Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Six: Bug on the Windshield
Beta:
At the 177th Branch office of Judgement, Ruiko, Misaka-sempai, and the branch's Judgement staff were sitting on the couches, talking about their missing friend, Naru.
"Namikaze-san has been acting most worrisomely as of late." Shirai-san mentioned as she sharpened her nail projectiles with a file. "Kongou-san came to me over the matter. That was how worried she was. And we are by no means close."
Misaka-sempai nodded. "I offered to take her out to eat, just to test the waters. She outright ditched me. The Usagi's up to something."
"That's how you figured it out?" Shirai-san asked her roommate dully.
Their Sempai flustered. "Don't knock my methods, Kuroko!"
"Honestly Onee-sama, you really need to use more tact." Misaka-sama said defensively.
"The fact of the matter is that Namikaze-san has been spotted in The Strange." Uiharu frowned as she sipped her tea. "She's sent quite a few of the Skill-Outs there to the hospital too."
Hmm… Ruiko mused to herself as she tapped into the internet wirelessly with a little application of Electromastery and began doing some research on what Namikaze-san was doing. She already had an idea, but she needed to check a few things before she shared her conclusions.
[Railgun]-sempai wasn't that patient though.
"Geez!" Misaka-sempai screamed, rubbing her hair furiously as sparks danced along her forehead. She pulled out her phone and started dialing. "I'm getting to the bottom of this, she better answer truthfully or I swear I'll do something drastic!"
"There isn't much you can do to force her to tell you her motives." Ruiko said, being the voice of reason. Namikaze-san was a wild card to begin with after all.
"I don't care, Saten! This cool lone wolf garbage needs to end. She's got friends for a reason." Her Sempai glared at her, and the Number 3 replied with a small nod.
I'm so going to throw that back in her face the next time she decides to play the lone wolf.
That said, what Misaka-sempai had said was true. After the Level Upper incident, they were closer now. Close enough that they should be coming to each other for help and not running off to settle things on their own. At least Ruiko thought so.
Though Namikaze-san still felt...distant in a way.
"Pick up, you damn Chibi." Her Sempai muttered in annoyance as she tapped her foot furiously. Her eyes lit up as the call connected.
"Finally! Where have you been?"
She demanded before removing the phone from her ear and turning on the speaker function.
"Hello to you too, Sempai."
You could just hear the eye roll in her words.
"Whatever you're up to, you're letting us help you."
"...Has Shirai-chan drugged you, Sempai?"
"NO!" "Sadly no." The roommates replied.
"How sad, you could use the stress relief with how wound up you sound."
"I keep telling her that, but Onee-sama keeps telling me 'no'." Shirai-san sounded tearful at that.
"Urasai, Kuroko!" The [Railgun] scolded her roommate and glared at her phone, as if Namikaze-san was in her palm. "And don't change the topic."
"You really are annoying, you know that? Get off that white horse of yours. I'm not Saten-chan, I don't need saving from myself."
Ruiko cocked an eyebrow at that. "I didn't need saving either, Namikaze-san. I nevertheless appreciated it when my friends, yourself included, stepped in to try to help me."
"Yeah, well, I don't need it."
"Stop acting like some action heroine, this isn't a game!"
"Pot meet kettle."
Point for Namikaze-san. Again.
"I'm going to rip those ears right off!" Misaka-sempai shouted into the phone.
"Enough both of you." Konori-sempai cut in, taking the phone from the Level 5. "Misaka-san, stop letting Namikaze-san rile you up. Namikaze-san, stop trying to redirect the conversation with your teasing."
The Number 5 just gave a chastised nod.
"Spoilsport." Namikaze-san whined.
"Namikaze-san, where are you and what are you doing?" Konori-sempai asked carefully.
"Hm hm, might as well let Judgement know what I'm up to. I'm going to pretty much squash Big Spider. So I'm doing your job. You think I'll get paid for it?"
She sounded highly casual over the matter. As expected from the top agent of the Superintendent.
Konori-sempai tightened her hold over the phone, looking troubled. "Namikaze-san, please don't do anything rash."
"Too late, I'm angry. And I can be very unpleasant when I am. Bye-bye!"
"Oi! Don't you hang-!"
Namikaze-san ended the call.
"...up. That girl-!" Misaka-sempai swore under her breath as she took her phone back from Konori-sempai. She looked right at Ruiko with her hands on her hips. "Well?"
"Hm?"
"You know what's she up to right?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been setting yourself up as an info broker, aren't you?" Konori-sempai revealed. "So what do you know?"
"...Does everyone know?" Ruiko frowned, looking around the room.
"Judgement isn't blind or deaf, Saten-san." Uiharu lectured her with a finger in the air.
"Oh." Ruiko said in a, in her opinion, believable way.
The way everyone rolled their eyes told her otherwise. What? I'm an info broker, did they think I wouldn't pick up on Judgement noticing my activities? I'd be quite a lousy one if I did.
"Just answer the question." Misaka-sempai demanded in exasperation.
"Give me a minute, I just linked up."
"I still find that weird." Her fellow Level 5 muttered.
"Noted." Ruiko said robotically and blinked a few times. "She's looking for someone. Male. Asian, specifically Japanese. Tall. Redhead. Distinctive markers: a large Spider Tattoo on his back." Her voice lost her mechanical quality as she finished reading from the Anti-Skill report. "From what I can tell based on matching that description to profiles in my database, the man she's looking for is-"
"Kurozuma Wataru." Konori-sempai interrupted her, worry reverberating in her voice as she paled.
"Who?"
A few hours after her call with her friends, Naru was waiting in one of the many abandoned buildings in The Strange. The place had been gutted and from her spot sticking to the ceiling with her chakra, she could see practically everything that happened within the hollowed out shell of a structure.
She had been waiting for some time now for her prey.
Instead of fruitlessly tracking down a vagabond like that Kurozuma guy, she'd decided to lure him in. So she'd beat up some of the low-level Skill-Outs that were everywhere in this part of town and told them to pass on the message that they needed to stay away from this particular building because it was Big Spider's latest hideout and she wanted some alone time with the gang.
What they thought of that was up to them.
What she did care about was the fact that they would pass on that tidbit of information to their buddies which would allow it to reach Kurozuma's ears. Since he was apparently also hunting down Big Spider for some reason, he'd show up eventually to check the place out.
And then Naru could ask him some questions.
Finally. The Level 5 mused victoriously as a man matching the description she had dredged up walked into the building. He was a tall and muscular man with wavy red hair, green eyes, and sported a black leather jacket.
He was strolling around the place, casually drinking from a carton of milk as he did so.
Naru decided it was time to greet him.
Releasing her chakra's grip on the ceiling, she fell to the ground, flipping mid-air she reshaped her chakra in her feet to ensure that she landed silently.
"Kurozuma Wataru?" She asked sternly.
"Hm?" He asked, turning around as he sipped his drink of choice. He swallowed and let the carton fall to his side. "Oi oi, Jou-chan, this ain't a place for little kids. You should be at the park or something."
