A/N: Konnichiwa! Minna-san sorry it took me long to update this story. I've been so busy blah blah blah. Don't need to tell you every detail of it. Anyway, happy reading!

Chapter 3

To Save and To Kill

Senku and I were stationed in Peru to do his research on the earthquake that happened there when some unfamiliar aircraft approached the country. Our systems can't name the license or traces from their plane. One of the NASA scientists told us to go away that we are not made for combats, that the world needs our intelligence, not our strength. Peru doesn't have the advanced technology we have. Almost all of their systems are down, and the NASA commander in charge sent to guard us wants us to run with our tails between our legs while the Peruvian citizens will die from a possible attack. I pull Senku's wrist and we ran away from them as they made us board the U.S plane.

Senku just nods at me like he knows what I am thinking. He hurriedly called all the commanders in this airbase. We need to be united and be prepared for a possible terrorist attack. I know Senku and his team's satellite monitors can only recognize approaching things that are nearer, which means they are only kilometers away before they attack this airbase.

I ran to a place I knew where the possible jet fighter plane I heard the U.S government gave Peru. I saw Senku standing on a platform, speaking a different language, telling everyone to run for their safety.

The jet plane is still chained, and a man guarding it told me to go away " Who are you?! No one is allowed-" I didn't let him finish as I tried to punch the man straight in the face.

"I need to use that. I don't have enough time." I told them as some of the men forcefully told me to go away who saw what I did to the man. "I'm really sorry," I told them as I punched them one by one, never letting them land a single hit as they fell down to the ground. I hurriedly jumped on the plane to ignite it as my hands were already used to using the familiar control buttons.

"What the fuck are you doing there, lieutenant?! Let me fly that plane!" I heard Commander Ishigami tell me as he ran on the runaway while holding on to his megaphone. I want to bring him along, but the jet fighter is only a one-seater.

"Kohaku! You stubborn, lioness!" I just ignored him as the gates opened in front of me where the jet plane was. Senku just kept on running after me, cursing as he ran out of breath.

"Sasaki!" its engine is already roaring, and I knew this jet plane has a connection to the main audio system of the airbase. I just hope this jet fighter plane isn't useless junk yet.

I asked for permission from the Peruvian commander to fly on their territory. Instead of answering, I saw him salute me behind the glass windows of their control room. Now only one commander remains to ask for permission.

"Kohaku! Kohaku! You get down here! I'll be the one who'll fly that plane!" I just deliberately ignored Senku's incessant calls for me to get down on my plane.

"Jetfighter 73 in command, please connect the system base to NASA. As soon as possible." After a few minutes, the airbase didn't make me wait any longer and connected me to the main base of NASA.

"Get down now, Kohaku! Damn it! This is not part of your job! You are a NASA pilot, not a goddamn war pilot! Give it to someone inside the military base now!" I heard Commander Nanami shouts at me on the radio.

"Commander, I was born to fly, and I will not sit on the sidelines and watch the world drown in cruelty while my wings are folded in fear."

"Kohaku! Shit! Lioness, fly up, now! The jet planes are already behind us! They will burn you down!" I heard Senku shout at me from the platform.

I cursed as I silently saw he was right. Though they are far away like an ant, the jet planes won't think twice to rain down bullets on the airbase any minute now.

"Give me your command, Commander Nanami." My hands are already trembling, not out of fear, but I am itching to ignite and fly this plane upwards, which wouldn't be possible without my Commander's command.

"No, this isn't part of your job, Kohaku."

"Then I am laying down my license to fly, Commander. I will give up this career, and I won't regret giving up my license for the sake of saving these people. I am giving up-" Ryusui didn't let me finish.

"This is Commander Nanami of National Aeronautics and Space Administration! I am now giving you my command! Lieutenant, you've got to bring them down! Crash them down!"

Sometimes, have you ever tried asking why we are alive? Did you ever ask if there is fairness in this world? Or instead, you asked a lot of whys?

