I bring you a new chapter! Hope you like it.

»Names of killjoys:

Raven Nicotine: Daichi Sawamura.
Radiant Cinder: Koushi Sugawara.
Revolver Wing: Kotaro Bokuto.
Hysteria: Keiji Akaashi.
Panther Amphetamine: Tetsurou Kuroo. «

Bulletproof Heart

Fuel your flames, rays of light!

Here is Doctor Death Defying, coming at you with the words that make you get up every morning, put on your masks and send BL industries to hell.

A little crow joined our ranks yesterday, after having faced six pigs halfway through Route Guano. Heh… of course with a little help from Amphetamine Panther, Revolver Wing and Hysteria.

Please welcome "Sun Inferno."

But be careful with receiving him with a high five, in the altercation he broke his wing. But don't worry little Sun Inferno, a killjoy brother could lend you one when you need it.

Make him feel welcome in the Nest, Killjoys.

And don't forget to step on the gas, load your guns, and never look back; because the pigs may be waiting.

Next, the traffic report ...

He heard the alarm signal; the day had begun, and everyone had a mission to carry out. It didn't matter if it looked small. Hinata was still new, he had arrived just a couple of days ago, he knew some of the killjoys, but there were too many.

Daichi introduced him to Koushi the next day, a boy with hair like ash and a little mole near his eye; with a smile that made Shoyo feel like he was at home. He decided he liked Koushi, he seemed like a nice guy.

"You can call me Suga," Koushi had offered, "that's how everyone around here knows me."

After that he showed him his room, it was somewhat spacious; two rows of four bunks stretched out on each side. At the foot of each bed were either one's clothes or belongings. The atmosphere felt a bit crowded, but Hinata presumed that happened when sixteen people shared a room.

His bed would be the one in the left corner, the top one; it was the only bed available. He looked at who would be his bunkmate and found out it was a boy with hair falling on his cheeks, as if it were a golden waterfall. Hinata wondered why it was two-toned, yellow, and black at the roots, was it natural?

Then he remembered Bokuto and thought how stupid he would've sounded if he had actually asked that.

Suga had given him a rough, heavy sheet to sleep on, Hinata tossed it on his bunk and walked over to the blond boy.

"Hello!" he glowed. "I'm new here, but I hope I'll get used to the place and learn how to use a weapon, kill a lot of dracs and win this war. I come from the Zone twenty-one thousand, or I hope it was twenty-one thousand…"

He looked down at the ground and held his chin with his hand.

"I was never good at locating in the zones!" he continued. "My mother always told me that one day I would end up lost. If you think about it, it should be easy to memorize the street names because, well, there aren't any names! But that just makes it more difficult. How'd you know when a Zone ends? What if you read the map upside down?! You can mistake Zone six for Zone nine!"

The boy just blinked wide-eyed.

"Well, sure you've heard from me." Hinata kept going "Unless you haven't… I'm Shoyo Hinata! And I just joined the killjoys, I still don't know where everything is or what I'll do; but I wanna go out there and fight as many Exterminators as I can." He began to throw his fists into the air. "If they let me choose my weapon, I think I'd take a giant axe so everyone would shudder at the sight of me and know they shouldn't mess with me." He held a fist to his chest. "Anyway, I hope we get along because we'll be bunk mates. And you look like a good guy! … Although it's not like anyone here looks like they aren't… Except maybe that blond guy with glasses, I don't know what his name is, but he looks like an arrogant prick."

What if this guy was his friend?

"Though if you are his friend then he might not be so bad! Oh! I've already talked a lot, always happens to me." He scratched his head, bashful. "What's your name?"

The killjoy was looking at him confused and seemed genuinely uncomfortable, his eyes were piercing, but they were looking everywhere but at him as if he wanted to make sure he found a way out and run away from him. Had Hinata intimidated him?

He was a bit surprised, not all killjoys were loud or boisterous like the ones he had known until now.

Shoyo murmured a few parting words and climbed the bunk, being careful not to hurt his broken hand. It was nothing fancy, just a bandage around the fingers up to his wrist. Work of the Doctor, Chikara Ennoshita or "Silent Infection."

He kept tossing and turning in his bed, thinking that perhaps the boy on the lower bunk would speak to him at the end, overcoming his shyness; but it never came, and Hinata ended up falling asleep.

And now there he was, Hinata jumped out of bed and looked at all the rebels in the room, each one seemed to have a different routine. A boy with big eyes but small pupils was folding the stiff sheet methodically; while another killjoy in the opposite corner quickly got out of bed; before everyone else.

Hinata recognized the boy, he was the one who had exploded when he arrived.

He stretched his limbs, his shoulder joint made a soft pop, making him relax instantly.

When he reached the entrance, he met Suga.

"Hello."

"... ood ... rning!" He exclaimed, stumbling over his words, he had to stop with the not being able to speak.

The second in command of the killjoys let out a chuckle; Hinata felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"Come with me, I'll show you where the showers are and then where we eat."

Showers, Hinata discovered, were nothing out of the ordinary. The floor and walls were covered with tiles. There was a drainage system and at least ten booths, separated by short walls. The floor was slippery, and he nearly tripped about four times, but he finished his shower without any accidents.

Koushi continued to guide him to another room, that was almost three times the size and was full of chairs and tables made of gnawed and old wood. The chatter of everyone present made it almost impossible to hear Suga's explanation of the place. The killjoy led him to the queue of the line.

"How many years did it take to build all this?" Hinata asked curiously, he wasn't good with dates or figures, but he wanted to know how something this big had escaped the vigilant eye of Better Living Industries.

