As stated, I've begun working on Code Decade and Fate/Zero Requiem though it will be some time before new Chapters are released, both because I'm revisiting old chapters to give them a touch-up. As for what other fics i will be updating:
Currently Editing: Fate/Zero Requiem, Code Decade, Saiyan Muyo
Reboot/Re-write: Second chance, Naruto's Bizarre Adventure, Fake x Fate, Hokage no Issan, Reikai Sensei
New Chapters in progress: Eyes of Heaven, After Heaven: Remnants of Destiny, Bloodstained Arc, RWBYLOVANIA, Jump Force
To be Concluded: Dark Defense, Hunter's Moon, Sailor Moon GSL
Dead in the water: Naruto Gaiden, Cry of the Youko, Herwald von Einzbern, Geass Rider, Hina Digger, In the wake of Death, Vandread-O, Konoha Shinken, Oberon, Twin Foxes, Shun Goku WTF, Strange Bedfellows, Spirit Hunter Naruto
Again, this is simply something I've been working on to alleviate my boredom during lock-down and help get over my writer's block.
Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4: July 18th
Graviton Bomber.
At first glance, there wasn't anything special about Kaitabi Hatsuya. Hell, take as many looks as you like, it still wouldn't change the fact that, between his dull looks and scrawny physique, he was pretty much the epitome of a 'background character' used to fill-out the protagonist's class roster, the kind of scrub who should consider himself lucky to even be named.
You would think that, as one of the 20% lucky enough to develop an Esper Ability via Academy City's vaunted Power Curriculum Program, there would be something about him that stood out to his peers, but the fact remained that, even as an Esper, Hatsuya was decidedly mediocre, his Power Level capping out at Level-2 despite already entering high-school.
It wasn't as if his power, [Synchrotron], was particularly weak either. If anything, it's similarity to a [Particle Accelerator] made it one of the most potentially dangerous abilities a person could have, depending on the type of particles you could control.
In the case of Hatsuya, and his classmate Katabira Kushiro, their ability allowed them to manipulate the acceleration of [Gravitons], essentially allowing them to turn any aluminium-based object, be it a piece of cutlery or a can of soda, into a miniature bomb depending on their Ability Level.
This, admittedly wasn't very impressive, essentially resulting in a pitiful blast comparable to a cherry bomb, whereas the Level-4 Katabira-san was apparently capable of creating military grade explosions with something as small as a teaspoon.
If he was being brutally honest, Hatsuya would confess that a part of him resented Katabira for her success, especially since she was determined to punch through the glass ceiling of Level-4 and claim her 'rightful' place as the eighth Level-5 while he was stuck as an eternal Level-2.
Indeed, there were many a time Hatsuya wished he could shut the smug bitch up, so you can probably imagine the shock he felt when he stumbled across her prone form in the library, the Level-4 having seemingly passed out listening to music during one of her solo study sessions.
Naturally, he'd done the right thing and alerted the Librarian…but only after he'd taken a few moments to appropriate all of Katabira's research notes, including whatever files she kept on her unlocked, at the time, phone.
Don't you dare look at him like that. Despite its reputation Academy City was just as cut-throat as the rest of the world, if not more so. Everyone was looking to get ahead of the curve, and if Katabira's notes could help him claw his way out of his Level-2 sinkhole, then she had no-one to blame but herself for leaving them where anyone could grab them.
Not that they'd done him a lick of good mind you. Oh sure, they'd given him some clues as to how to advance his skills, but despite her aspirations it seemed even the great Katabira had hit a roadblock at some point after reaching level 4, one that had been insurmountable…until a few days ago.
'Still can't believe this works…' Hatsuya mused to himself as he made his way down the street, the hustle and bustle of Academy City all-but drowned out by the music blaring into his headphones 'Where the hell did Katabira find this file anyway?'
When he'd found the audio file in her 'research material' folder, Hatsuya hadn't put much thought into it, and the fact Katabira had apparently been listening to the file when she passed out hadn't exactly endeared him to it. Now though? Now he could only look back on his old self and laugh.
Sure, he outwardly hadn't changed that much, but in the span of one week his power had skyrocketed to the point he barely even recognized it.
'Stuck-up bitch probably used it to claw her way to Level-4 in the first place.' He reasoned, smirking to himself as he sidestepped a couple of larger teens, grimacing as one managed to bump his shoulder, imagining all the ways he could ruin her reputation, if she ever woke up from her coma that is 'Not me though, at this rate I should hit Level-5 by the end of next week-!'
