Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Twenty Two: Wardrobe Malfunction
Beta:
A couple hours later found Naru and ITEM regrouping in a cafe in School District 6.
Mugino was busy pressing a ice pack to her bruised jaw as she shot Naru the stink eye. It was clear to all that being taken out by the younger girl had stung her pride and she was itching for some payback.
The twin tailed blonde ignored her as she sipped her super ultra sized strawberry milkshake.
Doing that was much better than dealing with Mugino after all. At least it was sweet.
Naru snorted a bit at her own joke but continued to keep her peace.
Seeing that there was no fight to be had, the tea haired girl turned her fury towards her team. They had all been quietly eating and trying to look as small as possible, but at their leader's furious gaze flinched.
"Well, would anyone like to tell me how they figured us out so easily?"
Frenda fidgeted in her seat and if possible shrank into herself even more. Naru just frowned at the sight.
"Frenda-chan did point out from the get go that calling for a meeting with Kusatsu out of the blue would tip Cosplay on to the fact that something was up." Naru informed Mugino, saving her fellow blonde the clearly unwelcome prospect of having to do so.
In response, Mugino shot Naru and Frenda glares. Frenda wilted at her leader's displeasure even as Naru rolled her eyes
"It's not her fault you didn't listen. So how about we stop pointing fingers and instead try to find them? If we don't we'll both end up failing this mission. And I like my success rate where it is."
"What do you suggest? We catfish them?"
"That would be super awkward." Kinuhata murmured before quickly shutting up when Mugino turned to glare at her.
"Kinuhata's right. But whatever we do, we need to do it quickly. If we waste anymore time, they're liable to disappear completely." Naru pointed out sternly. "If there's anything about the object you're tasked to recover that can be used to figure out where they might be, now's the time to share."
Mugino just snorted. "Did you forget that the client made it clear that you were not to pry? Besides, there's nothing about it that will help."
"It's either that or we can just fail. What sounds better?"
"Don't be stupid." Mugino dismissed Naru's concern with a wave of her hand. "Did you forget that we have Rikou? She's got Kusatsu and Schnitter's AIM field patterns now, with those she can track them all the way across the world if need be."
"And if they split up?"
"Won't happen." Kinuhata cut in. "Kusatsu always talked about how they're family and would never abandon or turn against each other. I think he meant it too."
"See." Mugino said with a victorious smirk while gesturing towards her youngest teammate.
Naru ignored her counterpart's mercurial mood and nodded in understanding to the tiny girl.
"Rikou, where are the rats hiding?"
"Somewhere in District 21." The tracksuit wearing girl said in seeming disinterest.
Hesitantly, Frenda-chan raised her hand.
"What?" Mugino snapped, the bruise twisting along with her face to make a frightening visage as she did so.
Looking away, Frenda-chan said, "I think I managed to get a lead on where Cosplay is hiding. According to my intel, there is someone holed up in an observatory in the mountains. If Cosplay are in District 21, then that's them."
Naru whistled at that, "Wow, Frenda-chan, nice work!"
The other blonde haired girl didn't respond, but still flustered at the light praise.
[Meltdowner] however just glared at the beret loving blonde, which caused poor Frenda-chan to gulp and hide behind her drink pale faced.
What the hell!? She's a terrible leader. Frenda-chan just gave us a big lead and she's treating her like shit? Naru frowned at Mugino. The older girl was more tyrant than leader.
The Number 2's mind wandered to Wataru and she made a mental note to get him something nice when the mission was over. Like a sports watch or a really nice bike part.
"So we have our location. Let's get going. And Namikaze throw that away, we aren't making pitstops!"
Alas poor milkshake, I knew ye well.
"How is she not fat?" Kinuhata muttered with a twinge of annoyance.
A few minutes later found the group of girls inside one of ITEM's transports as they rode towards the observatory Cosplay was holed up in.
Naru noted how very utilitarian and spartan the interior was.
Recalling how her friends had scolded her for the ostentatiousness of their own team van caused her to frown.
Man, they were right. Should have gone for simplicity. Naru mused as she kept to herself. In contrast, ITEM was happily chatting with each other. Even the quiet Takitsubo chimed in occasionally as her teammates happily discussed whatever came to mind.
She wished one of her friends were here, she liked having them watching her back.
Thankfully these sad thoughts fled her mind when suddenly the van was sent airborne by an explosion. Naru gasped in surprise as the vehicle spun and came to a stop upside down. Likewise ITEM though caught unawares only grunted or made soft sounds of surprise. There was not one girly scream among them.
At least that's what they would all say if questioned.
Seriously though, we have the crash webbing to thank for us still being alive. Naru concluded as she unbuckled herself from the life saving safety precaution and checked on the others.
"Is anyone hurt?" Naru asked as she looked the others over for injuries. Having received a series of negatives, she continued. "Then let's get out of here. I'll telepo-"
She didn't finish the suggestion before Mugino decided to fire one of her particle beams to cut her way out of the wrecked van and begun to walk out of the hole she'd created.
"-or just walk out. That's cool." Naru said while frowning disapprovingly at how the other Level 5 just left her teammates hanging. Frenda and Kinuhata were able to get themselves down, but Naru and Frenda had to help Tsukihito get free, before the Level 5 teleported all of them outside to join the others.
"Thank you." The tracksuit wearing girl said to the blondes.
"Impressive entrance." Schnitter said from where he and Kusatsu stood a few dozen feet up the road and surrounded by banks of artificial fog that were creeping towards the girls from all sides.
"Welcome dogs of the City." Kusatsu said, a suit of cards fanned out in his right hand and ready to throw at them.
"Who are you calling dogs?" Mugino retorted even as she roughly grabbed the gas mask that Frenda handed her and slipped it on.
"What else would we call amoral pawns of the monsters that rule this supposed Capital of Science." The dyed blonde shot back.
"Welcome to Academy City. We lack morals." Naru chirped sarcastically.
That earned her a handful of glowing playing cards to the face.
Deftly dodging them as they exploded, Naru frowned. "Rude much?"
Already, white smoke flooded the whole area. Luckily, the girls were more prepared this time, the gas masks that Frenda had procured should protect them from Schnitter's annoying drugs. Everyone had one, except Naru who was seemingly immune to the drugged smog.
"Gas masks?" Schnitter chuckled, even as ITEM began to stumble around unsteadily. "Countering filtration systems are par for the course for me. The cocktail of chemicals I'm using in the smoke includes some specially designed to disable the protections in all standard systems. Your little 'defense' is utterly useless."
Clicking her tongue, the twin tailed blonde cursed the fact that they didn't have time to come up with a better countermeasure.
"Damn it Frenda! Your masks don't work!" Mugino, now looking like some robot with a dozen different mounted cannons, shouted as she pulled hers off and began randomly shooting her lasers everywhere. "Get down. I'll burn the whole area to ash and kill that blasted illusionist."