"A military base was located here, before the helium wars ended, it served as an armored shelter in case an atomic bomb went off. When it did, and the world fell apart, the building that was on the surface vanished and the entrance to this place was buried. Battery City was founded by this region, having no idea that they were practically on a gold mine. Perhaps if they had snooped a bit more, they would have discovered it, but fortunately for us, they did not. One of the founders of the resistance knew about this area and could not come up with something more perfect." He spread his hands, as if to emphasize his surroundings. "Of course, the place was completely abandoned. Nothing more than an empty structure, like the corpse of a magnificent extinct beast."

It was their turn to take the food, each one had a metal tray. They were served a ladle of soft brown stew, on some good day it wouldn't look appetizing at all, but Hinata hadn't eaten for a few days, so he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into it.

Relatively speaking of course, he was sure the gelatinous stew would present no major opposition to his teeth.

"Sugawara!" A guy with a buzz-cut called from a table with unoccupied chairs. "Here!"

Koushi and Hinata took their seats, the little killjoy wasted no time in taking the first bite. The goo tasted a little better than it looked like, so he kept going for the second bite, eating eagerly.

"Tanaka, this is Hinata, the new guy we talked about."

"Oh!" I knew I hadn't seen you before." He laughed out loud with his mouth full, finished swallowing the food and licked his lips. "I'm Ryuunosuke Tanaka, but out there you can call me Strident Terror; I'm in the Vanguard."

Shoyo marveled, Vanguard? That had to be the best job of all.

"That must be the best job of all!" He exclaimed his thoughts.

The killjoy laughed rambunctious.

"Hinata, you met three of them when they found you in the desert." Suga recalled.

"Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi are in the Vanguard?"

The ash-haired man nodded and continued with his explanation.

"They and others oversee patrolling upstairs, keeping exterminators and draculoids away from our territory. They are the ones with the most experience fighting. While others, well, we have experience in other areas."

"We are like the muscle of the resistance." Tanaka commented smugly.

"Yes, but without the brain they can't function," Suga chided in a disapproving tone.

Tanaka smiled with respect towards the Koushi.

"What about you, Suga?" Hinata asked. "Aren't you part of the Vanguard?"

"Sugawara is second in command after Daichi" Tanaka announced proudly.

"I also belong to the Scouts." added the killjoy with the birthmark, arching an eyebrow, "we raid ruined villages, looking for food, clothing, or whatever we can find."

"That sounds great too!"

Cinder laughed at Shoyo's reply and ruffled his ginger hair affectionately. Sugawara excused himself from the table for a moment; he'd remembered some issues that he should discuss with Daichi regarding the next outing as soon as possible.

"What's your story, little crow?" Terror questioned when they were alone.

Hinata started at the beginning, from his father fighting in the analog wars. Tanaka listened attentively, occasionally making soft comments like, "Aren't you kidding?" "Wow" and "That's great."

He was detailing what the community of his friends, Kouji and Izumi was like when he was interrupted by Tanaka.

"Ah, shit!" he exclaimed in surprise and looked at the worn clock that had been nailed to the wall. "My shift starts in five minutes, Daichi will kill me if I'm late again. We'll talk later Hinata, sorry!"

And with that he ran out of the cafeteria.

Shift?

He shrugged and started looking for Suga again, but Cinder was still talking with the leader. It didn't seem like a good idea to go and interrupt them. They must've been talking about something important; he would look like a complete idiot if he went there.

So, he began to scan the huge room with his eyes, tilting his head. They all seemed immersed in their own conversations, which converged in an intelligible hum.

He perked up when he noticed his bunkmate, the boy with blonde hair and black on his scalp. He was already his acquaintance, wasn't he? This time he would talk to him. He walked in his direction carrying the metal tray and sat next to him.

"Hello!" He greeted. "Do you remember me? We're bunk mates!"

The shy boy looked at his lap and nodded quickly.

"You're not very talkative, are you?"

"Well, that's what I would expect, you know, my friend is deaf after all." Interjected another voice.

Hinata noticed Panther sitting next to the introverted boy, putting the food tray on the table, with his smug smile and narrowed eyes; his hair looked just as wild as ever.

"De-deaf?!" He felt his cheeks burning with shame, now everything that had happened between them made sense and Hinata wanted to bury himself deeper underground.

"But don't worry, kid, he can read lips; he's just very shy around new guys." With that, he raised a spoonful of stew to his mouth.

"Sorry, Sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" He screamed, although he truly didn't deserve forgiveness.

The boy made a movement with his hands that left Shoyo on the moon.

"Huh?"

"He says don't worry," Kuroo clarified, his cheeks plump and full of food, "yesterday he tried to explain it, but you got on your bunk too fast."

When the killjoy swallowed, he started laughing at Hinata.

His cheeks were still burning, the situation was too embarrassing. The withdrawn rebel started to make other signs, Shoyo looked at Kuroo to enlighten him.

"«My name is Kenma Kozume, nice to meet you, Shoyo Hinata»" the black-haired man translated taking another bite to his mouth "«my alias is Shining Shadow. »"

"Kenma." Hinata repeated with a smile.

"Hinata, there you are!" Sugawara called somewhat concerned. "I'm sorry I was late, but come with me, I want to show some other things." He looked at his tablemates and smiled at them. "I see you already met Kenma and Kuroo." Panther greeted with a slow movement of his hand, he had fingerless gloves, while the other boy looked shyly at Koushi.

"See you around, Kid" he said without stopping from eating, "Kenma says 'goodbye'!" Was the last thing he exclaimed, followed by another loud laugh and then followed by a thud and Panther's groan.

"You've already met some of the members of the Vanguard." Sugawara explained as they walked out of the cafeteria, the place was almost empty, surely breakfast time had just finished. "Daichi is also part of it, but he also performs other roles, that's why he doesn't go out to the surface as much as the others."

