Four year old Ryuutou Ruka was hiding beneath a secret hatch under the rug in her closet where her parents told her to hide before they went to investigate what had triggered the alarm system of their estate. Not long after they left, the sound of glass shattering, items being knocked around, yells and screams echoed throughout Ruka's large house. She heard several thumps, like a blunt object hitting bodies and the cries of her mother and father as they desperately tried to fight off whoever was attacking them. Eventually the screams stopped and only heavy breathing was heard, accompanied by a loud clang of something metal dropping on the floor. Then someone spoke, but it wasn't either of her parents.
"Search for the girl." A deep voice said as heavy boot steps sounded throughout the house. There was about three people total. Ruka stayed quiet, trying hard not to make a sound. She heard a set of heavy boot steps down the hallway approach her bedroom. Then the sound of her bedroom door knob turning, following by a creak of the door opening. The intruder entered her bedroom above where she was.
"Hey, it's safe now. Your mom and I took care of the intruders. You can come out." A gentle voice that sounded exactly like her father's called out. But based on what Ruka heard earlier, she knew it wasn't her father. The impersonator also didn't say her name which was another indicator that it wasn't him. She stayed where she was, holding her breath.
"Come on, there's no need to hide anymore. Daddy's here." The man said in her father's voice. This time it was closer, directly above her as she heard her closet door open. Ruka continued to hold her breath. She could hear the man rummaging around in her closet before he gave up and left her bedroom. She sighed with relief that she wasn't found. But unfortunately, that was short lived. Two sets of footsteps approached her bedroom. One was the heavy boots from before and the other sounded like heels. They stopped in the middle of the room.
"She's here. I see her." A female voice said as Ruka's heart dropped. Then she heard the pair of footsteps walk fast to her closet. She couldn't move, she was frozen in fear. A thud like someone dropping onto their knees sounded on the floor boards right above her accompanied by the sound of heavy fabric being thrown aside. Just then, the hatch was opened and someone grabbed her and pulled her out of her hiding spot roughly. She was met face to face with a masked man and woman. She screamed, but a large hand covered her mouth. She tried to claw at the hand and kicked around, but it was no use. Then she felt a sharp prick in her neck and her vision slowly faded to black as her movements slowed.
"Shh. Daddy's got you. No need to be afraid." Was the last thing she heard in her father's voice, accompanied by the smell of perfume from the woman before she fell unconscious.
"You didn't have to keep up the act. She knew it wasn't her father. Otherwise she would have come out when you called and I wouldn't have had to use my infrared x-ray vision. I guess this kid's smarter than you thought, huh?" The woman said, capping the needle and putting it in her pocket.
"Shut up Nami. You got the easiest part. I had to grab and restrain her." The impersonator said as he stood up, inspecting the scratches on his hand and arm. Some of them had broken skin and he was bleeding a little.
"Oh boo hoo, you got cat scratches from a little girl. Cry me a river, Sharaku! We've got the kid now. That's all that matters. Come on, let's go you wuss. Kaito is waiting outside with the van." Nami said as she started to leave Ruka's room.
"Hey! I am not a wuss!" Sharaku said as he slung Ruka over his shoulder and followed Nami out of the bedroom.
~Time Skip~
Ruka woke up in an unfamiliar bed. Her head was hazy. When she came to, she realized she was hooked up to a heart monitor and she had bandages on her arms as well as metal cuffs with glowing red bands chaining her ankles to the bed. She seemed to be in some kind of hospital, but something about it was off. The air was cold and stale like she was underground. She sat up, her arms aching like she had gotten a bunch of flu shots.
"You're awake. Good. My name is Doctor Ray and I'm the medical director of the Shadow Organization." A slender female doctor said as she entered the room. She had light skin, long wavy brown hair and bright red lipstick, and her eyes were steel gray. She wore black heels, black dress pants and a black v-neck shirt with a white doctor's coat over it and a stethoscope draped over her shoulders.
"Where am I? Where's my mommy and daddy? What did you do to them?!" Ruka asked, her voice getting louder with every question. Tears pricked at her eyes, threatening to leave them. The doctor came closer and knelt down to eye level. That's when she could smell it, the same perfume she smelled before she fell unconscious.
"I'm sorry, we tried to save your mother and father. But it was too late. But all that matters is that you're here safe and sound. How are you feeling?" Doctor Ray said in a gentle tone, but Ruka ignored her question.
"You're lying! You didn't try to save them! You murdered them!" Ruka yelled, her tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Now, now. Let's just calm down and take deep breaths." Doctor Ray said calmly as she reached over gently towards Ruka's hand as if to comfort her. But Ruka jerked her hand away.
"Murderer!" Ruka screamed. Just then, Doctor Ray's vibe changed and her gentle demeanor then turned harsh and cold. She stood up and leaned towards her.
"Listen here! If you don't cooperate, you'll be severely punished. Am I clear?" Doctor Ray snapped which startled Ruka. The doctor's true personality was starting to show and it scared her.
"Am I clear?!" Doctor Ray raised her voice as Ruka just nodded her head. The doctor gave her a cold glare then headed towards the door as two men entered the room.