Whatever Frenda was seeing, she seemed to keep a reasonably cool head as she dove to knock Takitsubo over. It was frankly a little hilarious as thanks to Schnitter's illusions, it looked like this cute little ball robot had bowled into a scarecrow like counterpart. She was just in time though, as one of Mugino's lasers swept over them, mere inches from killing them.
"Namikaze-san, if you can hear me, keep my teammates safe! I'll handle Rikou here, please save the others. " Frenda cried out as she pulled a auto syringe out of her backpack and jammed it into her teammate, to knock her out and presumably prevent her from wandering into trouble.
Huh! Seems like she managed to figure out that was Takitsubo. I wonder how?
They were standing next to each other. Kurama pointed out.
True. Though it looks like Frenda-chan is a lot better than the rumors say she is.
That said, she was still caught up in Schnitter's illusion and was now busy fighting a horde of imaginary opponents. From the way she refused to leave Takitsubo's side however, she seemed determined to protect her friend.
That girl has my respect. Naru acknowledged with a nod, even as she was forced to deflect one of Mugino's lasers.
Turning away from her fellow blonde she groaned at seeing how her fellow Level 5 was once again being totally made a tool by Schnitter.
Illusion users are such a pain. Glad I don't have to worry about their little tricks. Naru sighed. Her musings were interrupted however when Accelerator stepped out of the fog. Naru took an instinctive step back as the one Esper she knew for certain she couldn't beat walked towards her, but that fear faded quickly as her enhanced sense of smell quickly told her that the figure was in fact Kinuhata.
"I would say I'm not an enemy, but you probably can't hear me and are too hyped up on drugs to care even if you could." Naru said as an explosion came from behind her. Turning, she could see Frenda tossing around her doll-bombs as if they were candy.
Did the foreign girl's backpack have some kind of space distorting tech because there was no way the arsenal she was throwing around could have fit into it!
Some of the bombs were getting a little too close to the others though and Naru shot a few fireballs to intercept them in midair before Frenda inadvertently hurt her teammates.
This minor distraction was enough to give Kinuhata a chance to close though and the blonde found herself having to focus on evading the Level 4's attack.
Kurama!
Got it. The fox drawled as he took over from her and shaped her chakra appropriately to keep launching fireballs for Frenda's increasing large number of stray bombs.
The bastard Schnitter must be confusing her on purpose. Naru noted with a frown, even as she squashed the minor burst of annoyance at how Kurama seemed to be able to work the chakra more efficiently than her. Shaping it into fireballs both faster and with more bang for the buck than she ever could. She reminded herself that he had centuries of practice molding his essence but still a girl had her pride.
She has the luxury of being distracted by these thoughts because side stepping Kinuhata's punches was proving rather easy. Despite the huge advantage Naru had in terms of the strength of their relative abilities, the shorter girl's powers still made her punches powerful enough that even in one of her Frames Naru would be leery of taking a hit. Yet the Level 4 was nowhere near as skilled in CQC as ITEM's leader.
You're kidding me! Kinuhata's whole schtick is close combat and Number 6 didn't even bother to give her as much training as she got herself!?
Once more, Mugino's selfish and tyrannical nature showed how it could get one of her own teammates killed. Not that Kinuhata could be easily killed. She was practically invulnerable to all conventional assault. That however didn't change the fact that Mugino was undermining her combat effectiveness.
The Dark May survivor continued her ruthless but predictable attacks and Naru danced around them easily.
Not wishing to deal with the poor illusioned girl any longer, the blonde formed chains of chakra in her hands. Whipping the fiery blue chains towards her opponent, she easily snared the surprised girl.
However, with her strength, Kinuhata easily broke them. That was not a problem. Naru had started off weak, not wanting to hurt her and intended to use the first set of chains to gauge her strength. The next set of chains lashed out, coiling around the other girl once more. She struggled and shouted at the bindings.
"I'm not into this super kinky stuff! It's Mugino's browser history all over again!"
Naru was interested in hearing more, but was deprived of the opportunity for some blackmail on [Meltdowner] when a set of playing cards suddenly came flying in through the fog to shatter her chains in a series of small explosions.
A grunt of annoyance escaped her at Kusatsu's interference. Calculating where the cards had come from, she flicked her hand in that direction and sent a large fireball hurtling towards - hopefully at least - the annoying Level 3.
A scream of pain tore through the air as Naru's fireball apparently found its mark,
"Den-kun!" Schnitter called out, his voice full of concern.
It was music to Naru's ears if she were honest. She didn't revel in it, but with how annoying the pair had proven to be it was damn good to hear that she'd finally gotten at least one of them good.
With that pest out of the way, Naru turned to Kinuhata again.
Ducking under another sloppy swing from the manipulated girl, Naru conjured a fresh set of chains and bound her tight once more. Hopefully for good this time.
"Come on Fuschida! Make your robot let me go or I'll beat you into paste!" Kinuhata shouted at the top of her lungs, "I super promise it'll only be painful for a second!"
"Man, can she scream or what?" Naru wondered aloud as she rubbed her ear. Using her chakra to enhance her senses, the blonde focused on locating Schnitter. With Kusatsu wounded or worse, it was time to deal with the Mysterio wannabe.
"Come on, come on." Naru's enhanced hearing picked up a few hundred metres away. "We need to get out of here before the Number 2 pins down where we are. Come on, Denbe, work with me here."
Schnitter's desperate plea was met with a pained moan.
"Damn it! Don't die on me Den-kun. Not yet. Not here."
Naru approached them at a sedate pace, nonchalantly ducking a brace of Mugino's beams and casually shooting one of Frenda's bombs headed her way out of the sky.
Seems like someone is desperate to keep me from catching up to him and his friend. Naru mused with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.
As she walked out of the fog bank Schnitter had created, the blonde saw the illusionist desperately trying to make distance from the battleground with his badly injured friend in his arms. Unfortunately between his armor and his sub par physical fitness as indicated in his file, he was getting nowhere fast.
In fact, just brisk walking allowed Naru to catch up to them within minutes. She didn't bother hiding her approach and thus the crunching of gravel under her shoes immediately drew Schnitter's attention.
He whirled around, drawing a gun from his belt in a smooth, practiced motion. The fishbowl head never had a chance to pull the trigger though.
With a quirked brow, the blonde breathed out an icy breath that blanketed the two idiots. In seconds, the two were frozen solid.
"Nooo…" Was Schnitter's final gasping word as his skin turned blue from the frigid cold.
Naru stared at the the two boys' icy tomb for what felt like forever as she waited for Schnitter's fog dispensers to run out. With Schnitter gone, his illusions might have faded but the drugged smoke would still take a while to clear.