"Nicotine said something about functioning like a body, right?" He remembered the conversation they had when he got to the base.

"Exactly."

"Besides the Vanguard and the Scouts, are there other branches?"

"That's right."

"As which ones?

The ash-haired rebel thought about it for a moment, staring at the ceiling and all the yards of earth above them.

"Follow me."

They went through a long corridor, Hinata recognized it, it must be like the main entrance; He remembered walking around when he had arrived. If they kept walking to the right there would be the hangar for vehicles and machines, and then there would be the exit.

Instead, they veered to the left and followed the endless corridor.

"Was it always this big? This place, I mean."

"Not really." Cinder replied, "Ikkei Ukai was the founder of the resistance before we had a name and when all this was nothing more than an insane illusion. After a few years, he, and other architects with the same hatred for BL ended up expanding the base, and it became a home for all of us. We're all from different backgrounds."

He looked at Hinata sympathetically, assuring him that, like him, most of them and experienced horrible things. Perhaps there were other killjoys that came from further afield.

"Here we are." Suga stopped.

There were no doors anywhere on the base, he supposed it was easier to get around that way; or maybe they were comforts they could not afford.

He walked in and the wings of his nose were assaulted by a pungent smell, he felt it like a blow to his face and his eyes began to burn, threatening to shed tears. He noticed a series of test tubes, or glass jars with smoking substances and others with bubbles on a metal table which covered almost half of the floor in the room.

In front of him was a small-sized silhouette, she had giant plastic glasses and yellow gloves that reminded him of those crazy scientists from some books he'd read.

"Hitoka," Sugawara called with one arm covering his face, presumably to avoid the penetrating stench.

The rebel jumped, the flask she was holding in her hand almost fell off. Other killjoys were at her back, each minding their own business with neon-colored concoctions. The petite blonde Koushi had called put down the chemicals and walked over to them and left the room.

Hinata and Sugawara broke into a coughing fit. His throat itched and burned at the same time, still had the foul scent stuck on the bridge of his nose and brain. What the hell was that?

"Hi-Hitoka." Cinder repeated, his voice still rough and bloodshot eyes, "This is Hinata Shoyo, our new brother."

The ginger extended his hand to greet his companion cordially and Hitoka did the same with her huge yellow gloves. Their fingers were about to touch when the blonde girl pulled her hand away as if Shoyo had burned it.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed completely distraught, "If you were to touch my hand, it would've burned your skin in seconds! No! -I wouldn't have done it on purpose; it's the poison I'm working on. Oh, how terrible!" She screamed. "I would've destroyed our new brother's hand! How could you've forgiven me?!"

"Hey? Hitoka, it's okay," Suga insisted.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed repeatedly.

"This is Hitoka Yachi." Koushi introduced, while the girl continued to apologize, "She's our poison specialist."

"Poison!" Hinata marveled, jumping excitedly "How cool!"

"R-r-really?" Hitoka was speechless, her cheeks dusted with a sandy pink.

"Yes!"

"W-well," she began trying to explain shyly, "Poison makes it easier for us when we're up against the BL/ind patrols, and… and on top of that, I can make drugs or medicines, as well as antidotes too. I mean... painkillers, antibiotics... things like that."

"Wow! So so cool!" He celebrated with stars in his eyes. The killjoys really were great!

Hitoka seemed to be in seventh heaven, scratching her head and looking in another direction; a goofy smile spread across her delicate features.

"Okay, Hinata, there are still other things I have to show you." Cinder reported, nudging the other boy to move forward. "I bet Hitoka can tell you a little more about her work when we meet in the cafeteria."

"Oh! Yes, of course." she smiled. "See you, Hinata!"

She said goodbye waving his hand in the direction of the two of them. Shoyo turned around to ask her one last question.

"What should I call you out there?" He cocked his head to the ceiling.

"Cinnamon Thorn." she replied, smiling.

As they walked, he thought about how smart Hitoka must be, to know chemistry and pharmacology. He only knew which berries could eat, and which ones were poisonous. Could he really contribute something to the resistance? A talent capable of facilitating victory for the killjoys.

A loud explosion blew him back to reality.

He and Sugawara fell backwards.

"Ah…" the snow-haired rebel complained, brushing some dust off his military pants. "Hinata, are you okay?"

"Yeah." He answered quickly, "what was that?! Infiltrated Enemies?!" He got to his feet quickly, looking frantically around.

Radiant Cinder chuckled slightly.

"Oh no." He smiled and lightly touched his shoulder, calming the shorter rebel in the moment. "If they'd been enemies, an alarm would go off and everyone would be here in a second."

"Oh."

"What's more important... I think I know who was responsible."

He followed the older killjoy and recognized the room he was heading into, it's where that killjoy had exploded the day before!

"Hinata," Koushi sighed heavily, it reminded him like a father tired of his son's antics, "this is Noya."

A sooty face smiled upon seeing them, the killjoy took a piece of cloth and wiped his face; he had hazel eyes, a streak of blonde hair in the center of his forehead, and spiky brown hair.

"Hey!" He greeted them energetically, approaching his visitors and taking Shoyo's hand to shake it vigorously. "My name is Yuu Nishinoya, everyone calls me Noya, but up there" —he pointed at the ceiling— "I'm Neon Spark."

"You make explosions!"

"Yeah," he agreed proudly, slapping his chest with the tip of his thumb, "my specialty is explosives. There's nothing better than end a fight with a bang!"

"How'd you do it?" asked Inferno.

"You just need a little gasoline, kerosene, and a little imagination."

"Now you're just being modest." Suga interjected. "Noya here is capable of making beautiful lights in the sky as well. You also have hundreds of substances down here that helps us create new weapons to fight. He has found a way to deactivate droids with a small explosion."

Nishinoya laughed.

