Inoue Akira and Tennouiji Kotarou are from Rewrite, a 2011 visual novel published by Key, translated into English by Amaterasu Translations, and adapted into an anime by Studio 8bit. Elements of the following story were also inspired by Inoue's story in the now-defunct mobile gacha game, Rewrite: Ignis Memoria (which never received any English translation).

Spoilers and references to all other heroine routes, as well as Moon and Terra.

Record: Paper, Scissors, Key (I)

"Shinsaibashi is a superhuman!?"

I winced at Inoue's volume. She had leaned into the camera and was shouting. "Wait, why are you surprised?" I ask a question instead of telling her to calm down. "Didn't we suspect that was the case from the start?"

"Ah, well…" My girlfriend backs off slightly. "I'm just slightly shocked that you suddenly got confirmation, especially with everything else that has been going on. Things seem to be moving quite quickly."

"Don't we know it." I sigh. "You know, I realise that if they–the superhumans, I mean–ever wanted to silence us for real, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh?" Inoue raises an eyebrow.

"I'm serious." I lean back my in my desk chair. "I sparred with Shinsaibashi, and I think I got a good gauge of her abilities. I could probably fight her to a draw. Maybe. It would be difficult."

"She's that strong, huh?" Inoue taps her pen against her desk. "Ah, I see what you mean. She's only a trainee, so there's bound to be other Guardian operatives that are even stronger."

The G-word sends electricity shooting through my skull. "Can you…not say that word?"

"What, Gua–" Inoue stops herself before doing exactly what I told her not to do. She falls into a thoughtful silence, and just stares at me, long and hard from the other side of the screen.

When the silence went on, I spoke up. "Um…"

"Kotarou." Inoue gives me a serious look.. "I'm worried about you."

Inoue's brutal honesty stabs me, and I unconsciously let out an undignified noise. "I've been making you worry, huh?"

"No, you fool." She smiles at me, a bit wan, all warm. "I would have worried anyway. You didn't make me do anything." The smile becomes a bit more mischievous. "You couldn't make me do anything I didn't want to."

"Oh yeah?" That grin seemed to provoke me to action.

"And you can't stop me from doing anything that I want to, either." Inoue makes a declaration, and suddenly stands up. "That's it!" She points at me dramatically. "I'm reopening an investigation!"

"Oh? Which one?"

She smirks at me. "The Ashen Boy."

"The Ashen B-wait a minute, that's me!"

"Took you long enough, o intellectually challenged one. Look," Inoue says, "I don't mind you having secret powers, or even a slightly mysterious past. Your powers saved our lives, after all. But when you're very clearly suffering, I'm going to step in."

"Suffering?"

"Your strange headaches and dizzy spells. Don't tell me you hadn't even been conscious of it yourself? Remember when you nearly fainted on me in the restaurant when we were talking to Imako?"

Oh, I remembered. I remembered all too well. All those weird instances where I had felt sick this past week.

I remembered, but I didn't want to.

It felt dangerous. It felt terrifying.

It was the same feeling I got when I was facing "it" down.

But this time, it wasn't the terror of something utterly and definitely more powerful than you.

It was the fear of the unknown. The shadow of the cave, the darkness of the forest–but of my own mind.

How could you not know yourself?

"This might be dangerous." I find myself saying.

"Do you even remember the other investigation we're currently doing? I doubt there's anything more dangerous."

Still…

Well, there was one other concern. One other giant concern.

What if we actually found something? What if I had been some sort of terrible monster in the past?

Would Inoue then…

My throat suddenly felt dry.

"Kotarou." Inoue speaks my name again, and my head jerks back to the screen.

"What is it?" My voice comes out more raspy than I thought, and I clear my throat. "What is it?" I repeat myself.

"Whatever happens…" Inoue inhales, then exhales. "Whatever happens, whatever we find out about you, I promise. That we'll get through it together, okay?"

Somehow, I feel relieved at her words. "How?" I demand. "How do you always know the right thing to say?"

She gives a small grin. "I see things as they are, not as I want them to be. Love you, you big baby. Don't go to sleep too late."

The call ends before I could respond.

"You see things as they are, huh? Not as you want them to be?" I mutter to myself, and lean back in my chair.

~~[r]~~

"Hey, Tanuma. What's the best way to fill a large volume with limited mass?"

"T-Tennouji." The summoner girl seems to fold in upon herself once again. "W-Why are you in my classroom? And we're having lunch t-together?"

"I needed to speak with someone smart, and I figured you're the smartest person I knew." Surely being the top scorer in the entire level counted for something.

"So you're just here to pick my brain, huh?" Tanuma's expression becomes the slightest bit more closed off. "If I tell you the answer, are you just going to s-screw off back to your classroom?"

The unexpected forceful words hit me, but then again, I really should have known better than to be surprised.

'Timid' didn't always mean 'pleasant'. 'Weak' didn't always mean 'good'.

"I also wanted to make sure you hadn't killed yourself yet." Straight for the gallows humour I went. Hopefully, this troublesome summoner would appreciate it.

Judging from her smirk, she did. "Sorry to disappoint." She takes a deep breath, and then shuts the heavy-looking book she was reading. "What's with that weird question? Mass filling volume?"

"Yeah. The best way to fill a large volume with limited mass." I glance at the title of her book. Emergent Consciousness of Complex Systems? "What are you even reading? Sorry if I accidentally derailed any world-changing revelations, by the way."

