Chapter 15


Shirogane Luna:

Luna was just filling the silence. She knew that. But it didn't change the fact that someone had to.

Gonta, due to some false medical information, was under the impression that Subaru's head trauma meant that everyone needed to stay perfectly silent. He'd already scared Kizamaro into submission since Kizamaro lacked the proper information to refute such claims. In addition, Gonta had intimidated any classmate near them who spoke louder than a level of a whisper until they didn't talk or took their conversation elsewhere.

And all along, Subaru simply insisted that he was fine. Pfft. Yeah right.

"So Tsukasa-kun was very upset that you didn't show up yesterday!" Luna said as they passed through the hall to their next class. Gonta glared at anyone who dared look their way since Luna was the only one who wasn't getting any heat about talking, "He was really looking forward to helping you assemble the circuits for the controller."

Tsukasa simply nodded in agreement while Subaru seemed unperturbed, wearing a wry smile.

"It's not like I asked to trip off a bridge."

"Yes, but you weren't very considerate of your prior engagements. You should have thought about the people you had already made plans with before doing something so stupid."

Subaru rolled his eyes, "Sorry."

"So we'll have to do something to make up for it!"

Subaru appeared to be biting his tongue. He wanted to say 'no', she could tell. But he wasn't going to. Perseverance paid off.

"Okay."

Inwardly, Luna cheered, "Since the STEM club finished the quad-copter, members can take turns with it. I believe the local park has no prohibitions on small drones. We could go after school today. What do you think?"

Kizamaro's eyes shone hopefully behind his glasses as he wordlessly begged Subaru. It was hard to say no when Kiza was like that – like a puppy with a treat dangling in front of his face. Subaru couldn't resist… or maybe he'd just gotten worse at resisting.

"Fine." He sighed, "I'll have to message my mom and let her know so she doesn't think I've fallen off a bridge again."

"Yay!"

They took their seats. The teacher hadn't yet arrived, so Tsukasa turned around in his seat.

"Unfortunately," He said, tucking a loose strand of green hair into its clip, "I won't be able to come. I've got another doctor's appointment. And, speaking of which," He turned earnest brown eyes on Subaru, "Are you really sure that's what happened?"

"Huh?"

"You falling off a bridge." Tsukasa reiterated, "Is that really what happened? You don't have any retrograde amnesia or anything like that, do you? It seems like an unbelievable story… that's all I'm trying to say."

Subaru frowned, "Why would I lie about something like that?"

Tsukasa shrugged, "I dunno."

Luna watched the two of them go back and forth.

"I remember it rather clearly, Tsukasa-kun." Subaru's tone sounded just a touch chilly.

"I've had a head injury, remember? Things can be a little hazy, ya'know?"

"Amachi-san was the one that helped me to the hospital. Ask him if you're curious."

"If it's something embarrassing, you should know you can at least tell your friends. You don't have to be shy."

"I'm not embarrassed and I'm not shy!" Subaru snapped.

Luna started to intervene, "Hoshikawa-kun, I…"

Two loud, sharp claps sounded at the front of the room. Their teacher had arrived and called the room to order. Tsukasa turned around in his seat to pay rapt attention. Gonta shushed the kids that tried to continue their conversations. Kizamaro turned a notebook to a fresh sheet of paper.

Luna, on the other hand, did some damage control.

Don't mind Tsukasa-kun, she messaged Subaru, he can be a little nosey sometimes. I'm sure he was just concerned. He knows more about that kind of stuff than Gonta and Kizamaro, after all.

She glanced in her classmate's direction, watching him as his eyes flicked right to left before his fingers tapped out a response. His expression was impassive. It made Luna feel like she had traveled back months in time. Back before she could get a read on his funny moods.

The message alert had barely even blinked before she'd already opened his response:

I don't like being accused of things like that…

Like lying, Luna supposed. Well that made sense to her. Many people had branded his dad as a liar, and Daigo had turned out to be right. It was a sore subject still.

I did fall off a road. And it sucked. I'm not asking for pity. I'm just asking not to be doubted. Anyway, I'm good to go to the park today, if that's what you guys want to do. I am sorry about missing the STEM session, but this ought to be just as fun.

Luna smiled and messaged back a brief good before focusing in on the lecture. Subaru, however, did not do the same. Instead, his hands continued to float over the keyboard on his desk, tapping away. This wasn't unusual behavior, though, so their teacher simply ignored it as she droned on about English articles and their proper use.

So Subaru's mysterious friend made another absent appearance? Subaru must be venting about what had just transpired… well, if boys worked anything like girls did… but Luna wasn't one to know about those sorts of things.

Luna turned her attention forward for now. Subaru's status wasn't going to change in the next fifty minutes most likely. But her subconscious absently mulled things over.

