[SS] MissFits

What was supposed to be a friendly grin may have came out a toothy sneer... His suspicions turning out disgustingly on point, Natsuki had to work to mask his own intentions, but some may have leaked out in the end. Given a moment's reconsideration, and how the two of them were currently standing amidst a floor of downed thugs, bullet holes, and shattered glass, he realized he too couldn't play it off as an innocent bystander. As one oddity acknowledging another, he decided that honesty, for once, was the right card to play.

"The MissFits are your gang, then? ... That's too bad. My gang happens to be the Under Level... And I came here head hunting too... I owe you the tab for your last "prank" on my boys..."

Natsuki took a moment to throw Izumi a look of disgust before he turned his body suddenly into a kick, punting the side of the downed thug that had almost bested him just a moment ago. A full force blow for this man, as if to remind him that the price of the blood he had shed had not been paid in full yet.

"Barking Wolf though. Thanks for the name. I'll make sure that's the last time we hear it ... Kicking asses of assholes, though... Yeah, that's right, that's exactly how we've kept order around here... We put down gangs like the Barking Wolf... But you, VP Izumi of the MissFits... You've caused this mess. You're asking for guys like Them... Or Me. To come looking for You. Why?" He allowed the question to hang in the air as this distracted "Izumii" looked through the thugs.

«So where’s that bastard Kitani?»

Nonplussed, Natsuki decided to hold his line of threats for a moment and answered honestly, Their boss? Big guy? Was wondering that myself. Maybe he ran, or maybe...

A burst of light caught Natsuki's eye further in the room, up near the stage, as the flame-wielding esper struck her opponent with a surging blaze and finished him off with a quick kick. Natsuki grimaced as the possibilities closed upon whom his mysterious benefactor had been this fight. Goddamn it, of course it's her. Back when it was clear Izumi wasn't the wielder of the pyrokinetic powers from before, somewhere in the back of his brain, Natsuki had begun hoping against hope that at least the elite in the cast and Kamijou would have already fled the scene but... "Shit.", he muttered under his breath. One of the last people he would have wanted to have helped him, second only to maybe Kana. How irritating... Oh right, though, Kana. Reminded again by the presence of this upstart elite, Natsuki gave his companion a fleeting thought, Where is she anyway? Last I'd seen her, she was up on stage giving a year's entrance speech or something, so... Eh. Natsuki shrugged internally, as he did exactly before. Kana could likely hold her own, and in the end, shocking her with this side of Academy City was half the point of letting her come. Though he didn't want her to be potentially abducted or something, Barking Wolf laid defeated before him. She's probably hiding in the back or something. Natsuki decided to leave the matter with that optimistic thought.

"Lucky you.", Natsuki said to Izumi, evenly again, as if he hadn't just declared he had come here for Izumi's head. Go on, then, our business can wait. But not too long. Anti-Skill are probably on their way..." Turned off by the prospects of having to thank this girl for saving his skin earlier, he would allow this Izumi to approach her first, as he seemed to have business with the Barking Wolf's boss, Kitani, whom she had just dispatched. If Natsuki could rely on a prickly reaction to his ridiculous get-up, he might be able to avoid having to discuss her part in the fighting that had just concluded... And it's not like Natsuki was going to let Izumi leave his sight without his questions answered...

Following this train of thought, Natsuki eyed a pistol nearby, but quickly decided against it, realizing they might truly not have much time before Anti-Skill arrived; and if somehow he were caught, a firearm would be the last thing he'd want to have his hands on. Settling for a more familiar weapon tonight, Natsuki leisurely hoisted a Barking Wolf bat and allowed Izumi to pass towards Kitani and the casted girl near the stage, settling to follow behind him to ensure he didn't try to escape.

A mask offered a high range of conveniences. Certainly making your enemies unable to identify yourself was one of them. The other was the mysterious touch. Or the crazy touch, depending on the viewpoint. The one Izumii profited the most of right now, was the fact that it allowed for his emotions to slip under the rug. He became hard to read, clearly.

Not that it mattered, though.

«It’s always the same…siiiigh. I really have to chat with her. Siiigh.»

He didn’t seem to make sense either way.

The monkey boy’s threats simply left him entirely unscathed, did he simply fall into his laidback and chilly nice guy routine all over again.

«I haven’t asked anyone anything. Things just happened as they always do. Just that they’re becoming a pain in the ass to handle on the long run. It’s not like we’re not overly busy right now, y’know.»

His understanding of the situation was entirely off.

To be fair, he was entirely off, was his entire presence the odd one out, even among a garden of beaten up punks.

Ignoring the other boy’s agitation, masked mystery boy Izumii, would follow the unnatural temptation of the flames, eyeing their destructive beauty in detail, as the one he’d been looking for had been sent to the land of the sparkly stars. A scene at which even he couldn’t prevent himself from grating his shiny teeth in a burst of compassion.

Given the permission (he certainly didn’t mind) to approach the site of Kitani Ringo’s downfall, he’d simply walk there with aloof and careless steps, jumping on the stage like some kid in its cartoon phase, immediately squatting down the moment he’d arrive, taking a close look at that scorched monster of a thug, once again not minding the fact that the someone who had been responsible for his miserable state, would be standing right next to him.

«Serves you, you fucker.»

Beyond those beyond character sounding cold words, nothing else could be added to the disgrace.

«A shame I couldn’t have been the one to do this, but things happen, huh? Good to see he got what he deserves, tho.»

He spoke, still staring at what fortunately wasn’t a corpse just yet.

«Thanks a lot, girly.»

Only to tilt his head over the shoulder clad in thickly padded leather the next very moment, grinning like a maniac…or an innocent little boy.

"How... Troublesome..." Kana concern stopped just short from gritting her teeth as she was forced to focus her ability against both opponents evenly. Though her original plan had been to send them flying one by one, when they were together, she could hardly keep either of them back. In fact, she was most steadily losing ground. Applying her full force on the two took its share of Kana’s mental capacity, greatly narrowing her tactical creativity, and she felt no small panic rising as they edged in, step by step against her. Two inferior opponents with a most crude tactic were besting her, steadily, easily, and just the sight of the badly injured figure in the chair raised their very real threat to her brain, muddling her thinking.

Thankfully, her earlier advice went unheeded. "Kamijou-san..!", Kana managed to say, as she rushed forward into the fray. These words that Kana might have intended as a warning or rebuke for putting herself in danger ended up sounded embarrassingly close to a sigh of relief even to her own ears. Seizing upon the unbalancing blow of a trash can, Touko rushed headlong into the fight, swinging towards the face of one of her opponents. Her face reddening slightly in embarrassment from the relief she felt earlier, Kana redoubled her efforts and cleared her mind, unwilling to be outdone by someone she had intended to protect. Kana would not be some princess awaiting salvation, and indeed, was here tonight to dig deeper into the lifestyle she had been sheltered. Instead of trying to stop both thugs futility, Kana's freed mind created new calculations, creatively twisting the directions of her force, almost instinctively, around Touko’s attack.

The buffeting force applied to the thug Touko was swinging at would be released almost completely, leaving only a small, but precise push forwards along the man’s head, seeking to keep it level with Touko's fist. Almost as if she was gripping a slippery fruit on the chopping board, she left Touko, her knife hand (or rather in this case, a hammer) to do the real work on this thug's face without Kana getting in her way. Kana expected that the sudden drop in her force would unbalance the man, as he was already throwing himself forward, and she felt the need to keep at least his head steady for Touko's attack.