"Don't worry. I had the revelation a while back." She speaks in a matter-of-fact tone, then shifts the book aside, reaching of the other item on her desk. Plastic packaging was torn open.

Mimicking her, I began to eat, chewing on my katsu sandwich. I had prepared it this morning, Inoue's words about how a growing boy needed more meat somehow on my mind. Frying the meat myself had been too much effort, but chopping vegetables and other sandwich-making things were simple enough.

"Fractal structure." Tanuma eventually says, after taking a bite out of her melon bread. "She looks at my face, and then sighs. "I'm going to have to explain this, aren't I?"

I clap my hands together in prayer, and lower my head. "Please, o great one."

"H-heh." The compliment seems to have buttered her up. She takes out a well-worn leather-bound notebook, flips to an empty page, and quickly sketches something. "See this leaf. Look at how the veins on it."

I lean over. "Yeah? They're very...vein-like." On the other page was another sketch, that of a lone tree standing in an empty field, its flowers in bloom. It seemed that Tanuma was quite the skilled artist.

At my response, the summoner simply gives me a disappointed look, which somehow wounded more than any of the times Pres called me an imbecile. "Look at it. Tell me what you see."

"They're like branches." I say what comes to mind. "Wait."

"I think you're coming to something very much like the correct conclusion, but inaccurate enough for it to be very wrong." Tanuma covers all but a part of the leaf. "Look at this part here." Then, she uncovers the rest. "Can you see?"

"The part looks like the whole."

"Self-similarity." Tanuma nods. "That's how it's done. It's actually a very common pattern in nature–the most common pattern, in fact. Much of nature is fractal." She turns her spectacled face to gaze out the window. "Like that tree."

"Every branch just looks like a smaller tree." I see the conclusion the girl was trying to lead me to, and leap for it immediately. "I think I understand."

"Yes." She adjusts her hat. "But why are you even asking?"

"Well, I–"

I fell silent, reminded by who I was talking to.

Tanuma Imako, a friend–but also a summoner. A member of Gaia.

A potential enemy.

And definitely not a person I should be sharing details about my power with.

"-It's for something secret," I say lamely.

"Something secret." Tanuma repeats my words, rolling them around in her mouth. "Tennouji Kotarou. I ask you this again."

"Y-Yes?!" I snap to attention.

"Can you swear that you're not part of…any enemy organization?"

At first I thought Tanuma was being polite by not mentioning the G-word, but then I realised speaking the name of a top-secret organization out loud in school was probably a bad idea anyway. "I'm not. I swear on…on my love for Inoue."

"A very strong oath. Fine then. I'll choose to believe you…for now."

We eat a bit more, and Tanuma finally asks the obvious question. "How come you're not having lunch with Akira?"

"Inoue?" I scratch my head. "She says she's doing investigation of her own, where it's more convenient to move by herself. Speaking of," I look furtively around, and lower my voice. "How are we on the Pres front?"

"The Pres–ah, Senri-san." Tanuma frowns. "Nothing yet. Hopefully she's actually been doing nothing, and not something that I haven't picked up on."

"What are the chances of that?"

"A coin flip, maybe 70-30. I'd like to think I'm good at the craft, even if I'm terrible at the normal birds and dogs."

"The normal birds and dogs?"

The summoner hisses. "Just forget about that. Have you any plans for locating the you-know-what?"

I blink several times. "Why would I want to locate it? It can stay the hell away from me."

Tanuma looks at me for several long moments, then shrugs. "Just forget that I asked."

"You're telling me to forget an awful lot of things."

"I'd imagine it comes naturally for you." Tanuma smirks.

I laughed back, but for a moment, I knew what happened.

Both Gaia and the other organization–-both of them wanted to find the Key, for their own separate reasons. Hell, even within Gaia itself, there seemed to be different factions, all with their own separate agendas, even if they all wanted to keep the Key alive.

But I didn't want any of that. I just wanted to know…the truth of this world.

Of course, Tanuma being a member of Gaia, she probably had different goals.

I wonder if I could convert her?

"Oh yeah," I say. "Remember that day at the restaurant?"

"Last week? W-What about it?"

"You said that if we wanted to be your friends, we had to fulfil your requests." Had it really only been a single week?

"W-W-What about that?"

"I was wondering if you had any more things you wanted done." I put my elbow on the desk, and then lean my chin on my hand. "Any more requests."

"It's f-fine! You don't have to do anything. In h-hindsight, it was s-stupid for me to have said anything like that."

This troublesome one really was strong when she was strong, and weak when she was weak, wasn't she? "Maybe not requests. What about things you need help with?"

"Things which you can't do on your own, maybe." I say something random that sounded correct. "That I or Inoue could help with."

"Inoue or I."

"What?"

"I was correcting your grammar. It's 'Inoue or I', not 'I or Inoue'." Tanuma takes a deep breath, and tugs her beanie down again, a hand at each ear. "I d-do have something that I want help with. S-S-Something I think will suit the b-b-both of you as reporters. B-b-but p-please don't think I'm c-c-creepy or a-anything."

I think this was the worst I've ever seen Tanuma stutter. "You know I won't. What's the task?"

"Kotarou!" A voice calls to me from the door, and I and Tanuma both jump.

"If it isn't Bad Timing Chihaya." I let my head fall into my hands, and speak to her with my eyeballs resting against my palms. "What is it?"

"This is why I hate you, Kotarou." The orange-haired transfer student speaks, in a slightly miffed tone. "Here. Handouts for the next lesson. I was on the way back from helping Lucia."

