Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin. This is being written only for pleasure, not for profit. Thank you. (This chapter has been revised and reposted.) —TS

Chapter Two: When Tomoe asked about using a gun, they were understandably surprised. Both Robin and Kate before her had relied entirely on their Craft.

When Tomoe asked about using a gun, they were understandably surprised. Both Robin and Kate before her had relied entirely on their Craft. It bothered Michael a little, that he had slid her so easily into a category, hadn't even given her a chance to establish herself before he stacked her up there with her predecessors. If that was the way he was going to think, Michael told himself sourly, then he must expect her to be hunted before the year is out.

Tomoe lasted the year. The one after that, too. She was a fierce hunter and a good person, but sometimes Michael couldn't help but think that she wouldn't survive. Not for opposition to SOLOMON or the STN-J, Tomoe was too loyal for that. What Michael feared, in the end, was that when SOLOMON fell, she would fall with it. And with each passing hunt, Michael knew this to be the truth.

It hurt. She was such a nice person, such a good friend. Tomoe was a girl who lit up the room when she entered it. She was also rigid in her belief that all Witches were evil. It was a belief that the rest of the STN-J did not share, thankfully, and this was made painfully obvious to her on a hunt five months after she arrived.

Under the lights of the briefing room, Michael explained calmly to the STN-J hunters why he did not think that the Witch previously identified was the one responsible for the death four days before hand. Karasuma nodded through his explanation, and in the end she agreed with him. She told him to get right on tracking the other witch, and stood to leave.

"Wait, aren't we going to hunt this one too?" Sakaki looked at Tomoe funny.

"Why would we?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Her confusion was almost painful to see.

"Weren't you listening? This one didn't kill the guy; we don't need to hunt him."

"Don't need to-!" Tomoe began, face going red with outrage. "Of course we need to hunt him! He's a confirmed Witch, he's gained his powers, which means we have authorization from SOLOMON to kill him. If we don't, he's going to hurt someone!" The silence following her outburst was heavy, and Michael examined the expressions of hurt on Sakaki and Dojima's faces.

"Do you know what a Witch is, Tomoe?" Miho asked. "Do you know the difference between a Witch and a hunter?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The only difference between us and the people we hunt is the decision of SOLOMON to employ us as hunters. The only reason you are alive, the only reason you are not being hunted this instant," Karasuma continued, leaning forward and placing her hands on the table before her, "Is because of a single organization's opinion of your worth. You, Tomoe, are a Witch that hunts other Witches. Think about that."

Needless to say, the young hunter didn't take that well.

[Earlier, Miho had confided to him about her diminished power and it's relation to the Orbo use. After documenting everything, Michael had made a comment on the possibilities of effects on the other hunters, and how he was very glad Robin hadn't ever used it. Miho had gone very quite, and then told him to research it more.]

Still, Tomoe did well as a STN-J hunter, and she was part of the team no matter what her beliefs were. When, after several more months of research into the Orbo, Michael asked her if he could perform some tests, she'd smiled in a trusting way and agreed to it without question. Michael's heart had lurched a little, at that, and he then went on to draw her blood without comment.

He was no chemist, obviously, but he was a genius. With enough hours of research and self-teaching, added to the hard-drives upon hard-drives of data recovered from the factory, Michael had been able to form a theory.

The first person he'd shared it with wasn't Karasuma. It was Tomoe. Michael chose Tomoe because she didn't have any sort of stake in it; her powers worked fine. Therefore, she could be rational when discussing the pros and cons with him. And she was very rational through it all, even the parts she didn't understand.

[Michael was amazed, sometimes, how Tomoe could focus so intently on something and end up with a least some partial understanding. When she'd first learned how to use a gun, Tomoe had stood there – in the shooting range – for hours on end, just practicing. When Tomoe turned all her attention to a task, the world trembled beneath her.]

With a lot of extra hours and someone to bounce ideas off of, Michael was making progress within the week. Slow progress, sure, but he'd never gotten the chance to take chemistry in the first place, so he was learning as he went. When he'd finally created the first prototype serum, perfectly ready for experimentation, he'd turned and kissed Tomoe in a moment of pure triumph.

[Nothing ever came of it, of course. Michael was far too aware of Tomoe's inevitable fall to be able to get that close to her, and Tomoe was a professional. Romance in the workplace just wouldn't do. Still, the last time Michael had kissed girl had been when he was nine and in grade school. It was something worth remembering, even if it hadn't really meant anything. For sure, it was something Michael would remember.]

Preview, Chapter Three: The first time Michael participated in a hunt, it was completely by accident.