"As for you…", shifting her attention, Kana recognized that this other thug was her own problem, her own responsibility to deal with; and she wouldn’t be outdone. With renewed vigor and freed senses, Kana dropped the power keeping him back as well and with all of her freed capacity, focused everything she had on his upper back from behind; suddenly drive him body directly forward and ideally headfirst into the ground. Her actions followed the same logic as before, looking to surprise him by dropping the wall he was pushing against while applying a new twist in force that would unbalance him and ultimately sweep him towards defeat.

«Serves you, you fucker.»

The newly arrived individual casually strolled closer to Natsumi, but she merely threw a long side-glance at him. This was scarcely the first time she'd met with peculiar and dangerous facial expressions, though if this was yet another foe, at the very least they weren't very harmful for now since he'd been merrily chatting away while she was the one handling this maniac.

Well, in fact, his words fully made it clear that they had a common enemy, so this was possibly an entry way into further information since she could only hear parts of what were being told during this one-sided beat-up.

«A shame I couldn’t have been the one to do this, but things happen, huh? Good to see he got what he deserves, tho. Thanks a lot, girly.»

“I think his hairdresser deserves more praise than I do, but I'll take the gratitude since we seem to have a lot of uneducated apes around here incapable of acknowledging when their asses were saved or not.” She casually threw in a mockery as she looked back at Natsuki, who had seemingly finished his side of the brawl only to be as disagreeable as she had expected of a Skill-Out thug, before returning to the masked individual with a bothered expression.

“But I thought I'd heard something about my ruined evening being the collateral damage of a “prank”. Don't tell me the reason Mr. Skill-Out is handling a bat right now is because Round 2 awaits? Because I'm already all for full explanations and compensation from this bastard alone.”

«You’re the funny type, eh?»

Breaking his grin to make place for a chuckle, masked biker suit boy Izumii gave it his all to appreciate his new company’s wording. Just from the looks of it, the girl was at least a bit of an odd one, not as much as he was, but certainly more than the other pal currently playing guard with a baseball bat. Then again, didn’t that make him an odd one as well? Well, a threatening one.

Done with his business after just a few stares, some victorious posing and an occasional poke of the unconscious guy’s body with the tip of his boots, he would make sure to give the actual «survivors» the full of his attention.

«Awww well, about Round 2. Sorry I ain’t got time for it now, pal. I came here ‘cause someone needs me, y’see. And Anti-Skill’s also about to roll in any minute. So, time’s short. At least for tonight. But later? What do you say? Like, I got an open slot next Saturday!»

Certainly he wasn’t the best at sounding apologetic or at least sincere. Seemingly shoving the entire situation off the table with his laid back casualness, he gave everything the appearance of something along the lines of a farce. Possibly not what he intended for it to be, but someone talking like this in such serious context certainly didn’t pay the situation it’s due respect.

Was it that he thought he’d simply get away with it? Or was it that he naively believed nothing bad would happen to him no matter the outcome?

Their charge to victory ended like a count to three.

They saw the trash can come rolling as they worked their way closer to the elite girl's side, but unlike if the spiky-haired girl had come herself, there was little they could do but brace for impact. With how they were using all their weight against esper girl's ability, shifting their balance to deal with the trash can risked carrying them off balance. So instead they gritted their teeth and tanked the blow.

It hadn't knocked them off their feet, but it had definitely made them stumble. And much like how a stumble in white-water rapids is more dangerous than one in shallow water, they couldn't recover from this as easily as they would like to. And that spelled the success of the two girls' combo.

Again, on its own it was something they could have handled somehow, but in the end they had ignored the spiky-haired girl for too long. With the two girls capitalizing on their imbalance, the pair of thugs could do nothing but flail wildly in attempt to orient themselves out of their predicament as the new flow of force sent them towards new danger. Their flailing limbs, too, would normally be at least half-effective in righting themselves, not being born of panic but true search of balance (their physical aptitude being undeniable, if nothing else) but they lacked composure and, most of all, time.

With a sound crack and a trailing splash of blood through the air, the baseball bat pompadour flew backwards, landing on his back with an obviously broken nose, bleeding freely. His bat clattered to the ground where he had been struck. The assisted strike straight into his skull had stunned him, but not quite taken him down for the count. He was currently groaning in pain on the concrete, but in a few moments he would surely pull himself back up to his feet, even if in less than stellar condition.

That was the third count for their charge, meaning that it was well and truly over. Already off-balance, the remaining thug had no business eluding the elite's blow, and therefore joined his compatriot on the concrete in short order.

Their straight path to victory was gone. Their advantage broken. ...But did this mean that they had lost? Barking Wolf, those violent mad dogs, even after they'd tasted blood like this?

...

Compared to the spiky-haired girl's fist, the forceful meeting of his face to the concrete hadn't been quite as effective. It had lacked the impact that left his partner semi-concussed on the ground. Taking full advantage of that, even while semi-blinded by the dirt and gravel in his eyes, he leaped up, and yelping like a beast with the scent of blood, ran.

Not towards the girls, but away. To the point where the two pompadours had been standing when those girls had first joined this back alley theater. Even as he stumbled, having taken more damage than he himself had realized, he continued on with the persistence of a rabid dog.

Fueled by the thought of biting back at those that had bitten him. By the hope of a stratagem he knew was sure to be effective against girls like these...

"a lot of uneducated apes around here incapable of acknowledging when their asses were saved or not." Natsuki responded only with an annoyed click of his tongue. It's true, back in the moment of his salvation, Natsuki might once have thanked her profusely for likely saving his life... But that moment had passed, and now he didn't see anything before him but a petty girl full of her own exploits. Does she have any idea how many others would have gotten hurt before I acted? Or how deadly the situation had gotten in the panic following her flames? Those panicked screams punctuated with firearm blasts still echoed in his mind, filling him with resentment at her flippant attitude.

Still, Natsuki remained an observer as the two interacted, and to his surprise, the hated elite played it rather cool as well. Perhaps she’s used to these kinds of absurdities..? The deepening unknown surrounding her began to look similar to how Izumii’s was; colored in suspicion and potential danger. While Natsuki felt the need to teach her a thing or two about humility, he had to remind himself of his priorities.

«Awww well, about Round 2. Sorry I ain’t got time for it now, pal. I came here ‘cause someone needs me, y’see. And Anti-Skill’s also about to roll in any minute. So, time’s short. At least for tonight. But later? What do you say? Like, I got an open slot next Saturday!»

"Sorry, friend.", Natsuki spoke evenly without a hint of apology in his voice, "That isn’t going to cut it." He tapped his bat on the floor lightly as if to remind Izumii of its presence. Between the two of them, Natsuki judged perhaps Izumii to be the more skilled one in fighting, but he trusted the bat would make the difference. The real issue was his potentially unknown esper power… A tense situation, but Natsuki would push for intimidation anyway. "This "ape" is leaving before Anti-Skill gets here, but either you’re leaving with me… Or you’ll be hosting tea for them when they come, maybe nursing a broken leg or two; "Round two", as she said." Natsuki nodded towards the elite. At the very least, it looked like she also wanted an explanation for the sudden bloodshed; So if she came along to hear what Izumii had to confess, Natsuki would hardly complain. He didn’t believe she was the type to interfere, anyway, when it inevitably came to Natsuki exacting his revenge.