"Thank you. Glad to see you and her getting along."

"Somehow, that sounds patronizing, coming from you."

"You wound me." I mime being shot in the heart. "I was just expressing my well-wishes." Taking a quick glance at Tanuma, who seemed to be desperately trying to blend into the background, I decide to hurry along the conversation. "Is there anything else?"

"No." Chihaya turns to leave, then stops and looks back at me. "I didn't know you had friends outside the class, Kotarou."

"Now who's the one being rude, huh?"

When she had left, I looked back at Tanuma. "You alright?"

"F-Fine." The summoner once again worries the brim of her beanie, creasing dark green wool under her fingers. "That's not a Kaza High uniform, isn't it?"

I shake my head. "Bad Timing over there is a transfer student. She's fun, though."

"Fun. Right." Tanuma barks out an odd-sounding laugh that was halfway to a sob. "You do know she's an enemy, right?"

"A summoner?" I keep my voice quiet. "Yeah."

"A summoner under the Holy Woman's faction," Tanuma says. "And, if the rumours have any grain of truth of them, the summoner of the Strongest familiar."

"The strongest…" I didn't want to imagine what that even was. "There's things more fearsome than that dragon?"

Tanuma barked out a laugh. "More things in heaven and earth than you dream of. A leaf dragon pales in comparison."

I had to know. "What's the strongest familiar, Tanuma?"

"They say it's humanoid, like the Key. A man with black hair and black clothes, with flowing white bandages, and overflowing power. He, it–uses no weapon. Its hands and legs are apparently enough."

That sounded almost like a martial artist.

Almost like…a superhuman.

And Chihaya was the summoner?

Ohtori Chihaya?

"Damn it." I swear under my breath. "Are you kidding me?"

"I see you've come to a conclusion of sorts. If you would like to share–"

I look at Tanuma. A summoner of Gaia, from a faction rivalling Pres and Chihaya.

Inoue's friend. My friend.

"Yeah," I say, slightly hoarse. "Have you seen a mysterious student wandering around? Tall, black hair, wears glasses a bit like yours?"

"The handsome one that's draws the eyes of every girl if he so much as walks through the corridors? Yeah, I know the one." A shadow seems to cross Tanuma's face. "Of course they would take advantage of the fact that it looks like a human."

"Bit harsh to call him an 'it'," I remark.

"I'm surprised you of all people would defend him, considering how he's treated you." Tanuma pushes up her glasses.

I blink in surprise. "You've been watching?"

"The Saint's Successor is in that little club of yours. Excuse me if that didn't arouse even a little of my curiosity." Tanuma leans back in her chair. "Well, that's a mystery solved."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. I'm perfectly ordinary, compared to the two special exceptions you happen to know." Tanuma's beanie gets removed from her head, and she starts running it through her fingers. "Trying to do anything with this information is more trouble than I can manage, and I…well, like I said. I'm just a normal p-person. Thank you, though, for satisfying my intellectual curiosity."

I sensed that there were more things she wanted to say, but I didn't press more.

The bell chose this moment to chime, and I glance at the clock. "Well, it's about time." I run through the conversation again in my mind. I had the strange feeling that, apart from all the revelations I had received, there was still something else–something I was on the verge of realising, like gears almost locking into place but not quite yet.

And then I remember something else. "What did you need help with?"

"W-What?"

"You said that you wanted help with something. Something that suited reporters." I debate mimicking her stutter, but dismissed it since I thought it would be too mean.

"I-I-I–"

"I swear to take your words seriously, Tanuma."

"I-I k-know you will." The summoner looks back down. Her beanie had returned on top of her messy hair, and she was once again tugging it down.

I glance at the clock. "Tanuma–"

"I k-k-know." The girl spoke into the desk. Every word felt forced out, as if great effort was behind each one. Then, for the first time, she looks me in the eye.

"My r-r-request is f-f-for you to investigate a p-p-person for me. The t-tall and c-c-cool u-u-underclassman with n-navy blue hair in a p-p-ponytail…the t-t-transfer student S-Shinsaibashi Hitomi."

~~[r]~~

After school.

I lightly thud my head against the desk repeatedly. Lightly, because doing it too hard would hurt.

"Tennouji Kotarou." The crisp voice of Class Rep makes its way into my ear. "Are you feeling well? You're behaving weirdly again."

"Oh, never mind me," I say. "I'm just trying a new form of headache therapy."

"What?"

"It's true. If you lightly hit your head against something at a certain frequency, you can get the impacts to resonate through your skull and cure your headache." I mutter the words into my desk, not even looking up. "You should try it sometime."

"If you're well enough to joke, perhaps you are fine," Lucia concludes. "Are you coming for club today?"

"Maybe. Probably not."

There were some footsteps, and then Class Rep speaks again. "I wouldn't normally say this, but the club isn't the same without you." Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle–or at least, it was nothing like her usual aggressive manner. "I hope you get over whatever it is, and come back soon."

"Thanks," I mumble, and Lucia departs.

Honestly, with the knowledge that half the Occult Club were confirmed summoners, and the other half were most likely superhumans, it was getting extremely hard to look everyone in the eye, even if Akane had not been investigating me. It felt too much like living a lie, but I also knew that if either side ever found out about the other, it would be…

Game over.

Game over, and I didn't want that to happen. Class Rep and Chihaya were getting along, as were Shizuru and Kotori. I think even Pres appreciated having people around, instead of being cooped in a room playing videogames by herself all day.

