"See ya."
Phillip, now back in his casual outfit, looked up from the textbook to his door, where his impromptu roommate reached for the knob as she made to leave. "Don't let the door hit ya on the way out."
She turned back to him and blew him a raspberry, the braids on both sides of her head swinging violently as she did. With the final interactions out of the way, she left for her actual room.
The two don't actually share an apartment. Instead, the girl had taken up Phillip's offer to stay in his that night a week ago to get some decent sleep. He regretted it immediately, as she had given him non-stop complaints that she deserved the room and had even complained directly to the landlord. The landlord, a short old man decked out in a yellow shirt, tweed jacket, and checkered pants told her to move in with Phillip if she wanted the room.
The look of sheer panic that spread over her face was almost priceless. If only she didn't immediately screech at the proposal, making Phillip's ears pop at the time. The only redeeming quality that the girl retained was that she tried to remain respectful to the man.
For a set period, the two kept their distance, never interacting with each other during that time. However, whenever those upstairs decided to... have fun, the girl would appear outside his door, blushing and refusing to look him in the eyes, to ask for asylum for the night. Naturally, she received the bed, and he stuck to the couch, which he really didn't mind.
Through the few times she came by, he got to know her, and, by all accounts, she was a complete brat. She made no effort to show she was grateful, didn't hesitate to complain about the lack of decoration, and vacuum-cleaned him out of nearly all his food stock on the first day. Luckily, Gabriel was relented some more funds to recover the losses before insisting that Phillip resolved the issue.
"Wouldn't it be best if you simply soundproofed her room as well? That way, you don't constantly have to shelter her."
Phillip shook his head at the suggestion. Sounds great on paper, but I would need some time to place the seals in hidden points, not to mention moving and replacing furniture and other things of that nature quick enough to avoid her finding out.
"Then do it when she's out."
That requires a clone to stick with her until she returns, and I'm running low on chakra from all the library trips.
With the week ending, Phillip began investigating the more recent events of this world in order to ready himself for whatever could occur here. From the history portion he learned for school, this world had a lot of nuclear disasters, though two massive ones happened occurred relatively recently: one in the 1950s and one in February 2000. The second was massively more potent than any before it, having worldwide consequences.
However, all of it felt suspicious to him. The standard nuclear fallouts were far too common to be accidental or natural, and the fact that the two big ones were fifty years apart just felt like a cover-up more than anything.
Thus, the searches throughout the library and any information stockades. Funnily enough, during one of these raids, he found out about the common enemy of this world: Honkai. While what he gathered from these creatures was small, he got enough to determine that the bear he fought before was one of them.
Phillip sighed at the change in thought processes. I need to go back there to examine the corpse. It might help me understand more of this world.
"Not now, you're not," Gabriel chilled him, an edge to the being's voice. "You have school to attend to, and you're not playing hooky today."
Phillip looked down at his wrist, noting there was an hour until the start of school. I have enough time to handle a quick examination. Heck, I could take a trip to China and still get to school on time.
"Phillip..."
Phillip groaned at the warning tone Gabriel had and closed the book in his hands, packing it away into the black backpack on his left. Shrugging off his jacket and grabbing his keycard, he started for his door, pulling the bag on as he did.
On the way to Senba High
Tell me: why am I doing this slowly? I know every escape route and exit point of the city, every hidden alleyway, and every potential stronghold area. Seems like a waste to take the scenic route.
Phillip asked this of Gabriel as he paced down the sidewalk, stopping at the edge when the walk signal demanded it. Right now, he was simply keeping appearances for the common folk at Gabriel's behest, but he wanted nothing more than to jump from building to building with a Transparency Jutsu up to hide his movements. His pools may be low at the moment, but a minor genjutsu would not be a significant blow to it.
"Because you need to stop rushing. Otherwise, you may miss some important details."
You wouldn't happen to mean our newest spy?
Phillip had caught the person as soon as he stepped out of the complex. It wasn't hard to do, considering the person stayed on his back for a while now, to where he was surprised no one else noticed such obvious actions.
