This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!

Homura felt a small bit of satisfaction.

Sure, Akira was still on the ground and almost out of air, but that was not an issue. All he needed was a break before he was properly back on his feet. Plus, she had seen this boy's stamina and determination to get through the workout regimen she had created for him. Though she did have to keep changing it constantly for the past few weeks, a bit of a nuisance, due to the incredibly fast progress he had made.

Which was why it was slightly appealing to see him keep on coming to her. Homura and any other shinobi would know that the average civilian wouldn't even last a single day trying to complete even basic shinobi training. Well, each teacher probably took steps and progress differently…

What she considered basic shinobi training then. Yes, from her own perspective.

The average civilian wouldn't even last a single day trying to complete the kind of basic shinobi training that she had to endure both before, during and after Hebijo.

Then again, she doubted Akira could be considered average. Not after what she had seen ever since the first day she had met him. Stealth movements from silent footsteps to even the quiet way he moved his body. Great proficiency and dexterity with his hands. Charisma to persuade or perhaps, what she suspects, deceive. Then there was that mysterious figure with those piercing yellow eyes up on his roof…

"Homura-san… I know I'm good looking, but staring is still somewhat embarrassing."

She blinks and is broken out of her thoughts by a combination of panting and chuckling. Seeing that her gaze was focused on Akira's sweating, shirtless body, she rolled her eyes. "Har-dee-har." Homura drawls out. Yeah, Akira was pretty fit and tone, but so were plenty of other shinobi, male or female.

"That still counts as a laugh." Akira snickered for a couple of seconds before groaning and holding his side.

At that sight, Homura couldn't help but smirk. "Yet I'm the one with the last laugh."

"Alright, we'll call it a draw." He pants, slowly getting up to his feet. Shuffling over, he rummages through his bag and takes out a protein shake in a box and starts drinking from it. Homura could hear the sigh of relief when he takes a final gulp. "I know we've been at this for a while, but what kind of workouts are these?"

Homura raises an eyebrow at this. "Now you start asking questions?" She asked, folding her arms while keeping perfect balance on the rock she was sitting on.

Basic exercises one would expect. Stretches. Running through the forest. Lifting rocks here and there. Swimming against the current of a river.

…Okay, maybe basic exercises for shinobi. Sure all of that stuff sounded boring, but it just a small handful of the most tame stuff she thought would be appropriate for him.

But Akira didn't seem to complain. Sure, she had gotten strange looks from him but he didn't voice his displeasure. So she presumed that he was fine with it. This just helped add onto the fact that Akira potentially was a shinobi.

Yes, she was on that.

"I didn't really get to hang-out at workout gyms when I was younger." Homura answered Akira's questions. "Money being scarce and all in the family. So I pretty much found my own way to get proper exercise. Using nature to my advantage, it's cost effective, and you get the benefit of fresh air." She then extends a hand.

Akira high-fives, backhands, then bumps the hand down and up with his fist as if he were performing a secret handshake of sorts.

"…" Homura's gaze dulls in his direction, knowing that he was screwing around with her. Her face must have caused him to chuckle as he dug through his bag. She then raises an eyebrow when he pauses and searches his bag again.

"…Well, I forgot my wallet."

"…What?"

Homura guessed she was now making a slightly annoyed or angry face due to Akira raising his hands up. "Now, hold on there! I'm sure there's a simple solution to this!" She sees him give a small smile despite his nervous look.

She drums her fingers against her arm. "Explain then." She states.

"We just go back to my place since that's where my wallet it." Akira as if it were the easiest thing in the world. "See? Simple."

It took a small effort for Homura not to tense at that sentence. To his place? That building of the unknown? Actually, she would technically just be standing outside so nothing too bad should happen. Wait, what if this was a plan and they had taken that into account and would-

"…Homura-san, everything okay?" Akira asked, breaking her out of her thoughts once again. "Had a long day? As said, we can just go back to my place and I can even offer you some nice dinner while paying you. A little treat for all of the time and effort you had been putting in to help me. Please, I insist. You can even keep the leftovers for yourself." He gives a well-meaning smile.

…Or at least he was maybe trying to play it off as such. Homura wanted to politely decline, she really did. She could just say to give her the proper amount of cash during their next workout session. But leftovers meant a way to save money for at least a day…

"…Alright, if you insist." Homura sighs, knowing she'll have to keep her guard up. On the bright side, this could be another way to gather intelligence on Akira's home.