I resume thumping my head on the desk, and thinking about my current problem. Tanuma–

Someone cupped their hands over my ears, and said something.

"For the record," I mumble into my desk, "that line doesn't quite work if I can't hear the words." I straighten and turn to face Inoue, a smile making its way onto my face. "What's up?"

"Good news!" She brandishes a sheaf of papers. "With some help from the Newspaper Club, I found a list of local businesses funded by Martel. Want to take a walk around town then have dinner?"

"Sure." My mood improves further.

As we walk, I tell Inoue about Tanuma's new request. She nods along as I speak.

"Hmm," she says at the end. "I didn't think Imako-chan had it in her. Maybe it was easier because you're a boy?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Inoue just has a cryptic smile on her face. "I think…we don't have to worry about this being related to her 'work', so to speak. She probably doesn't even suspect Shinsaibashi is a superhuman, though…hmm." She turns to look at me. "What's your view on star-crossed lovers, Kotarou?"

"Too much drama," I say immediately. "I want a normal romance, thank you."

She lightly smacks me. "What about for other people?"

"I don't like soap operas. Action is much cooler."

"You're such a boy." Inoue smiles. "Well, if it all works out, then I don't have to worry about Shinsaibashi…" The end of her words trail into a mumble, which I didn't quite catch.

I wisely decided to not probe further.

We visited a few shops: a greengrocer's, a hardware repair, an old bookstore, a few others. In the guise of a school newspaper's reporter, Inoue asks lots of questions, hiding the trees that were the ones about Martel in a veritable forest. When I see an opening, and decide to risk it, I slide in a few questions of my own: about people in robes, or mysterious animals.

"But you can't ask that for every shop we go to. People will get suspicious. They'll notice patterns."

"I'll just ask it to the more friendly-looking people, okay?"

We reach one of our final few stops, a florist in a more busy district. Inoue asks the usual questions, while I jot down the answers, staying within earshot, while also examining the shop's goods.

Outside the glass window, there seemed to be a crowd of some kind. Busy preparing for the harvest festival, probably.

The harvest festival.

I had a strange feeling that that was when everything would come to a close, somehow.

It was not logical by any means. It was just a day like any other–people might be busier, sure, but it was still, in the end, just another day.

And yet, the feeling was there, completely out of the blue.

Inoue clapped her hand on my shoulder, and I turned…right into a finger poking my cheek. "You're moping again."

"I don't mope," I grumble, but I seize Inoue's hand in mine, and we exit the store.

Outside, she leans slightly into me, under the late afternoon sky.

Life was good.

"...Kotarou?"

Ah.

I turn to spot a familiar face. "Kotori!" I wave with my free hand. "What are you doing here?"

Inoue tries to disentangle herself from me, but I keep holding on. "It's fine," I say quietly. "It's not as if she doesn't already know about us."

"I'm doing some work for the Spread the Green committee. The harvest festival is coming soon, after all." My childhood friend glances at the two of us. "What are you both up to?"

"Reporting." I say simply. "I'm helping Inoue with an article."

"Hey, Miss! I need some help over here! Can you double-check the flowers?"

"Coming!" Kotori yells back. She turns back to me. "Well, I'd love to talk more, but I'm kind of busy at the moment. See you tomorrow?"

"In class." I nod, and Kotori leaves.

I watch her for a little while after she leaves. It felt strange, seeing her at the centre of so much attention.

Before I formed the Occult Club, I sincerely thought that Yoshino, Kotori, and myself were the loners of the class. But Yoshino clearly had his own thing going on, judging by the number of back alley people that knew him, and Kotori…

…well, it was probably just wishful thinking. She had gone up in front of school to make an announcement, for heaven's sake. Someone isolated or uninvolved with others would never have been selected to do such a thing.

Wishful, wishful thinking.

"See things as they are," I mutter to myself. "Ouch!"

"Stop moping." Inoue repeats herself, having given me a light smack on my head with her notebook. "It's unbecomING?"

Her last syllables rose in tone as I suddenly seize her in a hug and kiss her on the lips.

I didn't know what possessed me to do this–-or rather, I had an inkling, but I decided not to think about it.

I just wanted to do it.

"You're feeling daring today, aren't you?" Inoue's face was pink, but she doesn't rebuke me. "In front of all these people?"

"I just felt like professing my love for you, darling." I give my words a strong and very fake foreign accent, and Inoue chuckles.

"You're a clown. Let's go grab dinner."

~~[r]~~

Fractals.

Maybe I should have waited until after I did this to take a shower, but it was too late now.

Blood manipulation. That was my ability.

Like any ability, it had to be tested. To see where the boundaries lie.

To push my meagre advantages to the limit.

A cut of raw meat was in a bowl, where it had been defrosting in water for half an hour.

And in front of me was an empty mug, which would soon be filled.

Well, it would certainly no longer be empty any longer, in any case.

I took a deep breath. The average adult had three to four litres of blood. As a teenager, I probably would have slightly less–probably around two and a half litres, leaving some allowance for safety.

During a blood donation, about 10% of one's blood was taken.

Generally, people were only allowed to donate blood six times a year.

That left me with about 250 millilitres to work with–but I wasn't going to spend it all in one night, so to speak.

I bite down on my left hand, guided by the ghost of a memory.

Blood gushes out, and I will it to come forth. About fifteen millilitres end up in the mug before I will it to stop.

With some awkward sense of ceremony, I place the meat on top of the mug.

And then–

Spikes pierce through it. The meat is suspended a few feet in the air, impaled on thin spikes of blood, before I release my focus, and it falls back down to the kitchen countertop.