In either case, leaving Izumii here for Anti-Skill was a bluff. Judging from what he had said, Natsuki figured this kid took at least Anti-Skill seriously; an anomaly coming from someone who looked like they didn’t have a single care to share over threat of rival gangs and their guns or nearby short-tempered power users. If Izumii disagreed to leaving with him or "them", depending on how the elite acted, Natsuki would have to act quickly; Breathing evenly, Natsuki prepped himself to launch into a rushed fight at any second. Given Izumii’s reflexes and rote acrobatic ability, it was unlikely "Round two" would be over in a single blow, so Natsuki mentally warned himself from putting too much into any single attack. However, because there wasn’t much time, Natsuki would have to lay upon Izumii with a relentless chain of light swings and footwork, eventually seeking to overwhelm him without any space or time for counterattack. Ideally, he could incapacitate this kid and carry him off for a more relaxed and thorough questioning, probably calling up more from the Under Level to help; Worst case, Natsuki would toss the bat and simply try to chase wherever Izumii fled.

Yes! Kana cheered to herself internally, allowing the thrill of success to swing her emotions, as Kamijou’s strike landed spot on and the other thug planted his face into the ground. The blood spilling from the man’s nose might have been unsettling for a normal girl of her age, but it instead swelled a sense of pride in Kana’s chest. With her sense of peril swept away thanks to Kamijou’s intervention, to Kana, these thugs had been something like a difficult logic problem with only mere seconds left to solve it; and so she was filled with the familiar sense of achievement of finding all of her careful calculations had been correct. Here, she had been presented a difficult problem, but she had given it a perfect answer.

Fully in her element, it hardly escaped her notice that the man she had downed was yet far from incapacitated. At first, she planned to swing the trash can back around to pin the man down with an impressive slam, but he scrambled to his feet and, to her surprise, began a hasty retreat. Was it over? Or… Thinking quickly, she noted that he was retreating back to where he had began… "Oh no you don’t!", she muttered to no one in particular. Fearing now that the man might seek to carry off the injured, owl-headed girl from earlier, or even worse, hold her hostage, Kana focused her ability on the girl, attempting to lift her abruptly into the air. It was difficult for her, this being near her maximum distance, but if she could just lift the girl out of reach and bring her over to their side with Kamijou, Kana would hold all of the cards and could solve the rest of the situation at her leisure.

Even mentally composed, Kana’s strength and accuracy was diminished considerably at this distance; Though she walked forward steadily to try and close some of the distance, she couldn't walk very quickly without significantly disrupting her calculations. The act of lifting the fallen girl to safety would undoubtably include unsightly twisting and turning around in the air. A side effect, sure, but it would make the girl appear like a strangely dressed marionette tangled in strings, jerked upward. She would have to apologize to this stranger later for such a rough handling, but for now, he couldn’t let this thug have her; It would ruin her perfect score!

A bothered expression decorated her features as Natsumi sighed, noting that seemingly every other person seemed to call her “the funny type” despite being much more bizarre than she could ever be. She usually prided herself in her lack of care for what people thought of her, but surely anyone would feel unsettled to a certain degree if a conga line weirdos were pointing and staring at them in genuine belief that they was the odd one out.

"Sorry, friend. That isn’t going to cut it. This "ape" is leaving before Anti-Skill gets here, but either you’re leaving with me… Or you’ll be hosting tea for them when they come, maybe nursing a broken leg or two; "Round two", as she said.”

“Oho. It seems even the socially rejected got it straight. There are plenty of places to run away from Anti-Skill if that's the problem, anyway. And like I said, considering how you just dragged injured people into your problems, surely they deserve more gratitude than that?” The last of her words were filled with a form of dangerous malice, clearly unwilling to let the matter go until she knew what the matter was.

Yet, unlike Natsuki, that threat was only displayed on her face, finding it useless to brag about weapons to get her point across. She wasn't poised in any sort of combative stance; she merely had her hand brought up to her chin in a fake thoughtful manner.

Wincing from the impact such a punch had had on her own knuckles and wrist, Touko drew back from the thug with gritted teeth in order to avoid being the target of a counter-attack. Thankfully enough, however, it seemed that their joined effort – though primarily on Touko's part – had resulted in their “victory”... Is what she would've thought had the thug not seemed to gain energy from the attack. Though his comrades were down, he seemed to be the only one fuelled by some kind of determination to at least walk out of this fight with a prize.  

Clicking her tongue, Touko quickly passed through to grab the abandoned baseball bat. Since the thug seemed to be operating on backup batteries, trying something like yelling out to stop him seemed pointless, and as such, only one option remained for her.

She, too, started running. But it wasn't after the thug, no. She was simply building up momentum.

“Oryaaaah!!”

And as her already worn out baskets came to an audible grinding stop, she twisted her upper body in a very batting-like manner, letting go of the metallic bat that started flying straight towards the thug in a worryingly spinning fashion.

Unaware of or not caring for the steel bat flying through the air, the remaining thug continued his headlong charge towards his former prey. The girl in the owl mask lifted off the ground, suspended like a marionette, but it was too slow. No matter what direction she was moved in, it was already too late to create enough distance between her and him. The last hope was the glint of silver that Touko had thrown, recognizing that she, too, would be too slow if she were to rush in.

One step. Just a bit more. Two steps. The distance was almost closed. And at three steps, the bat reached him. There was no issue with the angle. It was spectacular, ratherーthe full amount of possible force was directed right towards the back of the thug's head. Silver had been forever been a bane of unnatural beasts. It severed their abnormality and returned them to the earth. But yet, most unfortunately... The pompadour thug, no matter how ugly, no matter how disliked, was still truly the result of genuine human effort.

The bat had not gone unnoticed, the sound of it twisting through the air clearly reached his ears. And so rather than remain vertical, he trusted his human intuition that was altogether different from a beast's instinct, and dived. It was a full-body tackle, and aimed directly at the girl suspended in the air. Kana's ability didn't have nearly enough strength to retain its hold.

The thug and girl fell to the ground, one clearly in control of the other, dragging them quickly back up to their feet without care for whether they could stand. And meanwhile, the bat that glinted such bright silver disappeared with a clatter in the gloom of the alleyway, nowhere to be seen.

"Now, what are you going to do now?"

However ultimately human he may be, anyone who may have thought his grin then was more like a wolf's than a man's was free of any blame.

---

"Hey now, who the hell could've known could've known they'd come shooting up a bar? You just can't predict crazies like that!"

While the clear disdain towards the members of Barking Wolf in his otherwise casual tone was healthy, the irony of the statement was clearly lost on him. Or was it? With the mask and his manic calmness, it was near impossible to tell. But even he wasn't so far gone as to ignore the two who had laid out most of the gang members scattered across the floor of the establishment.

"Besides," he said with what was by now clearly his trademark grin, "you're calling the girl who layed out Kitani Ringo without getting a scratch on her 'an injured person'? Pfft. You could've gone out the door with the rest of those bozos, unless you're trying to say you did it for justice with that surly face of yo- AH! Don't tell me, are you, like, Batman or something?! If you are, I want an autograph!"