He trailed off with a yelp as someone grabbed him by the hair and slammed him into a wall hard enough to pop the headphones from his ears.
"Hey, don't go wandering off like nothing happened you little punk!" his assailant, one of the two teens from earlier, sneered as he held him up against the wall "You think you can get away with bumping into someone without apologizing?"
"I didn't-!" Hatsuya snapped back, glaring defiantly at the muscle head as he tried to shake his head out of the larger teen's grip "You're the ones who bumped into m-!"
"Aw look, the little twerp wants to argue…" ponytail sneered, drawing back his bloody fist, having cut-off Hatsuya's protests with a knuckle-sandwich while rearing back for a kick "You think you can just talk back to me like that-?!"
…thuuUUUUUM!
tock tick tock TICK TOCK TICKTOCKTICKTOCK!
Hatsuya grimaced, waiting for the follow-up kick to the gut, only to blink in confusion as groans of pain came from below, opening his eyes to see ponytail's buddy clutching his balls in a fetal position.
"Tsk, nothing but chump change again?" an unfamiliar voice cursed, drawing his attention away from the whimpering bully to see what appeared to be a middle-schooler going through ponytail's pockets, the bully in question lying passed out with his knees bent at unnatural angles "Seriously, are all Skill-Outs broke or am I just unlucky? Probably Touma rubbing off on me again."
"Hey, you ok?" he called out suddenly, levelling a dismissive stare over his shoulder that made it clear to Hatsuya he didn't truly care "If you are I'm heading off, rather not deal with Judgement if I can help it."
'Like they ever show up when they're needed.' Hatsuya scoffed, glaring impotently down at the bullies that not moments ago had been threatening him, a part of him honestly considering getting his own back using his newfound powers, only to curse as a heavyset man came running up the street, the iconic green armband denoting him as a member of Judgement 'Tch-Speak of the devil…'
"Nobody move; I'm with Judgement!" the man commanded, taking in Hatsuya's bleeding nose and the downed thugs warily "We received word of a mugging in the area. Sir, do you require assistance?"
"Not anymore, no thanks to you." Hatsuya snapped, glaring at the portly man as he pushed himself away from the wall and made to leave, ignoring the Judgment Officer entirely in favor of hobbling towards the local arcade "Useless…all of them useless…good for nothing but giving orders and showing up too late to do anything…"
But he'd show them. He'd show them all. If the city's so-called 'guardians' were so inept at their jobs that they couldn't even handle Skill-Outs, then he'd be more than happy to rub their noses in it. And all it would cost is a quick trip to any arcade with a crane machine…
Later that day...
"Sorry for calling out to you out of the blue like that." Mikoto offered to Saten as they took their seats beneath a nearby tree, the younger girl waving off the Level-5's apology with a grin.
"Nah, it's no big. I was planning to go to Seventh Mist with Uiharu after school, but she's apparently swamped with work at Judgement so I was just wandering around doing nothing."
"Oh yeah, Kuroko mentioned something like that earlier." Mikoto mused as she took a sip from her iced coffee "Those two sure do have it hard huh? I can't guess there's no helping it, they don't really have a choice until [The Bomber] is captured."
From what little Mikoto had been able to weasel out of Kuroko, her roommate having clamped down on anything pertaining to the case in the wake of learning of the Level-5's 'violent outbursts' towards Kamijou Touma, someone had apparently been going around setting off explosions in crowded areas.
At first, the local authorities had been left stumped as to who could be behind the attacks until a so-called 'dud' explosion clued them in that the culprit was an Esper, as a satellite that had been monitoring the area picked up a sudden acceleration of Gravitons during the explosion.
Fortunately for Judgment, the Academy City Power Development Curriculum was nothing if not methodical when it came to recording the progress of their students, so it didn't take long to identify the only Esper whose power and level matched the requirements to turn Aluminum into explosives.
Unfortunately, for all parties involved, it turned out the Esper in question, Katabira Kushiro, had an iron-clad alibi, having been hospitalized sometime prior to the first bombings after falling into a coma.
To make matters worse, while there were certainly other Espers that possessed similar powers to Katabira, none of them had displayed anything even close to her level of ability, forcing the investigation team to start over from scratch.
