Literally: To fire from a thick barrel
Meaning: To say something bluntly

Maruki didn't sleep that night. He wasn't even sure if he needed to sleep at that point.

He could've just snapped his fingers and removed all the obstacles in his way… well, he was able to do that. Whether he was willing to do so was a different matter entirely. The idea of using brute force to secure his reality felt dystopian, even to him.

No, there had to be a better way. And early in the morning, an idea creeped into his head. If he couldn't get through to them, and Akira was unwilling to assist him, then maybe others would know the right words…

…boy, this scene would've been a good chapter ending, now, wouldn't it?

Thursday, January 12th, Morning

"Hey, Corvid!"

Goro (and Futaba, standing by him) turned around and saw the Yoshizawa twins marching towards them. "What are the odds of us meeting here?" Kasumi proclaimed.

"Not that low, truth be told," Goro replied. "We're both heading to our respective schools and Shibuya's a major transport hub. I kept bumping into the other Thieves often enough last year."

"Y-you don't mind us hanging out with you, do you?" Sumire asked.

"Do you mind us?" Futaba asked.

"Of course not, Sakura-senpai."

Futaba responded with a barely stifled snicker. "Jeez, I got my account a month before you did. Don't be so formal, 'Yoshizawa-kouhai'. Given names are fine."

"I-if you say so, Futaba-san…" A pause. "You weren't attending school in the real world, were you?"

Kasumi's phone beeped, and she pulled it out to check notifications.

"Yeah, a bad case of dead-mom-related depression," she said, as Goro looked elsewhere. "In Maruki's reality, I'm apparently going to the same school as Rootkit."

"Which is?"

"Heh, Maruki's getting desperate."

The other three turned to Kasumi. "That's out of the blue," Goro commented.

"I got a text from an unknown number," she showed the screen to the other three, "but it had to come from him."

The three leaned over to read the message.

I am trying to grant everyone a world without pointless suffering.
I do not want anything in return. No praise, no subservience, no credit card numbers. I am doing this because I was given the opportunity to do this and I refuse to waste it.

Ask your sister why she wants to bring it down.

Ask her why she minds you being alive again.

"What's that thing below?" Futaba pointed at the bottom of the screen.

Sumire scrolled down, revealing a black-and-white image. The overlapping black and white shapes resembled an abstract art version of a QR co-

You're marching through the crowd with your sister.

You make an innocent joke at her expense.

She takes it badly and runs ahead, not paying attention to her surroundings.

She runs through a pedestrian crossing out of turn.

You notice a car that won't stop in time heading straight towards her.

Without thinking, you break into a sprint and, at the last possible moment, push your sister out of the way.

The car hits you.

The last thing you register is a blow to the head strong enough to-

"Kasumi!"

In the real world (or something closer to it, at least), Kasumi registered a slap to the face breaking her out of her trance. "Bwuh?"

"I am incredibly sorry," Goro apologized, "but you didn't react to verbal commands."

"What happened, Sumi?" Sumire asked. "You zoned out after seeing that symbol in your message."

"I…" Kasumi took a moment to collect her bearings. She was back in Shibuya, and Goro, Futaba and Sumire were staring at her, mildly concerned. "I ended up reliving the moment of the real Kasumi's death, I think."

"Wait, did that image you got from Maruki-san caused this memory to play in your head?"

"I think so."

A distinct buzz of a silenced smartphone was juuust audible enough for all four to hear it. "I got a text too," Futaba announced. "I'm not reading it." She pulled out her phone and handed it to Goro. "Rootkit, can you check it? They seem to be harmless to anyone but the recipient."

He took the phone from her, tapped the screen a few times, and the scowl on his face was all the confirmation she needed. "Blah blah pointless suffering, blah blah credit card numbers, blah blah-" Shock briefly flashed on his face, followed by pure unfiltered spite. "'Ask your' scare quotes 'brother'?! You put me in her household, you horsefondler!"

"Rootkit, drop the rage debuff."