What would have clearly been a joke coming from anyone else's lips sounded oddly genuine when coming from his. The girl was certainly a fiery one, spilling sass like that, but whether he had a screw loose or just didn't care, Izumii continued acting like no one but himself.

But with that, he turned his attention back to the boy. Now or later, they clearly had an appointment, and it wouldn't do leave him to dry.

"Tell you what, I can't exactly stop you guys from following me, now can I? But like I said, someone's already got me booked right now. Can't exactly leave them hanging. So here's the deal: I'm just gonna slip out back and take care of my business. In the meantime, you guys can tag along and we'll chat after!"

Giving a grand gesture like the administrator of an auction house revealing his greatest product, Izumii gave his suggestion, seemingly not even considering the prospect that they would refuse.

"Ah, by the way, I gave my name but haven't got yours yet. What gives, man?"

---

The advantage his, the thug had regained all the confidence he had in the beginning and more. There was no chance that some sheltered esper would make a move in a situation like this. They didn't have the guts. They didn't have the heart. Having lived in comfortable safety up until now, just the sight of his arm around the owl girl's neck should be enough to freeze their thoughts.

"I know what you're going to do."

Bestial grin, disgusting smile, a light in his eyes like they were already reflecting blood. There was no one left to stop him. No one left to interfere. All that was left was to-

"Hey."

A different voice, from the darkness of the alleyway behind him. Turning slightly to see who dared interfere, his vision was immediately filled entirely with silver. With a heavy grunt of pain, he stumbled back, his grip on the owl girl loosening as he tried to recover his balance.

Without succeeding, his vision was filled again. Having left the darkness, the figure took advantage of the thug's distraction to place himself between him and his hostage. Separated from his prize, the thug fell to his ass on the ground and looked up at the figure in confusion. Then back at the girl in the figure's arms, in confusion.

Beyond them, behind them, in confusion. To both sides, in confusion. Over his shoulder behind him, in confusion.

In confusion. In panic. Owl. Owl. Owl. Owl. Owl. Not one and not two. Not three and not four. The alleyway was slowly filled from all avenues of entry by figures who varied from man to woman, from short to tall, from childish to voluptuous and from well-built to thin. Well-dressed for an evening out, casual like for lazing around home. Pajamas, cosplay, and something that could barely even be described as clothes.

No two figures were the same. The only thing they had in common was the owl mask that obscured their faces. The only thing they had in common was the way the stared at the thug, ignoring all else. One stepped forward, picking up the bat from where it had fallen on the ground once more, and as the pompadour thug inched backwards in panic, anticipation could be felt from the rest.

It was different from what Touko and Kana would have felt from the pair of Barking Wolves when they first entered the alley. It wasn't bloodthirst. It was like they were about to see a good show. Like their favorite series had gotten a season renewal.

Like they just couldn't wait to join in on the fun.

---

The door in the back of the bar leading into the alley was barricaded still, but it had been a hasty job. Though Touko had managed to pile a significant amount of weight in front of the door, the construction made it so that a strong enough impact would surely be enough to send it toppling down. If used as had likely been intended before they were interrupted, supported with her back to it, that would not have been an issue, but distracted as they were Izumii and the duo would have no trouble making it through if they tried.

The pair that Natsuki had asked to go after Kana and bring her to safety were long gone. They had seen her and Touko jolt out the back like they were possessed, and tried only briefly to open the door before giving up, seeing that it was being blocked from the other side. If she had left the building, then their job was done, they reasoned. And with that they went to find an exit of their own.

“Oho. It seems even the socially rejected got it straight.” An off-hand remark that made Natsuki smile, if only briefly. It wasn’t uncommon to be considered as such, but to Natsuki, it was somewhat of a compliment. Though it wasn’t all too accurate, he supposed; like the grinning Izumii before him, it wasn’t that they were rejected by society, but rather that they themselves rejected society. It was a choice and a point of pride to live this way at night, and any of them could return to their previous lives of helpless mediocrity if they wanted to.

The rest of the two’s back and forth went along without further input from a growingly impatient Natsuki. He had given his ultimatum, but Izumii still seemed unwilling to talk, playing up his child-like curiosity and attention span. As Natsuki seethed in quiet listening to Izumii’s babbling, he came to the conclusion that he had the most trouble with these types of unserious people; because Natsuki was so used to judging others by their ideals and the sincerity of their actions, people like Izumii were frustratingly hard to grasp.

"Tell you what, I can't exactly stop you guys from following me, now can I? But like I said, someone's already got me booked right now. Can't exactly leave them hanging. So here's the deal: I'm just gonna slip out back and take care of my business. In the meantime, you guys can tag along and we'll chat after!"

Finally. A sigh part relief, part frustration, escaped Natsuki before he nodded in acceptance. It wasn’t half as decisive a conclusion as Natsuki had wanted, but barring activating his unknown esper power, it was highly unlikely Izumii could escape the two of them, even on the streets. More importantly, Natsuki simply wasn’t looking forwards to having to deal with another round of meaningless chatter; it was probably best to just leave the area now and start breaking bones later to get him to really talk.

"Fine, I’d much rather have you talk than have to leave you here anyway. Billing just you for all of my… And her… Frustrations would probably come up short in the end. Let’s see this friend of yours first and how about we settle your debts then?" It was mostly rhetorical, since they simply didn’t have the time to wring out Izumii for answers right here and now, so with that and a disappointed shrug to the girl suggesting something like Good enough?, Natsuki tossed his borrowed bat onto the floor near Ringo.

Instead of following immediately, however, Natsuki began looking around the tables for something; Anything to wipe down the blood left on his arms and face, spilled from the blast of glass just earlier. Since they were presumably stepping out, it wouldn’t be any good to run into someone with a bat in hand and looking bloodied up. "Well, you know the way, I’ll be right behind you.", Natsuki said somewhat dismissively while grabbing some scattered napkins. Taking a moment to throw a nod at the girl, he said, "I’m sure you can handle him.", before nonchalantly starting to take care of his appearance.

He wouldn’t be long, only delayed perhaps half a minute or so as he rearranged his clothing and dabbed away at where he could feel his blood on his face or where he could see it on his arms. It was what followed that took longer, as after doing so, Natsuki would take the time presumably alone to quickly shoot two texts on his cellphone. The first to his second in command in Under Level, asking him to get everyone nearby on the line and have them ready just in case this lead panned out… And the other text to Kana, almost as an afterthought, upon seeing that she was the last person in his phone’s history. He would ask her simply where she’d gotten off to, and a quick warning not to come back to the bar. The last thing he needed was for her to get into trouble with Anti-skill… Or well, that would be pretty good, actually, a Nagatenjouki getting in trouble for curfew… He smiled to himself slightly, bemused at the thought.

With his tasks done, if Izumii and the elite girl had moved on, he would jog to catch up to them, but otherwise would help with the backdoor as needed, if that was the direction Izumii was headed.

Owls. Owls as far the eye could reach. At the very last moment. The very last second. That very final split of a second before the wild beast, overcoming all attempts at stopping him, would reach his prey, the frail girl lifted into the air, suddenly a miracle occurred. A most disturbing one at that.

Kamijou Touko found herself flabbergasted at the sight of the newcomers, as their presence spread across the back alleys. They were colourful, yet at the same time colourless. Like chaos and order they spread around, taking up the entirety of her focus.