I'm going to have to wash it again.

I refocus, try to control the same blood that was used. The spikes come up a little shorter. It seems some of it dissipates every time I use it, and as time passes, controlling it gets harder.

Maybe that's because it starts drying? Then, would I still be able to control it if I had a way to keep it liquid? If I kept 'holding on' to it with my ability, could I stop it from drying?

I'd have to put some in the fridge, to test the theory out. My mind turns to the blood bags I've seen in both medical dramas and video games. I wonder if I could get some without people raising too many questions?

I glance at the mug again, and let out more blood.

Fractals. For real this time.

I pictured what I wanted, a blade. But I didn't need the blade to be a solid mass. I just needed the edge. A fine edge, a deadly edge, to be supported by a fine frame. Thin, spreading through the air, occupying space.

Like branches of a tree. Like paths on a circuit board.

I didn't need the mass. When I was controlling it, I could make it infinitely sharp.

My reverse guillotine blade, as wide as the mug's diameter, shoots upwards. The slab of meat falls–one neatly bisected half to each side.

I let out a breath that I didn't realise I had been holding.

I didn't realise it at the time, but the sensation of control, of making reality match the image of what was in my mind…

It felt like rewriting.

Like I was using that secret power, without using it.

It felt like a good sign. That I was on the right track.

I thought again, about Shinsaibashi's speed. To the stumps of wood that we had been holding at the end.

I thought back further, to the dinosaurs that we had saw the summoners leading around in the forest.

With limited resources, I had to match them both. The awesome power of the predators that had once walked this earth, and were now walking on this earth once more–-and the gifted humans that had survived them.

Sighing, I went to wash the meat. It was a cheap cut of beef, chosen because red meat helped with blood loss.

Humans hadn't become Earth's dominant species through sheer power. They had done it through intelligence and adaptability.

~~[r]~~

"Hacking." Inoue gestures at me with a slice of pizza. "I want to learn it."

It was Saturday evening, and we were on our date. The restaurant that Inoue had picked out was a pizza place that had been all the rage recently, and it's most famous pizza was 'the sampler'-a pizza with four different toppings that changed based on the week.

Today it was margherita, seafood, bacon and potatoes, and quattro formaggi. With eight slices, two of each, it was perfect for two people to share.

Which, I thought slightly cynically, might have contributed to the place's popularity. There certainly was no shortage of couples sitting around us.

"I shudder to think of the power you would have if you ever became good at it." For heaven's sake, the girl already knew how to wiretap someone's phone. "Also, you would probably accidentally break the law somehow."

"Not if I don't get caught." She bites, chews, swallows. "Think about it." Her voice dropped a notch in volume. "All the data that could be on Martel's computer systems. I'm not even talking about the supernatural stuff–normal proof of how deep they've got their fingers into everything would be enough." She takes on a look which tells me the gears in her mind are grinding at full speed. "But to be honest, just by examining public records, you can probably already spot a pattern if you knew what to look for." Her eyes flick back to look at me. "Why are you smiling to yourself, Kotarou?"

"Nothing." I keep the grin on my face. "Also, the supernatural stuff would probably be on like, scrolls of living familiars or something," I continue, recalling a certain druid and her mistletoe.

"They would be, wouldn't they?"

For the first few hours we had just walked around the mall, looking at stuff. Inoue had tried on some clothes, and asked me for my opinion. It was uncharacteristically girly of her, but having her actually care about what I thought gave me a warm feeling.

Unfortunately, I had also been made to play dress-up doll.

"As I thought. That kind of hooded sweatshirt looks good on you. With the right look on your face, you'll have a good bad boy thing going." Inoue nods in approval.

"Like this?" I cross my arms, and give an exaggerated scowl.

A second later, I blink as the flash of a camera blinds me. "Seriously?"

When had she even taken it out?

"Why not?" Inoue lowers her hands. "It'll make for a good memory."

I wrest the camera from her hands. "Oh no no no. If pictures are going to be taken, it'll be of the both of us."

In the end, neither of us actually bought anything, though we did take a lot of pictures.

My sincere apologies to the staff of all the boutiques we terrorised.

We had tried to not talk about the whole supernatural thing and to relax for today, but that had gone right out of the window at the first electronics store, when she had saw cameras on display and immediately started theorising about what other kinds could spot invisible familiars.

She was had been much more enthusiastic about the electronics than the clothes, for sure. Hell, I should have asked her about cameras all those weeks ago, when I had been trying to pick up this new hobby.

Well, so much for not talking about work.

Honestly, I was fine with it. To be fair, the rule was more for her sake than mine, so I'd figured I'd just step in if she went on on another long tangent. Deliberately trying to avoid something stressful can also cause stress in itself, after all.

But it seemed that she was happier as she was, so I'll let it be.

"Living familiars, huh?" Inoue seemed deep in thought.

"Don't go playing with that supernatural stuff," I warn. "It eats into your lifespan. I want to still be with you when we're old and gray."

"Old and gray, huh?" Inoue cracks a smile. "Yeah, I got it."

More of the pizza disappears.

"Your dad was the one that taught you about all the electronics stuff, right?"

"Yep. I can take apart a computer, no problem. Even had one of those customizable robots when I was very young."

"Customizable robots?"

"The ones with sensors and everything." Inoue nods. "It was second-hand and quite old-fashioned–I'm not sure where Dad dug it out from–but I remember liking it."