Now that won't do.
With a wave of her hand, Naru poured her chakra into the air around her and seized control of it. Within moments, the wind picked up and began to blow the smog away.
As clean air once more filled their lungs, ITEM began to regain their bearings again.
"Huh?" Kinuhata blinked in her bindings and struggled to get free, "It's Mugino's fanfiction all over again~!"
"What was that, Saiai?" The menacing voice of [Meltdowner] said as she walked up towards the girl.
"Eh?" She gulped and tried to break free. Sadly, she could not. "O-Oi! Namikaze! Let me out, let me out! Have a soul girl~!"
Frenda edged away from her two squabbling teammates. Turning away from them, she put the disguised bomb she was holding back into her backpack and released an annoyed sigh, "There goes a good portion of my supplies. Oh man!"
The foreign blonde looked around and gasped at seeing Takitsubo on the ground.
"Oh! Rikou!" Frenda said as she dashed over to her and pulled out some smelling salts, "I'm so sorry. Really, really sorry!"
Takitsubo awoke with a groan.
Naru taking pity on Kinuhata released her bindings before Mugino could do anything.
"At least the most annoying ones are gone." The Number 2 said as she walked up to the other girls, thumbing over her shoulder at the frozen remains of the two dead Cosplay members.
"We're alive?" Takitsubo said as Frenda helped her into a sitting position.
"Clearly." Mugino snapped. Her pretty face contorted with annoyance as she looked at Naru. As if annoyed that Naru had to save her a second time.
Mild annoyance tickled the blonde, but she brushed it aside. They had a mission to complete after all.
"Thanks to Namikaze-san." Frenda informed the tracker. "If not for her taking out Schnitter, we would still be stuck fighting imaginary enemies."
"I see." The perpetually tired druggie said before turning to Naru and offering her a bow. "Thank you Namikaze-san."
"Yeah, thanks [Joker]. I super appreciate it." Kinuhata added.
"No problem." The Number 2 simply said as she looked around. Seeing the van was totaled and their driver unconscious, she pulled out her phone.
"Frenda-chan, see if you can pull him out of there without hurting him. I'll call an ambulance." She instructed as she dialed her phone.
"Sure thing!"
"Leave him." Mugino countered coldly. "We have a mission to accomplish. The subordinate organizations will take care of his corpse."
"He's still alive." Naru corrected her sternly, "I can hear him breathing."
Mugino shrugged. "And he'll be a corpse by the time the clean up crew gets here."
"And so would the rest of your team if I wasn't here. Maybe even you."
The Number 6 glared but said nothing, instead choosing to walk off in the direction of the observatory.
She was about twenty metres ahead when she called back over her shoulder, "Do whatever you want. Just hurry up and don't make me have to wait for you."
Naru finished her call and received an assurance that an ambulance was on the way. Hopefully it would arrive in time to save the poor man. That would just be the perfect way to spite Mugino.
It took the group of girls about fifteen minutes to finish their impromptu trek along the mountain road to the observatory at its peak where Cosplay was hiding. It was a pretty standard looking place, that amounted to a large complex probably filled with offices and labs. The only thing that made it stand out was the large dome at the centre of the facility that likely housed the telescope.
As they entered the car park that surrounded the building however, a voice rang out over the PA system.
"Welcome dogs of Academy City. Or is it bitches? I can never tell the difference." A nasally, feminine voice that could only be Fuschida laughed over the PA system.
"Keep talking you weakling. We'll see who's the bitch in a minute." Mugino snarled like a mad dog.
Naru however grew curious as to why Cosplay kept trying to put them down as harshly as they did. First, Schnitter and Kusatsu, and now Fuschida. They all went out of their way to insult them for serving the City. What had caused them to do that? After all, not a week ago the team were also 'dogs' of Academy City.
What made them so different?
Unless they had been faced with a line that they just could not cross, there was no reason why they would have snapped like this. It wouldn't be the first time a Dark Sider broke from the strain of their job.
"Hey Fuschida," Naru asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Did you get a job you couldn't bring yourself to finish?"
Silence was her answer for a long moment, enough that Naru and ITEM managed to cross most of the carpark and for the blonde to think that the other girl wouldn't reply.
"We were to deliver a package." Fuschida said suddenly. "That wasn't anything new, we've done that before. But this time was different. This time we got curious and checked out exactly what it was that we were helping to deliver… it was a baby. A little baby boy. We're done a lot of things, but there was no way in hell that we were going to traffic a babe to be experimented on!"
Naru frowned as she remembered her own past. Not even a day old and she was the subject of experimentation for the eager scientists of Academy City. It was not something she wished on anyone. She'd come out of that reasonably alright, but she wasn't naive enough to think that most people would have been so lucky.
Her heart twisting at the revelation, she glanced at ITEM to see if they knew.
Mugino, seeing her look, simply grunted, "Focus on your mission. We'll focus on ours."
A cackle came over the PA, "Yes, such good bitches you all are. Bark when told to and sit when ordered. Good bitches only need to follow orders, don't they?"
Okay, I feel like she has some kind of complex with calling all of you bitches.
You think? Naru rolled her eyes as Fuschida seemed to revel in speaking down to them.
"You do remember your gaggle of nerds were dogs too right?" Mugino shot back. "Hm, considering how weak you lot are, maybe lower than dogs."
There was no reply, perhaps what Mugino had said managed to strike a chord with the Level 4.
The little verbal sparring at an end, the group entered the building proper. Stepping through the front entrance, they found themselves in a small reception area that was covered in a thick layer of dust. The only sign of recent habitation being a set of footprints on the dusty floor that led deeper into the building.
"Frenda, Saiai," Mugino said pointing to her two teammates. "Follow the trail and scout ahead. Rikou stick with me. Just double checking, but they're inside?"
Takitsubo nodded. "Besides us there are only two other Espers here and they're both in the centre of the building."
"No doubt they set traps." Naru stated the obvious. Considering their penchant for falling for them in this mission, she felt they needed the reminder.
"Why do you think Frenda's taking point? She's our trap expert." Mugino said with a smirk and turned to the Caucasian to snap out an order. "Disarm all their traps. Got it?"
Frenda cutely saluted and skipped on ahead, Kinuhata following after her at a more sedate pace.
The duo had just stepped through the door to exit the reception area and get further into the building when the PA crackled back to life and Fuschida's voice echoed out all around the girls.
"I honestly feel sorry for you fools. We did as we were told, like good little killers. Still, even then we kept our souls despite how much blood we were stained in."
"Ignore her." Mugino ordered as she followed after their vanguard. Naru exchanged a look with Takitsubo who just shrugged and emulated her team leader. Sighing in resignation, the Number 2 did so as well.