Where had they come from? Who were they? What were they?

Owls everywhere, gathered around the beast that had fallen to become their prey.

Like a scene from a horror movie.

But…

«Who are you…? What’s going on…?!»

…she had to speak up. Her understanding of the situation being eaten up by her own confusion.

However, as it returned she connected the dots.

«You’re with that owl girl over there. You’re here for Akirin, too?!»

And as she’d make that realisation, her stance would shift right immediately, growing from frightened to confused up to defensive. Quickly her fist’s strength would return again, making her way towards the girl chased by the many beasts, bolstering up like some kind of final line of defence.

She was exhausted. She was battered. She was outnumbered.

«I won’t let you!»

But had any of these conditions ever stopped Kamijou?


«You’re a persistent one, aren’tcha? Siiiiiiiiiiiigh»

On and on he would go. No matter how many times he was told, that Natsuki wasn’t willing to listen, or maybe just way too focussed on his deal to ever mind others wishes. Whichever. Whatever. Heaving just another sigh, masked boy Izumii would force himself to accept what this was bound to become.

However before he could comment on anything, that scruffy old guy decided to fall behind intentionally. Certainly because he saw the urge to take care of himself after the beatings he had received and likely for more. Unnoticeable, at least for Natsuki, Izumii’s face twisted for just a moment, as he threw a serious foreboding glance after him, before returning to the usual laid back-ness.

«A bit annoying, ain’t he? What’s it with that kind nowadays?»

He’d address the cast girl being sure the two of them had been left alone with one another, somehow seeking at least an itsy-bitsy tiny bit of compassion from her side – even though he very well figured how futile it was.

«What’s your deal anyway?»

He’d ask in growing despair of making way for anything that’d resemble a conversation, only to make it even more awkward than it already was…


But what about her? She didn’t know. She couldn’t say.

All she found herself able to was watch. Watch and fear. Being tossed around like a frail doll, the princess of the underground karaoke club would find herself restrained by all things in the world.

She was about shout. Cry out. Despair.

But she couldn’t, did she find herself overwhelmed by absolutely anything going on right now

The sole thing she knew was that someone stood right before her. She could see their back, protecting her like an iron wall.

She could see their strength, their will to sacrifice themselves even after they had only just met. That uneding foolishness called «heroism».

It reminded her of someone.

Of him.

“Oh, not much. Just a very heavy stroke of bad luck resulting in a fancy encounter with the salty rejects of society. ” Whether she was strictly referring to Natsuki, to the entire thug group that had arrived, or both, Natsumi wouldn’t make clear. All she did was slightly shrug the shoulder of her still slung arm.

“It’s that kind of thing where when someone wakes you up on a day where you’d intended to sleep in, you feel like the person better state their business clearly unless they want to die.”

An overbearingly sweet, fake smile decorated her features as her gradually lowering tone of voice indicated that any more attempt at chatting would result in this statement no longer being just a mere metaphor. Especially since she couldn’t see the interest of hiding this information if he seemed so well aware that they were the persistent type.

A small snort escaped her as she openly condemned herself to having common points with that only marginally better thug.

“So, can I get your deal as well or do I have to fight my way through that as well? I don’t tend to walk back satisfied if I don’t know the whydunnit.”

Faced with the horrendous sight of that smile even Izumii’s cool shattered momentarily, manifesting in both his immediately disappearing grin and the act of retreating a few steps backwards, putting his wide-open hands between himself and the girl. A naturally protective reaction given the fact that he was dealing with the cute middle schooler that had singlehandedly taken care of the colossus that was Kitani Ringo.

«Wow-wow-wow! Let’s not blow the mood up, y-yeah?»

Caught between that monster and the heavy and sturdy back entrance door he couldn’t help the sweat.

But in the end, even he couldn’t weasel himself out of this situation. So, he did what was necessary.

«Y’know. That’s the kinda shit you don’t wanna talk about. But if you really wanna force me…»

The shift from the terrified victim of the clearly overpowering bully to his typically flippant demeanour was a crazy one indeed.

«Let’s say I have some sins to atone for.»

However, the shift from that to a man bearing the eyes of someone with a painful past was even crazier.

In just a few seconds the air around Izumii had changed tremendously, blowing away the goofy façade offered by his behaviour and attire to reveal something more. Transitioning here and there, for just that moment he showed the characteristics of someone who had seen beyond the simple world he seemed to be living in. It was something belonging to a different world. A world similar to hers.

What kind of world, though?

She would not find out, as the mood was entirely blown once again with the arrival of the other boy. Shrugging off anything he had been showing on his face, so that the other one would not see any of his displayed weakness, masked boy Izumii would great the returner with another of his broad toothy smiles. Then, before even going back to even more small-talk, his attention would be on something else: The door right behind him. Still smiling he’d grab the handle and rattle it plentiful, before finally realising its state. Closed. Not locked, but entirely barricaded. Obviously being held in that state by an over extensive amount of weight pressing against it from outside.

Upon testing anyone would realise just how much effort was necessary. Even with two grown men offering the entirety of their combined arm-strength pushing it open would seem impossible.

Or so they would have thought, until a single one solved the problem with just one strong otherworldly kick, easily flinging the heavy door open and the weighty piles of rubbish and containers over.

And as if throwing about everything across the dead alley wasn’t enough, that grinning lunatic took the chance to announce their arrival accordingly.

«Here we aaaaaaaaaaare!!»

A resounding crash and the heavy barricade was scattered into the alley; as if Natsuki needed any more reason to be wary of this walking abnormality seemingly drunk on his own power. Still, such physical ability was often eclipsed by the raw firepower of the type walking beside him, so for now he would leave it to her to handle Izumii if he did anything awry. Natsuki planned to hang back and keep an eye on him until… Shit.

A quick look around the alleyway as he stepped in revealed further trouble. If it were just the owl-heads seemingly perched in ambush, that were one thing; but with dread, Natsuki realized his near-forgotten Nagatenjouki elite was standing them down with none other than Kamijou, his underclassman. The absolute last two people he wanted involved in trouble right now… "Oi Ka- … na..." Natsuki's shout out to Kana died in his throat when he glimpsed the whistling shadow of a heavy steel dumpster hurtling straight at him.

---

Struggling to bring her breathing under control, Kana had let her concentration slip when she saw the thug tackle the unknown girl she was trying to save. "No!" She cried out, staggering forwards to try and close the gap. The closer she was, the more of her power she could apply. A little closer and I can still try again! Imagining wringing the dirty ape off of the girl and perhaps plastering him against an alley wall, Kana forced one foot in-front of the other while she gathered her wits to try again. Then she felt it, a prickle against her field as countless new assailants lined themselves above and around her, making their presence known only now. How did they get so close?! Kana wondered to herself, worried; they must have either been here all along or slipped in while Kana had been focusing her efforts on rescuing the girl. They likely exploited the regrettable chink in any accomplished esper's power; the amount of attention Kana could dedicate towards her power.

The thug she was chasing seemed as surprised as her, knocked back and now brandishing his bat not out of aggression, but rather out of fear. The only one whom seemed unaffected by this was the ever valiant Touko… Still, observing her for just a second, Kana saw the signs of fatigue and desperation, from where Kana stood, she felt it unlikely Touko believed she could win or even make a difference in this fight. Still, Touko's forward charge clarified what Kana should do, brushing aside the errant thoughts; If Touko was going to fight, Kana would have to help. I can’t let her do this by herself!