He said all of this with an infectious smile. Despite being once the leader of a notorious Skill-Out gang, he had a surprisingly warm and gentle nature about him.
The blonde gave him a dry look. "Funny. Listen, Kurozuma, I need to track down Big Spider."
"Why?" The former gang leader asked in his disarming way, but Naru spotted how he tensed slightly.
"They've been causing me some trouble lately and it's about time that I reminded them what it means to upset a Level 5."
"That sounds bad." He said, taking another sip of his milk, completely ignoring Naru's revelation of just what he was dealing with.
"Very. So I'd like to recruit you to help me know how Big Spider thinks." Naru offered.
Normally, the Number 2 had a huge amount of resources at her disposal if she was doing a job. Sadly, this was an off the books matter. So she had to do her own legwork this time.
Well, screw that. I'm getting myself a flunkie.
"And what do I get if I help?"
"You get to live." Naru crossed her arms impatiently.
Kurozuma stroked his chin. "I do like living."
"So you in or what?"
The redhead nodded and said. "Only if we can do a milk run first."
"A milk run or an actual milk run?" Naru asked even as she eyed the strange man suspiciously.
With his same unflappable attitude that he had maintained so far, he turned over his now empty carton.
"When it comes to milk. It's gotta be Musashino! We can get you some too, makes little girls grow big." He said, pointing at her developing chest.
Naru just blinked in confusion, He just talked about my breasts and I'm not offended. It was like he wasn't being perverted at all. That's weird.
I think this whole conversation is kinda absurd.
But two can play at that game. Kurama, I choose you!
"What?" The now poodle sized, and adorable looking demon squawked in surprise as he materialised in the outside world. "Dammit! How many times have I told you to not do this without telling me?"
Kurozuma dropped his empty carton. "What is that puffball?"
"I will suck the marrow from your bones!"
"He's what's going to get your milk while we start our investigation." Naru informed him.
Kurama gave her a hateful glare."If I'm doing this, I'm getting my Midnight Mocha Ultimate Frappé from Dairy Queen."
"Whatever."
Kurama stretched one of his nine tails in her direction. "Card?"
The blonde pulled out her wallet and gave him a shiny plastic card.
"The debit?!"
"Like hell I'm giving you the credit."
"Lack of trust! The things I work with, I should go on strike." The demon grumbled, walking off in a huff.
"Just don't burn the place down again!"
"That was only the one time!" The fox grumbled, disappearing from sight a moment later.
"So did you teleport him in or something?"
"None of your business." Naru said as she shot him a chilling glare in warning.
Placing his hands up in a placating gesture, he nodded. "Gotcha. Don't ask questions about your weird furry stuff."
"Glad you got that." Naru said as he sent him a menacing smile. "Now about my questions?"
"Yeah, let's set a pace. Best not to be stationary around this area." The Skill-Out said, gesturing to the exit. "Your little pet fox can track us, right?"
Naru nodded, and the two of them strolled off together.
"So what can you tell me about Big Spider?" The Esper asked.
"As it is now? Not much, I've been out of the loop for too long. I can tell you how they'd think, but that's hard to put into words."
"Hm, you're losing points fast."
"How about I show you instead? Like where they might be hiding out and stuff?"
"Congrats, you earned five live points." She said in a chipper tone.
"Yay!" Kurozuma said with a smile, playing along with Naru's little game.
"As good as that is, you really can't tell me anything?" The Level 5 pressed. She wasn't convinced that the man really had nothing to tell her about her target.
"Well," The redhead said consideringly. "You heard about the shinobi dudes that's been working with the gang lately?"
"A shinobi is actively working with Big Spider?" The blonde hissed.
"Yeah, which is new. The ninja cosplayers have had dealings with Skill-Out groups for ages." Naru nodded and gestured for him to continue. "But they usually just operate as suppliers for weapons, drugs and whatever. They seem to be literally able to get anything!"
"Because they're little rats eating scraps off my plate." Naru said angrily, fuming over the idea of a bunch of cheap knock-offs of herself running around doing who knows what.
"Maybe. But probably not just yours, unless you have an entire arsenal of guns hidden somewhere."
The blue eyed girl looked coy, tracing a finger across her lips. "A Lady's gotta keep her secrets."
"Yeah. Yeah. I get it. Don't ask questions."
"Not what I meant, but you've got yourself another two live points." Naru said with a sigh. "Anything else you know about these shinobi?"
"Of course." Kurozuma said with confidence. "Loads."
"Loads...? Like?" Naru narrowed her gaze, smiling darkly. "Impress me."
"..Like how they sometimes recruit from the Skill-Out groups. I never really liked that," The former gang leader admitted. "Not with how those who join are never heard from again."
"You sound like you don't like them much."
"Why would I? They're far too shady for my tastes. Useful bunch, but way too secretive."
"Twenty bonus intelligence points!" Naru declared cheerfully.
"Thanks." Kurozuma replied with a smile. "But as much as I hate to admit it, having the shinobi working with them is going to make tracking down the gang a lot harder."
Naru sighed as she realized the same thing.
"Cat and mouse." She concluded. "With a shinobi advising them, this Big Spider Hunt just became a game of Cat and Mouse. He'll make sure to get them to keep moving and not hole up in any one place."
Kurozuma punched his fist into his free palm. "That just means we need to track down and search each and every base one at a time. Easy."
"I'm going to have to do the legwork, aren't I?"
"You've got the powers, I've got the directions, Jou-chan. Take it as you will." The man shrugged.
"Minus ten live points."
"Oi!"
"This is the seventh one and once again, nothing." The young blonde Esper kicked a beer can that laid on the floor. It flew into a nearby wall, embedding into the concrete wall in the process. It was however one can among many, dozens of others littered the floor along with fast food wrappers and other trash. "I feel like we're being taunted."
"Getting frustrated already, Jou-chan?"
Naru's sharp blue eyes cut to Kurozuma. "I just want this mess over with. Get my equipment back and collect that Shinobi's head. Also, minus another live point for you."
"You should be happier. It just means they've got less places to hide since we're knocking this one off the list." The red haired Skill-Out grinned and casually brushed off his current right to live score.
After the first three failed locations, he had started to ignore it entirely.
Honestly, where was the fear for a Level 5?
What a weird guy.
"Fiiine." Naru whined and conceded. "I'm just saying-"
She paused, her senses suddenly spiked and she went on full alert. Seeing her tense, Kurozuma also glanced around while his fists tightened in preparation for a fight.
"That sixth sense of yours is as sharp as always, Namikaze-san."
And like a balloon, Naru's tension deflated as she recognised the voice. "It's fine, Kurozuma. It's just Saten-chan, trying to stick her nose into my business!"
At her complaint, Saten peeked around the corner with a tiny frown on her lips.
"I came by to help."
Naru put her hands on her hips. "Well I don't need it. I have a minion for that."
