions, introducing himself as the director of the Black Cross's medical department and German Hero, Doktor Schwarz. With Teru impressed by Lady Black's healing ability, the latter soon says that Stardust had recognized and congratulated her, soon berating her with harsh words when Teru expresses doubts as to whether she could be a Hero or not.

Lady Black leaves first and Doktor assures Teru that she only wanted to advise her, doing the same by saying that she should try to have more confidence in herself, leaving shortly after. Teru carries Iko back to Japan, the latter apologizing for making her do this, so the two walk together to their homes. Iko starts to walk away, but Teru stops her, apologizing for worrying her and promising that she would become stronger. Iko compares her shyness and flushed face to the flame of passion that her power represents, so they both laugh.

Announcing her return, Teru is startled by N. Villio who asks her to turn on the television. Doing so, she watches the news of a man who caused turmoil in China and is soon certain that the cause of it was Stigma, not letting her resolve die even though she was afraid.

A few time after that, Teru goes to Nagata Stationery and tries to call Chihiro Nagata, the owner, but her public speaking skills are poor. Chihiro soon welcomes her, though complaining of back pain, and Teru says she remembered the Tanpopo Mountain painting as she had passed it earlier. Chihiro reveals that the one who painted it was her husband, who had passed away three years ago, and that they hiked the mountain together every year, but she has been going alone ever since.

Teru returns home, wondering if she could do something for Chihiro, until she welcomes Pilse to her house, who was there for a medical checkup. After Pilse sees that Teru's recovery has been perfect, Teru asks her to help her with something. Despite the Swiss Hero's complaint, they both go to the Nagata Stationery so that Pilse can help with Chihiro's health problems. When Chihiro asks her if she could hike the mountain after the pain has stopped, Pilse agrees, accompanying her there alongside Teru.

Teru is having trouble keeping up with the two and deduces that Pilse must love mountains because she has climbed a lot in the past, but is surprised to receive a negative response. Pilse tells her that people laughed at her and doubted her ability, and Teru asks why, but Pilse says she would only tell her if she made it to the top of the mountain alive.

Teru barely reaches the top of the mountain, and panting, she sits down with Pilse, who offers her a bottle of water. She picks up the subject and Pilse reveals to her that her legs are both fake because she lost hers in an accident some time ago, and that she looked so natural having been up and down mountains like that every day. She advises her on this, saying that she just needed more confidence in herself.

Chihiro soon calls them back, so she thanks them for their company. The two say goodbye to her, and Teru also thanks Pilse, noting that she must really enjoy helping people. Pilse blushes and says she'd be back, and could help her every now and then, leaving afterwards.

Sometime later, at home, Teru tries to light a candle with her power, but in vain. At school, she continues to think about how to try to use it, until she is approached by Iko, who is now wearing her school uniform. She asks her if there was something bothering her and Teru denies, not wanting to worry her. All day, Teru was distracted. At the end of classes, Iko leaves first, since Teru said she still had something to do.

Passing through the hallways, a paper written "flame" catches her attention and she is approached by a taller girl who invites her in as soon as she says she liked that kanji. They get in, meeting with the president of the club who finishes writing something and the girl introduces Teru as someone who liked what she had written. She starts to write something next and Teru tells the president that she felt the kanji was burning, to which he says he felt the same thing, describing the other girl as someone passionate about calligraphy. Embarrassed, she asks them to be quiet.

She soon shows what she wrote and the two say they liked it. The president suggests that Teru also try writing and she actually enjoys doing it. He shares with her his theory that writing channels their Heart into words and Teru has an epiphany, excusing herself and hurriedly leaving. Arriving home, she grabs paper and a brush, confusing N-Villio. She tries writing over and over again until she finally manages to channel fire, cheering, before panicking because the paper was burning.

After helping some workers with the fall of a tree on a road (and even being thanked with food), N-Villio calls her saying that they had asked her to appear on stage again. Shy tries to refuse, but is lured by the possibility of earning a special reward, she just didn't expect that she would have to cosplay an anime character, but Hiromi Seki was happy that she accepted her request.