Yesterday morning, Luna and her crew had shown up at the Hoshikawa household to collect Subaru as per usual. Except Akane had answered the door in her pajamas, still half asleep. That's when the alarm bells had started to sound in Luna's mind. Subaru's mom was always dressed and in the process of making breakfast when they arrived. Luna had been proven right when Akane had informed them that she'd been up late at the hospital – that Subaru had been seriously hurt the night before.

Luna was horrified. Subaru's life was so uninteresting. How could he manage to hurt himself badly enough to be hospitalized? A brief flash of memory… of Subaru defending her in a dark alleyway… like some kind of moonlighting vigilante. But it was quickly snuffed out by the fact that no one had thought to tell her.

So the next time she'd seen him, which had been this morning, she'd had to really reinforce some things. And Subaru had winced through her, rather loud, lecture about how friendship was a two way street and that he was to message any one of them if he ever needed anything and that stuff like being hospitalized was reason enough to require friendly support.

That's probably where Gonta got the idea about the 'loudness.'

Subaru insisted that he'd already heard all this. But it hadn't come from Luna, so she'd felt justified in saying it. Even as it had her wondering about whom he'd heard it from. But she'd probably benefit from asking him that in a more one-on-one setting (like when she was over at his house for cooking lessons).

Luna and her crew passed through the day without any more hiccups. Tsukasa left them shortly after the last bell rang, even giving Subaru a brief apology for saying things out of line. Subaru just nodded and the rest of them set off to the STEM club room to get the quad copter. Ikuta sensei was already there, checking the material. He had them sign off.

"Good to see you back in school, Hoshikawa-kun." Ikuta said with a relaxed smile.

"You too, Ikuta Sensei." Subaru offered, sincerity evident in his tone, "I was really worried about you after the EM attack. I'm glad the school administration decided to be more understanding of your position."

Ikuta's squinty eyes widened ever so slightly, but he quickly smoothed over the expression with another smile, "A little too perceptive – or perhaps proactive is a better word – for your own good, aren't you, Hoshikawa-kun? But I guess that's what will prove beneficial to you in the field of science!"

Luna wondered what she was missing out on, but Ikuta didn't seem to want to elaborate any further. He shooed them out the door with their toys saying he had papers to grade.

The four of them walked to the park with Gonta carefully cradling the delicate drone in his meaty hands, Kizamaro gesturing to the controller while describing its functions, and Luna overseeing the whole process. Subaru seemed honestly interested, investing his full attention. But their two nerdiest members' conversation was interrupted by loud cry coming from the direction of the park.

Luna's head whipped up to meet the sight of a young child as he threw a loud tantrum. His mother tried to console him, all the while glancing around at the other park-goers. They were clearly drawing stares. And as Luna's crew drew closer, they heard the racket lessen with the promise of melon soda from a nearby vending machine.

"Well," Kizamaro said as his eyes tracked the mother and child, "That doesn't seem like something I'd want to deal with."

Luna couldn't help but wordlessly agree. It wasn't that kids were a terror, just that they had a tendency to be single-minded. She was too much like that to realistically get along with them. As soon as they hit middle school, Luna found her juniors to be much more tolerable.

"Let's go." She told her friends, "There's an open bench over there. Hoshikawa-kun should sit down before he falls down and has to go back to the hospital."

Gonta and Kizamaro cheerfully agreed while Subaru muttered something undoubtedly rude under his breath. But Luna wasn't going to let his episode of 'epic clumsiness' slide any time soon.

Well, Subaru would learn to deal with it.

For nearly a half an hour, they were able to entertain themselves, taking turns to pilot the small craft. Kizamaro enjoyed weaving through the street lamps and trees while Subaru soon became adept at performing acrobatic flips in the air – do-a-barrel-roll style. But it was Gonta who was piloting when the little boy they'd seen earlier sneaked up on them.

Let it be known that Gonta did not startle easily. So it was funny to see him jump a few inches in the air when the boy from before dove out of the bushes behind the bench and grabbed onto Gonta's leg like a leech.

"Awesome!" He crowed, using all his lung capacity, "Cool! I wanna fly it too! Can I? CAN I?"

"Uhhh?" Kizamaro pushed his glasses up his nose and frantically looked around the park for the child's mother. She was hurriedly coming their way, now that her son had announced himself. Her brows pinched together in worry as if she feared the worst would happen.

"Probably not, kid," Gonta tried to sound placating but his voice came out rough anyway, "It's pretty difficult."

"I. Wanna. Fly. It!"

Subaru looked like he wanted to melt into another dimension. Not a likely possibility, but the sentiment was there. They'd become the center of attention in the park. Walkers, joggers, children playing. Their eyes had zeroed in on the high schoolers with pinpoint accuracy. Standing stock-still. And watching.

"Hey," Luna tried. She squatted down to the kid's level to meet him head on. His cheeks were puffed up and his eyes were livid. Luna just now noticed the ugly, crab-themed hat he wore, both askew and smudged with dirt, "This is our club project, so we can't go giving it to other people."