Kurozuma blinked and pointed to himself. "I went from Tour Guide to Minion?"
"Hush minion, the little girls are talking."
"Okay, just going to go over there and contemplate some life choices." The man said as he mosied a distance away.
"Kurozuma Wataru?" Saten raised a brow and Naru nodded. "Figured. Still, I'm serious about helping you. I know you're cut off from your usual resources."
"What do you not know?" The blonde said with a derisive eye-roll. "I can handle working off the grid ops just fine."
"Perhaps." Saten acknowledged. "But you could surely use the help. It's not just me offering either. I speak for Uiharu, Shirai-san, Misaka-sempai and even Konori-sempai."
Kurozuma perked up at the mention of Konori-san's name for some reason.
Naru's interest was piqued and she'd definitely ask him about it later, but right now she had a worrywart of a friend - was Saten her friend? - to send packing.
The blonde rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Look, I'm flattered by the offer, but this is something I have to do on my own."
Saten pointed to Kurozuma.
"I'm being figurative! Plus he's my minion. He doesn't count."
[Multi-Skill] frowned but nevertheless nodded.
"If you're sure?"
"Yeah, just go distract Sempai and the others. You know how nosy they can be." Naru said, waving her off. "Make fun of her shorts or something, that'll get Shirai-chan to join in and keep her annoyed."
"...You know how these things would play out too well."
Naru grinned impishly. "I just know how people tick."
Saten left in a overly flamboyant way, teleporting away while leaving a spatial distortion behind in her wake.
Ok. She's definitely not happy with me. Naru noted. She only ever shows off like that when she's upset.
The Number 3 was such a child.
"Looks like you've got a nice little home to go back to, why are you slumming it here?" Kurozuma asked as he walked over to her with his hands in his pockets.
Naru regarded him with a bizarre look. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean."
"We've got a job to do." The Number 2 looked away from him, refusing to acknowledge what he had said. Instead, she turned to head out of the building. "Hustle."
"Whatever my 'Master' says, this lowly Minion will obey." The man said, his voice filled with mirth. The jerk even chuckled a little.
"Wow, it's creepy how into it you are."
"...You're a real mouthy brat, Jou-chan."
"If we find another empty building with nothing but shitty beer cans and wrappers, I'm making you do community service and clean it up." Naru told Kurozuma as they walked side by side towards the next potential Big Spider base.
The man held up his arms in protest. "I'm not a janitor. Don't tell me you're demoting me already?"
"Depends on my mood."
"Can you be any harsher? Wait! Don't answer that."
Naru pouted, she was indeed going to answer that. "Let's just scan it quickly and move on to the next one- Well, looks like we might have a live one."
Unlike the other rundown buildings they had investigated so far, this one was not empty. Skulking around the shadows of the gutted structure, probably a former warehouse from the looks of it, was a young woman in a eye catching red jacket.
"Konori-san?" Naru asked in surprise as she recognized the figure. "What's with running into people today?!"
The curvy Judgement member looked startled. "Namikaze-san? Sempai!"
At her gasp, the man flashed her a smile. "Yo, Mii."
"What are you doing here, Konori-san?" Naru asked suspiciously, as she shot a look between the older girl and her former gang leader of a lackey. "Trying to settle old scores with your old gang?"
Konori winced.
"Mii." Kurozuma said in disappointed voice.
The high schooler looked away, unwilling to look the man in the eyes. She nevertheless chose to answer Naru's question.
"Yes, I used to part of Big Spider. So-"
"So you feel a sense of responsibility over what they're doing now?" Naru hypothesized.
The Judgement agent nodded.
Kurozuma looked ready to say something, but Naru beat him to the punch. "I know what you mean. The device they're using-"
"Capacity Down?"
Naru's eyebrow twitched.
"Saten-chan is such a tattletale!"
Konori gave a slight smile at Naru's show of childish pique.
"Anyways! As I was saying, I know how you feel. Capacity Down was developed as a byproduct of researching my powers. So I feel like I have to settle this, you know?"
"I can imagine." Konori agreed with an understanding expression on her face.
"Mii, what are you doing?" Kurozuma said, finally getting a chance to cut into the conversation.
"Why do ask, Sempai?" Konori looked at Kurozuma. "Besides, shouldn't I go first?" The high schooler's face took on a odd look as she continued. "Why didn't you contact me if you were alive?"
The hurt in her voice was visible, but Kurozuma shrugged. "Who knows. That's besides the point, anyways. Mii, you do know that Big Spider and The Strange isn't your home, right? A girl like you shouldn't be here all by yourself." He chided her, flustering the bespectacled girl.
"That might be true." Konori conceded and rubbed her arm self-consciously. "But, I still have feelings for you, Sempai."
"So you're just going to up and toss away your new home and friends over a crush? Come on, Mii. You're better than that." Kurozuma smirked at her as she flinched at his words.
"...It's like a cheesy drama." Naru muttered as she watched the scene unfold. If only she had some popcorn. "Also, Shirai-chan and Uiharu-chan would be upset if you left. Who'd be their favorite Judgement Sempai otherwise?"
Konori looked at Kurozuma for some form of support, but he just gestured to the younger Esper. "You really want to leave this hellion alone? The others too?"
"Oi!"
Konori looked down, a sad smile on her face. "Why are you so good at talking to people like this, Sempai?"
Kurozuma laughed and walked over to her, ruffling her hair. "Natural talent!"
Konori laughed at that and playfully shoved him away. "You are such a ham."
The redhead held his chest in mock pain. "Hurtful! You're about as mouthy as this brat here!"
Naru pouted at this. She was far more mouthy thank you very much!
No denying that.
The older girl just shot Naru and the man an amused smile for a moment before taking a deep breath. As she exhaled, her entire posture changed. Gone was the hesitation that she had been displaying until now, in its stead was an aura of determination.
"Alright, I'm ending this. As a proud member of Judgement!" She declared as she whipped out her phone. "And Judgement never works alone. It's time to call for backup."
Naru groaned even as the older girl spoke to Shirai-san over the phone. "That means Sempai's getting involved. Great. I'm going to be blamed for her collateral damage for sure!"
Konori giggled at that, as she ended her call and put away her phone. "Look on the bright side, Namikaze-san. Saten-san will likely tag along too, so at least we won't have to go on a wild goose chase."
"I just can't seem to get rid of those girls. Fine! Whatever. They can help." Naru said with a tired sigh as she dismissed her annoyance. "They just better not get in my way."
Kurozuma laughed and looked the blonde in the eye. "You've got a good thing going on here, Jou-chan. Don't go dissing your friends like that."
"Shut up or I'm subtracting ten live points!" Naru yelled at him, her pigtails in a tizzy as she huffed. Maybe he's actually right.
What's the harm in taking a chance?
I only like taking chances if they're in my favor.