N. Villio accompanied her as Revozexal's companion, and so she was put on a talk show where she answered questions from several girls who were there for the CiviRevo event. When a boy criticizes her, he is quickly shooed out precisely for being a boy. A while later, she is given a break and Shy decides to walk a bit to clear her head, meeting the same boy as before, who tells her that Revozexal is a real hero, not her. Thinking that Shy would judge him for liking CiviRevo even though he's a boy, he leaves, trips and drops his balloon. Shy catches it, however, and responds by saying that liking something has nothing to do with being a boy or a girl.

The boy recognizes that line as being from an episode of CiviRevo, and begins to think that Shy is the real Revozexal, which she tries to deny. By the end of the day, both Shy and N-Villio are exhausted. Hiromi thanks her for her help and gives her her award: the 30 year anniversary special blu-ray boxset of CiviRevo. Even if disconcerted at first, Teru became a fan as soon as she gave the anime a chance.

Shy is called with Spirits to the base, where Uni-Lord personally asks the two to assist another Hero in the Arctic. While Spirits is comfortable, Shy suffers from the cold, but they quickly head to the base where they meet Meng Long. Then they go by helicopter to the source of the emergency signal, and Meng Long asks Shy for advice because he doesn't like to fight, but when she mistakes him for a girl, he ends up letting it go.

Arriving close to the location, the pilot and Shy notice that the shape of the ice is strange, at the same moment that the helicopter's propeller is ripped off, forcing them to leave before the vehicle crashes and explodes. Not knowing what happened, they are soon approached by a strange girl who attacks them with ice, but Shy uses her flames to protect the group, leaving Spirits to capture the girl. She, however, forces her to walk away and attacks the Russian Hero, only hitting her hat, though. Knowing now that the girl didn't have any rings with her, Shy supports Spirits, attacking the ground and causing the girl to fall into the frozen lake.

She soon returns, saying that she enjoyed her warmth, and lunges at Shy, only to be pinned to the ground by Spirits. She introduces herself as Sveta, and attacks Spirits, then freezes her, causing Shy to attack her with her flames which Sveta says she likes. She grabs her, but Meng Long saves her and pushes Sveta away. Both didn't know where Spirits was, but decided to fight.

Sveta charges at Meng Long, who manages to push her away again, making her angry, so she freezes them both, but Shy uses her flames to melt the ice as she attacks him with her claws, putting her to sleep. Shy congratulates Meng Long and will soon melt the ice around Spirits, only to be approached by Stigma, who takes Sveta. He introduces his group as the Amalareiks, and leave, leaving the trio full of questions.

### Volume 3

Upon returning to the hideout, Uni-Lord apologizes to Shy and Mian Long, explaining Stigma's plan, then guides them to check on Pepesha, who has been injured. Despite this, she carried herself casually, asking the two not to worry. However, Lady Black reprimands her for such attitudes, bringing to light all the problems they should be worried about.

Pepesha reveals that Tzveta Kooriskaya had called her "Pesha", a nickname that only those closest to her use, and Shy theorizes that it must be someone she knows. Pepesha becomes concerned about such information, and tells Uni-Lord that the Amalareiks' members resemble children. With that, Uni-Lord calls Iko in, as a new variable. Iko had volunteered, explaining to Shy that all she wanted was to help her.

Uni-Lord tells the Japanese Hero that all countries share information with each other when the time is right, and also that they discovered that the ring contained parts of the Heart of Stigma himself, forcing its wearers to materialize their own in the form of crystals. Iko goes on to say that upon learning this, she was reminded of what she saw when she had been a victim.

Iko tells what she saw in Stigma's Heart and this intrigues Shy, as well as unsettles Pepesha who leaves on Shy and Meng Long's advice. After sending Iko home, Shy follows Pepesha and tries to cheer her up, to which Pepesha responds with provocations, which leaves the Japanese Hero disconcerted. She still encourages her to share her burdens with her and, surprised but proud, Pepesha agrees.

To find out more about Sveta, Teru goes to Russia to meet Pepesha. Although a little nervous, they soon meet and start walking together, with the Japanese woman noticing that the other was drunk, asking why. But when Pepesha asks if she would recognize her when she's sober, Teru doesn't know how to answer. Thus, they arrive at the Yuriy Orphanage and are welcomed by Isaak.