From what his senses determined, the person had only one eye on him and stepped much heavier than everyone else. Their clothes were apparently baggy, as a flutter happened when they moved. They smelled mechanical, though whether that was from prosthetics or something else was up to debate.
"That is one thing, yes, but I was talking on a more metaphorical sense than literal sense."
Phillip wanted to react to this, even if it was simply a smile, but steeled himself if his stalker noticed. When the signal switched, he began walking again, keeping an average pace as he did so. Once again, the stalker followed him, staying on him as he went.
Phillip grew more and more annoyed. Can I mess with them?
"Stay calm. The school isn't too far now, so let's not do anything rash right now."
Phillip mentally scowled at this but understood what the being stated. The emerald green front of the school was already in view, only one more street before he reached it. He could keep his cool for that long, but he still steeled himself if the stalker tried anything.
Luckily, the stalker did nothing for the rest of the trip and, once Phillip passed the marble gates, he felt their gaze leave him. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he pushed open the glass doors, ready for the day to end before it even began.
Noon, that day
Phillip cleared the pen and papers from his desk, pushing them into the pack, and slipped it onto his back. He watched the other students leaving the classroom, some leaving their items behind while others took theirs with them. All of them were ready for the lunch period.
He hummed to himself as he walked out of the white door frame and into the pristine tiled hallway. The destination he had planned for the time was easy to get to, but his current situation begged him to try something.
I could leave now. Again, it won't take long, and I'd be back before anyone notices.
"First," Gabriel chastised, ready and willing to put Phillip's hope down swiftly, "you don't have a single jutsu that gets you through the school's standard defenses."
Phillip scowled at this, once again forced to admit the truth of Gabriel's statement. The school's security systems didn't simply have personnel, it also had plenty of scans that prevented unauthorized entry and departure. From bio scans to metal detection, the school would be an impenetrable fortress in his world. The only way he'd get out undetected would be to EMP the place, and he tried doing just that the first day.
Needless to say, it was a massive failure with nothing going out and him almost being identified as the source. Thank God that these people believed humans don't have that capacity.
"Second, what makes you think that the corpse hadn't completely decomposed or eaten at this point?"
The scowl deepened at this. He knew there was little possibility the corpse remained, but he needed to be optimistic on the matter. It was the only source he had on the matter, and it had to still be around, even if it was a minor piece.
Just... let me look. I'll drop it if there's nothing there, but I need to know.
"..."
Phillip awaited the being's response as he rounded a corner and scaled a flight of stairs. It took a moment, but Gabriel responded all the same.
"Fine." Phillip nearly fist-pumped at this but held it back to avoid looking odd. Gabriel continued once Phillip hit the third floor. "However, it will not be now. Wait until after school and after work."
I can deal with that.
Rooftop
Phillip slid the silver-painted door open and stepped out onto the rooftop.
The roof was wide and matched the rectangular shape of the building, the edges guarded by steel railings. Marble benches were scattered across it, though mainly were kept within the middle area. The only other extra thing was the small, one-room building on top that led down to the rest of the school.
Taking a glance at the front, Phillip spotted the other buildings of the school. There was one off to the right that was the practice building, made for clubs and special classes. The other one, the last one, was explicitly science and technology research, where only the best and brightest of each class could enter.
Phillip walked past the benches, passing groups of students that paid him no mind, and leaned on the railing to watch the bustling city. After a moment, he transitioned his gaze down to the school's fence, where many of the scans were established. He studied it, looking for any blindsides or holes in the area.
Do you think if I place a Hiraishin seal here and back home, I'd be able to sneak out?
"What is with you and trying to sneak out of here?"
Hey, I'm only here because you demanded it. I could have gotten everything this place could have given outside of it.
"There are reasons for it. Would you like to hear them?"
Curiosity won over. Hit me.
"First, important events will occur here. Second, two important people will attend this school: one here now, one later next year."
Then, Phillip thought, still puzzled about attending the school, why not alert me that this place was important to begin with? Why leave me out of the loop?
"Because you should have realized by now, I don't take you to places without reason," Gabriel explained, minor disappointment in his voice. "But, if my words are not enough to convince you, why not speak to her."