As Kana steeled her wits, a resounding bang and a crash erupted behind Kana, as the barricade they had set had been torn apart in a single kick. In the heat of such chaos, Kana's mind skipped being confused and hopped forwards a number of steps, concluding quickly: More assailants!

«Here we aaaaaaaaaaare!!»

Before the unknown man was even done announcing himself, Kana had pin-pointed their location within her field. Two… Three of them through the doorway! In a snap-decision, Kana reached out with her full force, lifting a heavy steel dumpster nearby. Even only a quarter full, this dumpster was more than enough to wreak havoc; and for blocking the doorway again, it was the perfect tool. Without hesitation, and without even so much as a glance backwards towards the new enemies, she sent it hurtling at top speeds into the doorway, seeking to block it and knock back any of the new attackers. She figured she had to reduce their numbers where she could if she and Touko were going to stand a chance with the enemies before them.

---

Luckily, or unluckily, this wasn’t the first time Kana had done this to him; instead of freezing in place, Natsuki instinctively threw himself into a tumble below the heavy dumpster, knowing Kana practically never dragged her projectiles against the floor.

Perhaps there was something to be said about Kana's lack of imagination, being stuck in the mindset of having to lift an object to throw it, but for now, Natsuki was happy for the familiar blind-spot, as the absolute killing weight of the dumpster sailed just above. If he hadn’t experienced this before, he probably would have wet himself. Still, he only hoped that the other two he was with had gotten out of the way as well; they still had too much more planned for tonight to be crushed by this surprise attack.

At first, she had calmly tagged along; the glaringly obvious change in behaviour from Izumi had been enough to catch her attention and make her decide the matter was, indeed, worth pursuing. If nothing else, it didn’t seem like this boy was the current enemy, and even if he was, that would scarcely be a problem for her.

What she didn’t expect, however, was the foe she would find from a girl in a similarly elite school as hers.

“…!”

The moment the dumpster had been flung towards the entryway, Natsumi made a quick run for it. Sending a fiery blaze to slow down the item ready to tackle them at full speed, she then proceeded to follow along Natsuki's reckless bottom tumbling, though far more gracefully.

For a thug, she felt like he had decent ideas at survival. Maybe it came from the environment? However, unlike him, she didn’t simply stall after dodging, but swiftly jumped over the railing as she quickly assessed the situation.

At the very least, the girl scarcely seemed like the foremost priority, seeing how she seemed to be acquainted with Thugman besides her.

Now, could the same be said of the many, far too creepy guests within this alleyway?

As she smoothly landed on both feet near the Nagatenjouki student, her fingers poised to snap if necessary, she simply let out in a fairly amused tone:

“I didn’t know a carnival was up today.”

«Oh shit.»

Was the adequate last couple of words spoken by the masked boy upon realising the ultra heavy weight projectile coming his way right before it would come crashing down into the doorway, bending both the reinforced door as well as the brick hard wall.

A situation he would all too casually escape from, yet again.

With his reflexes as sharp as they were and his legs as stretchy and fast as an acrobat’s he’d simply took a hasty leap up and above, making a miraculous flight that’d easily allow him to land on top before adding another swift hop to return to the ground.

Once there, he’d immediately scan the scene in all detail.

His two friends had made it, of course, with the Tokiwadai monstrosity having found the company of a similar elite decorated by a Nagatenjouki Academy uniform, while the scruffy ossan was still readjusting. The rest were different. A group of owl mask wearing people had carefully surrounded their prey consisting of a spiky haired girl that on the other hand was bracing her fist to protect a frail pink haired princess that lay there collapsed. And as she would form that final line of defence she was facing off against the predators readying themselves to strike down their prey.

Except, none of that was supposed to happen…in his opinion.

So, with no hesitation whatsoever he’d simply remove a top notch quality handgun – certainly not the rubbish Kitani’s men had carried – from his pocket, firing a round into the sky, aiming to break the tension of the situation.

«Can we please cool our heads and lean back for a sec? There’s no need to jump at each other!»


And with another bang everything thrown into disarray had been knocked back into a new kind of order. Kamijou Touko found herself confused when all of a sudden all hostility had disappeared from that horde of owls, as their attention had not only shifted from their prey to the newcomer, but assumed an entirely different stance towards them. They clearly had lost all interest in continuing what had appeared like a hunt just a moment ago.

Yet, unlike them, she hardly considered that stuntman the most stunning of all appearances. In fact, her attention had fallen all towards that girl who had entered the alley along with him, catching the sight of a truly familiar face. They had only met a few days ago, after all, making the memory still fresh enough to give her great certainty over her identity. Therefore, she was quite sure that this was not a mix-up.

Instead of speaking up, though, she took the reclusive route of seeking the other’s glance, attempting to lure out an answer with wordless communication.

Right now it was the most pressing to figure out how Hujisaka-san had been involved in all of this, as any and all information could be useful to turn the tides for good.

Kana knew they would get away before she could even adjust. The way they tensed their legs, turned their bodies and tossed themselves forwards, all of them were insane. Abnormal, with lightning reflexes and a certain lack of fear. They scared her. A lethal projectile, almost the largest she could throw, and it was nothing before them. The Tokiwadai girl closed the distance in a fluid motion, and if she wanted to torch her or snap her neck, she looked like she likely could. As Kana hastily tried to reach out for a new weapon to interpose between them, she realized, that one of the newcomers was still climbing to his feet, and had fallen a good distance behind the other two even though he had reacted first. A glance caught a familiar, if disheveled, face staring back at her across the distance.

"The hell are you doing, Kana..." A low growl, which sounded menacing at first, but it was somehow clear to her, even at this distance, that Natsuki was happy. Inexplicably happy about the near-death situation. Was he worried about me? She pondered for half a second; an embarrassing moment that she immediately regretted. No, if it's him, he's probably thinking something like... If she's throwing her full weight around, she's scared, heheh. Esper Elite, scared shitless. Look at her! That dumpster was the best she had and if Tokiwadai-chan were anyone else, she'd be in for it. Maybe that'll teach her to stick her nose into these things... Heheh. These were the pleasant thoughts going through Natsuki's mind, playing across his features, even involuntarily. Suddenly, however, his mirthful expression changed. "Izumii!" He only began shouting before Izumii had fully withdrawn his pistol.

Natsuki sprinted forwards, prepared to tackle the man before he could shoot the girl whom had propelled the dumpster, but suddenly slowed to just a jog, and then to a baffled walk, as the pistol went off harmlessly in the air, the blast resonating through the cold night.

«Can we please cool our heads and lean back for a sec? There’s no need to jump at each other!»

"Well, shit." Natsuki muttered to himself, still dumbfounded by what had happened. That stupid (yet surely calculated) act cut their time limit into at least a quarter of what it may have been. The masked lunatic may well have shot a signal flare into the sky to have Anti-skill pick him up. Pick us all up. Continuing his walk, but past Izumii now, taking only a moment to click his tongue in disgust, Natsuki flipped out his phone and shouted a one-word voice message to his second-in-command, "Scatter!"; Tonight's antics were over, there was no way in hell they would get anything meaningful done before Anti-Skill arrived. Natsuki wouldn't have anyone from Under Level caught past curfew just because he put them nearby; The risk was too great with Anti-skill surely converging on them.