Upon entering, Teru quickly notices that Pepesha is a hero even without revealing her identity, and admires her more hearing from Isaak how she always visits bringing gifts and supporting the orphanage. After that, he takes them to look at the photo albums. Teru asks her if she is an orphan, to which Pepesha agrees. Showing one of her pictures, Pepesha comments that maybe they wouldn't find much with pictures of her, until Teru picks up a picture of her mother that had fallen out of the album.

Pepesha says she took that photo with her to feel less lonely, and Teru notices their similarities. After some time, they don't find anything and Isaak invites them to have lunch with Natalia starting to drink with Pepesha and their actions scare Teru a little. Natalia suggests that they look at the older albums and Teru is surprised to see how different the woman used to be, but then realizes that Pepesha's mother, Lenya, was identical to Sveta.

A scream draws the attention of the two outside and Pepesha quickly orders Teru to transform. In their Hero forms, Spirits tells Shy to take care of the frozen children, but the girl she thawed was not from the orphanage, but an Amalareik, Kfufu Kekerakera. Spirits loses her cool at Sveta's talk and traps her in her smoke, but she still manages to trap them in her Amarariruku.

Shy and Spirit are quick to notice that Natalia, Isaak and the other children are now unconscious, and Tzveta says it must be because normal humans cannot withstand her Amarariruku while freezing the Heroes in place. However, Shy quickly frees herself from it and tries to attack Tzveta, only to be attacked by Keheheh instead. Keheheh repeatedly attacks her in order to "make her smile" and Shy worries as she cannot predict what the other is going to do.

Keheheh tells her that her ability allows her to store all sort of stuff in her clothes, but Shy still cannot understand her motives. Tzveta tells Keheheh to let her be as they would never understand then, and Spirit uses her ability to trap them and attack them by throwing them on the ground. As it made no effect, Spirit prepares herself to battle, but Shy seems terrified. Tzveta attacks them and Shy counterattacks with her flames, however, Keheheh was ready to ambush her. Fortunately, Spirit protects Shy and throws Keheheh away.

As Tzveta asks, Keheheh tries to attack her again, but Spirit counterattacks with Gas Cannon. Spirit asks Shy to cover her up so she can take the civilians out of scene and Shy agrees, protecting her from Tzveta's attack with One Stroke, which is able to sucessfully get past her ice barrier and hit Keheheh. When it seems that Spirit was able to leave, she was taken back right besides Tzveta, who explains that she cannot leave her Amarariruku. She also reveals her goal: Spirit's memories.

Shy observes Spirit's quarrel with Tzveta and when the Russian Hero gets enraged by her use of the civilians' bodies, she soon finds out that her true objective was to make Spirit touch her so she could absorb her powers all along, and recover her memories. Shy sees Tzveta's memories as Lenya and gets surprise, but as Spirit's transformation dispels and Tzveta tries to convince her to accept her world, Shy interferes.

### Volume 4

Tzveta transforms herself due to her Amarariruku getting stronger and starts attacking Shy, but she resists. Shy argues about Tzveta's trues thoughts and feelings, because she had noticed how much similar she is to Iko in the regards of their destructive natures. She doesn't want to listen to her, however, so Shy encourages Pepesha to stand up and tell her mother all her thoughts. It works, as Pepesha transforms again and prepares to fight.

Shy ultimately encourages her again and helps Spirit break through Tzveta's ice. As mother and daugther make amends and confesses their true thoughts, Shy only observes as Keheheh relutantely leaves. Tzveta reveals all that she knows about the Amarariruku and then talks with her daugther wholeheartedly until Tzveta's finally disppears, also dissipating her Amarariruku. Shy comes to console her mentor by telling her that her mother trusts them to do the right thing and stop Stigma from destroying the world. As they are about to leave, however, Shy notices a ring by Tzveta's bottle.

A while later, the children of the orphanage are curious about Shy's presence in Russia, and she tries to deal with them until she gives up and asks for Spirit's help, who calls them inside. Relieved for finally being free, N. Villio calls her up and tells her that Unilord has asked for reinforcement and immediately after that, Stardust and Lady Black arrive on the scene. After Spirit gives Stardust Tzveta's ring, Shy approaches him to thank him for helping her with advice.