"Everything feels…so distant right now…" Saten sighed, snapping Mikoto out of her thoughts "Seeing how hard Uiharu and Shirai-san are working in Judgement…" she smiled at Mikoto "And obviously you're in a league of your own…" she sighed again "And then there's me…compared to you guys, I guess I just feel so…insignificant right now."
Mikoto said nothing, eyeing the younger girl in concern, having heard similar stories several times before, and not just at Tokiwadai. Saten, as if sensing the Level-5's discomfort, abruptly changed her tune, waving off her earlier words with a panicked expression.
"Sorry about that, I'm not trying to throw a pity-party." She assured the older girl with a grin, rubbing the back of her head for emphasis "I was just thinking of how things might change if I developed an Ability too." She sighed to herself "Man, if only I had a [Level Upper] or something, maybe I could be a Level-5 someday too?"
"Level…Upper?" Mikoto repeated, blinking at the unfamiliar term, more so for the fact it was spoken in English, a language she'd learnt early on due to her father's business trips "What is that? Some sort of learning tool?"
"Kinda?" Saten confessed with a wink "It's one of those Urban Legends we were talking about before." She elaborated while playing with her coffee "Apparently it's a device that allows you to easily upgrade your Ability Level. Since the Stripper Lady turned out to be real, I figured maybe it was real too." She chuckled to herself "But in the end I guess it was just ridiculous, right?
'Maybe not.' Mikoto mused as she sipped at her coffee, the memory of Touma's right hand negating her lightning even as he closed the distance between them, free hand rearing back for a haymaker flashing across her eyes 'After all, that's not the only 'Urban Legend' I've run into so far…'
Shaking her head to rid herself of such a morbid train of thought, the Level-5 grinned as she turned to face Saten, the beginnings of an Idea forming in her mind "Say, what time does Uiharu usually finish at Judgement?"
Meanwhile...
"I cannot believe you talked me into this." I grumbled, glaring at the seemingly endless rows of women's clothing with my hands in my pockets "Seriously, what the hell are we even doing here?"
"Hey, it's not my fault." Touma countered, matching my irritation with a deadpan glare as he turned back from waving at the little girl up ahead "And would you please try to tone down the language?"
"No promises." I scoffed, though I did make an effort to hide my irritation as the little girl from earlier ran up and grabbed Touma by the hand, having apparently spotted something she liked.
Long story short, Touma and I had been hanging out after class when we happened across what at first appeared to be a lost child wandering the streets close to tears. Needless to say, rather than following my suggestion to alert Judgement, Touma, eternal glutton for punishment that he is, had immediately crossed the street to ask the girl what was wrong.
As it turned out the girl, Hazamaya Kana, was indeed lost, but not in the traditional sense that she'd become separated from her parents. Au-contraire, it seemed her Darwin Award winning Parental Units had deemed the fruit of their love capable enough to leave the house unsupervised to purchase a new dress for being such a good girl, completely failing to consider the possibility that, as young as she was, she wouldn't be able to find a decent Department Store unaided.
Sadly, while I was busy questioning the sanity and eligibility of said parents (seriously, who the hell sends a child out on their own to go shopping?!) and mentally weighing my moral obligation to report their negligence against my desire to avoid involving myself any further, Touma seized the opportunity to conscript us as the girl's chauffeurs for the rest of the day.
At any other time I'd have applauded his taking advantage of such a glaring window of opportunity, as it stood, I merely resolved to exact a most humiliating revenge in the immediate future whilst doing my best not to commit mental suicide as we toured the aisles of Seventh Mist together.
'Your suffering shall be legendary.' I vowed, affecting a pleasant smile that Touma clearly didn't buy for a second given the respectable distance he kept between us, only to pause as I spotted a familiar Level-5 loitering around the children's section 'Good grief, are these two supposed to be the main pairing or something?'
"What the heck are you doing, Biri-Biri?" Touma deadpanned, the spiky-haired teen having likewise spotted the Level-5, his half-lidded eyes peering back at her from the mirror she was using to see how she'd look in pair of children's pajamas. In all honesty it rather suited her.
"I-I'm shopping with friends!" the Railgun stammered, whipping round to face her so-called 'rival' even as she completely failed to hide the top behind her "What about you, what're you doing here?"
"A combination of negligence, child endangerment and Touma being a glutton for punishment." I quipped, sidling up to the pair alongside a beaming Kana, who seemed to grow more excited at the sight of Misaka.