There are a lot of whys in this world, and it is frightening to the point that we didn't even reach a hundred of age. We suddenly die without the answer to our whys. If we come to think about it, all questions start with Why, which is why there's no answer to it. There will just be infinite questions that will eventually lead to the root of all the problems.

I am talking about unanswered questions, and these questions always lead to a series of threatening disasters, not just the catastrophe of Earth, but the disaster for oneself.

I was inspired by it because there's a manga where the antagonist 'Why-man' threw a petrifying light on Earth that turned everyone to stone, eventually losing every little thing that all humans worked and preserved for thousands of years. Everything was left rotten on the ground for three thousand years before a particular scientist broke out of stone and planned to bring back civilization to its former glory and stop the 'Why-man.'

I always teased Senku about it because he's named the same as the protagonist as he repeatedly insists that it's only fiction.

There were a lot of questions. The questions of the beginning, the questions about tough situations, questions about endless problems, and questions about those people with unreasonable minds.

Is it fun being selfish? Is there joy knowing you hurt other people? Would you be happy if you let everyone suffer?

I always asked why? Why do some people think like this? I've been thinking about Ibarra's possible reason? Was it still about Senku and his father?

The rotten old man is prepared to die just for this reason? I've seen Senku suffer because of him. I won't forget how they ruthlessly killed the only kind man I've known after my real father died in a tsunami years ago. This man is prepared to die just to see his plan to fruition. This is beyond the selfish act. This is murder. Why can't people see this? Selfishness can damn lead to murder.

Ibarra is beyond crazy. He's insane!

My fist tightened as I looked straight at the blue monitor. Ibarra just remained silent and emotionless while Ryusui rained down curses on him. I repeatedly kill him and curse him in my mind.

I hate being in a situation like this. Those cannibals were playing victims. The reason behind his emotionless facade is lurking an evil mind. If I were given a chance to have an iron fist of justice, I'd erase every Ibarra lurking in the globe, and I won't let them multiply in this world. People like Ibarra have no place to live in this world, and he should remain rotten 6 feet under and die with his hypocrisy.

If it weren't for Gen and Chrome, who now appeared, Ryusui would punch Ibarra multiple times until he's dead. I can't blame him I would probably do the same, but unlike Ryusui, I won't let someone stop me. In my years of existence, no one got an opportunity to escape from my fist successfully. I always make sure to punch them straight to the face, not bothering if I shatter their nose.

I took a deep breath as I tried to calm myself desperately. This isn't good. I won't let my emotions get the better of me. I had been having a hard time dealing with my anger management. Even when I was still a kid, my parents had a hard time controlling me when I was angry. Not even my best friend Amaryllis can stop me. It's been years since I last visited a psychologist. I thought I had already conquered my problem. I learned to control my anger before entering NASA, but it was triggered again when I saw Senku's father die and meet the rotten Ibarra.

I thought Senku's existence was enough to control my anger towards the rotten old man, but his insanity can't seem to stop itself.

"Calm down, man!" Chrome called out to Ryusui while Gen tried to take him away from Ibarra. It also seems that Ibarra won't speak for himself, and Ryusui doesn't have any other choice but to pull his gun and point it at him. Chrome intervened and stopped him before he did so.

"Why stop him, Chrome? Let him kill the rotten old man." I coldly told them through my headphones.

I am still clueless about their news, but my instincts tell me it's not good. I got the hint earlier that Senku and Dr. Xeno already had an idea, and here Ryusui, Chrome, and Gen appeared to confirm our problem.

I know Ibarra heard what I told him earlier, and he used that as his cue to look at the camera. I match his stare with my burning desire to kill him.

"Kohaku," I felt Senku approach me. He tried to hold my hand, but I yanked it away from him.

Senku just told me a while ago that my best friend Amaryllis gave him an idea about my case, and I remembered what he told me earlier.