His hand twitched. "I am going to break his fingers one by one, THEN EAT THE TIPS!"

In response, Futaba wrapped her arms around him. "No digesting digits. You need to keep a level head if you want to stop him. Deep breaths."

"Yes, yes," he returned the embrace. "Calming down now." He closed his eyes and slowly inhaled.

Kasumi chuckled. "Faux-bro or not, just straight up hugging him when he's mad like this takes guts."

She grinned in response. "My character build is min-maxed, but powerful."

"Well, I'm glad that went smoothly," Sumire remarked. "I mean, can you imagine what would happen if Maruki-san sent messages like that to other people?"

The world around them ceased to exist, metaphorically speaking. Futaba and Goro's hug tightened on both ends.

"….he totally sent messages like that to other people."

Goro wriggled himself out of Futaba's grasp. "We need to warn the others." He pulled out his phone. "Before-"

The smartphone vibrated in his hand. The display lit up: Wakaba, 090-XXX-XXXX.

"Fuck!" He declined the call and put his phone in airplane mode. "Sumire, you warn the others. I have to hide."

"Come on, Rootkit," Futaba tried to grab him by the wrist, but he yanked it away. "I can explain things to mom."

"Can you explain things to every single victim of mine that Maruki has now sicced on me?" He glanced around nervously. "Look, I-I-I don't want to put you on the spot. You wanted to stay out of this, and the only way for you to remain out of this is for me to disappear."

Futaba fruitlessly grabbed his wrist again. "Promise me you're not going to hurt yourself."

"I promise," he said, then pulled himself free again, and promptly disappeared in the crowd. She pulled out her phone and started rapidly tapping the screen, probably typing something.

"What is a rootkit anyway?" Kasumi asked.

"Malicious software created to get access to an otherwise verboten part of the system, often concealing its presence," she explained, not bothering with eye contact.

"…sounds like an insult."

"'Cause it was at first."

"He put it on his Metaverse outfit," Sumire commented, pulling out her phone. "I guess he likes it now."

ribbon330: Heads up: Maruki-san might be trying to target our friends.
annT: I know.
ribbon330: Sending messages to break them out of his reality so they stop us.
annT: He sent one to Shiho.
annT: She broke down on the spot.
annT: I will kill that piece of shit where he stands.
PandaPunch: Dad was trying to reach me but I missed his calls.
PandaPunch: This will be fun to explain.
AcrylicRonin: I just finished a brief conversation with Madarame on the topic.
AcrylicRonin: Paraphrased:
AcrylicRonin: "Are you doing this for a good reason?"
AcrylicRonin: "Yes, it's beca-"
AcrylicRonin: "Then you do not owe me an explanation. You don't owe me anything after what I've done to you."
blonde_blur: so he wont get in the way?
AcrylicRonin: I believe so.
ribbon330: Silver lining.
curryHunter was added to the conversation
curryHunter: knock knock motherfuckers
PandaPunch: I'm sorry, who are you?
curryHunter: who in your circle of friends has the know-how to get into a chat uninvited?
blonde_blur: FUTABA?
curryHunter: caps off plz

Sumire glanced to the side and realized that Futaba had her own phone out. "So, uh…"

"Talk in chat," she replied, not taking her eyes off of the screen.

ribbon330: So, uh,
ribbon330: are you with the Thieves now?
curryHunter: iunno
curryHunter: but i wanna stay in touch with you
curryHunter: im gonna go and talk to my mom

"I'm going with you," Kasumi remarked, staring at her sister's phone.