"Ah, it's the Tokiwadai-nee-san!" the little bundle of joy cheered, levelling a smile that was guaranteed to inflict diabetes at a hundred paces at the increasingly flustered Level-5 "Are you friends with Touma-Niisan?"
"Uh…kinda?" Mikoto stammered, clearly not wanting to upset the child with the truth of their sordid relationship even as she turned to face the exasperated Kamijou "I didn't know you had a little sister."
"I wasn't aware I was obligated to tell you anything about my family life." Touma countered, only to sigh in the face of her irritated sparking "Besides, she's not my little sister, she was looking for a clothing store and I offered to help her out."
"Turns out she'd been wandering outside because her parents let her go shopping alone." I elaborated, earning a look of shock from Misaka and a sigh of annoyance from Touma "I tried calling Judgement but they're all busy with that Bomber case, so Touma here figured we could at least play babysitter until we bump into someone who can take her home."
"I see." Mikoto mused, looking torn between concern for Kana, who was innocently darting between the clothing aisles without a care in the world, and annoyed at her parents for letting such an innocent child wander around unsupervised "I came here with Uiharu. She's off duty but as a member of Judgement she should know someone who can get in contact with Kana-chan's parents."
"Then we'll leave her to you." Touma acknowledged, smiling in relief as Kana ran up to him "Okay Kana-chan, my friend and I need to go, but the nice lady from Tokiwadai and her friends are going to watch over you until your parents come. I need you to promise me you'll stay by her side, okay?"
"Okay." Kana chirped, looking a little disappointed that Touma was going, though the prospect of hanging out with Misaka seemingly made up for it as she grabbed the Level-5's hand "Come on Nee-san! I found this really cute dress!"
"Glad that's over with." I sighed, popping my neck joints irritably as I watched Misaka stumble after the little girl, only to sigh in the face of Touma's frown "Would you rather she found out why the kid was wandering alone like we did? Cause something tells me lil' Miss Bug-Zapper wouldn't just leave it up to Judgement to deal with her parents."
"I guess you're right." Touma conceded, scratching the back of his head irritably "I just didn't want to raise a fuss is all. I mean, sure her parents should have more common sense, but Kana-chan's clearly used to having this much freedom. I suppose I just wanted to avoid things reflecting back on her."
As much as I wanted to assure him that such a thing was impossible, I found myself unable to voice the words. After all, while Kana hardly looked mistreated, reporting her parents to Judgement could have any number of responses, and something told me anyone negligent enough to allow their baby girl to wander the streets without an escort wouldn't react kindly to having their wrists slapped.
"C'mon, let's hit the food court." I proposed, both to take our minds off Kana's situation and to finally get this day back on track "You think this place has a Joseph's? I'm in the mood for some pasta."
"Pretty sure there's a Joseph's everywhere by now." Touma scoffed, the two of us falling into step as we made for the nearby staircase, pausing only briefly to allow a scrawny guy carrying a cheap Gekota knock-off plush to pass us.
Local Judgement Branch...
'This is getting us nowhere…' Kuroko sighed, the pigtailed teleporter leaning against a desk with a cup of coffee as she tried to make sense of the situation before them.
"I'm starting to wonder…" her senior, Mii Konori, pondered, eyes narrrowing behind her spectacles as she held her chin "Is it possible that we're dealing with multiple suspects with a similar power & M.O?"
"I doubt it." Kuroko countered, earning a sigh from the elder teen "For one thing, excluding Katabira-san, the number of Synchrotrons capable of manipulating Gravitons can be counted on one hand, and none of them are anywhere close to her level."
"Sorry, just thought I'd throw it out." Konori sighed, picking up one of the remains they'd managed to salvage from the previous bombings "At this point I'm grasping at straws, I just can't see any correlation between the attacks."
"And if we don't figure this out soon, we could have another victim on our hands." Kuroko added, grimacing at the memory of the latest incident that had landed one of their fellow Judgement members in a critical condition.
"If only we could figure out at least one solid lead…" Konori groand, grimly before shaking her head with a sigh "Bad enough that nine of our colleagues have been hurt as it is…"
"Wait, how many did you say?" Kuroko demanded, her eyes widening in realization as the pieces began to fit together in her mind "You said nine Judgement members have been hurt…don't you think that's a little too many to be a coincidence?"
"You don't think…that the Bomber has been targeting Judgement this entire time?" Konori began, only to trail off as the by now familiar alarm from the satellite went off "Accelerated Gravitons have been detected! Location: The Seventh Mist Department Store!"