I had a strange sense of vertigo, of falling. I swear that I had heard some of the other boys in my class talking about it when I had been in middle school. "That's nice," I manage to say. "Wish I had some good memories with my parents. All I can remember is arguing."

"But it's better now, right?"

"If you can call it that." I try to assuage my girlfriend's concerns. "I can't remember much, but I think we made up at some point. Though it's not much of an issue, since they're away so often."

Inoue nods. "Right. They're scientists, right? Working at Martel?"

"Yeah."

We both sip our drinks–iced lemon tea–in silence, as what we had just said washes over us.

"Say, Kotarou." Inoue began.

"I know what you're thinking." A half-smile comes to my face. "I'm not even sure they keep work documents in the house."

"You're okay with that? Me effectively snooping through your parents' stuff?" Inoue pauses. "No, don't answer that. Not on the best of terms, got it."

"It's not even that." I stared off into the distance. "I don't like them, but they're still my parents. If they were somehow involved…"

If they were in on the conspiracy, or worse, if they were somehow…

I remember what Tanuma had told us about herself–about how her parents were scientists working for Martel, but also actually researchers of summoning.

"...I have to know," I concluded.

"Got it." Inoue nodded. "This counts as part of the Ashen Boy investigation anyway. Let's go!"

"Don't get oddly fired up about this!"

~~[r]~~

Of course, things were never so simple.

It was at times like this where I wondered if, somehow, life itself was out to get me.

"Do you have any safes in your house?" Inoue was saying. The sky above had fallen dark, and the streetlamps along the road was a fluorescent white. "There might be important documents in those."

"It shouldn't be a problem. My folks are the type to write the combination down and then stash it somewhere. We can just find it–"

And that was when I was interrupted by an explosion. A loud boom in the distance.

Both Inoue and I turn to look. A patch of sky was glowing an unnatural orange.

And…

"!"

It was only a faint hint of a familiar presence, but my body tenses up automatically, and I snap to a fighting stance. It was taking some self-control to not manifest my claw right there and then.

Beside me, now behind me, Inoue had a similar grim expression. "I can feel it, too. What's going on?"

They say that the difference between humans and animals is that humans run towards a fire, not away from it.

"We'd better find out." My tone was severe. "But if it gets dangerous at all, we're running away. No dying for a scoop, got it?"

"Of course. Can't get the next scoop if we die on this one."

Great. Now I can't even tell if she's joking or serious. Probably both.

Inoue and I run towards the fire.

It wasn't that far away. A few blocks, maybe.

We go through narrow streets and back alleys. I keep my speed low enough that Inoue can comfortably keep up.

In the corner of my eye, I spot a flash of something high above me. With the eyesight I now had, I could see it, even if it was far away.

A bird, with a trailing line of luminous green behind it.

On reflex, I duck down. "Keep your head down," I hiss to Inoue. "There's eyes in the sky."

"You mean–"

"And put this on." I untie the tartan green jacket I had that was always around my waist, and, in a smooth motion, slip around behind Inoue and drape it on her shoulders. Between the dark colour of the jacket and her black cap, she would hopefully be less noticeable.

"Got it." There was a faint blush on her cheeks.

We step out onto a main road. The air takes on a strange tinge, and I immediately duck backwards. Inoue collides into my back, and gives a small yelp.

"Sorry," I mutter. "But there's something wrong."

"More than how that building is on fire? And how there's at least one scouting familiar flying around?" There was a hint of nervousness in Inoue's tone.

"There's some sort of barrier, or something. Like–"

"Like the City of Stone, or all those strange back alleys?"

"Exactly."

Gotta love how my girlfriend thinks fast. She was already taking pictures, trying her best with the limited angles we could get from cover.

And then, there was a shout–a loud male voice. "Get down! They're here!"

I remembered where I had heard it from–the owner of the late-night ramen stand where I had bumped into Shizuru.

So, the dudes there were all superhumans, huh?

Black dogs had appeared on the street, and he was swinging around an impressive-looking axe. It was nothing like the ones firefighters used, but a giant, double-headed armament.

"This is a diversion!" He was shouting. "Get to finding the person that caused this!"

I look back at Inoue. "Probably a good time to leave."

"Agreed." Inoue had a fierce look in her eyes.

We double back the way we came, take a turn we didn't take before to throw any pursuers off the scent–and immediately run into a hound.

I cut it down without hesitation.

And another hound.

I cut it down as well.

Both of them dissolved into dust, before they even had a chance to respond.

That was how it should be. Long, drawn-out battles did not belong in real life.

I glance at my left hand, the short red claw. In truth, just the green one would probably have worked, but I needed to gain familiarity with using both hands at once.

As for the other techniques…let's just hope I wouldn't have to resort to them.

The alley opens into a side road–and I immediately bump into a person.

Messy golden hair. Crazed purple eyes.

And a red robe, the robe of a Gaian summoner.

"Oh? A stray cat?"

His voice drips with malice, and his gaze was predatory. It flicked from my claw, to my face, and then, to the person behind me.

"No. A hunter. And hunter and his pet. Looks like my lucky day!"

I think back to what Tanuma had said about summoners. About the type of people that were drawn to summoning.

And I don't even wait for the bad feeling to settle in my heart. I wasn't going to, not with Inoue behind me.

He who strikes first wins!

"You bitch!" The summoner curses at me, but I was already dragging Inoue and running away, on a small road leading downhill.

"What–"

"Just run!" I tell Inoue. It had been a shallow slash, more to distract than to kill, but I had still attacked another person without actually being attacked first.