Clearly not expecting a reply from them, Fuschida kept going. "When we learned what we were to deliver, we rebelled. We rescued the child from whatever cruel fate the City had for him. He deserves better, just like we deserved better but never received it."
"That's-" Naru began, moved by what the rogue Dark Sider was saying. She was saying exactly what Naru so often felt.
"Please, how foolish are you people?" Mugino scoffed, looking bored. "The baby you so called 'rescued' wasn't even a test subject. He's the grandson of one of the City's Directors. He was being covertly moved into the City to receive his Esper treatment. Congrats, you didn't save anyone but rather kidnapped a poor child from his loving family. Good job."
Naru shot Takitsubo a searching look and received a nod in confirmation.
"Y-You're lying." Fuschida's voice hitched even as she hissed in denial.
"Nope. By the way, how could you do something so terrible? How could you be such monsters?" Mugino cooed darkly, seeming to love the fact that she was turning everything Fuschida had believed around on her. "Did you want to be an ally of justice so much that you jumped the gun without even checking the facts? Tell me, was it worth it?"
"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" Fuschida shouted furiously.
"Atsuko calm down. She's just trying to mess with us." A new male voice, Takizawa presumably, cut in. Unlike his team leader, he seemed to have retained his calm.
Damn. I sympathise with them. All they wanted was to do some good but it ended up being for naught. Naru mused with a frown. I wish more Dark Siders actually wanted to be good people like them. It would be a nice thing to see happen.
"Thank you, Rinji." Fuschida said with a deep breath, seemingly calming down. "You're right. I shouldn't play her game."
"Game? I'm playing no game." Mugino refuted with a merciless smirk. "I'm just going to kill you."
"Oh, I have no doubt of that. We know we can't take out two Level 5s. But we'll make our deaths worth it." Fuschida noted with fatalistic determination. "We'll take as many of you dogs down with us as we can."
Suddenly, a set of hidden containment doors slammed shut in front of them and barred their way forward, separating them from Frenda-chan and Kinuhata.
Clicking her tongue, Naru said, "Seems they specialize in separation tactics. Whoo."
Her fellow Level 5 however released an animalistic growl. "This is seriously starting to grind down my patience."
You have patience? Naru mockingly thought.
A low hiss reached Naru's ears as she looked to see gas filling the room.
Immediately, Takitsubo collapsed to her hands and knees with her usually tired eyes practically closed. Mugino on the other hand swayed on her feet, but seemed to refuse to fall down as she leaned on a nearby desk.
Naru however created a gas mask of chakra and growled, "Can you guys stop it with the gas? Honestly, it's getting old."
"All's fair in love and war. Though let me just say that it's ridiculous that you can just make a gasmask out of that energy of yours. Just how broken are you?"
"You haven't met Miss "I've catalogued every Esper ability" yet." Naru snarked, as she held out her hand and used her chakra to shape the air around the two ITEM girls into bubbles of uncontaminated air.
It'll keep them from inhaling anymore poison, but they might have already inhaled a lethal dose.
I'm going to give Mugino credit that she hasn't just passed out like her teammate. Naru noted as she observed how the Number 6 was struggling to stay conscious even as she slipped down the side of the desk she was using as a support and into a sitting position on the floor.
Gotta agree with you there.
Hopefully the druggie can live through it too. Naru thought worriedly as she saw Takitsubo collapse into an unconscious heap in the middle of the room. I guess I'll just end this quickly so they can get medical treatment.
"And you just had to throw away the masks that Frenda-chan got for you guys didn't you?" Naru chided as she eyed the unresponsive [Meltdowner] and [AIM Stalker].
"That would have really helped you," Fuschida confessed. "Andrew didn't have enough material to fix this batch of gas with his anti-filtration formula. What a silly mistake to make."
"Laugh it up. Mugino might think just because we have powers we're invincible, but I'm not her." Naru shot back. "Your cheap tricks working around our powers won't help you against me."
Suddenly the sealed containment door leading further into the facility that had cut their group in half was blown open by an explosion.
Naru's body tensed, ready for a fight until the dust cleared. She relaxed as she saw Frenda-chan step through the opening that had been created while dragging an unconscious Kinuhata behind her. Both of them, the Number 2 noted, were sporting gas masks.
"You had spares?" Naru asked as she eyed the masks in surprise.
"Yup." The other blonde nodded, as she quickly surveyed the scene in front of her. "It's a basic rule of field ops, always bring spares. Just wish the others didn't always leave it to me to lug them around."
"Good thing you do." Naru smiled as Frenda-chan dropped Kinuhata and pulled out another pair of masks that she proceeded to strap onto her two remaining teammates, allowing the Level 5 to release the air bubbles.
"Tell that to Mugino," Frenda said with a sigh as she finished. "She keeps saying I'm being a paranoid idiot for carrying so much extra stuff."
"Oh, trust me. I will." Naru swore and Frenda-chan flashed her a peace sign and a sheepish smile.
Digging into her backpack once more, the Caucasian pulled out a pair of auto injectors. Without hesitation, she jabbed one into Takitsubo's arm.
"What's that?"
"A wide spectrum antidote." Frenda-chan explained as she much more nervously injected the drug into Mugino's system. "It can't fully counter the gas, even diluted as it is, but it will at least buy time for help to arrive."
The pigtailed blonde nodded and grabbed Kinuhata and dragged her over to join Mugino along the side of the room. Frenda-chan got the hint and went over to do the same for Takitsubo.
"You can handle things here?"
"I'll keep an eye on them." The beret loving girl said with a determined nod. "You go kick Cosplay's ass. Hard."
Nodding in agreement, the Level 5 went through the opening that the other blonde made. Beyond were more mundane looking office space like the hall she'd been walking through since the reception but that was alright. If the blueprints of the building she had reviewed before she'd set out for this confrontation were correct, then she just had to ignore the branching hallways. Cosplay was almost certainly holding up in the observatory dome and to get there she just had to keep going straight.
She reached the entrance to the dome in no time, but just as she neared the doors a whirring noise reached her ears as a dozen turrets popped out of the walls.
Spinning around, she saw that they had surrounded and caught her in the middle of a perfect killbox.
Her muscles coiled, Naru reacted as soon as they opened fire on her. Not just with conventional bullets but also lasers and railguns.
On reflex, the blonde summoned an aura of chakra to act as a shield. As the assault bounced off her defences, the Level 5 held out her hands.
Claws of raw chakra grew from her fingertips, each a foot long.
"I'm honestly insulted by this. At least give me something of a challenge." Naru frowned and charged forward.
Like an intricate dance, her pigtails fluttering as she moved, Naru ducked, spun and weaved her way through the barrage. All the while, her claws sliced, diced and minced the turrets into scrap with barely any effort. She moved with such speed that to an outside observer, she seemed like little more than a golden blur that left explosions in her wake.