"Uiharu!" Kuroko barked into her phone, having speed-dialed the flower-girl the moment the alarm was sounded "I have an update on the Graviton Attacks! Academy City's surveillance satellites detected an explosive acceleration of gravitons. Anti-Skill Officers in the area are responding immediately, but we need you to get back to base now!"
"I understand, Shirai-san!" Uiharu intervened, cutting off the Teleporter before she could continue barking instructions down the phone "I just need you to tell me the exact location of the attack!"
"According to the satellite, the attack should be located in a Department Store called Seventh Mist." Kuroko supplied dutifully, even as she wondered what the younger girl was thinking "Apparently it's located in the Seventh District."
"That's perfect then, cause I'm there right now!" Uiharu confessed, Kuroko's eyes widening in alarm even as a pit formed in her stomach at the revelation "Just leave it to me, I'll activate the emergency evacuation myself!"
"Hey, Uiharu!" Kuroko called out, hoping to make the younger girl see sense, only to groan in frustration as she was met with a dial-tone "What on earth does that girl think she's doing?!" she demanded, ignoring Konori's concern in favor of teleporting out of the office, hoping against hope she'd make it to the store before anything happened.
Seventh Mist...
'Attention all customers, due to an electrical malfunction within the store, we must immediately suspend business for the day. Please follow the clerks' instructions to the nearest exit, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this might cause, but we must immediately suspend business.
"Looks like Lil' Miss Bug-Zapper strikes again." I mused, earning an annoyed sigh from Touma as we idled outside the store with the rest of the patrons "Good thing we never actually decided on what we wanted to eat or I'd be more pissed right now."
"I don't think she's responsible this time." Touma countered, gesturing around him at the crowd, where several people were already commenting on the scene on their phones "Trust me, if Biri-biri was involved, she'd have knocked out all the electronics in the store, including the speakers."
"Talking from experience I take it?" I teased, only to quirk a brow at the unfortunate Kamijou's long-suffering sigh of exasperation "Good grief, girl really needs to work on her control."
"She can turn [Iron Sand] into a freaking [High Frequency Blade]," Touma deadpanned, referring to their most recent confrontation "I think her control is scary enough as it is."
"I'll give you that much." I conceded, shivering at the memory of the black blade slicing through a passing leaf during the duel "Seriously, why the hell are all the women drawn to you so scary?"
"Please don't joke like that." Patient Zero of the infamous 'Kami-yan disease' groaned whilst palming his face "Last thing I need is someone spreading rumours that I'm dating a middle-school sadist."
"Who are you calling a sadist?" Mikoto demanded, her expression torn between embarrassment and irritation as she glared at the startled Kamijou "And I wouldn't date you if you were the last man alive."
'Yeah, right.' I scoffed, wisely deciding to keep my thoughts on the matter to myself even as the pair continued to snipe at one another "So I take it you and your friends made it out okay?"
"Saten-san and Kana-chan left with the crowd, but Uiharu stayed behind to oversee the evacuation." Mikoto revealed, waving into the crowd, where I could dimly make out the form of Saten "Saten-san! Over here!"
"Oh, hey guys!" the longhaired Level-0 called out, her concern alleviating somewhat at the sight of familiar faces, though she still seemed worried "Is Kana-chan with you? I can't find her anywhere!"
"If she isn't in the crowd then she's probably still inside the store." Touma reasoned, only to yelp as Mikoto tried to shove past him to make a break for the store "Hey, whoa, what's the big rush?" he demanded, grabbing her hand "It's just an electrical fault, it isn't as if there's a fire or anything-!"
"There wasn't a damn fault!" Misaka snapped, slapping the confused teen's hand away in frustration "We only said that to clear the mall, because Kuroko apparently figured out it's the Bomber's next target!"
"You're kidding?" Touma demanded, his eyes widening in disbelief, only to swear in the face of Saten's fearful expression before taking off after the Railgun with nary a second thought "Hang on, I'm coming!"
"Oi, Touma-!" I called out, not out of a desire to stop him, as nothing short of breaking every bone in his body could keep Kamijou Touma from helping someone in need, but out of a desire to keep him from rushing in without a plan.
However, just as I was reaching for his shoulder, I caught a glimpse of yet another vaguely familiar face out the corner of my eye, a face that, while gazing up at the Department Store like the rest of the crowd, was doing so not out of confusion and concern, but rather with a sense of…anticipation.
