October 12th, 2009 - one year later

The sounds of slashing and bones cracking filled the alleyways. Screams filled the air as thugs were tossed left and right. In the middle of this carnage, Naru, now 17 years old, had a random thug pinned beneath his foot. The thug hadn't done anything, (not yet anyway) but Naru decided to attack him for information. He took a photo of his mother out of his pocket and showed it to the thug.

Naru: "Do you know the person who killed this woman?"

Thug: "How should I know? I don't know the bitch!"

Naru picked him up and pinned his head against the wall with one hand.

Naru: "Don't be a tough guy against me, you're not. Now, I ask again: do you know the person who killed this woman?"

Naru pressed his hand against the thug's head. Threatening to crush his skull.

Thug: "I don't know! Please stop! I'm begging you!"

Naru applied more pressure to his hand, threatening to splatter the man's head all over the wall. Suddenly a blast of sound struck Naru sending him flying away from the thug. Naru held his head in pain and got onto his knees, visions of blood covering a gym filling his mind. Naru turned to see who had caused this pain, and it was exactly who he thought it was.

The man standing before him was the same age as Naru, with blonde hair forming a pompadour. He wore a black biker's jacket with long spikes sticking out of the shoulders. In his hand was the weapon that caused the blast of sound that hit Naru: an oversized tuning fork used to enhance his tuning magecraft. It was Goro Hijikata, leader of the Broken Chain and one of the five gang lords.

Goro: "Well, this is a surprise, I never expected Naru Kaminari himself to show up on my turf unprovoked."

Naru continued to hold his head in pain. He was especially sensitive to loud noises, which made him especially vulnerable to Goro's tuning magecraft.

Goro: "Hm? What's wrong? Oh wait I forgot! You're especially vulnerable to my magecraft aren't you? Well, don't worry about it. If I had been serious, my tuning would have ripped your magic crest to pieces, so run along now and consider yourself lucky."

Naru got up still holding his head. Naru wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't defeat a gang lord. Naru may have been strong, but the gang lords were a level way above him. However, Naru didn't care. He was pissed. He lunged at Goro ready to beat him senseless.

Goro: "Hmph. Dumbass."

Goro shot out another soundwave. The moment it hit Naru, everything faded to black.

He woke up in a jail cell with handcuffs strapped to his wrists. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the person who put him in said jail cell. It was a woman in her late 20s with magenta-colored hair and wearing a police uniform with a katana strapped to her waist. This was Asuka Urasawa, a patrol officer of the Sekoyoma Police Force who, while not affiliated with the Infinite Path per se, sometimes helped them out of their more sticky situations, even trusting Taro enough to exchange contact information with them.

Asuka: "Oh Naru-kun, you're awake."

Naru: "Nng….Urasawa-san…what happened? Why am I wearing handcuffs?"

Asuka: "After Goro knocked you unconscious, I brought you here to recover. As for the handcuffs, you were trying to attack even while knocked out, so I had to restrain your arms. Speaking of handcuffs, you broke through several pairs before you finally calmed down."

Naru: "Sorry about that."

Asuka: "Save the apologies for later. Your boss is here to pick you up."

Naru sighed, Taro was definitely going to give him a scolding. Asuka let Naru out of the cell and took off his handcuffs. She led him to the waiting room where Rei, Yui, Zero, and Taro himself were all waiting for him. Taro looked at Naru with a look of disappointment on his face.

Taro: "Kaminari, sit down."

Naru sat down in front of Taro looking down, not daring to look him in the eye.

Taro: "I'm just going to go out and say it: what you did was reckless. Not only did you attack the territory of another gang lord, but you tried to fight them knowing you didn't stand a chance! If Asuka wasn't there they would have killed you!"

Naru: "..."

Taro: "Look, I know you're upset about your mother's death, but that doesn't mean you should be taking your anger out on everyone else."

Rei: "Yeah dude, you're going kind of overkill."

Yui: "I agree, it's been a year since she died, it's time to move on."