I really hoped I wasn't turning into some kind of nutcase.

A voice carries from behind me. "Looks like the hunters in this country aren't so useless after all! Attack!"

Quick glances to the side, and–

Visual information fills my brain.

Two hounds.

One major, larger, red, on my right.

One minor, smaller, black, on my left.

"Simple but effective use of power–"

"I've always liked that sort of character."

I take a sharp turn, swinging Inoue around, guiding her to a nook, a doorfront. With that angular momentum, I pivot on my feet.

Green on my right, and crimson on my left.

I imitate and adapt.

I steal the maneuver of someone else.

A low charge, with one attack at knee level, and one attack high.

I cut through the underside of the smaller hound, and tear through the side of the larger.

Always confirm a kill. Familiars that haven't dissipated are still a threat.

I pivot on my feet once more, and perform the maneuver once more.

The smaller hound vanishes, but it takes one more strike from my Aurora claw to finish off the larger.

And then–

An angry, deranged roar reaches my ears.

"Fuego! Burn them both!"

I take in the blonde summoner standing uphill, flames dancing around him–

And fire, tongues of flame rushing towards me.

Rushing towards me, and Inoue behind me.

I flatten myself against her, press her against the wall to shield her with my body.

Time slows to a halt.

But the fire doesn't reach me.

On the edge of my senses, I feel a strange presence. Something familiar.

And with that, the faintest trace of the smell of wood. Of trees.

The Key?

No. How the Key felt was burned into my memory. This was similar, but…not?

"-!" Inoue let out a tiny gasp, right into my ear from my face right beside hers.

A gentle breeze ruffles my hair.

"What!?" The summoner gave a cry of surprise, and then returns to rage. "Fuego–!"

"He's here! We found him!"

"Tch!"

There was the sound of an explosion, and I hurriedly dissipate my claws as some people rush onto the road, running past me to pursue the summoner.

After counting to ten, I release myself from pressing against Inoue.

"Well." Inoue's face was flushed. "That was something."

"We'd better get out of here before anyone starts questioning us. Also, hide your camera." I speak common sense and look around. The commotion seemed to have moved past us.

"Don't need to tell me twice." The offending item disappears into her bag. She shyly takes my hand. "Should we go, then?"

"Yeah. Remember, if anyone asks–"

"We don't know anything. Don't worry, I've played the game before."

"Forgive me for my presumption, o veteran reporter."

We emerge into the main road, and start walking along it. It was all peaceful, with no sign a supernatural battle had occurred nearby. "Want to grab a drink?" I point my thumb towards a nearby convenience store.

"Good idea."

We enter the most brightly-lit area, and immediately spot a familiar face.

The face of a superhuman who named their attacks, one of which I had stolen and used minutes ago. A wolf's claw, now made for someone who actually used claws.

"Shinsaibashi-san." Inoue sounded less than pleased.

"Charo!" Shinsaibashi puts the issue of Comp Ace that she had been browsing back on its rack, and turns to greet us cheerfully. "Inoue-senpai, Tennouji-senpai. On a date?"

"Yeah," I say neutrally. By my side, I felt Inoue draw closer to me, and I put my arm around her waist protectively. "What are you doing here, Hitomi-san?"

I keep my voice as casual as possible, but some of the tension I was feeling still leaked out.

"Nothing much. I saw that one of my magazines had a new issue out, and got distracted." Her guileless brown eyes meet my own amber pair, and she sighs. "Not getting out of this one, huh?" She heads towards the fridge. "I'll buy you both a drink. My treat. What'll you have?"

"I'll pass, thank you," Inoue says, but I take her up on her offer.

"Oolong tea. Cold."

"Right, right."

She buys herself some strawberry milk and fried chicken, and then the three of us head outside.

"How much do you know, or have guessed?"

I catch the chilled bottle that she tosses me. The cap was sealed.

"You know," Inoue murmurs from beside me, "it might be poisoned."

"Even though this is brand-new and unopened?" I look back at Shinsaibashi, who was munching away. "Theoretically speaking," I say casually, "there's no way to slip chemicals through a sealed plastic bottle, right?"

She swallows, and then speaks. "There are more things in heaven and earth than you can dream of, Tennouji-senpai." Her words eerily echo Tanuma's. "There's a few people I've seen who might possibly be able to do what you're suspecting, but I'm not one of them."

"But you are one of them, aren't you?" Inoue says from beside me, before I could stop her. "A superhuman."

And there it was, out in the open, with the option of pretending that Inoue was ignorant now closed to us.

"If you know that word, that means you know that Tennouji-senpai is one as well, right?"

Inoue nods. "He protected me in the forest, against…"

"No need to say more. I can guess what both of you faced." The paper wrapping of the now-finished fried chicken gets crumpled into a ball in her hand, and she sighs again. "Man," she said, more to herself than to us, "every time it comes to this, it always gets me down."

Neither Inoue nor I comment.

"Right." Shinsaibashi turns to face us. "I'll tell you what I can."

"Oh?" Inoue's eyes light up.

"But you know, the standard anonymity thing." The superhuman unscrews the cap on her small milk carton, took a long drink, and gazed out onto the street. The streetlamp above her and the light of the storefront behind her cast a fan of shadows on the ground.

"Long story short," she began, "everything I said back after I met you both at the library is true, except that by 'conservation work', I meant…"

"Hunting down familiars and killing them," I say.