'Wait a minute…wasn't that the creepy guy with the frog doll?' I recalled, eyes narrowing as I took in the teen's lanky features, noting with disgust how he seemed to be practically quivering as he gazed up at the building, like a drug addict about to have his fix 'He's not carrying it now…don't tell me-!'
My thoughts derailed as an explosion shook the air, the gathered civilians crying out in alarm as smoke and glass filled the air, followed swiftly by the sound of sirens as the Academy City Fire and Rescue services, no doubt alerted by Judgement if Misaka's words were to be believed, arrived on the scene.
"Oh man, that looks really bad…" Saten grimaced, looking upon the destroyed storefront warily "I hope Uiharu and the others are alright, I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to Kana-chan."
"They'll be fine." I assured her, my eyes never leaving the scrawny teen, whose expression had shifted from anticipatory to exhilarated the moment the explosion went off, though he quickly covered it up by covering his face as if to feign shock or shield it from debris, before slowly skulking off through the crowd towards a back-street "Try calling flower-girl to see if she's okay, I'll be right back…"
A seedy back alley...
"That was perfect!" Hatsuya thrilled, barely able to restrain his laughter, slowly basking in the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins as he recalled the helpless screams of the crowd "My power is gradually growing stronger every time I use it! Just a few more attacks and I should be ready! I'll blow away Judgement and those punks at school with 'em!"
"Wow…and I here I thought the villain confessing to his crimes in a monologue only happened in comics." A vaguely familiar voice sneered, accompanied by slow, mocking claps that drew Hatsuya's attention to a shadowy figure in the mouth of the alley "Bit of advice [Bomber-Man], next time you wanna monologue, either keep it internal or reign it in until you're somewhere safe."
"Wh-what're you talking about?" Hatsuya demanded, mentally cursing himself for giving into his excitement in public "I really have no idea what you're talking about-!" he insisted while subtly reaching for one of the many spoons in his backpack, intending to blow this fool to kingdom come-!
…thuuUUUUUM!
tock tick tock TICK TOCK TICKTOCKTICKTOCK!
-only to blink as his questing fingers were met with empty air, his eyes widening in disbelief as he glanced down to find his bag had completely vanished from his person.
"Looking for these?" the shadowy figure enquired, a shiver racing down Hatsuya's spine as he slowly turned to see the figure emptying out the contents of his bag, a hail of cheap, aluminum cutlery, the kind you could buy at any 100 Yen store, clattering to the ground at his feet.
"Planning a dinner party are we, Kaitabi-san?" the figure enquired mockingly, Hatsuya's features blanching in horror as he recognized his own student id in the man's hands "Might want to take a rain-check, cause I think Anti-Skill are going to want to have a word with you."
"You bastard!" Hatsuya snarled, lunging forwards in a desperate bid to grab one of the spilled cutleries from the floor, only to choke as something grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him off his feet, his legs kicking feebly as he clawed desperately at what seemed to be empty air.
"You know, Kaitabi-san, normally, I wouldn't get involved like this." The figure confessed, seemingly unconcerned with Hatsuya's struggles "Normally I'd just call Judgement on your ass and call it a day. After all, why the hell should I do their job for them, especially since I won't get paid?"
He leant back while running his fingers through his hair, Hatsuya's blood chilling as he found himself gazing into twin pools of gold that seemed to suck all the heat out of their surroundings.
"But you see, my friend just so happened to be in that building you blew up." The figure elaborated, his feature remaining shadowed save for those cold, merciless golden eyes "And while I'm confident he's alright, hell I wouldn't be at all surprised if he prevented anyone else from getting hurt, that doesn't change the fact I saw you getting your rocks off after trying to blow him up."
"I…didn't…" Hatsuya croaked, trying desperately to make the monster before him see reason, to assure him that he never intended to hurt his friend, only to choke as he felt the grip on his throat tighten.
"So, I'm sorry to say, Kaitabi-san, that I'm going to have to take this a little personally." The figure concluded, his golden eyes never leaving Hatsuya's own "I'd tell you not to worry, that'd it'll be over soon…but something tells me that, much like yourself, that'd just be…USELESS."
Yeah, it never sat well with me how the Bomber used a little kid to try and kill Judgement agents.
Expect a Steely Dan level beatdown off-camera.
Again, mostly wrote this is a test to break through my writer's block. don't expect regular updates.