Landing soundlessly back where she'd started, Naru's claws faded away as she reabsorbed the chakra that she'd used to construct them back into her body all while flattening her skirt. She kept the protective aura up though, wary of any more traps her enemies might have in store for her.
"Though besides underestimating me, this little trap of yours was actually pretty good. I mean, you guys even managed to get your hands on some of the City's prototype weapons."
"That was Andrew and Denbe's handiwork." Fuschida announced over the PA. "Den-kun stole the schematics for the lasers and railguns and Andy sat the turrets up."
Sighing, Naru said, "It's sad that they're gone now. They could have done such good things. At least they were willing to try."
"And since you murdered them, they'll never be able to."
Naru was unfazed by the hatred in Fuchida's tone, but she still agreed with the older girl.
"You know, I'm actually a little sad for having had to do that. You lot just got unlucky. You're good people. You lot don't deserve wasting your lives over a stupid mistake like this."
A scoff was heard from the PA system, "Please. Are you that stupid to believe the maniac [Meltdowner] of all Espers?"
"Did you bother to check?" Naru retorted.
There was no reply as the blonde walked towards the set of containment doors that led into the central dome.
That's odd. Why would a simple telescope need lead lined containment doors? Naru noted idly as she saw the warnings stickers pasted on the thick metal doors.
The blueprints did say this was a radio telescope.
Maybe. But this seems a little excessive. Naru countered. She was getting a feeling like she'd overlooked something important.
Well, you won't know until you go inside.
Nodding in agreement, the middle school agent walked towards the terminal next to the doors. She'd barely even touched the machine when the doors folded back into the recesses along the walls where they were stored when deactivated.
Looking into the room that would be the final battleground for this mission, Naru noted that it consisted of a large room with, rather obviously, a domed roof. Suspended by a set of metal supports just below the dome was a large telescope, the whole setup was connected to a set of rails that ran along the circumference of the dome presumably to allow the device to be repositioned for optimal use. Oddly though there was a grate covering a hole in the center from which a series of thick cables ran up to connect with the telescope.
A gasp filled her mind as Kurama said, Shit. The whole place is drowning in radiation. Hold on, I'm countering the effects as it's killing you.
Great. This is why I hate dealing with radiation. Naru pouted as she looked across the room to see Fuschida and Takizawa. The mousy girl was standing on the grate in the very centre of the room and surrounded by three orbiting glowing orbs. Her last remaining teammate was standing next to her, his twin Berettas in hand which he still held at his side for the moment.
Why isn't he att-
Naru never got the chance to finish even mentally formulating the question before the answer presented itself as one of the orbs around Fuschida suddenly transformed into a massive beam attack that flooded the whole area where she stood.
Naru's foresight to keep her protective aura on saved her life as it barely kept her from being cooked alive from the powerful attack. Even with the armor it provided, her skin started to burn from the intensity of the beam and the force behind it pushed her back several feet. Straining to keep her footing, Naru grit her teeth and conjured lightning from her fingertips in a bid to redirect the blast.
With a shout she attempted to push the blast away, only for nothing to happen.
"What the hell?" Naru said in bewilderment as the beam finally finished washing over her.
"Did you think I was stupid?" Fushida asked angrily, even as her two remaining orbs was joined by a rapidly forming third created from streamers of particles that were floating up from below the grate under her feet. "I've seen you redirect [Meltdowner]'s electron cannon, I'd be a fool to use an electron based weapon against you. That was a neutron beam. The paltry electromagnetic fields of your lightning are nowhere strong enough to affect it."
"Do you need to explain everything to feel superior? Cliche much." Naru asked, slightly incredulous as the burns her body suffered started to slowly heal.
"Yes. She has a massive inferiority complex from being bullied as a kid." Takizawa said as he fired a shot at Naru that she dodged by teleporting a dozen steps closer to her opponents. She'd have gone in for an attack already but she was feeling a little chatty. Who knew? Maybe she could even work a miracle and convince these two to surrender.
"Rinji!" Fuschida snapped at him.
You might want to speed this up. Kurama warned. This radiation isn't something even you can stand for long.
"Alright, if you say so." Naru shrugged in reply to both Takizawa and her tenant, before teleporting right behind the laser happy teenager. Just as she was about to deliver a blow to the back of her head, Takizawa showed off just how insanely fast his ability made his reaction times and spun around to fire a shot at her
Thankfully, Naru's reflexes were top notch too as she managed to twist in the air and dive out of the way the moment she saw him turn. The muzzle flashed and despite her defenses, a hiss passed the blonde's lips as the bullet grazed along her back.
Lucky you listened to your instincts there. Kurama mumbled distractedly. If you'd let your confidence take over, we'd be dead.
"Argh!" She growled in both pain at the wound and annoyance at her tenant as she dropped to the ground and teleported away in time to avoid a neutron beam from Fuschida.
Reappearing behind Takizawa with anger clear in her voice she began ranting. "Seriously! What is that piece of shit charging for these things? Pennies?!"
Again demonstrating just how quickly he could react, he spun around and fired a burst from both his pistols at her. Throwing her hands up to protect herself, she was unable to stop him as he pushed away and created as much distance between them as he could. Thankfully, these bullets bounced off of her armor harmlessly.
Alright, so he's got a limit on them it seems. No way they could have gotten a lot of those little devils on such short notice. Naru mentally noted as she counted the amount he had used on her so far. One was his opening shot surely and the other was the follow up that had grazed her back.
He probably managed to get at least a full clip, but probably no more than that.
Still, I can't rely on assumptions. Naru noted as she used the counter she'd developed for these troublesome anti-chakra weapons. With a bit of chakra channeled into the concrete beneath her feet, a thin layer of the material liquefied and flowed up her body to encase it in earthen armor.
She'd just finished fashioning her improved armor when another neutron beam washed over her, making her grit her teeth. Feeling her armor crack and weaken from the energy it was being subjected to, she pumped more chakra into it in a bid to strengthen it. She could tell it was a losing battle however, and just seconds before it failed she teleported to safety.
As she rematerialized, she quickly began repairing the armor expecting her enemies to press the attack. None came however, and Naru looked around to see that Fuschida was busying reloading. She had already reformed one of her orbs and was halfway done with a second.
"What the heck?" Naru asks in confusion as she eyed the glowing streams that were flowing up out of the grate.
She was starting to get tempted to pull out a Frame, but held back for now. The situation was still manageable. For now.
Takizawa's eyes were scanning the room for the petite blonde. He let out a hiss of annoyance as he found her and noted her improved armor. Oddly enough this prompted him to start fiddling with the bullets in his guns.
The idea of him topping off his ammo wasn't a keen idea to Naru, so she decided to stop him.
With a fireball the size of a car to the face.