"Kohaku, if you're angry, I'll always be there to calm you down. I won't grab your fist to stop you, and maybe I'll find another way to stop you. Just know I have no other choice if I grab your fist. I'll grab it and hold it gently to feel my lips. I promise you, in every rage you think, I'll always be there by your side to calm you down."

I desperately tried to think about those words that Senku told me as I looked at the monitor. I should think about Senku. I should think about calming down.

"I said tell them, Ibarra, or I won't have another choice but to kill you. You not only destroyed my friend's life, but you would rather risk everyone on Earth!" Ryusui told him, his face now seething with rage. I was blinded by my anger earlier that I didn't notice they're not in NASA's control room but somewhere I don't know.

"Why can't you tell us, Ryusui? You already gave a hint earlier. Just let us know we're not expecting something from him. Please, remove his rotten face from the monitor." I told him.

Dr. Xeno and Commander Snyder just remained mute, while Senku just kept on holding onto my hand. I don't know which person to ask anymore, it seems like Senku and Dr. Xeno already have an idea and don't have plans to tell Commander Snyder and me.

"Release me," Ryusui ordered Gen and Chrome, who seems to be having a hard time since earlier stopping him. I gave those two an assurance that Ryusui would calm down and just allow him a meter distance away from Ibarra.

"Where are you now?" Senku asks them.

A few minutes after, Ryusui and the others were not on our screens anymore, and the video call stopped. I saw Sai on our screens tinkering something on his keyboard.

"What happened? How did you take over the controls?" I ask him as he keeps typing on his keyboard. Dr. Xeno and Commander Snyder return to their assigned positions and starts typing on their keyboard, too. I checked the whole system, I thought we already had a complete communication recovery, but it wasn't working.

"I asked Ryusui permission if we can hack the NASA control systems. It will just last for one hour, Kohaku before everyone discovers that we're hacking their system." Sai calmly told me as he busied himself typing on his keyboard.

"We already noticed." Senku coldly told him as he poked his ear nonchalantly. My eyes narrowed. What did he know?

"And it's damn too late." Ryusui appeared on Sai's back, followed by Chrome and Gen, who seemed like they heard something terrible.

"What the- what really is happening, Ryusui?" I desperately told myself to calm down.

"As what you have seen, Kohaku, we're inside Sai's small quarter. We hacked the NASA data system and the communications for a while. We abducted Ibarra. Right now, we haven't announced the bomb information like we just discovered. This will lead to a big commotion inside the whole NASA, and it will not cause any greater help for you."

"What did you discover?" I worriedly ask him. I have a hunch as to what it is, but I need to stop overthinking things.

"Shit, I should have done this earlier. My mind is a mess, and we're sorry."

I am still waiting for Ryusui to continue what he's saying, but it stopped, and the screen now shifted to CCTV video footage. It was not clear, but we could still recognize the people inside the video.

"It was the captured video footage installed by Sai from my recent project with Senku. He installed a small camera to monitor the good operation process of the plane for your spacecraft." Ryusui began.

A minute later, Ibarra showed on the camera with his hired men and scientists who are considered criminals by the government.

"When are you going to tell them, sir?" a man I recognized as one of the criminal scientists asked.

They stopped walking, and Ibarra faced him. "Maybe a few hours before they reached the ideal spot? Listen, do your best to give the information to Ishigami's son secretly. Since I've heard, he will be the acting Commander. He had no choice but to sacrifice and be heroic. At least, he did save the world." His devil laugh was heard throughout the room.

I've felt all my blood drained from all over my body at what he just said, and it goes all in my head. It's still unclear to me, but when I heard him say he wanted to sacrifice the man I loved. I want to go back and kill him until there are no bones left for him to bury.

"Did you do it?" I heard him ask his men. I saw him nod and say,

"I make sure there is no such blaster inside the plane. It's the plane itself. It's self-destruction, sir, and it will cause a great impact that will tear the asteroid in half."

My lips were now trembling, and my chest tightened as I turned to face Senku beside me.

"This mission is a suicide, Senku."