"The secret is in the shock wave!" Spark admitted.

"Wow!" Hinata marveled; his attention being taken by a strange white powder in a Petri dish. He could even pass himself off as sugar "And what's this?"

"Oh, I would be a little careful with that, you could blow off your hand or make a very ugly scar on your side..."

The boy shorter than him carefully removed the material from his hands and placed it away from him.

"Is that why you got your nickname?" Hinata asked curiously, changing the subject.

"Yeah. My father made good old-fashioned bombs; but me, I like to go up one more step, you know? Careful with that!"

He ran in the direction of Shoyo who had taken a test tube with a neon-purple liquid, he snatched it from his hands with urgency.

"One drop of this and everyone down here will get blown up. It can take out a third of Battery City."

Shoyo felt all the blood leave his body.

"Sugawara, are you here?" Came a passive voice.

"Akaashi," the killjoy with the beauty mark greeted.

"I've come to take over your babysitting job." He explained monotonously, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

The ash-haired rebel chuckled, Hinata pouted. He wasn't a damn boy!

"Come on, kid, you have target practice right now." Hysteria informed.

Target practice? He squirmed with excitement, did that mean…?

"We'll go shoot some cans up there." He clarified, making the information simpler for Shoyo; he didn't have time to feel offended because he would finally hold a real gun in his hands! "We're going now."

Hinata followed the almond-eyed killjoy, Akaashi did not appear to have any intention of waiting for him as his step was firm and fast; Shoyo was definitely not having a problem keeping up, because that would definitely be pathetic… Even though Hysteria was increasing speed. It seemed like he was in a hurry.

"Umm... Akaashi, are you in a hurry?"

"Not really." he assured, "I just want to get off the base before..."

"Akaashi!" Bokuto's boisterous voice interrupted. "There you are! I almost lost you." He caught up with the pair and threw a heavy arm around Keiji's shoulders. "I wanted to go out with you guys and see you teach the little crow how to shoot."

Hysteria sighed regretfully.

"It doesn't matter." he finished answering Hinata.

"What?" Revolver alternated his attention between Hinata and Akaashi. "Did I miss something?"

"No." he replied stoically, shaking Kotaro's arm and resuming his hurried pace. "Let's just keep going."

"Hinata!" Revolver exclaimed, as if he hadn't seen the short boy when he had arrived, he brought him to his body in a kind of awkward and brotherly hug, shaking his hair. "How was your day in the magnificent life of a killjoy?"

"It's the best!"

Akaashi scoffed in exasperation and left the pair slightly behind.

Shoyo had been so excited talking to Bokuto that he forgot where they were. He quickly recognized the place full of luminous screens, they covered the entire wall, stacked one on top of the other, forming a controlled chaos.

The bespectacled blond was typing, his expression serene but his fingers moved with a dexterity that seemed innate.

"Tsukishima," Akaashi called, "I need you to open the gates, Daichi's orders."

"Tsukki!" The broad, square-shouldered killjoy greeted.

The blond clicked his tongue in annoyance, spending more than a couple of seconds of his time looking at them and then resuming his task.

"Okay." he agreed nonchalantly and then turned to Bokuto. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that."

"Shall I call you glasses?" Revolver tried; this only irritated Tsukishima more.

"Ignore him Tsukishima, or he'll end up coming up with a worse one." The black-haired killjoy recommended.

"Just give me the signal when you're ready, okay?" He gave up, his shoulders drooping, and he straightened his black-rimmed glasses in his nose.

Akaashi nodded softly and turned around without warning, trusting the pair to follow. Bokuto and Hinata did it. Quickly they reached the vehicle hangar, the floor seemed lined with metal debris, some rusted and others broken.

The stoic of the three killjoys took the driver's seat, Revolver at his side and Hinata in the back seat. The noisy engine made him jump, the space was narrow, and the sound resonated loudly in the small space. Akaashi shifted the gearshift, and the car began to move forward.

It was the same car with the spider painted on the hood, the speed was increasing with the seconds through the endless dark corridor. Although there were small lights on the walls, it seemed to Hinata that this is how the stars must've been seen at night.

Hysteria changed gears and the speed increased, the stars became a continuous line on each side of the car. The darkness seemed eternal, Shoyo enjoyed the cold air colliding on his face, the old earthy scent felt like pure air in his lungs. It felt surreal, traveling in a black hole, the car's golden lights illuminating merely a couple of meters in front of them.

Akaashi took an old handset with the size of his hand with a built-in speaker, it was an intercom.

"Now, Tsukishima." he said.

It was greeted by static and then a soft voice, which sounded bored: "Okay."

On the horizon, perhaps a hundred meters away, a hatch slowly began to open, the darkness ending in a blinding white glow. The first thing that came to Hinata's mind was the adage "the light at the end of the tunnel." Probably because of the darkness and the unchanging landscape, he hadn't noticed the speed that the Nova had acquired.

It gave the impression of being a white wall they soon were about to hit, the engine roared like a hungry predator about to attack its prey.

"This is the cool part, Hinata." Bokuto exclaimed excitedly, sticking his face out of the car window. His wild hair seemed to come to life from the way it fluttered in the wind.

Shoyo followed suit, the blizzard colliding with his face, but he struggled to keep his eyes open. His orange locks that always fell on his face were violently pushed back. Although it was difficult for him to breathe because of the air's weight, he did not intend to go inside; instead, he sat on the window frame, pulling his torso up and out of the vehicle. He gripped the door tightly.

The wall of light was fast approaching, for a moment he thought that it was the wall which was moving, and the car was fixed in place. He heard Bokuto cheer absently, the blizzard buzzing in his ears. His eyes were beginning to burn, the combination of gloom and glare twisting his stomach with excitement.