curryHunter: you dont have to, sd
curryHunter: its not your fight
PandaPunch: Huh?
blonde_blur: ?
ribbon330: Sorry, that was for my sister, "Stunt Double". She's standing next to me.
ribbon330: Can I add her to the chat?
curryHunter: way ahead of ya
PandaPunch: Referring to Kasumi as "Stunt Double" feels… concerning.
ShallBeMist was added to the chat
ShallBeMist: i picked that codename
PandaPunch: Still concerning, but objection withdrawn.
ShallBeMist: beeteedubz, i didnt tell you my nick, glasses
curryHunter: i know all and see all :]
curryHunter: as I said, you dont have to go with me
ShallBeMist: but i wanna
ShallBeMist: mrs sakura could use a perspective of a fellow dead woman walking
ribbon330: I'm going with them.
ribbon330: I want to be useful and maybe stop Kasumi from saying something dumb.
ShallBeMist: do you think i can say anything worse than what maruki already said?
ribbon330: You were always good at whatever you put your mind to.
blonde_blur: and i thought panther's the burn expert


Futaba, Kasumi and Sumire entered Leblanc. Wakaba was sitting by the counter, staring at an empty coffee cup in front of her. Sojiro glanced at newcomers. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"We have received weird messages from an unknown sender and Futaba thought she should come over and talk about them," Sumire replied.

"And you and your twin?"

"We're tagging along for moral support. And because Kasumi… well…"

"I shouldn't be alive either!" Kasumi proclaimed cheerfully.

"That's a conversation starter," Wakaba muttered to herself.

"I assume that means we can discuss things openly," Sojiro remarked.

Futaba sat by the counter, next to her mom. "You also got a message from Maruki, didn't you, dad?"

"Yes," he nodded. "But I figured things out by myself a week or so ago. When Jun Amamiya called me and mentioned my kid is visiting his kid, in a town two and a half hours away from here. And they've been friends for a few months."

"And you didn't say anything," Wakaba said matter-of-factly.

"Nobody seemed in immediate danger, and over the past few months I have learned how powerless I am in these matters," he responded. "So I decided to bide my time, and wait for the situation to unfold."

"And unfold it did," Sumire sighed. "If you have any questions, ask them."

"Is this related to that god you fought last month?" Sojiro asked.

The sentence's unexpectedness managed to snap Wakaba out of her existential crisis. "I, uh, beg your pardon?"

"Tee-ell-dee-arr:" Futaba replied, "the masses' collective desire for status quo at all costs spawned a god who installed a rigged game to justify stripping free will of all of humanity. I helped Goro and others fight him last month."

Wakaba's jaw dropped a bit, before she blurted out: "….is this, like, an isekai? Did I die and reincarnate in some… urban fantasy universe?"

"I think a longer recap will be necessary," Sojiro sighed. "I'll make coffee for everyone."

Five cups of joe and one thorough retelling later, Wakaba was… well, she was still out of her depth, but her daughter and apparent husband have managed to retell the story of the previous two or so years.

"So," she said, then downed her drink, "I'm actually a backup copy of the real Wakaba Sakura."

"Isshiki," Sojiro corrected. "In the real world, you didn't return my advances."

"And this Maruki guy is using cognitive psience to, among other things, create me."

"True," Futaba nodded.

"And the kid that killed the real Wakaba is trying to take it all down, killing me in the process."

"That's one way to look at it," Kasumi remarked, uncharacteristically serious.

Wakaba glanced at her. "Are there any others I'm unaware of?"

"A guy reshaping the world to his arbitrary whims, using copies of loved ones as emotional leverage." She pulled out her phone to underscore her point. "And for all the talk about eliminating suffering, he's willing to do messed up things to people that step out of line."

"Considering that you aim to dismantle what he set up, 'step out of line' is a very euphemistic way of putting it," Wakaba politely pointed out.

"'What he set up' is a complete and total control over reality itself," she replied in kind. "I'm as euphemistic as you are, ma'am."

"Fair enough. Could I get a refill?" Wakaba asked, and Sojiro picked up her empty mug. "It goes without saying that I'm somewhat interested in self-preservation. As someone in the same boat as me existence-wise: why are you so eager to sacrifice yourself?"

Kasumi shrugged in response. "Maybe it's because the strongest memory of the real Kasumi everyone has is her pushing Sumi out of the way of a speeding car and dying by it."