"I said: I wanna fly it."

"Not until you're older, buddy." Lunna attempted to pat the boy on the shoulder, but her hand was swatted away. It took all her self-control to keep her demure smile in place.

The boy held out a hand, "Now."

"No."

Luna's simple rebuttal predictably set the kid off. She couldn't help but cover her ears as he began to scream at the top of his tiny lungs. His mother arrived, but her pleas for him to shush went on deaf ears. Or perhaps he just couldn't hear her over the sound of his own voice.

Whatever the case, Luna wanted no part. She grabbed Kizamaro's wrist and marched off, trusting the other two to follow. Which they did.

The screaming never lessened, but it was dulled by distance and trees as the high schoolers escaped. Luna approached the edge of a small pond at the park's center. They wouldn't be able to fly the drone here, but at least they could only barely hear the boy's screams.

Strangely enough, it was Subaru who seemed to be lagging behind. He kept glancing over his shoulder so Luna could tell something had rankled him. She assumed it was the attention or the child's noisiness, but something in the back of her mind was telling her that that wasn't the case.

"Whew." Kizamaro said, "We escaped."

"Not for long…" Luna glanced at Subaru, or more accurately, at the mutter that came from Subaru's direction that didn't sound like Subaru.

"What?" She asked for clarification.

Subaru only glanced at her briefly before looking off into the distance again. This time, he dropped his Visualizer down over his eyes and frowned at what he saw.

"Seriously?" He muttered to himself.

"What is it?" Luna reiterated.

He didn't say anything, just handed her the glasses. She braced herself for the impact of color and slid them over her eyes. She didn't properly know what she was looking for, but anyone could spot the pattern disruptions that fractured the skies over where the child could be heard, still screaming. Luna couldn't see Subaru with the Visualizer on, but at her sharp intake of breath he sighed.

"A fight is probably going to break out if that signal doesn't cut out soon."

"But a child?" Luna asked, "They can do that?"

By 'they,' Subaru knew Luna meant the FMians. He was their resident expert after all.

"I don't think it makes much difference to the FMians." He sounded terribly tired, "A host offers them an exponential increase in energy. Ideal conditions for a creature that can't take form and affect the physical plane. Though I have no idea what the ramifications of using a child may be."

Luna handed his Visualizer back to him, "Ramifications? I thought that the hosts don't remember anything… or very little if they do."

"That's true. But the emotional state and the agreement that is made before the actual possession also dictates what exactly the EM beings will do. Taurus possessed Gonta, who wanted to clobber me at the time, so Taurus went after me. Cygnus possessed Utagai, who didn't trust those around him with his work, so he tried destroying AMAKEN labs."

Subaru seemed to be awfully generous with his information today.

"So…" she dragged out the word, "If the boy gets possessed, he might come after us!?"

"It's just a hunch." Subaru grit out. Something about him definitely felt off to Luna. And not just the fact that they were in immediate danger. It was something much more personal. Does doing research on this sort of thing make someone emotionally invested? She wouldn't know.

The screaming in the distance reached a fever pitch. It seemed that the mother had not been successful in getting the child to calm down.

Luna queried, "Should we… I don't know, do something?"

"Like what? Kizamaro asked.

"Leave?" Gonta suggested.

But before they could put it to a vote, the racket cut off abruptly. Luna stared through the trees. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Subaru lay a hand on his transer and grit his teeth. It seemed the tides had changed, but to her human senses, she could pick out no differences other than the lack of sound. So how did Subaru know?

"You guys go." Subaru suddenly commanded. But contrary to his order, he took off in the direction of the boy. For someone who had recently been hospitalized, he was moving rather quickly. He disappeared into the trees and bushes that divided up the park before Luna could get a word in edgewise.

Gonta and Kizamaro both looked to her.

"Prez?' Kizamaro's question went mostly unasked, but his deference spoke for him.

"Subaru's an idiot if he thinks we're going to let a monster from outer space off him when he's recovering from a concussion. Let's go!"

Luna stormed after Subaru and the others followed.


Hoshikawa Subaru:

"No."

Subaru skidded to a stop in a well concealed spot. The dusty dirt beneath him was dry but cold, and it caked into the knees of his jeans as he knelt. He peeked between the branches of a bush to catch glimpses of the scene beyond. People were running away from the bench that Subaru and his friends had occupied mere minutes before.

And on that bench stood something that looked suspiciously like a crab. It was large for a crab, to be sure. But the newly arrived EM being only stood a grand total of two and a half feet tall.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Subaru hissed back at his partner.

Subaru could practically feel Warrock roll his eyes.

"I mean what I say. No. We're not fighting that thing. Not today, anyway."

Subaru opened his transer screen so he could properly glare into Warrock's ruby red eyes. But Warrock was in no way cowed. Subaru took a deep breath to calm himself and then asked, "Why?"

"Examine the situation, kid. That's usually your forte."