Even though he seems to not remember her at first, Stardust tells her that her accomplishments are hers alone and that she should be proud of herself. With that, he leaves first and Lady Black asks her if there are any injured people to take care of. To her answer, she notices Shy's development and smiles. After everything is solved, Teru and Pepesha say their goodbye to the orphanage and leave. Teru asks Pepesha if she had any idea about what Stigma's goal may be, and she replies that they would stop him no matter what, to which she agrees.

Most likely due to her recent experiences, Teru gets sick. She collapses as she walking to school with Iko, so she takes her to a clinic, confirming she had caught a cold. Teru initially tries to refuse Iko's help, but ultimately is taken home by her. As Iko leaves momentarily to buy some stuff, Teru changes clothes and lies down, falling asleep after asking N. Villio to take her clothes away. She dreams about her sister taking care of her and tells Iko, who she thought to be her sister, that she wanted to ride her back again. Despite Teru's embarassment, Iko is happy by her request.

Iko shows her all that she had bought and Teru thanks her for her help, comparing her to her sister. Iko says that she feels comfortable around Teru as she had noticed that Heroes are much like herself, normal people, and as she reiterates her respect to her, she decides to leave, but does so only after asking her to call her by her first name. When Teru recovers and goes back to school, finally calls her by "Iko," to which she smiles.

When Shy saved a child from a falling debris one day, she was brought by Tojiko Asuka, a reporter for Akita Publishing, to a interview. Tojiko asks her a few things about her personal life and interests, feeling a bit flustered as she thinks she is too plain and boring. However, she notices Tojiko's old notebook, which reminds the reporter about her grandmother. Shy tells her that she can be somebody's hero using her stories, and this motivates her. When she's back home, N. Villio asks her where she has been, but she is thinking to herself if she had said something embarrassing.

Teru is going out with Iko, and she worries about a purse snatcher, even though the latter tells that it's the police job to catch the criminal. As they decide to go to karaoke, a girl accidentally knocks off some products from a shelf, and Teru helps her organize them again. Since they leave together to the station, the girl introduces herself as Ai Tennoji and tells them she is "going out in a journey". Both are surprised as Ai seems to be lacking in ther common knowledge of certain terms like karaoke, so they decide to take her along for sightseeing.

After having fun together, Iko asks her about her parents but as Ai is about to answer, the purse snatcher just robbed an old lady. Teru worries about transforming in front of Ai, but decides to do it anyway, however, Ai stops her from doing anything and catches the purse snatcher by herself. The police is called and Ai feels a little fatigued, but refuses to go to the hospital, revealing to them that she was actually running away from her family.

### Volume 5

Ai Tennoji states that she is being followed by someone, and as her parents nor the police believed her, she ran away from home. She sticks up with them for a while more, and tells them that she is a shinobi. Teru and Iko are very skeptical for this, but cannot think as a boy comes from the sky. Ai fends him off with a sword technique, and they flee to a nearby temple. She says that boy was the one following her, and that they should be going, so she wouldn't be found.

Teru and Iko Koishikawa are still very skeptical about her being a shinobi, but when she falls down the stairs, Teru worries about not being able to save her on time. Fortunately, that same boy appears and saves her, introducing himself as Tokimaru, and that he was there to take Ai back to their village. Teru is speechless as they argue at the top of a torii, but they quickly get down.

Ai is enraged by Tokimaru's attempts on taking her back, and explains to Teru and Iko one of her motives for running away and what shinobi truly do, while she still tried to fend Tokimaru off. Ai shows Teru her sword, Purity, and she is very impressed by it, but embarrassed when the former reveals that it can read other people's Hearts. Ai is then surprised when she discovers Teru is the Hero she has been looking for, and not only reveals her true motives for being there, but also asks for her help to erase the evil.

Tokimaru is against it as she didn't even have a place to stay, but she decides on the spot she would be staying at Teru's house. Iko had to go home to make dinner for brother, so Teru only guests Ai, because Tokimaru stays outside. As Ai starts to take a bath, Teru brings some of her own clothes for her, and shyly refuses to join her. She then thinks about what to make for dinner and considers a take-out, but she is way too shy to make an order for herself. Fortunately, Ai offers herself to do it.