They collided with the exit, climbing up a platform so fast it made butterflies flutter inside him. The blazing rays of the unforgivable sunbathed them in suffocating heat; but he could still bear it, the car was going so fast that the air soothed his skin. The landscape was transformed into thousands and thousands of kilometers around the desert, different shades of saffron reigned over the place.

Shoyo looked behind him, the gate in the sand had closed behind them and, as if it were magic, it seemed they had emerged from thin air. A few meters ahead and he was not entirely sure where the entrance had been.

Akaashi found the road and drove to it.

Bokuto let out another blissful scream, making a fist and throwing it into the air. He laughed out loud, a lively but contagious noise; Shoyo had not realized then he had accompanied him, joining in a lake of laughter. It seemed to him that Akaashi was smiling slightly.

"This is what I'm talking about," Bokuto exclaimed over the sound of the wind, engine, and tires. "This... Freedom! This is what living is all about. Without walls, without eyes looking at you and without… without those fucking brainwashes."

Hysteria kept his eyes on the road, but for a second, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at his companion to the side and raised an eyebrow. Hinata assumed that this was not the first time Revolver had said that; and if Shoyo had to choose, Bokuto was absolutely right.

In some places in the Zones, where the satellite signal of Battery City could be broadcasted, he had been able to take a glimpse at what the utopia which governed them was like. The asphalt streets were delimited by safe sidewalks where plants and trees grew well cared for, the hedges were perfectly cut into cubes or different shapes. There were pine trees, bushes, and other plants he didn't know the names of. They had electricity at their absolute disposal. There was no power in the desert and he gasped when he learned that in the Nest, they had a powerful generator capable of keeping them on their feet; although of course, they could not abuse it. Most hallways were only lit by couple of lights.

Sometimes he remembered looking at the news they broadcasted in the city, it was about figures in which Battery City had excelled at and how they improved the world's quality of life. The television host had been smiling non-stop for more than forty-five minutes, which was how long the segment lasted before going to commercials; and Hinata was sure he kept smiling afterwards.

The image had been etched in his mind, that was not happiness, his eyes seemed dead all the time. They didn't have the shine Bokuto had, or even Akaashi. That was not what being alive was about.

"I don't know, man." Revolver continued. "Being controlled by drugs, losing you like that… it's the worst. I'd rather have a bullet through my head any day."

"I know," Hysteria murmured, Shoyo barely heard him behind all the noise of the wind.

Both killjoys fell silent afterwards, Hinata was busy staring out the window, filling his lungs to the limit. A huge cloud of dust rose behind them, as a product of their speed. The road was endless back and forth.

It occurred to him to ask where were they headed? But when he got closer to the two rebels, he could see how Bokuto's hand was on Akaashi's on top of the gear stick. It occurred to Shoyo that the black-haired man would move away or push the other, but he didn't; instead, Hysteria kept his gaze on the road and his hand underneath.

The redhead returned his gaze across the frame of the changing scenery, static seemed to be present at low levels that day. The ultraviolet rays hit his skin but didn't seem to burn him.

It was a good day.

They drove a long way and passed at least five gas stations; at some point they left route Guano and followed a small dirt path. The sand that rose with the passing of the tires increased, the car moved up and down the capricious track.

The black-haired man began to slow down until they came to what looked like the remains of a small two-story building. Surrounded by ancient remains of shrubs and some persistent cacti despite the weather. The building (if it could be called that), had been stripped of walls and windows. It gave Hinata the impression of being a skeleton rather than a house.

The pillars and concrete walls that still stood were covered in colorful graffiti. Although it seemed that this place was completely abandoned. Akaashi seemed satisfied with the place and turned off the car's engine.

He and the pair of killjoys got out of the Nova; the black-haired man took two Glock 18s out of the luggage compartment. They entered the building; the interior was no better. There was garbage everywhere, cans and bags of chips, gnawed and old clothes. It had probably been inhabited by purposeless vagabonds.

Akaashi picked up some cans of soda pop, a fizzy drink common in the rebel community. Its striking red, orange or purple color contrasted with the leaden appearance of the building; it matched the huge colorful letters of "suburban art." The black-haired man placed them on a small wall that surrounded the structure.

"The first thing you have to do is visualize your objective, the distance and the size."

He stood next to Shoyo and handed him a gun. Akaashi flipped a small switch and pulled out a tube full of bullets.

"This is the cartridge; with this pistol you can fire thirty-three rounds. You must remove the safety when you are determined to shoot something." He raised the weapon. "This is the trigger."

He gave him other instructions, how to change the cartridge or how to change it from automatic to manual. Meanwhile, Bokuto was watching with a smile on his face, as if he were amused by watching Akaashi perform the most trivial activities.

"You must hold it with both hands," advised the stoic rebel. "the momentum of the weapon will send you back. You must keep your balance, or you won't be able to aim."

Hinata remembered Hysteria with two pistols the first time he saw him.

"All right."

Akaashi took Shoyo's arms, reassuring him and pointing straight ahead. He held his right hand tightly; the left was broken so he used it for support and to stop the way the right quivered. His limbs were shaking, not out of fear, but out of excitement. For the expectation of being able to fight for himself.

"Shoot." the killjoy commanded, his soft voice soothing him a bit.

And Hinata did, but the projectile hit the wall through the cans, missing, by far, the colorful target ahead.

"Ah!" Hinata groaned, disappointed. "Damn, I thought I'd make it!"

"You should spread your legs." Akaashi suggested. "Increasing your stability helps you avoid being pushed by the momentum of the bullet."

The black-haired man stepped back and assumed the position indicated, holding the glock in one hand and pointing it at the target. Shoyo only heard the deafening sound of the shot and the can flying through the air in fragments of a second.