"Um, Rock. The situation is that there's an FMian possessing a kid in a park and no Rockman to get rid of him."

Warrock sighed, sounding particularly annoyed at having to spell things out for his human partner. "Kid…"

A mad cackle echoed across the park, drawing Subaru's attention.

"Bow before the power of CANCER BUBBLE!" the crab thing squeaked unimpressively.

An unfortunate jogger came down the path in front of the FMian, oblivious to the situation due to her late arrival and the headphones squished firmly in her ears. She ignored Cancer Bubble in favor of her exercise without a second thought.

Not unlike the child he'd possessed, Cancer threw a tantrum.

"Pay attention to me, humans!" He waved pincher-like hands in the air demandingly. But it didn't do much good. Cancer wasn't very big, or loud, or flashy.

The park began to fill with new patrons as the crab thing simply stood there stunned. In the distance, sirens began to wail.

"You're not thinking straight because your classmates might be in danger." Warrock explained, "But think about this. First. You're still injured from your fight with Gemini. A human injury. Which isn't likely to heal in less than a week, much less two days. A wave battle is the last thing you need. Second. You have an ally now. Harp Note could take care of this guy in a jiffy. All you'd need to do is send her a message and keep an eye on the sea food until she arrives. Third and finally. This particular FMian is Cancer. He's a straight-up idiot. I've never felt his signal until now which means he just got here from space. He knows nothing about Earth and he's next to useless in a fight, so there won't be much collateral damage…"

"If you humans won't pay attention to me!" Cancer unknowingly interrupted Warrock's lecture, "Then I'll make you! Bubble Pop!"

Huge bubbles sparkled into existence in the park. More than Subaru could count. They floated about seemingly aimless until, one by one, they enveloped a human in each, trapping them. Cancer laughed like a villain from a B-rated movie. And finally, the fearful screams of humans complemented the raucous laughter of the FMian.

"And you don't call that collateral damage?" Subaru asked tersely.

"Well, it's not hurting them. Just holding them. For now."

"For now?"

Subaru's train of thought was derailed when he heard a familiar and particularly perturbed protest. Luna and her cronies floated over Cancer's head, each enveloped in a bubble of their own. Luna, however, was not taking it so well.

"Let us down, you ugly crab-face! Or Rockman is going to kick your butt!"

Cancer reveled in the attention, no matter how negative.

"Rockman, huh?" the crab thing purred, "He better get here quick."

"Well?" Warrock asked Subaru, "What are you going to do? Without denpa henkan, that is. Though you don't have much time to decide. By my estimates…" He paused and listened for the sirens, "You've got about a minute before the Satellite Police gets here."

Subaru sat back on his haunches, feeling somewhat defeated. Warrock was right. He wasn't in fighting shape, no matter how weak the enemy. It had taken all he had just to get through the day of school. His mom hadn't even wanted him to go.

Outside of his hiding spot, Luna and Cancer were yelling at each other so loudly that the FMian didn't seem to notice the sirens. He probably had no idea what they meant anyway.

"We'll observe." Subaru muttered, "Let's see how the SP handle an FMian without Rockman. They can field test Amachi's tech too so I can see how it works."

Warrock nodded from the transer, "Smart."

Subaru felt the need to double-check, "You said this guy was weak, right? Do you think the SP can handle him?"

"Depends."

That response didn't exactly instill confidence, so Subaru tagged on, "If they can't handle him, we'll call Misora. That's the best I've got."

"It's a good plan, Subaru."

Subaru simply nodded.

But ultimately, he didn't feel right about this. And that feeling of frustration at his passivity concerned him. When had that developed? It was new. But it felt so very demanding. Loud.

He didn't think that was a good thing.

Cancer didn't seem to notice the arrival of the Satellite Police. Too busy in a full blown argument with Luna who, in the sparse seconds since Subaru had last seen her, had ended up with the quad copter. Subaru had a nagging feeling that it was Luna's way of being the stand-in hero, diverting the FMian's attention to herself based on the information Subaru had given her. He wasn't sure if Luna was being clever or stupid. Irritation lent him towards the latter.

Tire's screeched on pavement. Megaphones asked for civilians to clear the area. Although most of them could not do so, trapped as they were in bubbles, their numbers growing. SP officer's spilled out of cars and vans, decked out in their clunky looking backpacks a la Amachi's prototype weaponry.

"FMIAN!" Subaru could now identify Goyouda's voice by the time the first word left the inspector's mouth, "RELEASE YOUR HOSTAGES!"

"Hostages?" Cancer Bubble squeaked as he turned to face the newly formed ranks, "I don't have any hostages."

"RELEASE THE PEOPLE IN THE BUBBLES… that is something I never thought I would find myself saying…" Goyouda's passive thought interrupted him before he continued, "LET THEM GO AND WE WILL FIGHT YOU ON EVEN GROUND!"