It didn't take long for the rest of the gang to arrive. It helped when both Shirai and Saten could teleport. They had simply teleported in with Misaka-sempai in tow. Thankfully, they hadn't brought Uiharu along. That girl had unseen strengths but she most definitely wasn't suited for The Strange. The tech wiz was however communicating with them via video chat.
"How homely." Shirai commented while blanching at their temporary base of operations. The same abandoned warehouse that Naru had run into Konori-san, though now equipped with a handful of chairs that Saten had conjured using Dark Matter.
Even as the others settled in, Misaka-sempai marched right up to the blonde and glared down at her.
"Yes?"
The older girl simply conked her on the head.
"Hey!" Naru complained, rubbing her head in annoyance.
"That's for acting like an idiot." Her Sempai said in way of explanation as she winced and rubbed her fist.
"Says the short tempered idiot herself!"
"Girls, please?" Konori cajoled them as she sat down in one of the chairs.
"Hmph!" The two girls grunted, looking away from each other with crossed arms.
"Onee-sama." Shirai rubbed her face in embarrassment while Saten looked amused at their little spat.
"Let's go over what we know." Saten said, in a bid to take charge.
"Before that." Shirai said with a serious look on her face. "There's something we need to do."
An instant later, Konori's Judgement armband materialised around her right arm.
"There." The Teleporter declared proudly. "Now Konori-sempai is dressed as she should be."
The high schooler blinked a few times in surprise but quickly overcame that.
"Thank you, Shirai-san." Konori said sincerely as she shot a glance at Kurozuma who gave her an encouraging smile.
"Right, enough with the distractions." Naru cut in impatiently. "Let's get started already." Without giving anyone the chance to object, she continued. "So first of all, we know that a Shinobi is helping Big Spider hide between their attacks. Which is what makes them so hard to find."
"It's actually not that difficult." Uiharu commented from Saten's phone. "No matter what Big Spider is doing it's still a street gang, they aren't that sophisticated. Or known for their discretion."
"So?"
"So, Jou-chan, what flower girl is saying is that with the authorities and people like us hunting them down, they've been acting up. They want to show they're unafraid and to gain some street cred. And when they do act up, they leave behind trails which people can follow."
Naru's eyebrow twitched as she turned to eye her minion. "And why haven't we been following these trails earlier then?"
"You have some way to track their attacks?" The Skill-Out shot back. "What we did was the best plan based on the resources we had."
"Thankfully, I'm not so limited." Uiharu boasted, even as she shot Saten a look.
Probably because your best friend gave you something extra!
Proving Naru's assumption, Saten continued from where Uiharu left off.
"Using the data on Big Spider's recent attacks, their known hideouts and a little tracking of their movements using the City's surveillance systems, we've located their current base."
Konori blinked at this. "And nobody told me?"
"Your phone was off." Misaka-sempai pointed out. "It's not like we didn't try."
"Right." The senior Jugement agent said with a blush.
"Enough talk!" Naru demanded. "We know where the jerks are, let's go bust some heads!"
Everyone smirked at the blonde's enthusiasm, all of them had a bone to pick with Big Spider.
"One last thing before we do that. Namikaze-san, I have something to tell you," Saten said with a forebodingly serious expression. "The only reason the Shinobi were able to get access to your lab was because they had help. Help from a Kihara."
Hearing this news, Naru's eyes narrowed. "Of course it would be one of those twisted fuckers."
"Kihara?" Misaka-sempai looked confused about how serious both her kohai had suddenly become.
"A smart but crazy group of scientists. That's all you need to know, Sempai." Naru said, not wanting to let her know the details of their depravity.
"You know what this means. If they're involved, this just got a whole lot more dangerous."
"Duh." Naru told Saten as she considered which freakshow would help the Shinobi.
In the end, it didn't matter.
The agent of Aleister would figure it out some other time. She had more pressing issues to deal with.
"It doesn't change anything. We have their location, so it's time to strike back." Naru declared as she stood up.
"And the plan?" Her Sempai asked her.
"Recover or destroy Capacity Down, take down Big Spider, and pin Pajama Man's hide to my wall."
"L-Let's make a more concrete plan!" Uiharu urged over the video feed.
The blonde groaned, this was why she preferred solo work.
As the group walked towards the location of Big Spider's latest base, Wataru let out a laugh. "Man this is weird."
"What is, Sempai?" Mii asked with a quirked brow.
"We're walking to a gang fight and I've got a bunch of little Jou-chans as backup." He looked over his shoulder and grinned broadly. "It's funny!"
"All we need are leather jackets and pompadour wigs." The imp that was his new 'boss' joked with that teasing smirk of hers.
"Oi oi, that's just stereotyping." Wataru waved off as they arrived at their destination. It was yet another rundown former warehouse, but from the sound of voices from inside, this place was clearly occupied. Though the presence of a goon guarding the door was sign enough of that.
"Just give me a minute." The former gang leader declared as he strolled up to the guard. Looking over his shoulder to make sure his request was respected, he spotted a number of the girls rolling their eyes or otherwise showing how little they thought of his act of kindness, but they listened anyway and that's what counted.
"Yo! Mind opening the door for me?" Wataru asked as he reached the man.
The guard was startled for a moment before he paled as he seemed to recognise him. He went for something in his pocket, but the redhead didn't give him the chance to fish whatever it was out. Sprinting forward, he delivered a fist right into the guy's face.
The thug was hit with such force that he slammed right into the locked door. It was either his weight, the force of the blow, the lousy state of the locking mechanism or some combination thereof but this snapped the lock and the door swung open and sent the goon falling to the floor inside the building. Wataru smirked at the sight and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets.
"Thanks!"
He stepped inside, dancing around the knocked out man as he did so.
"You shouldn't be sleeping on the job." He tauntingly told the unconscious gangster while shooting him a glance as he passed.
His scolding done, he looked up at the rest of the surprised gang.
This is what Big Spider is like nowadays? It's nothing like how it used to be. He inwardly sighed, Oh well. I guess, it's time to fix it.
"Kurozuma-san!" One of the thugs shouted, looking towards the gang's current boss who was sitting on a couch towards the back of the building. "It's that guy that beat us up!"
Wataru's eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at this 'Kurozuma'. His black hair was styled into a punch perm. There was a scar on his left cheek and he had the beginnings of a moustache on his upper lip.
The real Kurozuma felt a touch insulted at his name being taken by the likes of this man. He'd expected it of course, the older members he'd come across while tracking the gang down had told him as much. However, actually seeing it for himself left him feeling more offended than he thought he would have been.
"Kurozuma-san." 'Kurozuma' murmured in shock as he stood up.
"Hebitani-kun, you've lowered yourself to become quite the scumbag, huh?" Mii asked as she walked in and stood right next to him. "Relying on strength in numbers, not to mention weapons too? What a disgrace."
"Konori-san?!" Hebitani cried out in surprise, but that was quickly replaced by anger as he spotted Mii's armband. "Shut up! You turned your back on us and joined Judgement! What would you know!?"
"Hebitani, calm yourself." A cool and emotionless voice said.