Phillip felt a pat on his left shoulder and whirled his head towards it. He was in school, so he made to calm his nerves enough to not jump at the touch, which was good when he noticed exactly who it was that did it.
So, she's one of the important people? Huh, I guess that makes sense in some ways. The familiar person simply smiled gently at him, unaware of his current thoughts.
"Hello, Phillip-san"
Phillip returned the sentiment, his own smile forming to match hers. "Good afternoon, Mei-san."
Close, but not too close
"So, who's this, Mei-chan?"
Mei had brought Phillip to her group of friends, which was much smaller than he thought she would have, considering her status and looks. It consisted of three people, all of which were girls, who stared at him with the intensity of a thousand suns. He would return the favor but tempered himself for the sake of Mei.
"Mikoto-chan, this is Phillip-san. Phillip-san, this is Mikoto-chan," Mei gestured to the girl with short hair that had asked the question prior, "Ayame-chan," she pointed to a ravenette, whose haired reached her shoulders and gave him a two-finger salute, "and Yuki-chan," addressing the pink-haired girl that continued to give him a thousand-yard stare.
"Mei-chan," Mikoto said, pulling Mei's attention to her. "Is this that boy you mentioned before?" Mei gave a brief nod in response, causing Mikoto to send him a glare. "Then I don't think it's smart to let him join us."
"Oh, it's quite alright, Mikoto-chan," Mei reassured, trying to remove any tensions before they occurred. "It was our first meeting, so I'm sure he'll be well-behaved." She then looked at him, with a glimmer in her eyes that foretold pain if he answered incorrectly. "Right?"
"Depends," Phillip stated, ignoring the pout Mei took up. He then addressed the others. "If you're referring to my rudeness to Mei in our first meeting, then I apologize. However, that behavior was developed due to past experiences. If you're willing to have me in this group, I promise to downplay it to a lower degree."
Silence befell the group, everyone giving him a wide-eye expression that disturbed. After a moment, he contemplated apologizing again but, just as he opened his mouth, Mei began to giggle. This eased the other three to some extent, though Yuki refused to stop staring.
"Phillip-san, don't be on edge with us," Mei said with a gentle tone. Her friends rolled their eyes at this, though it evaded Mei's notice as her focus was on Phillip. "Please treat us as friends." Before he could reply to this, Mei grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to one of the four benches situated into a square.
It was when Phillip put into one half of the bench, and Mei leaned over to place herself beside him that Yuki acted. She rushed forth to push Phillip off the bench, intent on sitting next to Mei. Phillip noticed it rather easily but allowed the action to play out, letting the girl shove him violently off his seat and wrap herself onto Mei's arm.
"Wha-?! Yuki-chan!"
"Mei-chan, you shouldn't let some boy near you. Who knows what he would do to you?"
Phillip twitched at Yuki's accusation of him but let it slide, for now. He had a hunch on why Mei had pulled him into her little group, and he still wasn't exactly interested in unveiling his reasoning for that event. Thus, he relocated to the left bench, leaving the bench near the school's front to Mei and her... "friend." This left the right bench to Mikoto and Ayame and the bench closer to the back, where Yuki once was, unattended.
"So," Phillip started. Addressing the other two while Mei struggled, as politely as possible, to remove herself from Yuki's grasp, "how did you two meet Mei?"
Ayame shrugged, sipping away at her juice box while watching the event play out before her in mild amusement. "Same club. Nothing else to it." Phillip rose an eyebrow at this before focusing on Mikoto.
"We were lab partners in middle school," she explained, less enthused than Ayame at what was happening. "When I got here, so did Mei. So, we stuck to each other."
Phillip nodded at this, then made a gesture to Yuki. "Then, what about miss-" Mikoto shot him a warning glance, looked over to see if the two were still occupied before transitioning her seat to Phillip's left. Once there, she whispered into his ear.
"She's not really a friend of Mei's. She's more a fangirl that can't get her hormones in check. Ayame and I just let her stay because Mei actually thinks Yuki wants to be friends."