"I don't know who you are." Cancer said, "But I think I'd rather fight the Rockman guy this human keeps mentioning. He sounds cooler."

Goyouda's face went straight from composed to purple, "I THINK NOT! THE SATELLITE POLICE ARE MORE THAN CAPABLE."

Cancer smirked.

"I'm not quite sure where he gets his confidence." Warrock muttered.

"I'm not feeling much energy from him." Subaru agreed.

"I am a warrior of the warrior clan!" Cancer screeched, somewhat redundantly, "I have traveled light years to track down the traitor on this miniscule planet! I have obtained power through denpa henkan! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT CANCER BUBBLE!"

Goyouda crossed his arms. His face was screwed up. Caught somewhere between uncertainty and exasperation. Uncertainty, because he hadn't yet found the best course of action for dealing with FMians. Exasperation, because he was being squawked at by a diminutive crab-creature possessing a toddler.

"Squad 4!" He roared to his troops, "Start with the pellet guns and see about popping the bubbles nearest to the ground. If that doesn't work, try the stun guns. Squad 3, secure the perimeter. Squads 1 and 2, you're with me." Goyouda pulled the vacuum-like nozzle of his contraption off his back and stalked forward, "We're going to end this ourselves!"

His men cheered in agreement, following through on his orders. And Subaru, from his vantage point, could finally see the SP prove their efficiency. They moved in well-oiled teams. But right now, Goyouda was the one to keep an eye on.

Goyouda stopped a few paces from Cancer Bubble, who had perched himself on the back rest of the park bench for added height. The FMian was now leering unimpressively at the inspector.

"You dare challenge…"

"No." Goyouda cut him off, "We're done talking. You've said enough. This is your chance to release the human you've possessed. If you do not in ten seconds, then we will open fire."

"How dare…"

"Ten."

"I am not to be treated…"

"Nine."

"You utter fool. I will wipe the earth with you and your men. I will destroy this planet and obtain my objective…"

"Five."

"I will return the key to King Cepheus and be praised as a hero!"

"Three."

"I will…"

"Two."

"Argh!" Cancer's patience ran dry. He leaped from his perch and charged forward in an apparent attempt to gouge the inspector with his pinchers.

On the count of 'One' the two collided. Or more accurately, Cancer Bubble collided with Goyouda's outstretched hand. The inspector barely budged and Cancer was bodily brought to a halt, an arm's length from his target. Cancer wordlessly raged, swinging his pinchers in vain attempts for follow through with his attack. And he continued to do so for a few, futile seconds.

"Damn!" Cancer squeaked and jumped back, "Damn it all!" He threw up his clawed hands and stomped his tiny feet. The scene was so reminiscent of a four year old that everyone in the park was completely caught off guard by what happened next.

Subaru was the first victim, situated as he was nearest the pond. The wave of water that crashed through was the same height as the trees. Subaru was caught up in the swell before it crashed down on Goyouda's neatly arranged troops and scattered them all. The swirling, sopping wet mayhem that ensued mainly stunned those involved. Subaru alone had it the worst as it rattled his poor head.

Goyouda was up on his feet first, quickly checking his transer to see if Amachi's weapon was still functional. He flicked on the switch and gave it a try. It wasn't.

His men moaned around him, in various stages of getting to their feet, uniforms caked in mud and grass. Goyouda didn't wait. He snatched another prototype from the man nearest him, flicked the switch, and gave it a try. No luck.

"HA!" Cancer sneered, "You're at my mercy now!"

"Hardly." Subaru heard Goyouda mumble as he grabbed another prototype.

"I'll trap the rest of you too." Cancer continued, "Bubble…"

Cancer Bubble was cut off by the sound of a machine whirring to life. Goyouda made a small noise of satisfaction before relieving his subordinate of the device and strapping it to his own back. Subaru could see the LEDs blinking brightly from his vantage point (now on the ground, in the open, and soaked with slimy pond water). The nozzle opening was glowing white hot in Subaru's vision, but it was blurry. A sure sigh that whatever was happening was denpa related.

Goyouda turned the prototype on Cancer who looked mightily confused. The FMian might have begun to formulate a question, but his voice caught in his throat. Only a slight choking sound came from his open mouth.

Subaru watched as Cancer's form wiggled, the edges tinted iridescent clearly trying to shift to another wavelength, but it failed. Cancer remained solid.

The FMian's eyes widened with panic as his current situation clicked: he was pinned.

"No!" Cancer might have tried to scream, but it came out as a strangled gasp. Cancer jumped back again, this time in fear rather than frustration. But before he could go anywhere, Goyouda had followed, moving with surprising speed given the age Subaru thought he was. In a second he was close enough for the prototype to exert its hold on Cancer's energy. Which it did.

And then Subaru noticed something new. It started faintly, but grew stronger by the second. There was a haze around Cancer's form. Very little of Cancer's energy was actually being leeched off by the machine. Most of it dispersed into the atmosphere like an outward ripple when a stone is tossed in a pond. And Cancer fell to his knees, puffing and shaking. He tried to drag himself away, but Goyouda was relentless.