Everyone's eyes shifted to a lanky man holed up in the far corner. He was wearing regular clothes but he wore a headband with a metal plate that had the kanji for 'Shinobi' engraved on it.
How tacky.
As the Shinobi announced himself, the little blonde Jou-chan walked forward, grinning wildly as bloodlust rolled off her in spades. "Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the fly. Hello little bugs. Who wants to be squished first?"
"Greetings, [Demon]." The shady bastard told the girl.
Lil' Namikaze pointed to the man. "He's mine. Got it?"
That Saten girl looked put out by this, but conceded with a nod.
Hebitani looked at his gang and barked out his order. "Go on! Show them the power of Big Spider!"
The majority of the thugs pointed their pistols at the ragtag group. As soon as they did, two nails warped into each of them, rendering them useless. The thugs looked startled by this as that lil' Judgement girl materialised in front of their group.
"Shall I start delivering them directly into your bodies next?" She asked politely while holding up a fistful of nails.
Hebitani paled, but despite his fear nevertheless managed a vicious smile. "It doesn't matter, we still have-"
"Have what?" The short haired Tokiwadai girl asked as she flipped a coin into the air. She flicked her thumb and a large blast of energy destroyed a nearby wall, and took out a purple car on the other side of it for good measure. At this, all the thugs started screaming in panic. "You mean that Capacity Down thing? You think we wouldn't be prepared for that?"
The blonde Jou-chan looked annoyed. "First off, it's my Capacity Down. Second, don't go destroying my stuff."
"It was in the way!"
"There's an off button, you Baka-sempai."
"You are so unbelievable!"
The banter between the girls seemed to send the already tightly wound Hebitani over the edge and he hysterically began issuing orders. "Get her! Get all of them!"
"Are you crazy? That's Tokiwadai's Ace! The [Railgun]!" One of the thugs cried out.
"And see that hairpin? That's [Multi-Skill]!"
"[Maniforce] too?! Oh god I don't want to die!"
"We're no match for one let alone three!"
They were all backing away from the Jou-chans until Hebitani put a gun to one of his boys' heads. "You don't back down! You either get them or I'll kill you."
The Shinobi looked to the side. "It seems this group was a wasted effort."
Wataru's lil' 'boss' snickered. "That's what you get for working with hasbeens, baka~!"
The other three Tokiwadai girls looked ready to rumble, but Mii looked at them. "Leave this to us. Respect your elders for once."
She winked at them, but Namikaze ignored her and proceeded to teleport right in front of the Shinobi in the blink of an eye.
She threw a punch at the man, the ninja barely dodging as he literally bounced from wall to wall as he sped up to the ceiling where he crouched down to look down at them all with a slightly contemptuous look.
Wataru thought that the man didn't really have any cause to look down on them though, not when he barely avoided losing his head to a little girl. After all, the blonde's punch managed to bring down half the wall in a loud boom. The man's head would never have survived taking a hit from that.
She didn't take time to gloat over her impressive showing however as without even taking a look at her handiwork, she teleported behind the man. As she materialized, her leg was already curled back and ready for a kick. She once more missed however as the Shinobi seemingly teleported away, replacing himself with a log of all things as he did so. Her blow tore through the wood like toilet paper and as it connected with the roof, the blow tore a good chunk of it away.
Rubble created from her latest attack struck the couch that Hebitani was once sitting on, barely missing the ninja as he reappeared on the ground. The man smirked and shot the blonde a cheeky wave before he darted out the hole she had made previously.
"You're not getting away!" The Number Two declared as she gave chase in a blur of movement.
"I think she's drank too much milk." Wataru whispered to Mii, who looked surprised at the force the girl could dole out with her limbs alone.
Cracking a smile at his comment, Mii chimed in. "If that were the case, she would be bigger."
"Point to you."
Well she's just as impressive as the rumors say she is. Wataru mused as he let out an awed whistle. But I can't let her get all the glory, can I?
"Whoo! Come on, put your hearts into it boys or it won't be a challenge!" He shouted as he leapt into a group of three of the stunned thugs and proceeded to take them all out with a single strike.
With one of the Level 5s now gone, it seemed the Spiders had gained some semblance of stupid courage and charged.
One came right at Wataru, swinging a metal pipe at him. Easily ducking under it, the redhead delivered a solid punch to his face that broke the man's teeth. He was sent flying into another oncoming thug, sending both to the ground with a thud. Getting into the thick of things, the Skill-Out bounced on his feet and delivered a kick into the gut of another thug. Another goon came at him, but he easily sidestepped the man, elbowing him in the back of the head as he did.
A thug went to grab something from his pocket, but Mii sprang into action, gripping his wrist tightly and twisting it, forcing him to drop the gun he was in the middle of drawing. She reached into his other pocket and pulled out a stun gun. "I'll be confiscating that pistol. As well as this stun gun."
She then added insult to injury and plugged the man's own stun gun into his neck, using it to knock the guy out.
Wataru was impressed. She had Clairvoyance this whole time? "So that's your ability, huh? Pretty awesome."
Mii smiled prettily at him. "Isn't it?"
Wataru looked at the remaining thugs. "Heh, now I'm fired up. Let's go, Mii!"
"Hai!"
While Kurozuma and Konori-sempai were busy beating the tar out of the Big Spider thugs, Mikoto and her two remaining kohai were left with the much less exciting task of policing those that the former had defeated.
This amounted to Kuroko and occasionally Saten teleporting the beat up thugs into a cage that [Multi-Skill] had conjured out of that strange grey not-metal that she was so fond of. Mikoto contributed by shocking the thugs into unconsciousness whenever they had somehow escaped that fate during the fight.
"Yo, Saten, you sure you're ok with your job?" Mikoto asked a little worried. "I mean it's kinda boring. You're basically not doing anything."
The Number 3 just shrugged. "I'm fine with it. I don't particularly like fighting, so I don't really mind."
"Onee-sama, here's another one." Kuroko announced as she teleported back with another groaning Skill-Out who Mikoto promptly sent into the realm of unconsciousness with a burst of electricity.
"Keep up the good work, Kuroko." The [Railgun] said encouragingly.
"Hai," The twin-tailed Teleporter replied cheerfully as she went back to her task.
Turning back to her fellow Level 5, Mikoto found the younger girl leaning against the bars of the cage with a relaxed look on her face.
"You're not worried? Not even with the Chibi fighting that Shinobi person?"
"What is there to be worried about?" The black haired girl replied with a careless shrug. "Uiharu has made sure that Anti-Skill is on their way and Namikaze-san can handle a single wannabe ninja. Everything's covered."
"I guess." Mikoto admitted, though with far less confidence than her kohai apparently had.
Though I guess she knows more about these Shinobi than I do. Mikoto mused as she too shrugged. So if she thinks the Usagi can handle it on her own then so should I.
"Onee-sama, here's my latest delivery." Kuroko greeted as she returned with another injured thug.