Phillip narrowed his eyes at Yuki before grunting back to Mikoto, "who keeps a leash on her, then?" She gave a weak smile in return before giving a light cough.
Apparently, that was the key, as Yuki let go of Mei and, sulkily, returned to her seat with a pout. When she was seated, she sent Phillip a heated glare, one he was tempted to return a thousand-fold.
Mei pulled herself together before putting her attention on Phillip. "Now, Phillip-san, there is something you and I must address. Do you remember what happened last during our meeting?"
"Nope," Phillip lied, looking past Ayame to avoid Mei's gaze. Deciding now was a better time than any, he pulled his backpack off and placed it down on his lap. A little bit of rummaging later, he pulled out a plastic bag containing a peanut butter sandwich inside.
"Rude," Mikoto murmured to herself as Phillip pulled the sandwich from the bag. He shot her a glance, which caused her to look off to her left as she sipped her drink.
Phillip bit down on his sandwich, hoping that Mei wouldn't be interested in asking questions when he was both rude and hungry. A hope that was dashed immediately as he felt a finger prod his right shoulder.
"Phillip-san." He reluctantly turned to Me to receive a scolding, only to find her worried face instead. "That... isn't all you have for lunch, is it?" Noting his confused look, Mei reached into her bag and pulled out a medium-sized, black box with a red lid. She pulled off the top and revealed a wide assortment of Japanese food beneath.
In a flash, the other girls swarmed Mei, all asking for something from the bento. She allowed it all with a smile on her face, and the girl took what they could. By the time they were done, the box was far less plentiful, and Mei still carried that same smile when she brought it back to him.
Phillip sent the three a piercing glare, to which none of them reacted but took the box from Mei. She started pulling back her hands but was stopped when Phillip shoved the box, lid back on top, into her hands. Mei sent him a confused look, obviously not expecting the action, causing Phillip to explain.
"I'm not all that hungry. Besides, what's left should be yours, before," Phillip sent another glare at the three girls, "someone else can take any more."
Mei seemed to catch his meaning almost immediately. "Oh, it's alright. The maids always make me more than I can stomach, so I'm willing to share some to those that want it."
"Still, I'm not that hungry."
"Are you certain?"
"Positive."
Mei pulled her hands back, seemingly displeased with his choice. "Very well, but please tell me if you reconsider." Phillip nodded before returning to his sandwich.
From there, the lunchtime was filled with the girl's talking, with Mei trying to pull the anti-social Phillip in every now and then. The topics didn't interest him in the slightest, however, so he zoned out more times than he can count, barely managing a mutter when he heard him being addressed.
Once the bell rang, he swiftly gathered his backpack and followed the other students to the door. He then continued down to the second floor, heading for his class to finish off the day.
Later that day
Phillip landed with a grunt, once again on the other side of the cement wall of the city. With nary a breath, he dropped the illusion surrounding his body and rushed deeper into the forest at high speeds, remembering the exact location of the clearing he needed.
"Finally getting to this," Phillip murmured to himself as the trees blurred past him. "That job really isn't worth the pay."
After finishing his job just an hour prior, he could say this without a doubt. While the work itself wasn't that bad, he realized what Ryoma really wanted from the first day. From running errands on a strict time limit, carrying heavy crates with no equipment, and aiding in labs of dangerous experiments, he could easily tell Ryoma wanted to know his actual limits. Luckily, Phillip held back and accomplished the tasks by the last second, not giving anyone the excuse to fire him but keeping his... uniqueness under wraps.
"I understand the risk may be great, but you need to keep a low profile for now. Too many superpowers in play here that seem far too greedy for their own good."
Kind of pointless right now, Phillip commented, jumping over a fallen tree on his path. Ryoma is my boss and, more than likely has already alerted Anti-Entropy about me.
It was during his second day on the job that he had gotten curious about exactly how ME Corp worked. So, during break hours, he secretly produced a clone to go through the database of the company. What the clone found told everything: how the company made weapons in secret, the organization it was tied to, and what they were after.
To be honest, the little war waging between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal made having the job even more undesirable.