He ran to the target and picked it up from the floor, it had a hole in the center of the aluminum can.

"That's Gre-great, Aka-!" He stopped, the black-haired man was looking at him urgently and Hinata remembered that they weren't underground. "Hysteria!"

Akaashi nodded slightly.

"Hey, hey, hey, that's too easy for you, Hysteria. You should try it on a more advanced level" Revolver said referring to video games that were popular in the past.

"I'm just trying to give Inferno a simple explanation."

"Way too easy!" Kotaro interrupted him. "Like a walk in the park!"

Akaashi scoffed in exasperation, from what Hinata had seen; he usually did that when it came to the loud black and white haired man. Still, he played along, as he usually did.

"What do you propose?" Keiji asked.

Bokuto grabbed his wrist and pulled him further away from the linear formation of cans, near the opposite wall of the building. Hysteria looked at him calmly, arching an eyebrow.

"You've seen me shoot from a longer distance."

The huge killjoy crossed his arms and cocked his head, looking expectantly. He reminded Hinata of an owl, silent and vigilant. Akaashi assumed the position from before, aiming with one hand at the target, spreading his legs and slightly twisting his body, so that his arm was facing the target.

Like lightning, Revolver approached Hysteria as he fired, and the sound of a kiss was listened. It took Shoyo a moment to discern that Bokuto had kissed Akaashi on the cheek at the same time he had shot.

The projectile had hit the can, but this time not in the center, it had moved a little further to the left. Shoyo's jaw dropped as the bicolor haired man laughed out loud; as if he had achieved some personal objective: to make Akaashi miss. Everyone had their goals, he thought.

"You really are unbearable," the black-haired man condemned.

Bokuto's laughs grew stronger, as if he had been praised. Meanwhile, Hysteria didn't seem really upset, he had a glint in his eyes, was it joy?

"I won't be able to do that!" He exclaimed, referring to the distance Akaashi had shot despite being kissed on the cheek. He hadn't even been able to hit the target fully concentrated!

The raven giggled lightly and patted his hair.

"Don't worry about that." He pointed to the remaining cans. "Go ahead, keep practicing."

They got closer to the target and Keiji let Hinata shoot this time.

He didn't know how long he spent like that, him shooting and Akaashi giving him advice to improve his aim from time to time. Although he learned the essentials, he had a long way with practice and experience. He had only been able to hit one of them, and that had been a coincidence. Surely it must have passed several hours, judging by the intensity of the sun, but practice shooting had been so fun it had completely distracted him!

When he turned his head, remembering to be "aware" of his surroundings, he noticed that Bokuto was nowhere to be found.

"Hysteria?" He asked, stopping his shots.

"Mm?"

"Where is Revolver?"

"He's a simpleton so he got bored and wanted to scout the place."

"Oh." He realized he probably would've done the same.

He resumed to his practice, pointing the gun at the cans, and concluded that it was impossible for him to hit the target. Although Akaashi still hadn't given up on him.

They heard footsteps heading in their direction with speed.

"Hysteria!" It was Bokuto's voice. "Inferno!" His tone was urgent, drawing closer with seconds.

He noticed that the raven-haired man subtly drew his pistol and placed his finger on the trigger, taking up a defense stance in milliseconds. Revolver appeared, stopping in front of them, gasping to catch his breath. He was alone, so there was no threat present.

Akaashi relaxed.

"Did something happen?" He asked patiently, ignoring Bokuto's urgency.

"You have to come with me." Revolver said between gasps.

With that, the spiky-haired rebel started running in the direction he had come from. The black-haired man seemed calm, however he ran to catch up with the other, so Hinata did the same. He noticed how the pair of killjoys put on their respective masks, he imitated them.

Nobuyuki Kai, a member of the Explorers gave him a mask, it was black with a golden pattern that went circularly on the eyes and formed a point on the nose.

As if it were a beak.

They walked through some concrete galleries, bending so many times that it seemed to have entered a maze. Bokuto had been busy. They went out through the back door of the building, radioactive rays were starting to burn on his skin, the sand was heating up the soles of his shoes and he could not see up to the sky or he would go blind for a few minutes. Shoyo settled for following the shadows of his companions running in front of him.

They came to a shed, littered with graffiti and dust, the ceiling made of rusty aluminum plates placed carelessly. The windows that still had glass were broken. Revolver was the first to arrive, used the force and weight of his body to force the heavy, moth-eaten wooden door.

They came in covering their noses, the dust had risen to their shoulders; and although they were in shade, the suffocating heat hadn't diminished. It took a few seconds for his vision to get used to the shade and some abstract lights danced behind his eyes.

When he was able to focus, Bokuto was in front of a pile of junk, spreading his arms like a child who had made an incredible discovery.

"That's a…" the black-haired killjoy gasped, covering his mouth in surprise.

"Huh?!" Kotaro agreed. "Not bad, right?!"

The first time he looked at it, it just looked like a pile of junk. He rested his eyes on the giant artifact that took up the entire space of the vast overgrown shed. He noticed long propellers at the top, one of them was broken. The cockpit looked like a bulb with a projection at the rear, the tail had another set of smaller propellers.

From below, two metal handles protruded from which the immense apparatus was held.

It was a helicopter.

It had some dents and it looked like it had seen better days. It looked practically unusable.

"We have to take it to Nicotine." Hysteria pointed out, still dazed.

"I bet our engineer can fix it." Revolver declared.

Kageyama watched how the police force an entire family into the military van. They had been caught helping people suspected of having ties to the resistance and pornodroids. He took one last look at the four whimpering citizens, a mother, a father, and two children.

From what could be seen, neither seemed to be under the influence of the happiness drug.

Another crime to the list.