Right. I can think about things later. The chestnut haired girl concluded with a shake to clear her head. I've got a job to do at the moment.
Naru turned down a narrow alleyway and ducked under a hail of shuriken, sliding on her knees as she did so. Disappearing with another teleport, she reappeared above the wannabe. "Come on, at least make me try!"
You've got five behind you!
Naru clicked her tongue and swung around seeing two more Shinobi coming at her armed with katana coated in chakra. She quickly materialised twin dao blades made of chakra and fended off their strikes.
Her attackers were better swordsmen though and the blonde quickly found herself barely keeping up. It was only within a few exchanges that she slipped up and one of the men scored a hit on her thigh. Realizing that she couldn't keep up in a swordfight, she decided to change things up. Focusing her chakra she manipulated the winds around her into a powerful gust that pushed them away. The moment she was clear of them, she teleported away and got some distance.
Just in time too, as she reappeared to find the place where she had previously been standing had been engulfed by a massive fireball courtesy of a combined jutsu from the four other shinobi.
Just waiting for an opening to toast me huh? Naru noted excitedly as the thrill of battle sung in her veins. They're better than I thought. Maybe this won't be boring after all.
Naru glanced down at her wound and felt annoyed. It wasn't healing. At least not as fast as it should be.
Fuck, looks like that bastard came up with a new formula for that poison of his. Kurama! Flush it out.
The Esper barely had time to order her tenant to do so when a score of shuriken and kunai rained down upon her. Narrowing her eyes, she let out a burst of her chakra and shaped it into a fiery blue dome. The protective barrier easily shielding her from the weapons which bounced off it without causing any appreciable damage.
On it, but you know it's going to take some time to adapt to it.
Now!
Fine fine, uppity brat.
[Maniforce] didn't have time to scold the fox demon for his attitude though as the girl witnessed all six of her opponents rapidly go through a series of hand signs. Acting with near perfect synchronization, they finished and simultaneously inhaled deeply before each breathing out a large fireball. All this while bizarrely still being able to cry out their attack's name.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
As the six great fireballs of the stupid ninja soared and scorched the air, Naru dropped her barrier.
"Yeah, no."
Unruffled by the deadly incoming attack, the Level 5 calmly raised her right hand in an imitation of a gun and fired off a bullet of her own chakra from her pointer finger. The sphere shot into the conflagration that the six fireballs had by now merged to become. Her chakra quickly mixed with that of the shinobi which was acting as the flames' fuel and extending her control over the chakra conjured construct.
Exploiting that control she shot the attack a single glare while tapping into her power. In response, the fireball exploded into a shower of light and glittering embers. An action that reduced a nearby building into a smoldering ruin.
"Idiots, didn't you do your re-" Naru began gloatingly only to be interrupted when the ground below her cracked open and she was blindsided as one of the shinobi rose from the earth with his blade poised to gut her.
"Whoa!" She cried out, even as she acted on instinct and summoned some of her chakra into the shape of a jian to parry his swift strikes. Like earlier though, she was clearly the inferior swordswoman and she immediately felt pressed.
Shoulda done kendo.
Now? Really?
Tennis isn't doing much for you.
Distracted by her conversation with her inner demon, Naru found herself disarmed in a fluid motion. She hurriedly moved to back off, but her opponent was having none of it. Slashing at her with superhuman speed, he scored a nasty slash on her left arm.
Biting back a cry, the blonde teleported to relative safety at the top of an adjacent building and whistled. "Man forget being ninjas, you guys are straight up Boy Scouts with how prepared you are!"
Heal me faster!
Trying.
The ninjas ignored her flattery and instead made a hand seal in the shape of a cross.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
In a second, the area was flooded with smoke. As the smoke cleared Naru frowned as she found herself facing down a small army. One made up of what looked like dozens of clones of her enemy.
"Oh come on! You can make perfect clones? Hax!" She complained, her pigtails in a tizzy. Even she couldn't do that yet.
The shinobi weren't going to give her time to rant though. As without preamble they leapt at her, blades posed to attack.
Naru teleported away, but only to find herself within a few feet of another set of clones. Shit. They've spread out to cover the whole area.
Even as this realization set in, the shinobi swarmed her.
There's no getting away without running away altogether and I'm not doing that! That means, I've gotta fight them in melee. I hate to do this, but looks like we're going Panzer. Naru's pride stung a little that she had to resort to one of her quite literal bigger aces.
You take my chakra, I'll keep dealing with the poison.
Right. The twelve year old acknowledged as she called on her tenant's chakra and molded it into the hulking behemoth that was her Panzer Demon Frame. Encased in her armor, she looked down at the enemies that had by now surrounded her and swung at them.
Her swing clotheslined four of the ninja, three of which popped into smoke from the blow. The last body, one of the actual shinobi apparently, was sent flying even as blood erupted from all over his body. He landed harshly against the side of a building across the street and was reduced to a unrecognisable pile of meat as he settled in the impact crater.
All the shinobi/clones glanced at one another before they suddenly leapt at her once more. This time it was in an effort to dogpile on her twelve foot frame. The corrosive power of the biju's chakra that made up her armor burned them, but they stubbornly clung on.
"Hey, get off! No free rides!" Naru shouted as she swung around, throwing off those she could. There were too many of them though and she was soon practically smothered under the dozens of human bodies.
Her flailing around came to an end though as all the clones on top of her abruptly exploded.
The blast left her reeling. Naru herself received no physical damage from this, her Panzar frame was made to handle this type of damage. Sadly, being at the centre of the loud detonation left her ears ringing like she was inside a bell.
Disoriented, she was wide open.
MOVE!
Naru shifted her body to the side and inhaled sharply as she felt a blade sink into her skin, barely missing her heart and scratching her right lung. Acting on pure instinct, she ignored the pain and counterattacked. Spinning around, she swung her massive armored arm downward in a devastating hammer blow, that broke open her assailant's head open like a watermelon.
Stumbling slightly as a result of her sudden turn and the effects of her growing number of wounds, Naru pondered how her Demon Frame's armor had failed her. Eying the newest corpse she noticed the odd gray blade that was coated in her blood.
Dark Matter, mother fucking Dark Matter! This was Number 4's doing. She just knew it. I'm going to get back at him for this. I swear it!
Furious, she stomped on the blade, shattering it to bits.
That bastard Kakine had always hated her, but dealing with the City's enemies just to get at her? He's lost it.
You can worry about that later! Kurama chided, though it was tinged with a clear note of worry. Now I'm taking my chakra back. I need it to keep you from drowning in your own blood.
Fine, I've got a plan anyway. Naru landed on her feet as the chakra that comprised the frame was absorbed back into her body. She disappeared in a blink and winced as she reappeared.
Hey Kurama, be quick with the healing! The pain's distracting.
I'm working as fast as I can! Do you want to live or not?
