Hey, congrats. This fic is also on AO3, my username is the same. Usually I update on Fridays, but it looks like i'm in a good mood! Enjoy!
Aneko decided to put the TV on, flipping through channels quickly, settling on a 24/7 news channel. As she mindlessly listened to the news, she pulled out her PDA, retrieving the file on Shiraki that she saved in case her PDA was unable to connect to SCEPTER 4's server.
The notes Sato had written were very precise in logging the tracking of the Strain. It appeared that when he disappeared, he was unable to be found for two weeks, before suddenly appearing with an alternate universe Strain in tow. After coming back, he'd disappear within a week, sending Sato and her Third, Maeda Katsumi reeling, buzzing to catalog the new Strain that appeared alongside Shiraki. Though it appeared that Shiraki couldn't control exactly where he returned, it was always somewhere in Tokyo.
Her thoughts were broken when the TV's screen flickered, hearing something that was definitely not the afternoon news. She sat up, PDA forgotten beside her. The video that replaced the news was eerily familiar.
Really familiar, because it was exactly identical to the video her Uncle Tatara had taken before he died. She watched with trepidation, frozen as the Colorless King turned around, holding out a gun when blue aura suddenly threw the camera out of Totsuka's hands. The camera skidded, the sound of the metal frame bouncing on ice loudly, the lens facing the railing overlooking the edge of the roof.
Aneko could hear herself speak, muffled from having her hood up, as well as the wind blowing into the camera's microphone muting what she said next. The sound of the man proclaiming himself as the Colorless King could be heard clearly, the shriek echoing his surprise. Aneko's snarled response could be barely heard, and then with a flash of blue, the Colorless King toppled off the roof, her form running to the railing.
Aneko scrambled to turn the TV off when she recovered from her initial shock, unwilling to watch it any longer. It wouldn't be long for HOMRA to find out her true identity, even with Totsuka's trauma blurring some of his memory, as well as the speed which Aneko had fled once she realized her actions.
There was no doubt that she would definitely have to tread carefully before revealing herself, or it would increase the likelihood of her death before she could get home.
Aneko started to doze off, adjusting her position across the couch so her daggers didn't poke into her sides uncomfortably. Memories flitted across her semi-conscious state, specifically the Crowning of the Red King Kushina Anna, Aneko's older adopted sibling. At the age of 18, Anna graduated high school early, deciding to put her time into university.
Although Munakata Mika was no King, she often led HOMRA against the normal, lesser gangs, oftentimes having Anna babysit Aneko when a fight got really bad and sent Mika to the hospital. Occasionally, Aneko would stay with her Uncle Izumo and Aunt Seri at bar HOMRA if Anna was too busy with school and both her parents were unavailable.
She always admired her mother, remembering the pride in her voice when Aneko got into a fight with a bully in elementary school, the small girl victorious against her enemy. The two got ice cream after that, to the amusement of her dad. Even though he was supposed to be mad, Aneko had written an extensive list of reasons why the fight started in the first place. The last one was "Because Taijima is a silly McPoopFace that thought he was smarter than my new friend that's why."
Hours passed, Aneko fully settling into sleep after the first. She was suddenly woken up by the door of the room opening, the loud voices of Hidaka and Dōmyōji Andy, accompanied by the lower voice of Kamo Ryūhō filling the silence of the room.
Quickly waking up, Aneko had flicked a wrist, producing a knife, and the weapon was already airborne and coated with aura before she realized she wasn't being attacked. The knife sunk into the upper half of the door, splinters of wood chipping as metal was wedged into the door deeply. A remaining flicker of blue aura faded, before leaving the knife.
"Ah…oops?" the woman said dumbfoundedly, suddenly sheepish. She moved off the couch, embarrassment visible as a blush crept down her neck. Aneko turned to the newcomers, pausing after seeing the three men staring at her with shock. The blush got deeper as she realized she attempted to pierce one of the SCEPTER 4's Squad 1's members on accident.