Unfortunately, Naru forgot about Fuschida. As her fireball sailed towards the gunslinger, it suddenly began breaking apart, with streamers of flame twisting their way through the air and forming into a fiery orb next to the Level 4.
"Shit. Forgot about that." Naru cursed as Cosplay's leader decided to turn the blonde's own attack against her and released the energy she'd just absorbed back at her in the form of a heat ray.
The intensity of the beam of raw thermal energy was strong enough that it quite literally baked Naru's earthen armor like clay in a kiln. It would have been enough to cook the Level 5 alive too and the only thing that saved her from that fate was the layer of chakra underneath, but even then the heat was almost unbearable.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the gun toting Esper managed to finish his ammo switch and opened fire.
Ever cautious of her personal silver bullets and a little leery of the effectiveness of her earthen armor in its current state, Naru decided to dodge the gunfire. While her reflexes helped her dodge a potentially fatal shot, a bullet still managed to catch her shoulder and shatter the earthen armor. This was followed by another bullet ripping through the broken defense and tearing a hole through her shoulder.
Holy shit! Naru hissed in her mind as she continued to dodge whatever bullets the bastard had left until he started to reload once more. He actually used some freaking AP round on the earth armor and then followed up with an anti-chakra round. The two came so close together it almost seemed like it was the same bullet.
Naru concluded bullet-time was utter bullshit even as Kurama pushed out some of the fragments of the Dark Matter bullet.
"You are pretty much a zombie. You never die." Takizawa commented at the sight even as he dove out of the way of Naru's counterattack as she created a set of elongated chakra claws that she used to swipe at him.
"I am far too cute to be a zombie!" Naru shouted indignantly.
"Zombie? She's more like a cockroach. Luckily, we're experienced in doing pest control." Fuschida said contemptuously as she launched two neutron beams in a sweeping arc that cut across the half of the room that Naru was standing in.
Now that's just being mean! Naru pouted as she teleported away. Her armor had failed her once already under her opponents' tag team assault, she wasn't about to risk that happening a second time.
Maybe I should pull out a Frame after all. The blonde mused as she rematerialized in a safe spot next to Takizawa.
He immediately spun around and fired for her head. Too bad for him though, she'd pegged him for trying to do some kinda trick on her, so the moment Naru appeared she'd quickly teleported once again. As a result, his bullets hit nothing but the room's concrete walls.
She appeared behind him and he turned to face her, but before he could raise his guns the blonde's foot lashed out with an enhanced kick that crashed into his chest. The older boy's eyes widened as the air was forced out of his lungs and he was sent flying into the far wall. He hit it with a resounding crash that left his body to limply fall to the ground, unconscious.
"Rinji!" Fuschida cried out in a mix of anger and anguish. "Die! Die you bitch! Die!"
Her furious screams were followed by a pair of neutron beams aimed at both Naru's heart and head. Unlike the others before which had been AOE attacks that swept through a large area at a time, these were narrow beams that travelled even faster than their predecessors.
It looks like somehow is going for the kill. The blonde noted even as she teleported away to safety.
Or her anger is making her sloppy. Kurama countered. Considering you can teleport, sticking to AOE has a better chance at actually connecting.
"Geez, that was annoying." Naru huffed as Kurama finally finished healing her wounded shoulder. Looking at how fast the girl was recharging her attacks, the blonde's curiosity demanded satisfaction. "How are you getting your ammo so quickly? Your file in the [Bank] didn't say you could pull this off. Even Mugino has a longer charge time and she's insanely good."
The girl's face contorted into a smug visage, clearly unable to resist the chance to show off her superiority to a Level 5, Fuschida said, "Why do you think we holed up in this observatory?" She gestured to the hole in the ground, "There's an experimental nuclear powered setup for an anti-orbital particle cannon below."
Naru's eyes widened at that. She'd not realized the City actually had one of those.
"You're already familiar with its successor. You faced it during the Poltergeist Incident after all." The mousy girl added with a twinge of haughtiness.
Briefly eying the 'telescope' over their heads, Naru couldn't help but be a little impressed by it. Who knew that something so innocuous looking was actually a giant death ray and the grandfather to the particle cannon that Therestina had tried to use to kill her and her friends to boot.
Fucking Kihara. Naru hissed at the reminder of the woman. Though at least this explained where the psycho got something as dangerous as that beam cannon. This 'observatory' must have set up by one of her fellow members of that twisted family and she got its plans from whoever it was.
"This little treasure was actually scheduled for dismantling by the City because it wasn't powerful enough to hit high Earth orbit like it was intended to. That said, it's more than enough for me." Fuschida said with a smirk as she drew more radiation from the system to recharge her energy balls. "The radiation it pumps out is so intense that being here means that I can 'reload' in a fraction of the time I would need otherwise."
Well that explains all that radiation.
"Thanks for the info dump!" Naru smirked. "First rule of an Esper. Never explain your powers."
Unless you're Saten and on a power trip with the gigatons to back it up. Naru mentally added.
Fuschida just smirked right back even as she fired off another two neutron beams. "What makes you think I care? I don't expect to walk out of this alive."
"Yeah, you probably won't. Can I be honest with you for a second?" Naru asks as she rematerialized from her latest teleport and put up her hands to signal for a pause.
"...Sure?" The other girl uncertainty.
"I'm sorry it turned out this way. You and your friends were one of the good ones, never forget that...and this is coming from a girl bathed in blood. I… I wish we could have met earlier...maybe we could have been friends." Naru smiled sadly at Fuschida, showing her sincerity.
"We could never have been friends, [Laughing Joker]!" Fuschida sneered as she fired another pair of her neutron beams.
Naru sighed in resignation as she teleported once again.
Appearing in front of the older girl, Naru began donning her Panzer Frame.
I've had enough of this.
Finally! This has dragged on long enough!
Shut up, I was trying to talk them down. Naru defended herself as the Frame fully settled over her shoulders.
Hmph, you're a fool to try and talk down a zealot.
Realization came to Fuschida's face. No doubt the thought running through her mind was: Oh shit! I'm boned! After all, most Dark Siders that went up against a Frame of the Number 2 rarely lived to tell the tale.
It was either from sheer hopelessness or madness that plagued the Level 4 but faced with the sight, her response was to break out into a hysterical laugh. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she aimed her beams at the hulking monstrosity.
Even without her Frame, Naru had weathered the other girl's beams with only minor difficulty. Now inside her trump card she bulldozed through the attack like it wasn't even there.
Naru hit Fuschida like a bullet train. The speed and mass behind the impact caused the mousy Dark Sider to be picked up and carried as the Level 5 finished her dash across the room before being smashed into the wall on the far side. In the end, all that was left of the poor girl was a barely recognizable bloody mess that was splattered between Naru's armored body and the wall.
