Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin. This is being written only for pleasure, not for profit. Thank you.

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

The first time Michael participated in a hunt, it was completely by accident.

Karasuma had been driving him home after a night out with the others, when Sakaki's bike ahead of them braked and turned sharply to the left. The two immediately saw why. The Witch they had lost on a hunt the day before was standing in the middle of the road, glowing in his power.

"Shit!" Miho exclaimed, hitting the brakes hard and sending Michael crashing into his seatbelt. Michael looked out and saw Sakaki off the side drawing his gun. But before the Hunter cold get off any shots, the windshield of Karasuma's car began to crack. A lot.

"Get out of the car!" Karasuma yelled, unbuckling her seat belt and throwing open her door. Michael followed suit hastily. Just as he ducked away, the windshield shattered inward. Michael stared with disbelief at the shards imbedded in his seat.

Jesus, that was really close. I almost died.

[Later, that single thought would be all Michael could clearly remember from the entire night. Weeks would go by before he dares read his own report on the incident, and then he feels sick over the fact that half the things in it he doesn't even remember happening, let alone writing. Michael vows to start training so it never happens again.]

Michael flinched at the sound of gunfire. The Witch – Makoto Takuya – focused his eyes intently on each bullet the came towards him, and as he did they disintegrated. That is some freaking power. Michael managed to observe through the chaos of his panic.

In a lull while Karasuma was reloading, Takuya focused on Sakaki directly. That can't be good. Sakaki let out a horrid scream and doubled over. Michael was on his feet and running towards the hunter before he realized how stupid that was; he was going to get killed–

Karasuma surged forward to cover him and started firing again. Michael ducked and tackled Sakaki around the middle, sending them both to the ground and out of the Witch's line of sight. Michael sat up and looked at the young hunter. Sakaki was pale and sweating, and his face was twisted in agony.

"Hey, hey, stay with me, Sakaki." Michael told him, unzipping his riding jacket and pushing up the shirt underneath with cold, shaking fingers. The skin was unbroken, but Sakaki's torso was covered in vivid bruises. Bruises happen when blood vessels beneath the skin break and the blood gets caught there. Michael recalled, a sick feeling of panic crawling up his throat. He pressed his fingers against Sakaki's chest, just below his ribs, and felt pressure burn in his stomach when Sakaki let out a quiet wail of pain. Michael forced himself to ignore it as he continued downward with numb fingers, pressing against Sakaki's diaphragm and internal organs. Michael let up and rubbed his hands together violently, and then pressed them against Sakaki's stomach again.

Michael let out a groan of despair and fumbled for his cellphone.

The parked car next to them exploded.

Michael threw himself over Sakaki and closed his eyes against the hail of metal shards, cursing himself for forgetting there was a Witch attacking. He heard Miho yell and more gunfire, and then Sakaki was trying to sit up, bringing his gun around like he was planning to re-join the fight.

"Sakaki, shit, stay there." Michael told him, pulling the gun from his friend's hand. Sakaki let out a moan and then gasped, shaking his head.

"Focus." Sakaki forced out, face contorted over the simple effort. "Witch . . . focus." Michael stared at Sakaki for a moment that felt like forever, noise drowned out by the sound of his own heartbeat when he realized – he realized – exactly what Sakaki meant.

Of course.

And then Karasuma was yelling and gunshots were echoing and how the hell does nobody notice this shit going on in the street–

Michael grasped the gun in his hand and turned, shifting his weight and spreading his legs as he stood up, right foot back, left hand around his right wrist, everything he remembered Sakaki teaching Tomoe, and what the hell was he doing, Witch bullets won't work for him and then Michael was firing on Makoto Takuya and crap he hadn't known shooting a gun was so hard, three shots and his entire right arm was aching and the plastic was burning beneath his fingers and like hell he was actually hitting the broad side of a barn, four shots and Takuya was turning in his direction, five and Michael remembered his cover had blown up and he was in the open and he'd be dead, bleeding internally like Sakaki, before he got to bullet number seven, only six never came because as Michael pulled the trigger there was no force pushing his shoulder out of it's socket and Jesus the magazine was empty and the Witch was looking at him, he was focusing on him, Michael really was going to die–

Blood exploded from the side of Takuya's face, and the man jerked to a stop before keeling over. Karasuma had done her side of things, even though Michael had forgotten what she was supposed to be doing, forgotten why he was standing in the open firing a gun at a Witch who simply needed to focus on something to break it down.

[Miho had been surprised when her yells for Sakaki turned into Michael shooting at the Witch, drawing his focus off of her enough so that she could get a shot in under his radar. When the Witch fell, everything had sort of frozen, and Miho hadn't known quite how to react to the sight of Michael standing in something that resembled a shooter's stance, gun still up and face blank, his right arm shaking from the strain. Miho had ended it, but for a moment she was afraid Michael wouldn't realize that. Then the boy drew in a sharp breath, sagged on his feet, and dropped Sakaki's gun with an ashen look on his face. She would make sure to keep a close eye on him in the weeks following, and when Michael asks her for training, Miho has her answer ready for him.]

"You- you get . . . him?" Sakaki gasped from Michael's feet, and he felt reality rush back into focus around him. With a start, Michael let go of his rigid stance and dropped the gun, falling to his knees by Sakaki.

"Shut up." Michael told him. He was no doctor, but if talking was causing Sakaki pain then it was probably a bad thing for him to talk. Quick, clumsy hands searched the debris around them for his lost cellphone, but his eyesight was blurring and his fingers were numb. "Karasuma!" Michael yelled. "Karasuma! Call an ambulance, Sakaki needs to get to the hospital right now!" Karasuma was at his side almost before Michael had finished yelling. She was flushed and her clothes were ruined, bits of glass sprinkled in her hair, but her eyes were clear and her hands were steady, so Michael let her dial the phone.

It was the first time he'd actively participated in a hunt. But, accidental or not, he'd been far too unprepared, far too disillusioned. Michael had no idea it was like that, no idea his hunters faced that regularly.

Karasuma was the only one who didn't bug him about planting himself at Sakaki's bedside, because she was the only one who understood. [Michael would never find out how much Miho really did understand, would never know how much the sight of him, shaking and pale and just short of going into shock as he hastily listed Sakaki's symptoms to her so she could relay them to the operator over the phone, had spoken to a deep ache of guilt and pain in her heart. He would never know how much he'd scared Miho, who feared loosing her team to themselves far more than to a Witch. But it was probably for the best that he didn't.]

Preview, Chapter Four: When the letter came, the first thing Michael did was ask the Boss for vacation time.