However, Tobio didn't add it to the court order. It didn't seem important, anyway, none of them would ever see each other again in their entire lives. While the prisoners… (No, the criminals) from the outside were purified with flames; the citizens of Battery City were taken to the Tube, where they were reprogrammed.

Pornodroids were taboo in the city. In the lower neighborhoods, they were popular, sentient beings whose only function was to please the sexual desires of their clients. It was an illegal activity, having sex for pleasure (sexual relations were reserved solely for procreation, duty with government rules); even so, the same members of the police or exterminators frequented those places.

Tooru knew it, he had told him one day that Kageyama had come with the news of having arrested an exterminator in the full indecent act. The leader told him to release him with a warning. Then he went on to explain that humans were simple in thoughts, they had to free themselves in barbaric and stupid ways. They both, however, were a new, more advanced breed that had to lead the sheep before they killed themselves. Tobio had nodded, feeling sorry for the citizens.

He came back to reality as he watched the Better Living Industries van drive away. It had been a productive day, it was close to 1700 hours, he would return to building "A", mark his exit, and return to his apartment. He felt that the effect of the plus was wearing off, anyway.

He walked back to his motorcycle, passing in the middle of the street, in the heart of the beggar-filled districts. The sun was not shining there. The temperature in all Battery City was mediated by filters that controlled the weather; consequently, the plantations could grow healthily.

Tobio had read in forbidden books that something like this covered the planet once, "Ozone Layer" it was called. He vaguely remembered the name. He discarded the book without importance, he was in a library before these were considered an act of anarchy.

When he returned, the small shed had been replaced by a social services building. He didn't care, but the name was recorded in his database. Maybe he should find that book and finish it, there would probably be more information that was disregarded, information that had been buried.

A question flew through his mind that he feared to give shape.

'Why did they see the need to hide information?'

He incinerated the idea before it took more roots, those kinds of thoughts were what led the citizens to the Tube; and the droids to be rebooted.

Due to the lack of heat, the humidity permeated the air; the more obsolete robots didn't have the synthetic and resistant skin with which he had been made, so the steam from the environment oxidized them drastically. The giant and small screens stacked on the walls tirelessly repeated advertisements for Better Living medicines, others were advertisements for the big food chains. Others just projected the sound of static and BL/ind's smiling face logo, its eyes seemed to follow you all over the place.

"What is hiding on the outskirts of the city? We will know and we will not need the energy of the city to keep us alive." bellowed a beggar.

When Tobio reached the voice, he noticed that it was only the torso of a shattered robot that still had a little consciousness. The piece of junk had one hand to lean on the ground and to be able to rise up, it seemed to have lost its head long ago, useless circuits came out of the stump where the other arm should be.

"'He will come and free us all." He continued to profess; his dying body gave off streams of oil that were swallowed up by the sewers. "The prophecy is real, my brothers, "Destroya" will come, and save us all."

Kageyama walked alongside the beggars, robots who had had no purpose from the moment they were created. He didn't know why, but it didn't seem right to do nothing, and weren't the exterminators in charge of doing the right thing?

However, those were not his orders.

He took five carbons out of his bag and handed them to a robot that had a sign that read "I need plus" on him. The metal being moved its skull with a loud screech, gazed into his face with two yellow and neon lights.

"Thank you very much." came the static-filled artificial voice.

Over the years they had perfected the manufacture of droids. Being him, one of the most advanced and perfect models, his voice sounded like that of a human, his thoughts were similar to one too; he had doubts, ideas, and answers that rivaled human feelings as well.

He had no oil or other agent that ran through his veins like blood, he was completely battery-powered, electricity that was provided by plus. He was better than humans, more modern and useful.

It was near the end of the block where the surroundings became cleaner, and the slums ended. He reached for his motorcycle and brought it to life, bystanders got out of his way; his uniform warned them that he was an exterminator, and they respected him as such.

"'He will come to free us." He still heard the voice from the torso in his head. "The city will not be able to control us anymore."

He put on his helmet and merged onto the main street, where cars raced with purpose, and people walked in a hurry.

He should report the presence of those good-for-nothing beggars, useless junk like that was put to better use by melting it down and creating satellites that they sent into space. It was a good ending that those homeless scraps of metal didn't need, but that way the city grew. Droids like these had lost their sanity, professing nonsense like that.

A mechanical god by the name of Destroya who had been able to flee Battery City and survive in the desert. It was absurd, out in the desert there was no power, the robots just couldn't live. Upon exiting the electromagnetic field, their batteries would explode and die.

If droids could "die".

He gritted his teeth in annoyance and squeezed the handlebars hard. Who could believe these imaginary tales? It was a matter of being able to look around to know that the future was in Better Living's hands. It was stupid, it was pitiful to believe that they could escape from the city. Their future was to become scraps of metal and be thrown into space.

He tried to ignore the thought that was shouting a dangerous mantra.

'What if they are right?'

The intercom in his helmet beeped, announcing an incoming call on his intercom.

"Good afternoon, chief exterminator Tobio Kageyama." He was startled when he realized; it was the leader. His limbs tensed and he felt a cold surge wash over him; he'd always seemed intimidating to him.

Maybe they made him too human.

"Yes." He controlled himself to respond. "This is Kageyama."

"Before you check out, I need you to stop by my office. I must tell you about some new formalities. That is it, have a better day."

He did not wait any longer and the communication was cut off. Normally he wouldn't care about the message, but lately he was having a lot of strange days. What could Tooru Oikawa want from him? If it were about new laws or penalties, he could have easily been notified through the mail; he wouldn't need to see the leader personally.

He quickly turned the next block, changing course.

Had he been seen giving away those carbons to the beggar?

Did they know about the forbidden book?

No. They had no way of knowing.