"There has been no info given from Ryoma to his provider. Either there's tension between the two, or he wants to be positive on his assessment of you."
Phillip nodded at this before skidding to a stop. The clearing now laid before him, the damage he had done there dulled with time but still prevalent. Trees still wore the scars his blade inflicted, the ground still showed his steps when he shuffled about and indents the bear had created when they battled.
But, no bear.
There were no remains to search through, no corpse to examine and investigate. The trip seemed to have been for naught, but there was something Phillip saw that prevented him from cursing at his luck.
Two indents were in the grass, one from the body hitting the ground and another from the head. Between the two, paw prints were seen going towards the smaller indent before retreating off into the other side of the forest.
Phillip walked over to the phenomenon and knelt down to get a closer look. He brought his right hand forward, hovering just above the ground, and felt an odd warmth from them. Whatever happened, it did so recently, and it disturbed Phillip. There were no signs of other creatures entering or leaving the clearing, and the body didn't seem to be dragged anywhere. Thus, it left one possibility.
Was the bear revived?
He stood up and immediately froze. A hot breath brushed over the right side of his neck, and teeth flashed in front of him just before clenching, trying to behead him. He reacted just before the mouth could close on him, zipping to his left and landed on that side of the clearing, just before the forest. He turned to face his new opponent.
The bear was back with only slight differences. It was slightly bigger than before, and the insect legs doubled, the two new appendages sticking out of its back near the back legs. However, the more significant change was the pink electricity that danced up and down the insectoid legs.
It let out its roar, creating a shock wave that caused Phillip to shield his face with his arms crossed. When it stopped, it lunged forward, the insectoid legs set to pierce through him. Phillip jumped over it, causing the attack to hit a tree instead and shatter its base.
Phillip rolled forward as he landed. Hey, Gab? Something's wrong out here!
"I noticed," Gabriel replied calmly, as the bear pulled itself from the tree and turned to face Phillip, its mouth contorted into a smug snarl. "From what I can tell, it has taken the chakra used to kill to revive and empower itself."
Phillip leaned back to avoid another lunge and delivered an enhanced kick to its stomach. It was sent flying but landed only slightly farther than the first trees on the edge of the clearing, making a crash as it toppled a tall tree it hit.
Phillip groaned, a dull pain rocketing through his legs. God, that felt like kicking Goku. Ignoring the pain for now, he stood to prepare for whatever action the bear took. Alright, then how do I put this thing down? Without chakra, I'm kind of defenseless.
"You can still use chakra; you'll just have to use attacks that will completely disintegrate it."
Phillip tried to answer but was stopped when the bear plowed through the trees with no loss in movement. It tried to bite his head off, but he ducked under the attack and moved to its left. When it turned its head to him, Phillip tossed a right hook that connected. Coupled with the left hook and a right uppercut, Phillip finished the combo by wrapping his legs around the bear's neck and twisting, pulling the bear off its feet and landing with a thud on its back.
Phillip unlinked his legs, pushed hard off the ground with his hands to launch himself, and landed facing his downed opponent in front of the broken tree. Is this the point when you give me the Sharingan so I can use Amaterasu to kill this thing discreetly?
"No, that will come in later."
What?
"Look," Gabriel explained as the bear managed to stumble back onto its feet, and Phillip tensed up. "I know you enjoy using lightning with your weapon, but it might be best to use the other elements."
Phillip sighed at this before summoning his tanto into his right hand. Leveling it, so the flat of the blade reflected his face, his left hand traced over it, engulfing it in orange flames. The bear made for another lunge and was met with a downward slash.
It was bisected from the slash like a hot knife through butter, from head to tail, and would have split and moved past Phillip had he been satisfied with just that. With a multitude of slashes, thrown at random for anything piece untouched, he made sure there was no possible way for the bear from returning. Only then did the remains drop to the ground.
Phillip sighed as he unsummoned his blade, looking at the pieces of the beast as they slowly disappeared in the fire created from his attack. Guess this trip really was for nothing.
"Not nothing. You now know what not to do when battling these creatures."