Natsuki walked to where Kana was still taking in the Tokiwadai girl next to her; he noted she was already levitating a stack of three old wheel rims nearby to throw at either her or anyone whom stepped close, so he shouted "Oi, Kana.", in case she was still using her field to detect him instead of properly identify him. He almost wished he hadn't, as he saw one wheel rim lift a number of inches and tilt ominously backwards, the telltale signs of Kana's "throwing" reflex as she twitched to launch it at him only just managing to stop herself as she re-identified him. "And where were you?!" She almost hissed at him, the distress clear in her voice.

She didn't know what was going on, but only knew that there were still a large number of potential enemies around her. It probably didn't even occur to her yet that she needed to worry about Anti-Skill. The sweat on her brow and shifting eyes made clear to Natsuki that Kana was probing her field with every bit of her brain, tracking for a possible attack from any direction and calculating ways to strike them down before they reached her or Touko. The way that the rest of the wheel rims in the old, rusty stack nearby twitched made Natsuki think Kana was prepared to machine-gun them at anything that moved aggressively without checking who or what it was first. He whistled to himself softly. Scary.

"Look, I can fill you in later, but for now, two things. One, your Tokiwadai friend is on our side. Sort of. And Two, let's be ready to run; Far worse things are coming. Is Kamijou coming too? Or does she need to save that princess first?"

"Princess first." Kana replied curtly, without sarcasm. She could only barely respond while sweeping her field for threats, even after releasing the Tokiwadai girl and Natsuki from her list of threats to track. It even came as a relief to hear that the situation would change for the worse soon, as this all-direction stand-off was, in her mind, the worst situation for her to maintain for a prolonged period of time. As Kana maintained her interception field, Natsuki called out in her place, "Hey Kouhai, is she ok? Can she stand?"

«I…don’t know.»

Kamijou Touko was in no position to turn the others her back, so the only thing she found herself able to was to shake her head in denial. There was no way she could check for the state of the one she was protecting, not in this situation.

The owls were still all over and their numbers overwhelming. Even if they had arrived at a state of calm with the new arrival, their intention remained clear as day. Actually things had gotten far worse, now that the newcomers had arrived. After all, the one at the centre remained the most puzzling, yet at the same time the most easy to read from a certain position.

«Who are you? What do you want?»

She had been able to tell. From the moment he’d entered the back alley, that skull masked lunatic’s eyes had been piercing her. No, it was as though they were piercing through her, right for the pseudo idol who laid behind her.

«You’re here for Akirin, too, right?!»

Clearly Kamijou was an idiot, but even she could understand the body language of some people - and that guy made it more than obvious. Therefore, not minding the shifting odds presented by that ridiculous comic character like lunatic and the muzzle of his gun, the masked battalion who clearly had some sort of involvement with him or the impending arrival of Anti-Skill, she would close the path, clenching her first to make sure anyone would understand.

This was the final line. Not ever on this world would she budge.


And Izumii in response would not dare to show any mercy either, as with no lack of hesitation he’d lower the gun he’d just faired taking aim with cold yet cruel precision. Anyone could tell, the position he’d taken was one of a cold blooded killer. Of someone certainly experienced in the field.

«I guess that leaves me no choice.»


Entirely outnumbered, targeted by a skilled marksman’s gun and with nothing but a right fist holding a completely useless ability she`d stand there, taking the challenge.

“Hahaha.” Natsumi let out the fakest of laughs to the discussing Kana and Natsuki before desperately uttering to herself. “That’s implying I know what a “side” consists off at this point…”

Unlike the others, she didn’t seem to be taken aback by Izumii’s gun; if he had meant to shoot her, likely he would’ve done so earlier when there weren’t so many people around. And damn, who were these people, anyway? Clowns, it felt to her, but apparently even that spoke of danger these days in this city.

While the others kept talking along, Natsumi had failed to pay much attention to the way Touko was gazing at her; the only thing she noticed was the still very deadly atmosphere. Yet it felt like there was a slight misunderstanding stemming from this conflict, and namely from the porcupine head that had been staring at her.

“Oh, screw it.”

As such, while the threat was going on between Izumii and Touko, Natsumi simply lifted a finger, as if meaning to show something in the skies.

And to whoever followed that finger, they would find it.

Wildly dancing bursts of flames, trapped within a small, circular form. The red and orange flickered wildly until finally combusting into a high-pitched noise and fluttering its way down.

Many others accompanied this and as she lowered her arm, she simply spoke in the most casual of tones as what would almost look like orange petals surrounded her.

“Scatter, you bunch of pain in the asses. Unless you want to get nailed down by Anti-Skill.”

“Scatter, you bunch of pain in the asses. Unless you want to get nailed down by Anti-Skill.”

Realizing his helplessness in this situation, Natsuki only gave Kana a mutter, "Think, Kana."; a haphazard pass of the ball as he did the only thing someone so powerless as himself could do. Izumii was too far, it was only Kana's ability that could protect them in case he decided to pull the trigger... So, like a coward, Natsuki ran. He ran towards Kamijou to try and get them moving. He would help him carry the girl that was tying them down or even face down the owl-heads, he didn't care!; They needed to escape immediately, and Kamijou being weighed down by this princess was just going to get him and Kana caught.

Natsuki had already considered leaving this poor underclassman behind and escaping, but he knew Kana wouldn't leave until Kamijou did. Recalling back to how Kana treated even that thick-headed Harima, Natsuki figured that's just the kind of girl she was. It's sort of annoying, really, Natsuki thought to himself, feeling a wry, worried smile tug the edge of his lips. Here he was, ready to cut and run, but Kana was most assuredly going to stand her ground until Kamijou was safe. Even as a man that touted daily the strength and defiance of Level 0's, Natsuki felt more deeply than anyone their powerlessness. It was that frustration that drove him against the system, but it was also that helplessness that sent him away from the fight and towards the stalled Kamijou. Zero's like you and me, we've got to go!

Even as Natsuki abandoned her, and even as her body chilled from the ice pumping through her veins, Kana's mind never slowed for even a moment. In the back somewhere, perhaps, she might have heard what the Tokiwadai girl had to say, or what Natsuki had muttered, but in reality, her entire world had already narrowed to focus on a single point; the masked man's gun. Forget the owls, or Anti-Skill, none were so imminent a danger than that trigger this man held. Kana's racing mind considered a vast number of scenarios, but none of them could stop him if he wanted Touko dead.

A metal rim to block the bullet to the head? He could shift his aim even a millimeter before she could track it.

Attack him with the discs? He'd shoot first. And then shoot her next.

The safety? Or the firing pin? How? Which part of that gun causes a misfire if held? She didn't know, she didn't know, she didn't know!!

But... She did know one thing for sure about the gun... No time, try it!

Out of ideas, she did the first thing that she thought could possibly work. Horribly dangerous, but... Better than doing nothing at all! With a zip, a heavy metal rim was sent to stop inches in front of Touko's head, sloped to improve it's deflection since it had the extra width; And before this shield was even in place, Kana reached out with her power, quickly pulling the trigger on the man's gun. She realized then that it was herself whom was pulling the trigger on Touko, but a strange faith had budded in that brief moment of clarity. A faith in the man's intent to kill and a faith in her own abilities to block it in time. When she controlled both the timing and destination of the bullet, this equation simplified greatly; Within the many subjects she was good at, plotting a simple point upon a line was not something she could mess up!