"Start her on the training program immediately. But first, erase all her memories up until now except for her name and the knowledge of her quirk. Don't let her know our real names. Sharaku you'll be known as Mimic and Kaito, your name is Echo. And I will be called Doctor Ray. Understood?" The doctor whispered to the men so that Ruka couldn't hear her. Then she walked out. The two men then approached Ruka. One of them pushed her back on the bed and held her down as she cried and struggled to break free but to no avail.
"This is the last time you'll recognize this voice." The impersonator man said in Ruka's father's voice, followed by an evil chuckle.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." The other man said. Ruka recognized that deep voice. It was the first voice she heard after her parents were murdered. He pressed his index and middle fingers on her temples. Suddenly, she went into a state of paralysis then sleep as the other man let go of her. One by one, her earliest memories began to fade from her mind until she couldn't remember anything. Everything was blank. Once the man released his fingers from her head, she woke up. She sat up and blinked. Tears were flowing from her eyes for an unknown reason.
"So, how are you feeling?" The impersonator said, using her dad's voice again. He was a large muscular guy with very short dark brown hair and navy blue eyes.
"Why am I crying?" Ruka asked, not seeming to recognize the once familiar voice of her father.
"Not sure. Maybe you had a nightmare." The other man said. He was quite a bit smaller in frame compared to the other man. He had medium short blonde hair, violet eyes, and a piercing on his right ear.
"Anyways, my name is Mimic. What's your name little one?" The impersonator said in his real voice as Ruka rubbed her eyes, confused on why his voice changed.
"Why did your voice change?" Ruka asked.
"Just practicing. See, my quirk is mimicking the voices of other people. The more I do it, the better I get." told Ruka.
"Oh. My name is Ryuutou Ruka." Ruka responded.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Echo." The other man named Echo introduced himself.
"What's your quirk Echo?" Ruka asked Echo curiously.
"Oh it has to do with the brain." Echo said vaguely.
"Anyways Ryuutou, we need to get you started on your training program." Echo said as he unhooked the chains from the ankle cuffs that were connecting Ruka to the bed frame.
"Training program?" Ruka asked curiously.
"Yes. You were specially selected to participate in this training program." Mimic said as he helped Ruka off of the bed.
"But first we need to do an assessment test to see where your quirk is at so we can determine your training regimen. Come with us." Echo said as he smiled and held out his hand to Ruka who slowly grabbed it. They brought her to a large room with combat dummies and moving targets. They asked her to explain her quirk and give demonstrations. They removed her ankle cuffs and immediately, she had access to the dragon spirit within her. Ever since she woke up here, she could access the dragon spirit. She could sense it was there, but couldn't reach it. Ruka's quirk was called Dragon Soul. There was a dragon spirit that resided within her. She could manifest the spirit and command it to attack enemies, call on its power to enhance her abilities, or even transform either partially or fully into a dragon herself. There was a prophecy concerning the Dragon Soul users, hinting that it had been passed down through generations even before quirks started appearing. Dragon Soul users didn't start showing abilities until the first quirks started manifesting, meaning that the dragon spirits must have been dormant until then. The prophecy went as follows:
Since ancient times eight dragons choose
the vessels that their spirits use.
Through generations all will be male,
until disaster makes us frail.
When countries start to fall apart,
comes last dragon's beating heart.
With her, the dragon holds its ties.
And with her death, the dragon dies.
Ruka's family was the last remaining of eight families that possessed the Dragon Soul quirk. Up until now, all the Dragon Soul users had been male even in the other families, but she was the first female to inherit the Dragon Soul quirk in history. According to the prophecy, she was the last Dragon Soul user. Once she was done showing off her quirk's abilities, that was the last time things were easy for her. From then on, she went through rigorous training: physical, mental, and emotional. They also put together special training to suit her quirk. Ruka was being trained to be an assassin: cold, emotionless, honed to kill. If she didn't meet her goals or showed emotion or weakness during training, she was harshly disciplined, enduring torture that would almost break her. She had many scars all over her body from those punishments. Her living situation wasn't comfortable, but it provided the necessities. But other than that, she was well fed with proper nutrition and given proper medical care when needed. After all, she needed to be in top shape to be an effective assassin. By the time she took on her first assignment, she was eleven years old with seven years of training under her belt. It was a success, earning her the right to accept more assignments. From then on, she quickly climbed the ranks. Before long, she was one of the top assassins in the Shadow Organization, even outranking some that had been there longer than her. But there were a couple times when she couldn't complete her assignments. She was disciplined like she was when she failed to meet her training goals. But after the second time, she decided, never again, would she falter. And she didn't. Ruka had built a reputation for herself. She was infamous among the Underworld of Japan and the heroes alike. She was pretty much the pinnacle of assassins nationwide. Ruka was known as the Blue Dragon Assassin due to her quirk. And like her organization's name implied, she was like a shadow: silent, lurking behind her target(s), and gone once said target(s) dropped dead. But as she would soon discover, even the infamous Blue Dragon Assassin of the Shadow Organization could falter again.