"Yeah, that." She sips more milk, then brightens up again. "Actually, now that I think about it, that's basically it. All the other parts, about me being on scholarship and moving around–that's true, you know?"

"How long have you been doing this, Shinsaibashi-san?" Inoue questions.

"Oh, I started like halfway through elementary school." She waves a hand. "Probably a good thing. I was never good at sitting still. Or following instructions." A small smile surfaces on her face. "I'm still not good at following instructions, it seems."

"Halfway through elementary, huh?" I muse. "That's young. I–"

And my thoughts blank out. I? I what? What was I going to say?

Inoue elbows me. "Stop being a drooling idiot, Kotarou. I'm seriously going to drag you to a doctor at this rate."

Shinsaibashi had a thoughtful look on her face, which then was washed away by a chuckle. "I like you. Seeing the both of you, I mean. It gives me a warm feeling inside, and makes me want to protect you both."

Her words sounded earnest. Honest.

"Don't patronize us, Shinsaibashi." Inoue says, her tone cold.

But it did make me wonder, sometimes. Was the cheerfulness all an act? Our junior already had much experience living a double life, after all.

"Well…" Shinsaibashi turns away from us, "when I had to leave school, I had to give up on my first love." Her tone was slightly forlorn. "That's why I like seeing it in others."

I tried to make sure my expression stayed neutral. Technically speaking, Inoue wasn't my first love, after all.

My eyes flick to the one beside me. What about Inoue? I had never asked. I probably should, later.

The superhuman turns back towards us. "You know, I love heroes. I love defeating monsters. But most of all, I love happy endings." A radiant smile was back on her face. "That's why I do what I do."

I frown. Was that also a lie? No, it didn't seem so.

But what about carefully revealed truths?

"I see." Inoue nods neutrally. Her mind seemed to be hard at work. "How was it? Your first love?"

"That's what you're curious about?" Shinsaibashi seemed slightly surprised, but takes it in stride. "Well, it didn't go very far, since I only admired them from a distance. Sometimes you need to be realistic, y'know?"

Inoue snorts. "With how good-looking and cheerful you are? You tell me that isn't enough to let you win over any boy you wanted?"

The superhuman gives a small smile. "Oh, I have no interest in boys." Her hand dips under her green jacket, into the pocket of her jeans, and she flips open her phone. "Sure would be easier if I did, but then again, who knows?" She looks at the both of us again. "Okay, gotta go before it gets too late. We can talk more in school, senpais!"

With that, she runs off.

I breathe a sigh of relief. I didn't know how much more I could take for the night.

"Oh, one last thing!"

"Bwah!"

Shinsaibashi chuckles at my shock, and then her face becomes a little more serious. "If you ever bump into something that looks like a human, but doesn't feel like one, just run away immediately, okay? Mon–no, apparitions of that kind are the most dangerous. Please please please trust me on this." She takes off once more. "And you both can call me Hitomi!" she yells over her shoulders. "See on on Monday!"

I blink several times after she leaves–Hitomi still had that effect–then turn to Inoue, whom I saw had several conflicting emotions on her face. "Inoue? You okay?"

"I'm fine." She looks at me. "Say, do you mind if we meet again tomorrow? I could come over to your house in the afternoon?"

"Why not?" It wasn't as if I had anything planned. "But what are we going to do?"

"Did you just forget what we had talked about before this whole mess interrupted us, Mister Ashen Boy?"

"Oh, right," I deadpan. "You were going to, with your grubby reporter's fingers, go through the stuff of the eminent folks who gave me life, in order to dig up more juicy details about my past."

"Exactly right. You're reading my mind." Inoue's tone was cheerful. "To be honest," she said, and here her voice lowered slightly, "I would prefer to just go to your house now, and spend some time alone with you, but…"

"It's getting kind of late." I nod. On an impulse, I reach out and ruffle her bronze hair, which was actually quite nice to touch.

She blushes slightly, and brushes up closer to me. "What is it, Kotarou?"

"I was thinking that I'd like some time alone with you as well." I speak my honest thoughts. "But I'm going to do the gentlemanly thing and walk you back to your house now. You know, seeing that there are monsters on the loose."

The sensation of her hair made me remember our time in the forest. Her waking up with her head on my chest. The soft sound of her breathing.

Her confession.

If I had been uncertain then, I wasn't uncertain any longer.

I really was in love with this girl.

And I was going to do my best to support her. To protect her, and find the truth.

~~[r]~~

The next day.

I was almost done cooking lunch for the both of us. Simple beef bowls, a quick and easy recipe.

Yesterday had given me a lot to think about. The past few days, which all always seemed to have something happening.

Hitomi had given us a warning. Something that looked like a human, but didn't feel like one.

It was obvious what she was referring to. Too obvious.

Just how much did she know?

I grit my teeth. The instinctive negative reflex I had to it was slowly subsiding, but it was still there.

One side wanted to capture it to preserve it. And the other, to kill it–

To kill it?

That was obvious, right? If one side wants to protect, the other side would want to attack.

But–

It didn't feel like a conclusion I came to using reason.

It felt more like remembering a solution to a previously solved problem.

And there was the sound of the doorbell, right on time.

I put down my spatula and turn off the heat of the frying pan.

Whatever it was, Inoue would be sure to get to the bottom of it.

Chapter's once again split into two parts due to length.

Kotarou rewrote himself to be a bit smarter, but that doesn't mean he's suddenly magically infallible. Intelligent people can still make mistakes and poor decisions, after all.

Thanks for waiting.

Review please!