"I'm so sorry!" Aneko apologized loudly, bowing quickly to show her regrets. "I didn't mean to try and kill you, it just happened!" She straightened, her mortification deepening when they didn't say anything.
"That was scary but cool," Dōmyōji said first after the shock had worn off, "Er, I thought you were Fushimi-san at first."
"Who are you?" asked Kamo, "I saw you with the Captain yesterday." He appeared to be on guard but relaxed slowly when he realized Aneko didn't show any aggression.
"I'm Munakata Aneko," she introduced herself, "Temporary Blue Clansman. And you?"
"Kamo Ryūhō," said the man, before being cut off by Dōmyōji, who yelled, "I'm Dōmyōji Andy! That was cool! I thought you were Fushimi-san too, he's the only one who also uses knives!" His demeanor brightened, and he smiled at the woman.
"How am I going to get it down?" Aneko asked, peering at her wayward knife high above her head. Inwardly she cursed her short stature and the taller door.
"Ah, we'll just find a ladder to get it down," Hidaka said nonchalantly, waving a hand. He didn't look too worried, knowing that occasionally Fushimi would throw his own knives around if he was in a bad mood.
"Still, I'm so sorry for throwing pointy things at your heads," apologized Aneko again, and it looked like her blush faded away. "I was sleeping after I saw that broadcast, and I had a dream that I was being attacked by a herd of horses, and I got so caught up in the dream that when I woke up I had an instinct to throw sharp objects, and I didn't mean to scare you and take off your heads at the same time," she started prattling, an unfortunate habit that she retained when she got in trouble while off the clock.
"It's okay, really," placated Hidaka, his attempt to make Aneko stop talking working. She stopped, flush returning.
"What time is it?" she asked, patting her clothes for her PDA. A quick check behind her found her PDA laying on the floor after she woke up abruptly. She made her way to it, snatching the device off the ground.
"It's nearly six in the evening," Kamo tells her, amused by her scramble to her PDA. "The dinner hour has already started in the cafeteria."
"Why don't we all go there together!" offered Dōmyōji, overjoyed at the prospect of a new friend and a fellow prankster. Before Aneko could answer, her stomach did the talking for her, reminding her of a single hamburger before being sent out several hours ago.
"…Yeah, sure," she agreed quickly, looking at both Kamo and Hidaka for their approval. Kamo inclined his head, while Hidaka shrugged.
"Why not?" was the general consensus.
The trip to the cafeteria took about ten minutes, after Aneko opted to leave her SCEPTER 4 coat back in her dorm room, rejoining the three Squad 1 members on their way to the aforementioned place.
Soon enough, they bought their dinners, sitting at the same table. Aneko's table manners resembled her battle style; focused, quick, and methodic. She bought two dozen sushi rolls accompanied with a bowl of white rice, offering six to Dōmyōji, who accepted it.
"So, why do you want to join SCEPTER 4?" asked Hidaka over his miso soup, clapping his chopsticks together.
"I'm not in it for power if that's what you want to know," Aneko said first, absently directing a roll into her mouth. She chewed, thinking over her answer. She needed to mix the truth and create lies to avoid suspicion, and she quickly created a story.
"Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to protect people who couldn't do it themselves," she decided to start with the truth, "I did everything I could. Protected younger kids from bullies. Ran after miscreants and handed them to the police. Stopped robberies every so often."
"Sounds like you were a good Samaritan," commented Kamo, interested in the younger woman's tale.
It was time to bend the truth, Aneko noted inwardly, "Yup. One day, a year ago, I was caught in the crossfire with a Strain and landed in the hospital. After I got out, I decided there was no way I was going to be caught off guard like that." She flicked her wrist, sending a dagger out of her harness, flipping it between her fingers.