He couldn't. How could he move on? His mother was one of the few people in his life that made him genuinely happy, and some thug with a gun her from him. He had sworn to never kill people for the sake of morality, but when he found whoever killed her, they were going to die!

Naru: "I'm going to leave now."

Rei: "Hey, want me to come with you? I heard Touka's birthday is coming up tomorrow. Why don't we go to the toy store and get her a birthday present?"

Asuka: "Rei, Naru needs space to think about things. On an unrelated note, today a woman claimed to be robbed by a man matching your description. Care to explain?"

Rei: "…..Look, it was right there! How could I not steal it?"

Asuka: "Yeah, I think you're going to be staying here for the night, Odakyu-san"

Rei: "Aww come on Asuka onee-chan, can't you cut me some slack?"

Asuka: "The last time I cut you some slack you-"

Naru left the room before she could finish. He was tired and his head still hurt from Goro's attack. On the way home, he thought about what Yui said: "It's time to move on."

Naru: "Move on huh? If only it were that simple."

As Naru navigated the path through the forest that led to his apartment, he heard a strange noise coming from one of the trees. What was it? Naru walked to where the noise came from.

Naru: "Wait? Didn't the noise come from above me?"

He looked up and…..

?: "Watch out!"

Naru: "wmph!?"

….something fell on his face. Whatever it was felt soft and pillowy, like a combination between that of a pillow and water balloons. As he put his hands on the object to try and get them off…

?: "Ah"

…a loud moan rang out from it. This made Naru realize two things: one, there was a girl on top of him, and two, he was in between her breasts. He quickly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her off.

Naru: "S-s-s-s-sorry! So sorry! You fell on top of me and-"

Girl: "N-no I get it! It was an accident! Accidents happen!"

Now that the girl was not on top of him, he could get a better look at her. She had short, brown hair and light-blue eyes. She wore a white shirt that was way too small, with her breasts threatening to break out. The same went for her jeans, which fit snugly around her (quite shapely) butt. Finally, she wore a green jacket that finished off the whole look.

Naru: "Who are you?"

Girl: "Oh right! My name is Brook, Brook Hackerman: professional weirdo, cryptozoologist, and all-around pain in the ass at your service!"

Naru: "How do you be a professional- never mind! What were you doing in that tree anyway?

Brook: "Oh, just trying to fly."

Naru: "…...sorry…...what?"

Brook: "Yeah!"

She picked up the tinfoil hat she dropped when she fell out of the tree and put it on her head.

Brook: "Using this tinfoil hat, I was going to charge myself up with solar energy and fly through the sky!"

Naru: "Um, I don't think the human body can do that."

Brook: "Oh yeah?" Well, people back in the day didn't think that space travel was possible, but now we have over 300 satellites circling the planet!"

Naru: "What kind of logic is- you know what? Whatever! I don't have time for this! I gotta get home."

Brook: "Ok! Bye, random person!"

That was the weirdest experience Naru had been a part of. He was convinced that the girl must have escaped from a mental asylum somewhere. Despite that, however, he still found her kind of cute. Stupid, but cute.

Naru arrived home and was greeted by Touka with an anime attack, but Naru didn't have much of a reaction to it. They did their usual routine of watching anime, playing the flute, and practicing magecraft. Throughout the whole experience, Naru didn't seem to have his heart in it like he usually did. It was almost as if something had died inside him Later, as they were eating dinner, Tohka noticed that Naru wasn't eating any of his food.

Touka: "What's wrong Onii-chan?"

Naru: "Hm? Oh, it's nothing, I'm just not that hungry, that's all."

Touka: "Onii-chan….are you still upset that Okasan's gone?"

Naru: "...yeah…I just can't seem to let it go. I'm not strong like you Touka."

Touka: "Nonsense, you're stronger than anyone! Besides…"

She got up from her seat and got on Naru's lap.

Touka: "You still got me, Onii-chan!"

Naru laughed a little and pat Touka's head.

Naru: "Thank you Tohka, I don't know what I would do without you."

If Brook's description sounds familiar, it's because she's the same girl featured in my profile picture. She's basically my gender-bent self-insert