"Great." Akira nods, putting on a tracksuit top to cover his upper body. Taking his bag, he slings it over his shoulder. "Shall we?" With a gesture of his head, he takes a few steps before looking back over.

"Yeah, I'm coming. I'm coming." Homura hops off the rock she had been sitting on and trailed after him out of the forest.

SmokeBombBreak

Going through the streets, Homura kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious.

Down the sidewalk. Looking at the alleyways. Up on the roofs. The passing civilians. Each aspect and factor she had to be wary of. It had been a while since she had been this on edge and it was a feeling she hated, especially when she and her team fled Hebijo.

"Homura-san," Again, she was brought back to reality by Akira which she mentally cursed. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine. It's nothing." Homura waved him off dismissively. But Akira kept his gaze on her which made her eye twitch. "Seriously, I'm go-"

"Homura? Kurusu-san?"

Homura blinked at the two names that had been spoken. But they did not match Akira's tone or volume. Actually, now that she took less than a second more to observe, his eyeline was… actually going right past her. Taking into account that the voice sounded familiar… plain…

Turning around, the leader of the Crimson Squad came face to face with Hikage.

Ah, that was right. It was Hikage's turn to actually buy stuff for them. Thanks to the amount of money they had been earning, they could at least afford to be able to not entirely live off whatever the forest provided. Plus, that curry that Yomi kept coming back with helped too. Looking to the side, Homura saw the store only to discover that they were having a sal-

Wait, did Hikage just ask Kurusu-san? As in Akira Kurusu? They knew each other?

"Ah, Hikage-san, out shopping I see." Akira observes aloud, seeing the bags that the green-haired girl was carrying.

Hikage blinks before nodding her head. "Yes... It was my turn to grab groceries."

All Homura could really do was have her head go back and forth between the two of them as they seemed to just enter a conversation of their own. Some stuff about what kind of food Hikage had bought, work, how Hikage was doin-

Wait, were Hikage's cheeks coloring?

"Ahem!" Homura coughed aloud, grabbing both of their attention while halting their talk. She looked at Akira. "You know Hikage?"

"We work at the same café." Akira nodded his head in confirmation, readjusting the bag on his shoulders. "You know Hikage-san, Homura-san?"

Uh-oh.

"…Yeah, I do." Homura confirmed and left it there. Didn't want to give away too much information after all to this guy.

"How do you two know each other?"

Unfortunately for Homura, Hikage decided to follow up with her own answer. "We're basically roommates." The green-haired female confirmed with a nod of her head.

Homura looked over to Hikage about to glare but Hikage was looking at her as well, eyes slightly narrowed back. Homura blinked at this as she knew what the fellow shinobi was implying; to follow her lead. Guess Hikage immediately knew something was up as well.

"Ah… so you both are living on your own essentially?" Akira asked, getting a quick nod from the both of them. That made him scratch his chin. "That kind of explains the money troubles Homura-san's been having. Hm, must be pretty hard for the both of you." He then gestures with his head over a direction. "Well, Homura-san's coming over to my place for some money that I owe her as well as dinner. Would you care to join us, Hikage-san?"

The tan-skinned girl saw Hikage's face twitch when he said her name. What was the relationship between the two of them? Well, in any case, it would be good to have back-up just in case things went south… But what if this was an opportunity Akira was taking to manage to get the both of them? Homura would have to let the others know what they were doing at least.

"That… would be nice." Hikage said with a nod. "But unfortunately, I need to bring these groceries back home to stock the fridge."

"We could easily store them in the fridge while you are over." Akira pointed out as Homura took out her phone.

"True, but-"

"Kurusu-san/Kurusu-kun?"

Homura paused when 3 more voices seemed to have joined the fray. Snapping her head over, he resisted the urge to drop her jaw in exasperation at the absolute timing her team had. Approaching them were Yomi, Mirai, and Haruka. It then clicked what the other three shinobi had said.

They knew Akira as well?!