Phillip rolled his eyes at this. Yeah, don't leave remains. Now I need a new way of getting info.
"Let's leave the library incursions for tomorrow. It's getting late."
Phillip looked up and noticed the sun's orange light was giving way to the dark blue of night. He reactivated the transparency jutsu before hurrying back to the city, leaving the pyre to finish its job.
At the Apartments
"Wait."
Phillip was just under his window, having scaled up the wall to avoid the landlord when Gabriel told him this. Crouching down, he peeked over the sill and into his living room.
No one was in the main room, but he did notice that someone stood outside the door. From the bulk of the shadow, he knew it wasn't his neighbor, who he expected would come by, from the sounds coming from upstairs. Whoever it was, they were new and, from what Gabriel said, possibly dangerous.
Phillip pushed open the window and slipped into the room as quietly as possible, shutting the window softly. He then sent out a mental signal to the clone stationed outside, disguised as a ceiling panel. Soon, a picture of his "guest" formed in his mind.
The person was unidentifiable, thanks to the mask they wore: a mask that only showed their right eye, with a design of two knives crossed where the left eye would be and three holes at the forehead. They wore a black, short-sleeve coat with green highlights on the end of the laces at the neck and a piece on the left side, with the jacket's hood up, with entirely black pants and boots. The only other interesting bit was that they had prosthetics for both arms, with one carrying what seemed to be a smoke grenade.
Phillip's eyes widened, and he jumped up to latch on the ceiling when he noticed the shadow lean down. Just as he suspected, the smoke grenade was rolled into the room and released its contents. Thinking it over, Phillip moved over back over to the window and re-opened it from the upper portion. Though the smoke didn't dissipate, it never climbed higher than the window, leaving him enough room to breathe. He then hid above the door and waited for the actions after the person took.
A few minutes later, the person kicked in his door, now carrying a gun and turning about to scan the room. Phillip stayed where he was, watching the person slowly walking towards the window to look out it, always ready to move to the other side should the person turn around. They took only one look out the window before tilting their head to their right and into their hand. The next moment had them turn their gun to Phillip and fire at him.
Phillip instinctually summoned his tanto, infused lightning chakra to it, and threw it at the person like a spear. The blade sliced through the bullet before stabbing through the person's left arm and the wall behind it, causing the arm to fall off, but the blade disappeared before reaching the next building. Seeing no reason to try and keep himself hidden, he dropped to the ground, pulled his coat's hood over his face to block the gas, and charged forward with a lightning-encased right hand. The person turned to Phillip and raised their remaining arm to defend, but Phillip was too fast. He slid to their side and cut through the appendage, leaving them defenseless.
With this out of the way, Phillip grabbed them by the neck and picked them up, ready to interrogate them. "Alright, I know you've been spying on me. What's the big idea, hm?" The person didn't answer, instead staring at him with an undeterminable expression. A second later, they started spazzing out, as if all motion control was lost to them, for a complete minute before ceasing, and their arms fell to their side, unmoving.
Phillip sighed at this. "You've got to be shitting me. First the bear, now this guy and their cyanide." He dropped the corpse to the ground, watching it crumble at the sudden action. Phillip began patting it down, looking for anything that could give up identity or work, which was in vain. With a huh, Phillip reached down and grabbed the mask to pull it off. However, a terrible sound was made when he did so, and he stopped as soon as he started.
Nope, nope. Not dealing with this shit. Phillip summoned a clone and told it to get to a river to get rid of the body and wash the clothes. With the nod, the clone took up the body and left via the window, leaving behind the two lost arms and Phillip to close the window.
"What are you going to do with those?"
I dunno, maybe scrap them to sell or analyze them to understand how they were made, Phillip admitted, not at all concerned on the matter with his mind on other things. I'm more concerned about why they wanted to gas me. I thought people wouldn't be any more interested in me.
"Best guess I can give you is that ME Corp may have some leaks. Better keep your eyes and ears open when you're there."
Phillip looked over to the fallen prosthetics and reached down to touch but stopped when he noticed something.