"Let the kid go." The inspector commanded.

If Cancer could say anything, Subaru was sure he would have. The FMian had been so petulant up to this point. But now, emptied of the boundless energy afforded to him by denpa henkan as it rolled off him in waves, Cancer could do nothing.

Run away. Subaru found himself thinking irrationally. Of course he didn't want the FMians to possess people… to win. But there was a part of him that was denpa human. And that part could only think: this looks really, freaking bad.

It took another few seconds for Cancer to be exhausted completely. The aura around him thinned and choked out completely. Like a wisp of smoke, his true form curled up and away, leaving the kid snoring on the muddy ground below.

"Ugh." The FMian moaned. His voice was much less screechy without the influence of his host, "What was that?"

"A joint effort by the Satellite Police and AMAKEN laboratories. You will now be taken into custody…"

"No way in hell!" Cancer announced, streaking up to the nearest waveroad and disappearing in the blink of an eye. Clearly, he learned his lesson: not to mess with humans.

"Coward!" Goyouda yelled, but it was nowhere near his normal volume. Subaru saw the inspector press his hand that wasn't holding the prototype nozzle to his head. A pained groan slipped out his lips, but he took a steadying breath and turned around. "Men, track the FMian on your transers and follow it if you can."

Subaru glanced at Goyouda's troops. They didn't follow through on Goyouda's orders quite as energetically as they had before. Now, most of them were cradling their heads in obvious pain. Winces abounded. Grimaces galore.

"Looks like your headache is now in good company, kid." Warrock muttered.

Subaru's head whipped back to the sleeping boy. Or more accurately, where Cancer's EM energy had been radiating in claustrophobic concentration, clashing with the brain waves of everyone present. Interference. A debilitating side effect of Amachi's weapon.

A chorus of pops echoed above their heads and civilians literally rained down on the park. Gonta, Kizamaro, and Luna fell in a neat pile – in that order – and immediately started shouting up a storm

"You're heavy!"

"Don't say that to a woman!"

"Rude!"

So, apparently, the bubbles acted as a trap and a barrier. How lucky for them. Not so lucky for the officer's ears which were now assaulted by loud high schoolers.

"We're going to need a big, big bottle of Tylenol." Goyouda grumbled, "Fine, just make sure the civilians are safe." He told his men, "I'll talk to these guys."

The Satellite Police dispersed to do as they were told and Goyouda stalked his way up to Luna. Subaru tried to scoot out of sight, but the inspector noticed.

"You get over here, Hoshikawa-kun!" Goyouda barked, seemingly in defiance of his headache, "Or so help me I will come to your house in the night!"

Subaru inched his way over to his classmates, "That makes you sound creepy, inspector."

"God, give me patience." Goyouda muttered to himself.

"It requires quite a lot when you're dealing with Hoshikawa-kun." Luna agreed knowingly. Apparently, the opportunity of picking on Subaru put her in quite a good mood.

Goyouda sucked in a long breath, "And what exactly," he exhaled, "Are you four doing here?"

Luna held up the quad copter. One of its propellers had been damaged in the fall – bent and hanging piteously – but other than that, it didn't look too worse for wear.

"We were taking our club project out for a spin." She said innocently.

"So you saw what happened?"

Luna snuck a sideways glance and Subaru and he really really wished she hadn't. The inspector directed his stare at Subaru. But within a second, Luna followed up and redirected his attention.

"Well, there was that kid." She tilted her head at the toddler in question who was now being overseen by an officer and his mother, "And he threw a fit because we wouldn't let him fly the copter. And then… yeah."

Goyouda stared stonily at her, "Why is it always you four?"

"Beg your pardon?"

"There have only been so many incidents, Shirogane-san, and you've been present for nearly all of them."

"I wouldn't know why it's always us." Luna sounded somewhat uncertain. She looked at her shoes. Subaru watched her closely and noticed that her eyes continued to stray in his direction.

Goyouda sighed and moved on to Subaru, "And what's your story?"

Subaru made his best effort to appear innocent. He was innocent. This time anyway.

"I was with them." He said simply.

"And, throughout this entire incident, you didn't notice anything strange?"

Goyouda wouldn't leave him alone. He was observant. He knew Subaru was too. Subaru could understand that the inspector was pressing for his take on things. But it was always so difficult to gauge how much help he could give without giving himself away. Amachi was on his side now, sure. But would the same be said for Goyouda if he found out.

Subaru swallowed as he thought of the prototype pointed at him. Not draining him, per se, but creating an outlet for all his energy; dispersing it until there was nothing left; until he was nothing. On the outside, he could be composed. He could be stone. He had practice. He could do it.

"Plenty of people get upset, Inspector, it's not like I can predict which ones are going to be possessed by a wayward alien."