"A friend showed me how to do this. I've nearly cut my fingers off way too many times," Aneko laughed, holding the end of the blade. She winked at Dōmyōji, letting the knife fall back into her sleeve. With her sleeves slightly open, black fabric could be seen, leading towards her sleeves.
"Uh, I was just wondering," started Hidaka, chewing thoughtfully, "Since you're shadowing Squad 1, do you have blue aura?"
"Munakata-san said he had the ability to create temporary Clansmen," Aneko explained, moving her sleeves so her harness was hidden from sight.
"He has the power to do that?" asked Kamo, surprised. In his years of SCEPTER 4, there'd never been temporary Clansmen.
Aneko nodded, raising one of her hands. She was careful to not look too proficient with the aura, just drawing a tiny fraction of her power. The woman focused, a look of concentration on her face, and worked to produce a tiny snowflake, giving the aura a shape to focus on.
"That's pretty cool," Dōmyōji told her, his eyes widening as he saw the flake grow bigger. Aneko tsked, and the projection disintegrated.
"Sorry. The aura's pretty weak since I'm only temporary," the woman apologized, but Hidaka gave a, "That's alright. It looked really pretty. Like you."
"If you keep that up, I'll stab you," Aneko told him off calmly, picking up her chopsticks again to eat her last roll. She smirked at his baffled face. "Noted," Hidaka said faintly, eating his food to cover for his embarrassment.
"I'm joking, Hidaka-san," giggled Aneko, swallowing her food, "But you better watch yourself." She started eating her rice, listening as the other three started talking about the Red King's surrender.
"Suoh Mikoto, huh?" she asked when there was a lull from the conversation, "The Red King. What's he like?"
"Did you see his Sword of Damocles?" asked Dōmyōji, waving his chopsticks in the air, "That thing is huge."
The woman nodded, humming, "Yeah, I did. Was it always that dull? It looked…broken."
Dōmyōji's eyebrows raised at the statement before he said, "Has it? When Fushimi said his Weismann's Level was starting to destabilize, I didn't know his Sword was going to deteriorate this fast." He shared a glance with Kamo and Hidaka, all of them taking note of the observation.
"Suoh's kinda scary," Hidaka confessed, "I wouldn't want to fight him alone. I don't think anyone of us except the Captain can even scratch him." He abandoned his food for a moment, thinking, "I was surprised he gave himself up so easily."
"What was that broadcast about then? The one earlier," Aneko clarified, her rice gone, and she wiped a stray grain from her face, "That Colorless King sounded crazy…"
"What I'm surprised is who created that aura," Dōmyōji started suddenly, "That was obviously a blue aura, but I don't recognize the voice. It sounded like a girl…" He trailed off, lost in thought.
"Really?" Aneko asked, raising both eyebrows with surprise, "That's weird. I thought only Clansmen have an aura. Unless it was a Strain?"
"That's debatable," Kamo spoke after just listening, "It sounded like the camera hit ice when it fell. There's no way that ice just appeared out of the blue. While it was cold, it wasn't freezing outside."
"Who was the man with the camera? Totsuka Tatara?" asked Aneko, bring the attention right back to the start of the video, "Who is he?"
"He's part of HOMRA," Kamo explained, "I've never seen the man in a fight. His aura appears to be very weak compared to the others. He generally leads a small girl, Kushina Anna, away from the fights before they start."
"The woman said that Totsuka-san's important," Hidaka commented, remembering the video that showed on every television screen in Tokyo.
"To who, though? Suoh Mikoto?" Aneko offered, secretly trying to remember her reasoning for telling Totsuka that. With her food done, she wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"Perhaps. Fushimi-san demanded we find who broadcasted it," Dōmyōji supplied, cleaning his side of the table, "If you excuse me, I need to go work."
The other three bid him farewell, Aneko sighing as he departed their company, and she excused herself, "I need to go back to my dorm." She gathered the empty bowl and plate, waving goodbye to Kamo and Hidaka as she went to throw her trash and leave the cafeteria.