Pink lines were spreading out from a scrape on the back of his hand – possibly came from the fragments of the bullet – and, rolling up his sleeve to follow the lines, had already traveled passed his forearm. He would have questioned this had his lungs not immediately collapsed, dropping him to the ground as he gulped down air for every breath.
"Shit! Sorry!" Pain coursed through Phillip as the lines began to recede back to the scrape before disappearing completely. Gabriel, himself, let out a sigh. "Sorry, I was distracted for a second. Though, I guess this should help you understand this world a little better."
What was that?! Phillip screamed mentally, still panting back in reality. The spread was far too quick for any disease, and it felt as if the cold hand of death had grasped his heart for a second just before Gabriel repelled the energy.
"How about the easier question: what forms does Honkai come in?"
That... Phillip looked at the gun, laying close to the left prosthetic and the window. Does that gun fire bullets made of Honkai cells or something?
"You're still thinking of the physical creatures, not the cause," Gabriel explained, now calm from the trauma before. "You're not thinking of the cause of such changes."
Phillip smirked, propping his still aching body against the sliver piece of drywall beneath the window. I was right, wasn't I? It's a sort of energy, isn't it?
"Yes, and the thing you've just felt was Honkai Sickness, accelerated due to low resistance and the energy coursing through your body. Though had you picked the other energies, I may have been too slow to react to the spread."
Thanks for telling me there was a correct answer to that question, Phillip scoffed, pressing his left hand against the wall and began repairing the hole in it. Is there any way for you to increase my resistances?
"Only marginally. This is the first sample I've collected, so I only now know what exact traits from others I will need to upgrade your body. Give me time, and we'll get you almost immune to it."
Phillip nodded, pulling himself to his feet as the pain finally faded. He crossed the room to close his door and repaired the broken knob and lock the same way he did the wall. When it was all said and done, he turned back to the final remnants of the battle: the prosthetics, grenade, and gun. Pulling a sheet of paper from his backpack, he drew an enclosing seal with a black pen and placed the gun in it first, followed by the prosthetics and finishing with the grenade.
With this done, he used a low-level wind jutsu, cast from his mouth, to blow out the remaining gas before he walked over and slumped onto the couch with eyes closed, the adrenaline leaving him to his fatigued and throbbing body.
Feeling a new presence close by, he opened his left eye to look at the door. A new shadow loomed over it, but the figure was familiar this time. Groaning as he stood up, he traveled back over to the door and opened it, finding the exact person he thought it was.
His neighborhood stood there, fist raised to hammer on his door and eyes wide from surprise. She dropped her hand quickly and the decency to blush at being caught in the act. Phillip shook his head, the idea of soundproofing her room crossing his mind once more, before standing aside to let the girl in.
"Your sanctuary awaits you, ma'am."
She puffed her cheeks at him. "It's not like I like this, ya know! It'd be better if you just gave me your room and you went somewhere else!" Phillip rolled his eyes at this and moseyed back over to the couch. Once seated, he watched her scan the place, looking for any traps she believed Phillip would place down. Finding none, she still tiptoed towards the bedroom as Phillip watched unamused.
During this, he noticed something off on the right side of her face. It was slightly puffier than earlier that day and had make-up caked over it. Deciding to address this, Phillip stood and called to her.
"Hold it."
She froze, stopping mid-step before turning to him with a blank expression. He walked to the front of her, around the table in front of him, before standing right before her. She placed her foot down, now looking confused as Phillip brought his left hand up to her cheek. He rubbed his thumb just under her eye and, ignoring the flinch the girl gave, removed some of the make-up there to find exactly what he thought was there.
"You got into a fight," Phillip stated plainly, causing the girl to jump back and brought her hands up to cover the now exposed bruise.
"W-Well, what do you care?!" The girl screamed at him before dropping her right arm as she looked off to that side. "Bastards just got a lucky shot, is all."
Phillip shook his head at this and grabbed her by the arm. He then dragged her to the couch and forced her to sit down. Leaving her there, he moved to the bathroom and grabbed a towel from the white overhead cupboard. Afterward, he returned to his living room, placed the towel flat on the table, pulled an ice cube tray from the freezer, and placed the cubes into the middle of the towel. Tying the ends together, he brought it to the girl and presented it to her.