Naru felt a wave of sadness overcome her as she looked down at the mangled body. It looked like a flesh sack filled with protruding bones and leaking mashed organs.
Gingerly, the blonde attempted to gently lay the remains down on the ground. Sadly, it was in such bad shape that most of it slipped through her large fingers.
Sighing, the Level 5 headed towards Takizawa as she re-absorbed her Frame. She kicked his guns away and woke him up with a burst of electricity.
He jolted into wakefulness and instinctively clutched his hands as if they were around his guns even as he did a quick sweep of his surroundings.
His breath hitched as he spotted what was left of his team leader.
"Did she suffer?" He asked her, sobs escaping his throat.
"I tried to make it as quick and painless as possible." She told him honestly.
"T-Thank you. Atsuko, she… she didn't deserve to die, but at least it was quick." He choked, weakly rubbing his eyes as his body shivered.
"I'm sorry things had to come to this." Naru confessed. "Can you tell me where's the baby? I need to make sure he's safe."
"All I ever wanted was to be with Atsuko. Same with Andrew and Denbe. All any of us ever wanted was to be together ever since we were children and in the Child Error facility."
Naru's heart twisted as she listened to his tale, "Don't worry. You'll be with her soon. And your friends as well. You can be happy together."
"You taking up the cloth or something?" Takizawa commented with a snort. "There is no proof of an afterlife."
"No, but we can all hope there's more than this blood stained life, right?"
"Heh, even a bloody monster like you can try and be a good person. Who knew?"
Naru winced at another reminder of her bloody past.
"Where's the baby?" Naru asked again, not wanting to speak further of her own evils.
The boy grit his teeth, "Gone. Gone from this shitstain City."
"Can you tell me? Please don't tear him from his family. At least he'll have that when we didn't."
Takizawa simply spat at her feet and said, "Kill me. I'm dying anyway. The anti-rad nanites may have staved off the most immediate effects but I know I've already taken a lethal dose."
Naru opened her mouth to keep trying to convince him, but Kurama stopped her. It won't work. He's done listening.
The middle schooler wanted to refute that, but she knew the demon was right. With a sigh, she conjured a chakra claw.
"I promise that you won't feel a thing." She said before piercing the construct right through his head and brain. His dead body slumped to the ground and she moved it next to Fucshida's.
"For a City of Science why do we only make monsters? You guys were good people." She said, her voice filled with sadness as she looked at the two dead teenagers. "You deserved better."
With Cosplay disposed of, it was up to ITEM to finish their part of the mission.
Naru could have left then and there, but like hell was she going to let some kid be taken away from his family.
As they regrouped, Frenda-chan had used her contacts to discover that Cosplay had handed over the baby to an agent of the Catholic Church. Apparently, they had sacrificed themselves to serve as the distraction while the nun smuggled the child out of the City via boat.
Naru had been a little surprised at how Frenda-chan managed to get so much information on short notice. That was until her fellow blonde had confessed her secret.
Seriously, how Mugino couldn't tell that Ruiko-chan was Frenda-chan's source was beyond her.
It's not like there were any other information brokers that good. And definitely not any that were accessible to ITEM. It wasn't as if they could just use UNDER_LINE. Naru honestly still felt that the Superintendent's personal spy network was just plain cheating.
"Please don't tell, Mugino." Frenda-chan begged with her head bowed and her hands clapped together. The two were the only ones able to recover the baby since the others were still down from the gas.
They were in a transport vehicle heading to intercept the nun before she could make her gateaway.
"Why not?" Naru asked, a glimmer of amusement in her blue eyes. Frenda-chan squirmed in her seat and it was funny to see. The Caucasian was just so adorably expressive.
"She won't like it." Frenda-chan explained with a whimper. "She has an irrational need to prove her superiority to everyone, especially the other Level 5s. If she finds out I used Saten-sama's intel, she'll see it as me betraying her."
"And you still went ahead and called up Ruiko-chan?"
"Why not? I mean her intel is good and it's not like I have any qualms with her." She paused for a moment, before correcting herself. "Well, except for being absolutely terrified of her going all [Army Slayer] on me."
"At least you're smarter than most of your team." Naru said, patting her fellow blonde's shoulder.
"Hehe." Frenda-chan offered a small grin as she rubbed the back of her neck.
The ride was quiet for a few minutes as Naru struggled to say something.
"Um, Frenda-chan, I uh…"
The beret wearing girl cocked her head at her.
"I just, I just wanted to apologize." Naru managed to get out, "I've been a real bitch to you in the past. I never realized how good you actually were. All those times, I just wanted to mess with Mugino and you seemed to be the easiest thing to pick on. I'm sorry."
She bowed her head sincerely towards her fellow blonde, who looked taken aback by the sudden apology.
"-Wow. I didn't think you would say sorry. No, I don't think Level 5s even could." Frenda-chan gaped at her.
"I've seen a lot lately that makes me want to be more than just a weapon." Naru confessed.
The Caucasian eyed Naru warily but nodded in acceptance. "Then I guess I accept your apology. Oh, and I promise not to tell Mugino that you're really just a softy."
Naru snorted at that. "Thanks. I'd rather die than let Mugino, of all people, lord that over me."
The member of ITEM laughed and said, "Level 5s sure are prideful, huh?"
"You have no idea." Naru agreed with a stern nod.
The ride lasted for another ten minutes that was filled with companionable silence until their driver spoke up.
"Ladies, we're in position. The target is dead ahead."
"Then let's cut the baby stealing bitch off at the pass!" Naru ordered with a murderous smirk.
This woman had exploited Cosplay to get leverage over the City and led them to their deaths. That was something Naru wasn't about to let go unanswered.
The driver nodded and put pedal to the metal, causing the van to shoot out of the alley they were waiting in before he pressed hard on the breaks. This put them right in the middle of the narrow road and blocked the way of an oncoming car.
Immediately, the car's driver jumped out of his vehicle and began loudly demanding answers. The annoyance was quickly silenced however as Frenda and Naru jumped out of their van and the Caucasian shot him in the head.
In response a woman in a nun's habit stepped out of the care with a crucifix in hand that was slowly starting to glow. Naru would have none of it however as with a simple twitch of her fingers had a wind blade slice off the magician's entire arm.
"Ahh! Ahh!" She wailed in pain, clutching her stump and rolled on the ground.
"Sorry, but you're in Academy City illegally." Naru chirped, "And that's punishable by death."
The nun was too busy crying in pain so the Level 5 shut her up with a good kick to the head.
"Luckily for you, we have questions. Consider yourself lucky that you're still useful. For now." Naru told the woman with a glare as she used some fire to cauterize the stump.
Done with the woman who was now being dragged into the van by their driver, Naru headed over to the car.
She found Frenda-chan's arms full with a small babe, bawling its eyes out no doubt from the commotion. With amazing skill however, the other blonde was slowly calming it down.