To keep him from firing again, she would then go on the offensive, launching every rim in the stack, one by one at the man at high speeds, tracking him with the next projectile if he tried to dodge. She would buy time as she herself started to move towards Touko, further down the alley.

Regardless of state of the standstill he had left behind, Natsuki would focus on reaching Touko and would offer a hand in moving this girl or his fist in helping fend off additional assailants. He would do everything in his power to get Touko and the girl up and running; They had no time!

Chaos had broken loose yet again. With the Tokiwadai girl firing a perfectly fine beacon to attract any and all official authority there may have been around and the masked boy’s gun randomly firing only to have the bullet hit a protective metal pipe in mid-aid sending it flying away with unnatural impact and angle, every and all tension had been released becoming an unstoppable storm.

Shook by his gun’s trigger moving by itself, Izumii would immediately turn towards the prime suspect, which right at that very moment would start launching makeshift projectiles his way. To his own surprise the attack was quite relentless would it chase him across all kinds of miraculous dodges.

Yet, that wasn’t his endgame.

«Everyone!»

Kamijou could tell immediately how that quickly thrown command would affect the owls, or in fact the masked boy’s allies. What has been a standstill just a moment ago, would transform into a new kind of tide. As they turned they’d immediately unleash their vicious attack upon them all: Water balloons filled with oddly coloured sticky liquids, rotten banana peels, bricks, all kinds of powder bombs (especially the itchy kind) and other out of places items like boomerangs were sent their way. While Kamijou and Natsuki were at least somewhat covered by the attack, the most of it would go down on Kana, robbing her of any and all chances at a defensive angle.

And as that would happen, masked lunatic Izumii took his turn yet again. Presumably freed from the projectile barrage he would return to his charge, darting across the alley at the speeds of a top-class athlete, making his way directly towards the collapsed princess.

Naturally, Kamijou would not allow this to happen, as she put herself into his way, ready to fling her fist perfectly timed with his arrival in front of her. Or so she had pictured it in her mind. She could not even grasp the movement at the very final motion. With the force of a jet Izumii’s foot would race right into her stomach, exceeding any of her reflexes and expectations, thus bypassing any and all of her defences. And as it would strike with the force of a cannon ball, she’d find herself sent flying by a few metres.

That wasn’t it, though. He had already anticipated Fudou to react appropriately given his overly clear intentions in the way he’d approached the spiky haired girl. Therefore, immediately after striking his first victim, he’d turn, rotate and swipe away the boy’s legs with the culmination of what was his extraordinary reflexes, speed and strength, sending him into a short-term flight with rough crash landing as a result.

«I told ya. Don’t stand in my way!»

As he announced he was already continuing his charge towards the girl, not minding anything anymore. His men had his back as they would keep attacking Kana with their weird yet effective mixture of projectiles meant to shatter any Esper’s concentration, so he would securely close in to his goal.

Having finally arrived he would pick the girl’s limp form up from the ground. His method even though rushed appeared oddly careful, much like the infamous princess carry.

And with all that accomplished he’d stand there for just a moment, falling silent as the chaos waged on. There was the sound of sirens, drawing closer and closer.

«Anti-Skill should be here any moment. You should get going if you don’t wanna get caught.»

«Anti-Skill should be here any moment. You should get going if you don’t wanna get caught.»

Sound advice there, considering the amount of inexplicable brawling that was currently going on over some kind of idol girl. Natsumi couldn’t help but wonder what was the deal with her to brew such a conflict in a backalley.

It was truly a mess, but not one she was willing to take sides on. Therefore, never minding the bizarre assault of the owls she was merely countering with fireballs, she made her way into another alleyway, and then another.

The main route would be far too dangerous to follow, and the last thing she wanted was to be in custody again. God forbids what she would have to do to get herself out of that this time…

(A Nagaten student, Academy City's scum and Mrs. Porcupine, huh… That’s not gonna be efficient.)

But even thought her demeanour spoke of a strong lack of care, she was still assessing ways for her to learn more about this bizarre night.

A gun was a powerful symbol for a child of peace, especially one as relatively sheltered as Kana. The gleam of its dark metal, the lingering smell of gunpowder in the air, the sharp pain in her ears... Every last one of them sharply indicated the presence and threat of death, and among present company it seemed that Kana alone lacked the history or experience to be somewhat inured to it.

It was hardly unusual; if anything, she was the normal one, not those around her who were able to easily focus on their goals and ignore the deadly weapon. But due to that, with her composure broken and her focus limited to Izumii, she was a step too slow to react to the implications of his shout.

«Everyone!»

It began with a water balloon filled with some purple slime, hitting her on the side of her head and thus coating her hair and eliciting a girlish shriek. And by that point, it was already too late. At first she thought she could handle it, redirecting her focus from Izumii to stopping the projectiles midair with her power, or blocking them with trash can lids. But in the end, numbers were a frightening thing.

More and more slipped past her and impacted her body. Covered in slime, irritating powder, and rotting fruit, her hair and clothes were ruined and her concentration, of course, was necessarily destroyed. It was all she could do to barely protect her eyes and desperately fend off the more traditionally dangerous projectiles such as bricks. She couldn't even open her mouth, as she learned when she attempted to do so and ended up with a mouthful of slime for the effort.

Meanwhile, Natsuki fared little better. Without even managing to reach her, he was treated to the sight of his fellow Level 0 being sent flying after having her attack intercepted, ultimately ending up further out of his reach. It was odd; the timing of her attack wasn't poor, and it seemed as if it should have connected. His movements were strange, and there was an unnatural power behind them. An esper ability? Or was it some other kind of trickery?

Izumii left him little time to sit and ponder, however. Immediately after, the masked boy came his way bearing his combination of technique with unnatural speed and power. Natsuki had been expecting a punch, or maybe a kick like the one Touko had been on the receiving end of, but what he received instead was a sudden drop in the height of his field of vision and the utter destruction his balance as his legs were thrown out from beneath him.

With an ukemi the likes of which would get him scolded at any dojo but was commonplace on the streets, he braced the fall and immediately moved to the side in anticipation of a following attack. But none came. In the time it had taken him to regain his bearings and get back on his feet, Izumii had reached his princess.

«Anti-Skill should be here any moment. You should get going if you don’t wanna get caught.»

Partly out of a sense of humiliation from being sent tumbling in the dirt and partly out of his still remaining desire to get payback for what these 'MissFits' had done to his companions, Izumii's words sent a thorn of burning frustration through him. But despite it all, looking at the surroundings the truth in his words was clear. He'd already had his subordinates scatter, Touko was on the ground, and Kana was just barely holding on. He'd come to this conclusion just earlier, but now he'd come to it again: he'd have to finish this later.

"Oi, you're going to have to give up on saving your princess for tonight, Anti-Skill's going to be here any minute and we don't have time to deal with this. Help me grab Kana and let's run!"

He'd run up to where Touko had landed and offered a hand to help her get up, if she needed it. With that party member retrieved, all that was left was to retrieve Kana from the within the barrage before she got seriously hurt (in more than just her pride) and scram before anything else happened.