"Take this. I assume you know how this works."
"Of course, I do!" She snatched the make-shift ice pack from him and pressed the side of it onto the bruise. "Anyways, you didn't answer my question: what do you care? We aren't friends or anything."
"Sure, I find you annoying as hell," the girl pouted at Phillip's comment, but he continued on, sitting beside her. "But I'm not callous enough to ignore you when you're hurt."
"It doesn't hurt," she said flatly before turning her head to stare at the semi-kitchen before the couch. "... how did you know I had a bruise, though? I thought I hid it pretty good."
"Your cheek still swelled a good bit," Phillip explained, grabbing the ice pack from her hands and reapplied it, with the bottom pressed against her cheek and his hand holding the top together. "If you were hoping it would evade my notice, might want to try something more than make-up."
She gave a huff and turned away from him, with Phillip making sure the ice pack followed. He had hoped for this reaction, as it kept her attention off the faint, white light that surrounded his hand for an instant before dissipating. Afterward, she blinked a couple times in surprise before pushing Phillip's hand away to touch the area herself.
"I didn't know ice worked that good!" She exclaimed before standing tall and paced over to the bedroom. "I'm going to sleep now. Night."
Phillip did nothing to prevent her leave, simply laying back to stare up at the ceiling. It wasn't until he heard a "Hey" from her that he gave the girl attention, mild annoyance in his eyes.
She stood in front of the bedroom, one foot in the doorway and her eyes hidden in her bangs. The girl paused for a second before she looked over at him, blue eyes locking with brown, to say, "Kiana. My name's Kiana."
Phillip stared in silence for just a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking his head. "Phillip. And good night, Kiana." She seemed appeased with this as she walked into the bedroom right after.
Phillip let out a groan, raising his hand up to his cheek as a dull pain spread through that area as a bruise appeared in the same place as Kiana's. He could tell that the girl was lying when she said it didn't hurt, and this only confirmed it. All he knew was this girl was going to be more trouble than she's worth.
With the adrenaline now out of his system, the only thing keeping him awake was the pain of his new wound, and even that was slowly subsumed into the waves of exhaustion. Thus, he laid his back on the couch, propped his legs on one arm and his head rested on the other, and closed his eyes. Before he fell into the cold grasp of Hypnos, Gabriel spoke one last time.
"Hello, free upgrade."
?
"Sir, there's something you might wish to know."
Cold green eyes pulled themselves from the multiple screens before him to stare at the woman beside him. "What is it that you so believe desires my attention, Amber?"
The woman said nothing, simply handing the man a holographic tablet, projected by two metal pieces on either end. The man scanned the contents rapidly and seemed rather... unimpressed at the info.
"'World Serpent' is making a move? What would a secret organization like that need in a place like Nagazora?"
"Eyewitnesses suggest that the Serpent agent tracking a boy, though the reasons why are unknown at this point."
"Of course, the reasons would be," the man muttered, resting his hand in the palm of his right hand, propped up on the arm of the luxurious chair he sat in. He closed his eyes to think while his left hand swirled a glass of blood-red wine during his time of contemplation.
After a while, Amber spoke up. "Should we send-"
"No," the man interrupted, eyes opening to gaze upon the screens before him. "Valkyrie interference would alert Anti-Entropy of any happenstance there. Instead, I believe surveillance drones would be better suited for this task."
"Wouldn't Anti-Entropy have counter-measures to them, my lord?"
"Have faith, Amber. They are the pinnacle of Schicksal's spy technology and will penetrate Nagazora's defenses long before Anto-Entropy discovers them."
"Very well, sir. I'll have them dispatched immediately."
"Please do, and alert me when we discover what exactly World Serpent wants with this boy."
"Of course, Lord Otto."
Well, how's everyone doing?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and leave any constructive criticism.
See you in the next chapter.
Note to everyone: Never try uploading a chapter when you're tired. You may throw away all the fixes you place.