An awed look settled on Naru's face as she looked at the tiny life.
I wonder if I could ever bring a life like that into the world, instead of just taking it. The Level 5 thought in amazement as she stroked the babe's cheek.
You're female. Kurama said, as if that explained everything.
Yeah, but who'd ever want to be with a monster like me?
You'll never know. The fox said as he withdrew into the depths of his mind, radiating sadness and regret.
"He's very cute." Naru told Frenda-chan, ignoring her tenant's odd mood.
The ITEM member flashed her a grin and nodded in agreement, "He totally is. It's like dealing with my baby sister all over again. She's just as needy for her big sis's attention!"
That night as Naru laid in her bed trying to drift off to sleep, she couldn't help reflecting on the mission.
I guess I'm no closer to knowing what I want to do after I graduate from school. But this mission did show me what kind of person I want to be.
Thinking back on her interactions with Number 6, there was one thing she was certain about.
I don't want to be a psychopath like Mugino nor an utterly amoral tool of the City like Cosplay claimed we were.
Giving up on sleep for the moment, Naru turned to stare at her dorm room's ceiling. In the darkness of the late night and with the quiet breathing of a sleeping Awatsuki-chan, the Level 5 couldn't help but feel comfortable.
I guess I like the dark after all… Maybe that's why I'm a Dark Sider. And if I'm one of them, then… then I have no choice but to accept jobs that sometimes I'd rather not.
Turning to look at her sleeping roommate, who was blissfully unaware of her musings or the City's monstrous underbelly, Naru continued her ponderings. I sure hope that changes someday. I don't want to have to kill good people like Awatsuki-chan or Cosplay just because of orders ever again.
"What can I do though?" She breathed into the near silence of her room. "Is there a way to help the younger Dark Siders so they don't end up so twisted? If there's something like that… I'd like to do that. I think."
She was silent for a moment as she considered that. It sounded ridiculous considering how the Dark Side worked, but if there was a way… Naru would jump at the chance.
Deciding that since she was not falling asleep any time soon, the blonde slid out of her bed and headed over to her desk. Maybe some research would help clear her head. She was just reaching for her laptop when she spotted her phone in its charging cradle.
"Ah, Ruiko-chan is probably worried." Naru quietly whispered as the sight reminded her of her easily worried friend. Shaking her head at her classmate's overprotectiveness, she pulled out her phone to text her friend.
[Mission Complete! I'm fine too! XD] - Naru
Not even two seconds later, she received a reply.
[I know, I was watching for the most part.] - Ruiko
[And I know you know, but still! It's nice to have someone to say it to. o] - Naru
[Hehe~! How'd you know? Well, at least you're fine. Our Sempai had a run-in with magicians while you were busy.] - Ruiko
Panic streaked across Naru's heart at that nugget of information as she quickly typed back.
[Eh?! For real?! Is she okay? What faction?] - Naru
[As for knowing, it's just how you are.] - Naru
[I see, I see. No worries though, Kamijou Touma was with her. It was just some Chinese monks no doubt trying to retrieve their Kings.] - Ruiko
[X-( And you didn't help why?] - Naru
[Sempai was able to handle it. Besides, if we interfered I think she would be more upset than grateful. She even resolved the situation the one moment where I was about to teleport in! She employed quite the humorous tactic to win.] - Ruiko
"Humorous? Since when is Sempai funny?" Naru scoffed softly.
[By humorous, I mean from our POV and at her expense.] - Ruiko
Ah, that makes much more sense.
[Heard what I said? Spying on me now?] - Naru
[You couldn't sleep. Was worried.] - Ruiko
[Was just thinking. Don't worry. Now tell me what Sempai did.] - Naru
[I'll always worry. You're my friend. Not telling, go find out yourself.] - Ruiko
[Oh, come on! I'll pay you.] - Naru
[No deal. Go wheedle it out of Sempai yourself.] - Ruiko
[You just want to watch her squirm dontcha?] - Naru
[Of course.] - Ruiko
Not for the first time Naru smiled at how far along her friend had come in her recovery from being [The Robot]. Being able to take pleasure in her teasing of their Sempai was a far cry from the machine she used to be.
That was not to say that meant she was immune to her teasing either.
[If you're watching me right now, I might fear for my innocence. How much have you seen?! 0/0] - Naru
Ha! Let's see her recover from that. Naru thought smugly.
[Do you really want to know?] - Ruiko
The blonde flustered a touch, but she still had a tiny smile on her face.
[Why so concerned to tell me? See something you like~?] - Naru
[Did you forget? I like my significant others to be male, pale and have a tendency towards being psychopathic mass murderers.] - Ruiko
Touche, Ruiko-chan, touche. Naru thought and decided to concede even though she fit one of those options sadly.
The realization had her feeling somber and she recalled a favour that she'd been meaning to ask her friend.
[Hey, can you arrange a funeral for Cosplay? They deserve proper burials. Pls?] - Naru
[...Understood. I'll take care of it. You get some rest, Naru-san.] - Ruiko
[Hey, do you think I could ever be a good person? .] - Naru
[Not sure that's possible for people like us. We are bloodstained assassins.] - Ruiko
Naru's heart sank at that.
[But if it's possible, then I think you're already one.] - Ruiko
The Number 2's breath hitched at that.
[Naru-san?] - Ruiko
The blonde Level 5 didn't answer, but a small tear rolled down her cheek in happiness.
[Don't cry.] - Ruiko
Naru gave a teary giggle and nodded, sure her friend was watching.
[I'll try. Going to bed.] - Naru
[Thanks ;) ] - Naru
[Nite. No prob. It's what friends are for. Rest well.] - Ruiko
"Yeah… friends."
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.
Phew! That was a pretty interesting mini-arc, huh? Hope you guys enjoyed it and our own OC group Cosplay.
Nameless: Hope you guys liked Cosplay. We had fun coming up with them and choreographing their demise. Honestly don't think we did some of them justice (Takizawa and Kusatsu comes to mind), but we did our best.
Naru faced quite the moral dilemma in this arc and slowly but surely her mind is gearing towards trying to rise above the cesspool she's currently swimming in that is the Dark Side of AC.
Nameless: This arc had quite bit of CD so we hope it wasn't as hamfisted as some of our earlier attempts. Tell us what you think. We've tried to take the constructive criticisms in the reviews onboard as much as possible so we'd really like your opinion on how well we did.
And the interaction with ITEM was the most fun for me personally. Just the remarks and the talking between Naru and them were a blast.
Nameless: Mine was the messaging scene at the end. The way we ended up having the girls discuss serious, weighty stuff while they messaged each other back and forth with light hearted text was just great. We didn't initially plan for that kind of effect but when we wrote it out, it just sorta happened and seeing it was amazing.
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!