"Honestly, it's fascinating." Wakaba put her thumb and forefinger to her chin. "One would expect the copies to be created with loyalty to the guy in charge pre-installed and yet here you are, arguing against the world that lets you persist."

"See?" Kasumi smiled. "One more imperfection in this allegedly perfect reality."

Wakaba chortled.

"So what happens now?" Sojiro asked, putting down a full cup in front of her.

She lost a bit of steam. "I… don't know, truth be told. On one hand, this whole thing's a gargantuan can of ethical worms any way you slice it, but on the other, well… I like being alive."

"Y-you're taking it better than expected, Sakura-san," Sumire remarked.

"I'm mature enough to not lose my bearings over this." She sipped her coffee. "And I understand that it's hard on all of you as well. With the potential exception of Goro."

"He's not taking this lightly either, mom."

Only after everyone turned to her, Futaba realized that it came out much more aggressive than intended.

"Uh…"

"I should've guessed you're fond of him," Wakaba turned to her, unbothered. "I mean, from what I've been told of this Maruki guy, he wouldn't have forced him into this family against everyone's will."

"Well, I'm glad he's not around now-"

"Dad!" Futaba sprung up from her chair in indignation.

"-because if he were to present his case, he would call himself an irredeemable monster and demand a knife to disembowel himself," Sojiro finished.

"Oh." She sat back down. "Yeah, that last thing is not even hyperbole."

"Your opinion on the topic differs then?" Wakaba asked, intrigued.

Futaba took a deep breath, trying to phrase her point without sounding hopelessly naive. "Rootkit… killed a lot of people, under questionable influence of his bastard of a dad and that god we talked about, but… he tries to atone, of his own free will. I admit, we only got him on our side after he got pubstomped by us, but at this point in time, a perfectly spherical Rootkit in a vacuum is slightly north of Chaotic Neutral."

"Perfectly spherical…?"

Futaba turned to a confused Sumire. "It's a physics model joke. In this context, I meant: without outside influences to drag him down or keep him in check, he'll stay on the straight and narrow."

"Oh." She turned to Wakaba. "Then yes, I can vouch for that as well. I've been hanging out with Goro-san for the past ten days or so – he's blunt, but otherwise a decent guy."

"Hm." She took another sip. "Where is he now? If you skipped school to talk to me, I assume he didn't reach class either."

"He's hiding," Futaba replied. "I have a theory where, but… well…" she trailed off.

"I wanna talk to him. Far away from any sharp objects."


This had to be done, Maruki kept repeating to himself. This was the lesser evil, the least intrusive on my options.

He sat down by one of the computers in his Palace, about to check how the others reacted to the nature of reality having been revealed to them. If things had gone well, they would've managed to convince the Thieves to step down. A small camera protruded out of nowhere, scanning his face and confirming his identity. A wireless mouse materialized under his right hand and he opened an application for monitoring the subjects' thoughts and feelings. He clicked the search field and typed:

Sakura, Futaba: Discomfort, being torn between her mom and her quote-unquote brother. I should have just put him somewhere far away, like that damn sociopath Shido, Maruki thought.

Control and A, Backspace, Sakura, Sojiro: Helplessness? The overwhelming feeling that things will be decided by forces way above his station. Hm.

Control and A, Backspace, Sakura, Wakaba: Doubts. Self-preservation mixed with… defiance? Why? Why on earth would she find this reality questionable?

Control and A, Backspace, Yoshizawa, Kasumi: No changes between today and the days before. Defiance, not unlike Wakaba's, but on a much larger scale. Maruki remained confused.

Control and A, Backspace, Yoshizawa, Shinichi: Weary acceptance. Maybe there's something's wrong with that family as a whole. Further investigation necessary.

Control and A, Backspace, Okumura, Kunikazu:

Error popup.

"What on earth…" He opened a different application to check the history of the person and typed in his name. He glanced at the last entry in the logs. "Oh." It sank in. "Oh no."