She teleported again just as her enemies tried to converge on her location. Barely avoiding a rain of shuriken from one of the faster reacting shinobi. Naru continued to teleport, keeping her distance as Kurama did his handiwork. Each time barely avoiding the ninjas' attacks as they either launched a hail of projectiles her way or charged her.
Each time she teleported she shed hundreds of firefly shaped constructs that appeared as motes of light. To the shinobi it must have seemed like she was losing control of her chakra and had started leaking excess chakra. Whatever they thought, they didn't pay the glowing blue particles any mind even as they slowly covered the entire area.
That should be enough. Naru observed a dozen quick teleports later.
"Hey you bastards! Eat this!"
With that Naru commanded her firefly constructs to life and had them swarm the shinobi. Caught off guard, they slashed at them wildly but didn't do the smart thing and teleport away. This cost them as with a smirk on her face, Naru mentally ordered the swarm to self-destruct.
The result was as if a cluster bomb had went off, explosions blossomed in every nook and cranny. The trap left no room to escape. They would either be killed by the blasts or be injured enough to wish they had. She was peachy with either outcome.
Naru smirked triumphantly, wallowing in her victory when she was interrupted by her demon. Spit!
Wha- Naru managed before a surge of nausea that the fox must have been suppressing overcame her. Without any semblance of dignity, the Level 5 was forced to crouch and empty her stomach.
Standing back up, she noticed that a fair bit of her vomit was tinged red.
It's all the blood that bled into your lungs before I closed that wound up plus what's left of the poison they used. The kyuubi explained.Oh, and your lunch too, I guess.
Gross. Naru said with a disgusted groan. Too much information there, you idiot fox.
You are what you eat. And that is muffins.
Oh shut up! Naru said in annoyance even as she tuned her tenant out and focused on the aftermath of her earlier attack. From the smoking bodies, it looked like she'd managed to get two of the shinobi with that.
"Only two left." The blonde noted with a smirk. "Now where did those two rats scurry off to?"
"I'm right here, [Demon]!" One of the above mentioned rats shouted, incidentally the one that she had originally chased into this ambush, as he jumped at her from a slightly taller building abutting the one she was on. He had his sword ready for a powerful overhead swing but Naru danced away from that.
Maybe it was because he'd been injured earlier or because he just wasn't as great of a swordsman as his comrades, but he wasn't showing anywhere near the skill of her earlier blade wielding opponents.
Taking advantage of this, she sidestepped another of his swings and exploited one of his many openings. Summoning chakra in a swirling vortex in her palm that she quickly compacted into a small blue orb, she slammed the construct into the man's body. "Eat some Spiral Force."
As the orb made contact with the ninja's chest, the spiraling energy ground away at his body like a powerful drill. It tore through flesh and bone with ease, as it made its slow methodical way to his heart. He cried out in pain, but the blonde didn't stop. She kept pushing the grinding orb even as her body was covered in his blood, only relenting when she had finally managed to shove her palm out through his back.
"There! A perfectly new body window." She grinned viciously and kicked the ninja in his face even as he lived out his final agonising moments. "Enjoy the view."
The young girl turned to search for the last of her enemies and saw him trying to get away.
"No, you don't."
Chains made of chakra burst from her body and wrapped around the man's limbs. Gripping the links, Naru shouted and whipped him right into a partially collapsed wall. His body brought down the remains of it, which crumbled on top of his injured body.
"Nice try, you lot almost killed me. Try harder next time. Now," She tugged on the chains and pulled him to rest at her feet. Stepping on his head, she added menacingly, "We're going to have a nice, long, painful talk. Okay?"
Her ears perked up as she heard a tiny pop. Grabbing a fistful of his hair and bringing them face to face, Naru looked as the broken man smiled twistedly at her even as he started to foam from the mouth.
The asshole had taken a cyanide pill.
"You coward! Taking the bitch way out!" She cursed as she shook the body violently and chucked the spasming dead man to the ground. "Son of a whore!"
She kicked him in the ribs. He might not have felt it, as he had already stopped moving, but Naru certainly found it cathartic.
Brushing some of her bangs out of her face, the blonde took a deep breath. She coughed up some more blood. "Great, this is going to be fun to explain...actually, zero shits given."
[Maniforce] started to walk back to the Big Spider base. Hopefully everyone else had an easier time than she did.
By the time Naru got back, it was clear that the situation on their end had been dealt with.
"What happened to you?!" Misaka-sempai nearly shrieked as she raced over to the blonde. This gathered everyone else's attention, including Anti-Skill's as well. They weren't the only authorities they had showed up though.
Ugh! Naru rubbed her eyes in annoyance as she recognised the group that had showed up with Anti-Skill. "Just what I need. Ladylee's bird squad."
"I guess you had more trouble than expected?" Saten said in a shocked voice.
They're still stuck on that? Can't they just let it go? I'm fine.
The blond looked down at her appearance and back at Saten. "It's the blood of my enemies?"
At that moment, she coughed up a glob of blood which proceeded to trickle down her face.
"Really?" Shirai asked skeptically.
Misaka-sempai pulled out a handkerchief and started to wipe her face. "What the hell hit you? A Semi?"
Naru looked away and muttered. "They ganged up on me and had ways to counter my moves. Happy? Now stop babying me."
"After you get some first-aid!"
"I'm already healing! I'm stupidly durable you know."
"It's true, you'd have to cut off her head if you wanted to beat her." A serious voice said. "She's that much of a pest."
A girl with a rather slim physique stepped forward. She had a beautiful face, long straight black hair, and cold black eyes. She wore a tight-fitting bodysuit with gray, white and red details, the uniform of the Black Crow Unit of which she was the leader.
Shutaura Sequenzia, Naru's personal frienemy in all things related to the Dark Side.
"Sequenzia-san," Saten greeted coolly, even as she continued to eye Naru in guilty concern.
Is there anyone in this City who Saten-chan doesn't know?
Shutaura gave Saten a cold glance, not even bothering to return the greeting. Instead, she focused on Naru.
"You look like garbage."
"Watch it, whoever you are." Misaka-sempai glared at the older girl.
"She's the leader of a private security organization that helps to maintain and preserve order in Academy City. One with a powerful backer and an unusual level of influence." Saten explained.
"It's why they have those fancy leap frog tanks. Now stop giving away free information, Saten-chan, please?" Saten crossed her arms in annoyance, but nodded. "Now what do you want, Shutaura?" Naru rolled her eyes, she wasn't in the mood to play their usual little games.
"Hmph. We're here for the prisoners." The older girl finished by shooting a look at Misaka-sempai and Shirai.
Aw crap, I knew I was forgetting something. Naru cursed herself at her oversight for not trying to cover up the fact that she'd just slaughtered a bunch of people. While she and Saten might be chill about things like that, it came with being a Dark Sider, the others were not.
The blonde was thus grateful for Shutaura covering for her. That said she wasn't about to let the other girl walk away with what she'd worked hard for without a fight. Narrowing her eyes dangerously, she grabbed Shutaura's wrist and pulled her to the side. In a hushed whisper she said. "Those are my kills."