"Ah, Yomi-san, Mirai-san, Haruka-san, perfect timing." Akira gave a small wave of his hand in their direction. "This here are Homura-san and Hikage-san." He gave his introductions, gesturing to each shinobi respectively. "Homura-san and Hikage-san, meet Yomi-san, Mirai-san, and Haruka-san." After pointing out each appropriate girl, he points with his thumb in the same direction as he did before. "I was just inviting these two to join us for dinner."

"Eh? Really?" Yomi slightly gasped, covering her mouth.

"Wait, what?" Mirai's head darted between the two groups.

"Oh my, Kurusu-kun, quite the popular young man, aren't you?" Haruka's mouth curved up into a teasing smile.

"…You three know him?" Hikage was the one to ask this question. Homura looked at the green-haired girl as she swore that there was something in her voice that made the older one sound dangerous.

Now it was Akira's turn to look back and forth between them. "…You 5 know each other?" He points a finger and has it dart all over the place.

During all of this, Homura couldn't help but just stare in disbelief. So not only was it Hikage that Akira knew, but the rest of her squad?! Oh no… No, no, no. This… this was not good. There was no way that this was a coincidence. Homura was doing the calculations in her head. Despite her not seeming so, she still was smart. Insert shinobi requirements, especially evil shinobi, but that was not the point!

"Yeah, we know each other." Homura managed to get out. "…Do you three know where Kurusu-san lives?" She looks over to the younger, same-year, and older shinobi.

"That is correct, we've all been inside." Yomi confirms.

"…Could you go on ahead, Kurusu-san? There's something I want to talk about with the others." Homura requested. Turning her head over, she kept a neutral gaze when Akira sent her a curious one. But eventually, Akira began to turn and start walking away.

As he did that, Homura gestured for the other shinobi to follow as she dipped into an alleyway. Not looking back, a quick glimpse of shadows near her own thanks to the angle of the sun showed that they were right behind her. Down the narrow path, they had only walked a few meters forward before they reached a small open area. Had to be some back space for a business or something but at least no one else was around… As far as she could tell.

"Homura, you're acting awfully paranoid." Yomi voicing a bit of concern caused the tanned-girl to turn look down. Actually, when had she started gazing up to the top of the buildings anyways? "I mean, you are cautious a lot of the time now due to the situation. But now you are acting a lot more paranoid than usual. What's happened?"

"Did someone find us?" Hikage frowned slightly. The very words caused all her fellow shinobi to tense at the mere thought. Everyone but Homura immediately slowly started scanning the place with their eyes and ears.

"…That is a pretty good chance." Homura admitted.

"It does explain why you sent Kurusu-san ahead." Mirai nodded in understanding. "Can't have him being exposed out in the open with us and all."

"It would be concerning if he found out." Haruka agreed with a bit of a dramatic sigh.

Homura was nodding along with Mirai… for the first half. She stopped when the smaller girl voiced her concerns. She frowned when Haruka spoke after. "…What?" She asked, getting confused looks from the other four. "Guys… it's Kurusu-san that I think is the problem. I think he's a shinobi." She swiftly raised her hands. "Let me explain." Homura soon began the details she had been witnessed as well as the suspicions that had gone through her mind. She thought she it made sense. Her squad though…

"You're too paranoid." All four of them said at the same time.

Homura's jaw dropped in disbelief at the amount of time the others had taken to come up with such a conclusion. "Oh come on!" She exclaimed. "It makes sense when you think about it!"

"Kind of." Haruka rocked a hand back and forth. "But if that were the case, Kurusu-kun would have taken full advantage of me when I was too tired upon our first meeting." The hand goes to her chin in thought. "Though I do agree that he is not exactly what he seems."

"Yeah, he's a bit of a weirdo." Mirai stated.

"Not that, Mirai-chan." Haruka shook her head. "I'm talking about when Kurusu-kun told you about giving me decaf coffee."

"Eh? Didn't he?"

Haruka shook her head at Yomi. "Not at all. He in fact drugged me."

"He what?!"

"Said something about being surprised that it worked when digested." Haruka elaborated, somewhat ignoring Homura's outburst. "Which means that he's probably familiar with that drug. Considering how he did it to me very casually and lying about it to both Yomi and Mirai-"

"He drugged you! How is that not a concerning factor you thought about bringing out when it happened?!" Homura exclaimed, chopping an open palm many times. "This is kind of proving my point!"