Thankfully, Goyouda's attention was solely on him. He missed the way Luna, Kizamaro, and Gonta flinched at the lie. And thankfully, they didn't say anything.

Goyouda's gaze was analyzing for another whole minute. It made Subaru want to fidget, but he didn't want to appear intimidated. It finally ended when the inspector said, "You four should go home for the day. If I have any further questions, I will contact your school. I'm sure they'll be understanding."

Another way to say: 'I know where to find you.'

It was good enough for Subaru – and his friends, apparently – who were all happy to quit the muddied park. Their walk back to Kodoma High was silent. With the quad copter safely returned, they split at the front gates.

"I've gotta get some groceries for my mom." Gonta said, "I'll see you guys in the morning."

Kizamaro scuffed his foot on the sidewalk, "I was planning to make a stop on the way home as well, so I'll be going too." He sounded subdued as he waved goodbye.

Subaru watched him go before turning to his one remaining companion.

"Are you going to run off too?" he asked.

Luna put a hand on her hip.

"No, stupid." she rolled her eyes, "I'm going to make sure that your concussed noggin gets home. Wouldn't want to make Akane-san worry about you."

"Alright."

"No arguments? Wow, I'm impressed."

"We have to walk in the same direction anyway, Shirogane-san. It's a little less awkward this way."

"I'm surprised you even recognize that that would be awkward, Hoshikawa-kun. Your powers of perception astound me!"

Subaru smirked, "Then you would be easily impressed." He took off in the direction of his house at a steady pace. His head was throbbing duly, still recovering from Cancer Bubble's tidal wave. Luna met his pace and walked alongside. Silence stretched out in front of them along with sidewalk.

It wasn't a comfortable one.

And Subaru was a bit surprised that he recognized it as such despite his earlier snark. He snuck a glance at Luna. She was openly staring at him, her lips pulled into a thin line.

"What?" he asked, eyes on his red sneakers and the steady cadence they were mapping on the concrete.

"I find it a bit contradictory," she said, tone entirely too serious, "That only this morning you claimed that you did not like to be called a liar, and yet, you lied right to the face of a public official without batting an eye." She frowned, "Don't you care that FMians are hurting people and destroying things? Or is it all just research to you?"

Subaru's stomach twisted. He wasn't sure what to say. He cared more than anyone, probably. It was personal to him. But not in a way that he could share with others. He never expected that secrecy to impact his real life quite as much as it was now – and had already.

"First," he began, "'Caring' and 'research' are not mutually exclusive. In fact, it's quite the opposite."

Luna didn't say anything as he gathered his thoughts.

"Second," he paused again, unsure, "Some things are very personal." His hand strayed up to ascertain that his Visualizer was still there – where it always was, "And I can't… I don't think that… that sharing them with Goyouda would be maximally beneficial. I'm working with Amachi, and Amachi is his consultant. Amachi understands better what the inspector needs to know to do his job."

"It just…" Luna usually never wavered when she spoke, but she did now, "It just seems important." She shrugged, "I guess that's all I'm trying to say. I think the others are a little shocked too."

Subaru desperately looked anywhere but Luna. He didn't know what to say to that. He didn't even know that the others cared that much – about what he did or said.

"Being private is one thing…" Luna's voice was soft to begin with, but she trailed off completely without finishing the thought.

More silence.

"There was another thing I wanted to ask you." She said after a while. They had reached his house house, so they were stopped completely in front. Face to face. Subaru fiddled with the straps of his backpack.

"Sure." He agreed, mostly out of guilt at this point.

"This morning you said that you'd already gotten my lecture from someone. You know, the one about friendship being a two way street. Who was it that gave you the lecture?"

Subaru felt his eyes widen as he continued to look elsewhere. Not at Luna's face. Not at her earnest olive-green eyes. For all her pomp and bluster, she was really a refreshingly straightforward person. And Subaru guessed that was probably one of the things he appreciated about her the most. He always knew how she was feeling. It was easy because she made her feelings known.

Like this.

"Umm…"

How exactly was he supposed to answer that? It would only lead to more questions. Not all of which he could answer.

"I notice you messaging a lot in class, so I kinda figured you had some secret friend before you mentioned it this morning." Luna had a self-satisfied smile on her face, and it wasn't a mean one.

"Uhh…"

"Is it really that complicated?" Luna sounded a little exasperated now.

"Yeah?"

Luna groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Sorry?" Subaru wasn't really sure what he was being sorry for, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"I'll see you in the morning, Hoshikawa-kun." Luna turned to leave.

Subaru blinked. Really? That was it? She wasn't going to press him for details like she normally did?

"Wait!" Slipped out, unbidden.

Luna cast him a backwards glance over her shoulder, "Yes?"

What had he done?

"Thanks for walking me home, I guess. See you tomorrow." He gave a jerky wave and mechanically opened the front door to flee.