He parked and got off the motorcycle when he reached the building. The structure was circular and completely white; it looked like a honeycomb made from concrete. The sliding glass doors opened when he reached the entrance.

Inside it was just as wide, the floor, the walls, the windows were always the same color; immaculately snowy. The floors were corridors that surrounded the lobby, from the first level you could see to the penultimate; since the top floor was where Oikawa resided. In the middle of the room stood a porcelain figure, it had a human silhouette, but it lacked face and hair.

He was quickly intercepted by the captain of the leader's escort. He was tall, with brown skin and black hair; his bitter expression was known to everyone in BL industries. No one could see Tooru without first passing through his personal bodyguard.

"Iwaizumi," Tobio greeted, nodding respectfully.

"Kageyama." He returned, catching Tobio off guard, he didn't know why one of the most important people in the industries knew his name. "Come with me, he awaits you."

He followed Iwaizumi, staring at the floor, concentrating on how Hajime's black boots echoed. He couldn't shake the nervousness that had filled him since he was called. He was trying to convince himself that he was behaving like a fool; this was their leader, the noblest person in this entire world. Where corruption and filth stalked them from the outside, he was the guiding beacon for them all.

Two white sliding doors opened for them as Iwaizumi entered a code on a small pad on the wall. Kageyama didn't try to look, he didn't need to; he was a droid and an exterminator. He knew his place very well. It wasn't the first time he ended up there, but he always felt his breath leave his lungs when Tooru summoned him.

The room was quite large, three huge walls, white and without any stain, to the left, right, behind; and the one in front of them was completely made of glass, the faces of the skyscrapers of Battery City seemed painted in a gigantic landscape. There was a small sitting room to one side of the entrance; with drinks, armchairs and a large screen attached to the wall.

And in the middle was him, Tooru Oikawa bent over his crystalline desk, staring at Iwaizumi and Kageyama with each step they took. It reminded him that the leader always saw everything.

"Thank you, Iwaizumi," he said goodbye to his personal escort. "A magnificent job as always."

He nodded and left the room.

Tobio heard the door close. Tooru turned, staring out the huge window, as if he thought he was alone. Kageyama thought about how all people should look from that height, surely like ants. Was this how their leader viewed them?

Of course not. That couldn't make sense.

The silence stretched between the two, the uneasy feeling starting to grow in his stomach.

"Leader." he began, trying not to mutter, stutter, or stammer.

"Call me Oikawa." he offered, but managed to make it sound like an order, still looking out.

"Oikawa." he corrected himself. "Is there a reason why…?"

"Have you had something on your mind?" He interrupted, catching him off guard.

"Umm…" He stammered unintentionally. He began to remember the strange thoughts he had been having lately.

"I have been keeping an eye on you; your performance has dropped lately and something seems to have you worried."

He struggled to confess.

"I am honored that our leader takes his glorious time to care for my well-being." He said, it was not a lie. He had been surprised that Tooru had taken the time to see how he was doing.

"You are my favorite exterminator, after all." He explained with a smile that only caused Kageyama to shiver. "You have the best records in the entire division, and you are one of the most loyal, of course I care about you."

"I am honored" he repeated. Restlessness enveloped him, freezing him.

"If something worries you or is not working normally, you can say it to me, and we can fix it. Take care of the weed before it ends up contaminating the garden."

That made sense, it was completely understandable. Kageyama was nothing more than a cog in a massive machine. If there was something wrong with him, they had to repair it immediately before it caused damage to the entire mechanism.

Cut the problem at its roots.

"I'm fine, Oikawa." He lied.

The hazel-eyed leader looked at him suspiciously, clearly not trusting Tobio's words. However, the corners of his lips twitched.

"Okay." He smiled again in the same way that made his hair stand on end. "If you feel that something is wrong tell me and with a call together, we can get rid of strange thoughts."

"I'm fine." he reiterated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The smile disappeared, but his eyes shone with an indecipherable darkness.

"You are my favorite exterminator, but you are not irreplaceable." His voice had dropped several octaves, he was not the same leader who spoke in the holograms about how perfect Battery City was. "You cannot hide anything from me; so I hope, for your sake, that you do not."

"Yes, Oik ..."

"And remember, batteries do not bleed, and robots do not cry, Tobio." He stated, resuming his attention to the massive wall of glass, staring out at the endless Battery City. The sun had gone down and now the lights from the buildings looked like motionless fireflies from oil paintings. "Have a better day."

It was enough to know that he had let him go. So, with a final bow, he headed for the exit. He said goodbye to Iwaizumi who was waiting outside the door.

He, Kageyama noted, was not high on the drugs made by BL/ind; he didn't even know if Oikawa's first mate was a human or a droid. But then again, in Battery Town nobody gave a shit about your life.

Unless, of course, if that shit was somehow against the law, then you should be punished. Nobody batted an eyelash when co-workers or family members disappeared, everyone assumed they had been caught doing something they should not have.

If they were lucky and returned to their daily jobs, they were not the same person as before. Their memories had been controlled and erased, they behaved like empty vessels, blank stares, and robotic movements. The void was then filled with the pills for happiness. Droids, on the other hand, being mass-produced, were simply discarded, and sent into space.

"Cruel." The word slid past his lips without realizing it.

Alarmed he looked around, if Iwaizumi had heard him, he was lost. He let out a sigh when he noticed that he was already outside the building; lately, he did that a lot, distancing himself from reality and sinking into his thoughts. Too suspicious.

Too human.

He took one last look at the skyscraper, the BL Industries smiling face logo was staring at him, as if it knew all his thoughts; Kageyama had to convince himself that this couldn't be possible as far as he was concerned. He got on his motorcycle and brought it to life, trying to forget the beggar robot, the leader and his threat, and the word that scared him the most of all:

Destroya.

I hope you liked it.