"Uhh… I mean… At the same time…" Mirai raised her hand, making everyone turn their heads over and down towards the black haired girl. "If that were the case, why didn't he just try and subdue us when Yomi, Haruka-sama, or even me were in his house? He could have easily held us hostage considering how Hebijo knows how tightly knit we are. Even when he…" She paused when she realized what she was going to say. "Drugged Haruka-sama, Kurusu-san could have taken advantage of the situation. But he instead lied Yomi and I about the decaf."

"But having such drugs on hand is fairly odd." Yomi pondered.

"Yeah, it's weird. But isn't Kurusu-san just a weird guy in general like all of us?" Hikage questioned.

"Doesn't exactly defend him, Hikage." Homura sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Look, maybe he is a shinobi. Maybe he isn't. In any case if something bad happens, we fight our way out. We get back to the hideout, and-"

Immediately, all of them spun around and put their back against one another.

Seeing how each of them were in synch, the chill that had suddenly gone down their spines was not an isolated feeling. Their very eyes saw red bleeding out from the very space around them. As the crimson bled down like they were on glass walls, the colors eventually stained their surroundings. The very world around them changed which only made them narrow their eyes.

"Yoma…"

As Homura uttered that word in distaste, black sludge started bubbling from the ground and out of thin air. There were many small pools, but they slowly began creeping together.

"What are they doing here?" Yomi questioned, slowly lowering her stance to get ready to move if attacked.

"No idea. But it should be obvious as to what we need to do." Homura said, slightly turning her head to eye the others. "Agreed?" Seeing several nods, she looks forward to notice that the blobs still were trying to merge. "Shinobi! Transformation!"

With a roar, her hands were set aflame at first. But the fire never brought pain. Instead of burning her, it was more like an aura. With a small burst, her clothing disappeared and left her naked. But it only lasted for a split second as the flames began to wrap around her. Soon enough, Homura was in her shinobi attire as she presented a total of 6 katanas; three held in each hand. Meanwhile, a nodachi was sheathed and strapped to her back.

She didn't need to look again. Homura knew that the others would easily follow in suit. By the time she had finished her transformation, the blobs had merged. Some bodies rose up to show several large insect looking monsters with clacking mouths and twitchy movement.

"…" Shifting her feet, she charged immediately when the insects screeched.

Slashing one of the monsters, she found herself a bit surprised as she had sent it skidding back but it was still alive. Looking up and to her side, she saw another creature jumping towards her. Lunging upwards at the same time, she skewered it with her six blades midair. Landing back down on the ground, Homura spread her blades out and with a quick swipe, flicked the blood on them.

Ducking, Homura avoided a sharp edge that shot past her and penetrated a couple of the yoma. Snapping her head over, she saw who the source of the attack was. "Oi, Hikage, watch where you're aiming that!" She yelled out at the green-haired girl.

"Sorry." Hikage drawled out, making a pulling and swinging motion. Both monsters slid to the tip of the extended knife whip but were still impaled. Like using a flail, the shinobi swung the two bodes in a wide circle, grinding them against wall while bashing them against debris and other yoma. With a small motion, the blade began to reel back. Just as they had gotten close, Hikage placed her foot against one of their heads and yanked the her knife out, flipping in the process to avoid a swipe.

Yomi jumped up and landed right on the back of the yoma that had tried to attack Hikage. With a strong grip, she had wrapped a hand around what she guessed was the neck. With her arm equipped with a hand crossbow, Yomi fired multiple shots as she rode the monster like a rodeo as it simply hurt its allies in an attempt to shake Yomi off.

Tossing a few vials left and right, Haruka was yanked into the air by her mechanical companion when another one of the creatures lunged. While she landed gracefully, her weapon reared back a metal fist and slammed it right into the yoma's face. But not ending there, it went low. Grabbing the leg next it, rotated and slammed the body right against the ground behind it. Proceeding to hold it up, Haruka smiled and stepped back.

That exact yoma then came face to face with the barrel of a rifle. Grinning, Mirai pulled the trigger. Blasting the yoma back, it careened right into a dumpster. Bouncing off the metal bin, it ran right into the monster Yomi had been riding. Thankfully she had hopped off in time to see the ricocheted beat bounce off a few more before each of them were impaled by blades mid-flight.