"Ladylee-sama tasked us to collect them so she can study their corpses."
"My facility is better suited for that!" She hissed at the older girl.
Shutaura glared sternly, showing she wasn't going to budge. "Ladylee-sama and the Superintendent struck a deal."
The blonde deflated at this. If Aleister agreed to it, there wasn't much Naru could do.
That was not to say she wasn't going to just let this go without at least getting something out of it.
"I want a hand."
Shutaura looked flummoxed at this. "I'm sorry?"
Naru crossed her arms, pouting with all her might. "I said I want a hand. I killed them, I deserve a trophy."
"You can't have a hand!" Shutaura hissed at her.
"Fine fine, a ear?"
"No!" Shutaura replied irritably. "We are taking all the corpses and remains."
"A tooth or no deal. I did all the hard work after all."
"Do not make me call Crowley!" Shutaura threatened, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance.
Well I guess the game's over. Naru thought to herself with a mental smirk. Too bad. I was having fun. Seeing Shutaura get so flustered might just be better than getting a trophy.
"Spoilsport." Naru muttered as a parting shot before walking away, earning herself another twitching brow from the usually serious older girl.
Another point to me.
"Are you sure you don't need a paramedic?" Shirai asked Naru worriedly as the blond walked back to rejoin the others.
"Healing. Factor. I'm a big girl, Shirai-chan. I can take the pain." Naru declared, before changing the topic. "Where's my minion? Or Konori-san?"
A pouting Saten gestured towards where Kurozuma was letting himself be arrested by Konori.
"What? No. My minion's being arrested! I just got him!" Naru complained and then paused as an idea came to her. Her lips formed a sly smile and she turned to her fellow Tokiwadai first year. "Sa-ten-chan~!"
At her singsong voice, the girl glanced at her.
"I've got an idea, wanna hear?"
"Sure." [Multi-Skill] said skeptically.
Naru whispered into her ear and Saten nodded, her unhappy expression clearing up.
"Excellent."
This is going to be good!
Misaka-sempai narrowed her eyes at the two. "What are you girls plotting?"
The two girls smiled at her. "Nothing Sempai!"
Omake: Naru's Fluffy Research
There had always been a topic that Namikaze Naru had difficulty wrapping her head around.
The concept of love.
She had been curious about this topic ever since she met the 'spiritual' imprints of her parents a few years back.
If the blonde was honest, it was a struggle to grasp this nebulous concept.
It was something that philosophers and scholars of every description had tried to unravel for centuries to no real tangible result. But most of them at least had the chance to experience the emotion at some point in their lives. Naru however had not been so lucky.
So how did someone who never truly felt love understand it?
Fortunately, as a child of the information age, she had one of the greatest tools ever created by man at her disposal. The internet.
The sheer number of hits she got just by searching with the keywords 'What is love?' was mind boggling. And this was excluding links to that annoying song that trolled the internet and other irrelevant hits. As such Naru had plenty of material with which to start learning what love was.
Or at least what making love meant.
For whilst the internet was full of useful information, it was also plagued with porn and the young blonde had watched many, many videos since she had started on this quest for understanding at the tender age of nine.
Softcore, hardcore, and a dozen niche fetishes besides, Naru had seen it all.
Though when she came across the word furry, she was confused.
Is this porn too? What's it about? The blonde pondered as she looked up from the screen of her laptop to shoot a quick glance at her roommate. Awatsuki-chan is asleep, so I guess it's safe to check it out.
Clicking on the video, she slipped on her rabbit themed headphones - just in case - and watched curiously as the video started.
"Okay, so how is this porn? They're just in animal costumes." She asked out loud as the video starting playing. Waiting patiently she continued to see how this was going to develop. She was just about to lose interest when the scene on her monitor began to get 'interesting'.
"Why is she putting a horse's bridle in her mouth? And why is she letting him ride her like a pony?" She breathed out in a whisper, her eyes widened in confusion and uneasiness
As the woman on the screen started making neighing sounds, Naru's confusion grew and her uneasiness transformed into the beginnings of fear. Quickly, she clicked another random video to save herself.
This one started off with two people dressed as rabbits, goofy masks and all.
"That's not sexy. She's not even dressed like a Playboy Bunny. Note to self, get one of those outfits. Now, why does he have that bag of carrots-Oh my god!" She snapped her laptop closed in haste.
Carrots aren't supposed to go in that way!
At her exclamation, Awatsuki-chan stirred awake. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, the bluenette looked at her roommate and asked in a mixture of surprise and concern. "Are you alright, Namikaze-san?"
"Awatsuki-chan…" Naru said, as if she had seen horrors no little girl should. "The internet is scary."
"Ah, okay?" The Level 3 replied uncertainly.
"Uh, just ignore me, Awatsuki-chan. I just overreacted to something I saw on the net is all."
"Ah ok." The other girl said sleepily as she snuggled back under her covers. "Be careful about that."
Naru waited in silence for a couple of minutes and when Awatsuki-chan didn't stir, she breathed a sigh of relief.
I'm going to stick to the normal fetishes like BDSM from now on, some things are just too horrifying to witness.
With that resolution in mind, she opened her laptop once more and searched for one of her favorite softcore videos.
After her scare earlier, the Level 5 needed something to calm her nerves.
A few minutes, something hit her. Wait, didn't Kurozuma say-That son of a bitch!
Dat bug has been splattered like it hit a Semi! Like Naru.
Thanks to the team of Nameless and Ith as usual. Man, this one took a bit to do. I think we did it justice.
Naru's fight was the most intriguing part. It's tough giving a Level 5 a hard time unless it's against Touma or another Level 5. Or a Saint, or you know, one of the list of other things that's stupidly broken in this verse! The only reason the shinobi got so close to killing her was because they had counters against her. I mean, look at what that Kihara did to Accel? He knew his powers and how to counter it with a fist to the face! It's like that stuff guys. But more evil ninja-y things. Like poison, weapons, dark dealings (over matter), and sneak attacks. Tell us what you think of giving our character a challenge.
Nameless: Yeah, we had a review that reminded us we needed to do that. So here it is. Naru challenged. The others will get theirs later.
As for the lack of character development that some people want for Naru, this arc was mainly to establish her. Her background, views, and hints of what's to come. We do have an arc for her development in the future, you just have to wait and see.
Nameless: On another note, why is Saten upset in the epilogue bits? Well, recall how she basically said Naru would be fine only to have her come back bloodied? Well, she's basically feeling guilty about not helping Naru.
And, as for the mention in the omake about the meeting between Naru and her parents? Well, consider it a little something to look forward to. We assure you that we'll show the scene though.
E4E: We kinda have to, it'd be rude not to!
We also introduced Shutaura! When will she return? You'll see, just know that a frenemy is both a blessing and a curse. Spooky~!
Nameless: So ends the Big Spider arc, hope you guys like it.
Now smash that review button and show us the love! No flames please and peace out my peeps!