Luna's chuckle echoed behind him.


In the entryway, Subaru chucked off his sneakers.

Akane was reading the news on her transer at the kitchen table while the rice cooker steamed in the background.

"Hey, Su." She greeted without looking up, "How was your time with your friends?"

"Pretty good," He mumbled, "But, uh, we might've gotten into a bit of a mess."

Akane looked up and processed Subaru's damp, muddy clothes. Her eyes widened in understanding and flashed back down to her transer. No doubt to an article detailing the event.

"Oh my." She scanned her son, "Are you alright?"

"Fine. I got bowled over by a wave of water, but otherwise I'm fine."

Akane nodded, "Well, you better go change out of those clothes then. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes and you can tell me about it in more detail."

"Okay."

His foot was on the first step of the stairs when his mom called, "If you need anything, I restocked your bathroom cabinets with some stuff!"

"What kind of 'stuff'?" He called back.

"You know, first aid stuff." Akane said, "There's some Tylenol in there too if you need any for your head."

"Oh… Okay then."

Subaru dashed the rest of the way up the stairs, even though the effort had his head pounding briefly from the exertion. What exactly did his mom think he needed? He bee lined it to his bathroom to find out.

In the cabinet under the sink, there was a white box with a green cross on the front. It was heavy when Subaru dragged it out and into his lap. He popped the latches and carefully opened the container so as not to spill the contents. And yet, bandages and gauze tumbled out. Tiny little packets labeled for antibiotics, burn ointment, and alcohol swabs were lined in neat little rows. Bottles of pills for nausea, diarrhea, pain, inflammation, and more were similarly arranged. Things he didn't even know how to use where in here so he'd have to do some research.

"Rock," Subaru whispered, "Why does my mom think I need this?"

"She thinks you fell off a bridge, kid."

Subaru shut the case without taking anything out. He put it back. He closed the cabinet. He didn't want to think about it. For all Akane knew, falling off a bridge was a one-time thing. But Subaru couldn't remember how discreet he'd been about any previous injuries he'd sustained from being Rockman. Not discreet at all, by the looks of it.

His mom was smart. A lot of people didn't give her credit because she'd married a rocket scientist and hadn't worked when Subaru had been younger. But that didn't change the fact that Akane was clever and cunning and always seemed to get her way.

"Do you think she knows?"

"How would she?" Warrock challenged, "It's quite the stretch of the imagination to think that one's son might be battling aliens while, well, disguised as one of them."

"You would think." Subaru muttered.

"How much would it matter if she did know?"

"I don't know." Subaru hissed, "You always seemed to be the one concerned with that."

"We've got bigger concerns than your mommy taking good care of you, kid. So I'm not going to sweat it. Now are you done angsting? You need to go eat."

"'Angsting.'" Subaru muttered to himself as he stood up and changed into fresh clothes, "Now you're branching out to internet vernacular. Fantastic."

"What can I say," Warrock preened, "I'm a genius."

"Alright genius," Subaru removed his transer and set it by his computer, "Then you can be the one to message Misora about the SP tech. Tell her to stay away."

"You know," Warrock explained sensibly, "It only worked so well this time because Cancer is both weak and unintelligent. He had about a tenth of the power you and I have on a bad day. And any other FMian could have figured out quickly enough that it's not a good idea to stand there while you opponent aims a siphon at you."

"I didn't look like he could move." Subaru reflected.

"Yes, well, that was either panic or the fact that he had so little energy to start with. Either way. You'd have a much better chance of getting away provided you weren't mostly beaten already."

"I don't know if that's good or bad." Subaru said, "Good that it works somewhat. Bad that it doesn't work as well as they think. I'll have to let Amachi know. Still, tell Misora to avoid the SP until we can talk things out with Amachi."

"Got it. Now go get something to eat before you keel over."

"Yeah," Subaru mocked as he left, "You're not very good at dealing with unconscious me."

Warrock snorted, "You got that right, kid."


Um, here you go, new chapter! I have excuses but you probably don't want to hear them ;) so instead I have a few things to say about the chapter:

I gave the Cancer Bubble fight to the Satellite Police. Yes I did. It seemed sensible given that Cancer is portrayed as laughably weak in the anime (though I personally remember having a rather frustrating time trying to beat him in game?). Here I wanted to demonstrate that the SP are an organized force, Goyouda IS - in fact - a good leader, and that science is advancing. There are a few kinks to work out with Amachi's prototype, but it'll come along.

In the meantime, Subaru is developing as well. A little hero complex has crept up on him, he's worried about making a good impression on his friends, and he's having a little panic attack over what his mom does or doesn't know. He really didn't need to get in another fight so soon after his defeat, so I gave him a breather. Aren't I nice?

See you guys when I next see you. Thank you to the nice person who messaged me in December, I do appreciate the occasional check-in, even if I can't publish! And a thanks to everyone who has continued to read through the ups and downs!