Yanking their weapons out and flicking them to get rid of more blood, Hikage and Homura put their back together against one another. They weren't surprised that not many were down with the small amount of effort put in, but it didn't please them that their number just kept on growing.

"How the hell could so many come to this place?" Homura growled out, running and kicking off the wall, impaling a couple more of the demons that plagued the place around them.

"I don't know, but this is seriously concerning!" Mirari exclaimed, taking a step back while spraying an array of bullets into the ugly crowd. She constantly had to keep moving back though as they only swarmed after her while the other were too busy with their own stuff. Feeling her back press against something the small girl quickly sharply inhaled and looked back to see that she had put herself right against the wall. "Damn it all!" She furiously tried to mow down all of the opposition.

But during that moment she had looked back, she stopped firing her umbrella for a second. That was more than enough time for one that was close to her to smack the weapon out of her hands. As the umbrella went spinning and clattering to the side, Mirai had yelped in surprise.

"Mirai-chan!" Haruka exclaimed, throwing a vial of chemicals in the black-haired girls general direction. A cloud began to form when the vial broke. "Get out of there, now!"

Trying to escape, Mirai struggled to get out of the sea of bodies while attempting to hold her breath to not breath in the cloud. But as the yoma screeched and flailed about in pain of inhaling the chemicals, their arms hit her multiple times. Eventually, she ended up breathing in a bit of the smoke. The girl soon couldn't help but cough and gasp on the mixture as she was on all fours.

"Mirai!" Yomi tried to get close to help, but a large yoma was making her guard against its heavy weight which was pinning her in place.

Hikage spun around and threw several knives at once, each piercing a skull around Mirai. But she gritted her teeth as she had to leap away from another monster that clawed at her.

"You all get away from her!" Homura roared out. She was about to sheath all six katanas and draw her nodachi when a gunshot rang out.

The single shot was soon followed up by an orchestra of bangs. Stunned, they all looked over to see a figure holding Mira's umbrella up and close to their face to properly aim. Whoever they were, they wielded both precision and timing in a deadly fashion as the numbers around Mirai were still thick but thinned out with each shot. But Mirai wasn't out of the woods yet. The stranger appeared to know this as he had dropped their sights on the umbrella and charged forward.

"Kurusu-san/kun?!"

All of the shinobi yelled in surprise at the boy had begun running right towards Mirai's almost prone body. Sliding under a standing yoma, he had shot the monster's head and was right next to Mirai. Grabbing her by the neck, Akira then proceeded to toss Mirai Haruka's way. The black-haired girl would have protested, but she was feeling a bit too sick thanks to the gas to say anything.

As Haruka caught Mirai, the older shinobi couldn't help but watch as Akira suddenly reached his left arm up. The watch had had been wearing suddenly shot a thin cable out and wrapped around a fire escape along one of the buildings. Pulling himself up, he grabbed one of the blades Hikage hand thrown during his ascent. Having reached the top and aiming, he recklessly fired Mirai's umbrella.

Thanks to all the noise, the yoma turned to see what the random ruckus was all about. With the perfect opportunity, Homura lowered her stance while spreading her arms. "I'll finish you all off with this!"

Blitzing forward, Homura became a fiery-red blur as she went back and forth. But whatever direction she had gone, several slash marks followed and yoma were dragged in that general direction. Back and forth, the blur snatched the monsters and brought them all together into one giant pile. Reappearing, six slash marks were seen in the air before all of the yoma were torn to shreds.

Panting, Homura wiped the sweat from her forehead in Haruka's direction. "Is Mirai okay?" She breathed out.

Haruka nodded in confirmation with Yomi and Hikage around, holding onto Mirai gently. "She'll be fine. Thankfully she didn't inhale too much of the poison thanks to… Kurusu-kun…"

Remembering who their aid was, they all looked over to see Akira drop down from his position. With a flick of his arm, he reeled the cable back into his watch.

They all saw Akira look up and stare back at them. But Homura was quick to reach, right up in Akira's face and grabbing him by the collar. Glaring, she saw him raise his hands out of the corner of her eyes as their surroundings began to lose their red walls.

"…I think we both owe each other explanations?" She heard him offer, with a bit of a disarming yet nervous smile. A weak chuckle from Akira also made Homura's eye twitch.