Teru is surprised by how good it tastes, and Ai explains to her that a blade can be a deadly weapon or an useful tool depending on which emotions one puts into it. She notices that, despite the way she acts towards Tokimaru, Ai actually really cares for him and goes out of her way to make him food, too. Iko arrives at Teru's house soon after to have a sleepover with them, and they play for a little while.

When it's already 11 P.M., Ai decides to be truly honest with them and Teru is shocked to hear that the ones following her are the Amarariruku, specifically "the other her". With this new piece of information, Teru contacts Unilord through N. Villio. She thanks her and tells her to stay vigilant, because they may attack next in Japan. In the next morning, Teru is woken up by Ai who hurriedly tells her to dress up so they can go somewhere else to know each other better.

Once in a isolated place, Teru transforms into Shy and is embarrassed by Ai's curiosity about her Hero form, but gets surprised to know that Ai can also transform. Ai suggests to play a game of rock skipping, however, her way of playing it is vastly different from what Shy and Iko have imagined. While they try to discover how to replicate what Ai did, Ai searches for Tokimaru. When she returns and notices that they didn't make any progress, she explains that rocks also have Hearts and that they should feel it. Shy tries to follow her advice and successfully throws the rock across the river directly into the tree.

In the end, however, Shy couldn't throw more than a rock and rests for a bit with Ai and Iko, while the former tells Iko how she managed to arrive there and her quick visit to Tokyo. However, their conversation is cut short as N. Villio informs Shy that a part of Tokyo was enveloped in a dark void, which surprises her. She is immediately called to the hideout to discuss what to do. They don't know what is happening inside the done, nor Amarariruku's motives, but Shy wants to infiltrate the dome to save the people inside as quickly as possible.

Stardust suggests dividing them into teams, to which Unilord agrees. Century is nominated as the leader of the standby team, but Shy is surprised when she is put as the leader for the infiltration team. Unilord explains that she would know better as the Hero representative of Japan, but she is still unsure of it and leaves to think. She is approached by Lady Black, who tells her that she should trust stronger people if she is weak, and as she is about to leave, Shy asks if she thinks she can do it, to which she replies that she would've objected if she didn't think so.

After Lady Black leaves, Mian Long also approaches her and offers her tea. They drink it to calm down, and Mian Long sympathizes with Shy's insecurity, but encourages her with his trust in her, as he has worked with her before. Motivated, Shy comes back and asks Century for a time limit, so the standby team would act should anything happen to the infiltration. Century agrees to this, but makes her promise him to come back alive in the end.

Shy is nervous, but after leaving, is about to think about who she would take into her team. Ai arrives at the hideout to offer assistance, however. Shy is unsure, however Unilord tells her she should come, as they have not yet found a way to enter the dome. Allowing Ai to come, the Japanese Hero proceeds to recruit Spirit, Mian Long and Lady Black to her team, and they depart to Tokyo. Shy promisses them they wouldn't fail.

With Purity, they are able to infiltrate the dome. Spirit searches for and finds the civilians, who are in a catatonic state in a different manner of those back at Yuriy Orphanage. Lady Black inspects them, and discovers they are still alive, so the team reinforce their mission. However, their talk is interrupted by Doki, who comes from above and tries to attack Ai, but Shy and Mian Long protect her, and they prepare to battle.

### Volume 6

Doki introduces himself to the heroes and states his business with Ai Tennoji. Lady Black is able to, surprisingly, convince him to take them along to the tower after provoking him about his cuteness. Shy asks him about the civilians, to which he replies that Utsuro has been draining their hearts, and that they must have about an hour before they become lost. Spirit takes notice on his likes, and Doki says his dream is to nap upon a pile of adorable plushies.

Shy innocently comments on how this is a girly dream, but such statement angers Doki, who attacks her. Spirit saves her from his rock throwing attack, and Lady Black ironizes the situation. Doki attempts to close the earth to attack them, but Mian Long thinks quickly and uses Heart Shaking Palm against the Amarariruku, paralyzing him, thus saving the group. Mian Long asks Shy to go on ahead without him as they didn't have the time to waste, considering the civilians' state.

Lady Black is against this, but Shy sees the bigger picture and agrees on this, putting her trust on him and leaving with the others as he asked.