[?] A Certain Masked Man

August 31th, 7:25 A.M.

The sun shone brightly – far too much, in fact – through the dusty windows of an old, abandoned building. Its insides were as ramshackle as anyone would imagine, from the way the exterior gave the impression that the damaged walls would soon give in on themselves from a lack of maintenance and collapse.

In the middle of one of the rooms within that inhabitable and even frankly dangerous building, however, a young woman could be found laying down on a large towel – likely to protect her clothes from the accumulated dirt and filth on the ground and from the general disgust regarding her surroundings – next to a laptop seemingly running a various combination of commands. She was lazily snacking away at some cheap store-bought food, seemingly having yet to realise she hadn't eaten any substantial meal since the day prior.

Her eyes were bloodshot, complemented by heavy bags that could almost welcome items within. From her throat emerged a multitude of grunts and other unpleasant moans as if she was being forced through the most annoying task she had ever been assigned to... which was, incidentally, the case. It was a jarring contrast to her overall rather beautiful and seductive appearance, but not even that could salvage the terror that anyone would feel looking at her when she looked like she would take part in the murder spree that had happened earlier that day.

“FUCKING FINALLY!!!” She exclaimed, though not out of any particular happiness. It was sheer exhaustion that had made her shout louder than she probably should've, but seeing the state of this building she didn't feel too concerned about noise bringing about unpleasant company.

“...Ahem.”

However, there were problems with screams like that coming from a “mature” woman in more than one way, and as such she simply roused to a sitting position and cleared her throat.

What had caused this outburst of a mixture of joy and tiredness?

The phone she held in her hand, a model that she knew by name but was rather unfamiliar with, had finally had its security breached. It would finally lay down any potential secrets and leads to her objective, and make her win this odd “race” she seemed to have been forced in...

...Or so she thought, but even the most suspicious items that this phone held seemed to not be of any particular worth when it came down to figuring out what the man had been doing and what item had cost him his life. Nonetheless, leads were leads, and as such she pulled out the notebook from which she had noted as much of the two casualties' identities as she could gather, and wrote down the additional information that had came from the phone.

“Haaah... I figured things wouldn't be easy, but I hate having to put in so much effort for this. Dammit, I should've let her handle it after all.” She complained all the while carrying as thorough an investigation as she could, noting at best the late man's gambling habits.

(...Wait, gambling?)

These were quite uncommon addictions as far as Academy City was concerned, since it was primarily a place for underage people, but perhaps that had been the source of the man's problems as it didn't particularly seem like he was involved in that much shady business – the fact that he had left even the most remote amount of evidence behind was a solid proof – in the first place. Had he involved himself in something he shouldn't have as a result of a dependency on gambling?

It was entirely possible, and if she could nail down more information, she might be able to tell what kind of deal such a man would be able to take part in to help feed it.

Then, an idea struck her as she quickly re-arranged her laptop's windows and opened a browser, intending on following the lead of the gambling sites.

It was perhaps grasping at straws currently, but if nothing else, by looking into his accounts she would be able to figure out a handful of personal details she currently lacked, namely his proper address regardless of whether she could actually enter the apartment or not, and determine if he had indeed gotten himself in a troublesome financial situation. The fact that the phone had granted her access to his email account was also quite a blessing in how it would allow her to look for that information without having to try too hard.

This was truly an amateur, she thought.

“Come on, mushyman, tell me you're the kind of man who underestimates how dangerous it is to share your personal information on internet and does it freely.”

And with that, she started simultaneously typing away at both the phone and the laptop.

31 August 9:42AM

Within District 15, there was a decently sized crowd of primarily students and several teachers exploring the many businesses lined up throughout the district's streets. Despite tall buildings and a few narrow passage ways, there was always a slight cool breeze flowing through in the early hours, before God decides to turn on the heater to the triple digits just to watch humanity cook alive. There was always an abundance of cafe's open to wake everyone up from late night studies or 'studies' depending on the student themselves.

Three young espers just so happened to be leaning against the exterior. Two male students, one with dyed silver-grey hair, and another with short black hair and glasses over his eyes, both wearing basic white collared shirts and jeans. The third was a girl with brunette hair, with a bang being dyed red, wearing a similar white collared shirt, but with a black vest over it. Koyoko, Shinji, and Naoko respectively. All holding some type of beverage, but Shinji seeming rather energetic toward his two companions.

"...Ha?"



"I'm telling you! Witnesses said they saw some trench coat wearing psycho with a mask killing people the past week! It can't be a coincidence that a string of homicides just so happen to pop up around the same time as these accusations!"

Shinji was a victim of a brand new fad of rumors sprouting among the community of adolescents in Academy City. A man in a trench coat with typically a bladed weapon like a dagger, katana, hidden wrist blade or even a ninja star, all while wearing some weird costume mask during their crimes. Most of the stories pertain that the maniac attacks at night, sometimes portrayed as some super hero, other times a serial killer attacking pedestrians and students. Shinji wasn't always hyped about such stories, but the more and more the rumors popped up the past week, the more into it he got. Probably due to the fact that he is a mystery novel nut. Now he is believing in fake witness statements, and connecting homicides in academy city and neighboring Tokyo to fictitious character.

Naoko made a rather serious face as she grabbed the boy's shoulder, almost looking as if she believed the story, or even believe what he was discussing was dangerous, but..

"Shinji...Are you feeling sick? You aren't abusing any substances are you?" Naoko asked, which could easily be taken as humorous, if she didn't look legitimately concerned for his health and mental state. "Because if you did, I'm going to beat the shit out of you so you can sleep it off." And is willing to inflict great harm to make sure it stays that healthy.

"W-what? NO! I haven't, I'm just saying-!

The aero-hand sighed to himself as he took a swig of his iced-tea and gave a rather dreary look toward his companion. "Shinji, you dismissed these stories as a child's horror story three days ago, until you had a coincidental nightmare the day after.. I'm pretty sure you even babbled on about a theory that it's a student using his esper ability to project themselves into dreams and kill people in their sleep. NOW you're linking him to actual real time murders rather than some weird horror movie crap. So clearly Naoko has the right to be worried about your stupidity.." These rumors had gotten a bit out of hand with the recent news, and both Koyoko and Naoko seemed to find them more annoying than anything else.

"Oi, it could happen! Anything is possible! Especially considering we're living in the epicenter of technological and scientific advancement!"

"Yes, because I can't go to the party store and buy a funny looking mask and whip out my pocket knife and get slashin'" Naoko waved her hand dismissively, Shinji seeming disheartened by their cynicism on the topic as the three finished their drinks with a sigh. "Say, Yoko-"

"Why does everyone call me that now...Aren't nicknames something I get to decide on? The boy growled toward his companion.

"No. I'm pretty sure nicknames are given, not made." Shinji adjusted his glasses for a moment, and began grabbing his school bag along with Naoko.

"Shut it. I wanted to ask if you're planning to come back to school? It's not to late to join this semester you know. Sure you'll be behind, and will probably be mocked by everyone because you're completely uselss~, but it's better than moping in your apartment. So how about sucking it up and joining your friends, hm?~"

At that moment, Koyoko didn't seem irritated by the condescending remarks, rather a conflicted expression came as he stared at his feet in thought. "Uhh...I'm not sure yet. I might just wait until after winter break blows over." He evaded a solid answer, making no real promises once again.

Shinji looked somewhat concerned while Naoko look frustrated in some way before she ultimately sighed. "Stop making excuses. You either join this semester or you don't. This whole 'I need a break' bullshit really needs to stop because it's been pissing me off.. You've been renting and over priced apartment for a couple years now, and even if you've been home educating, that doesn't mean anything in the long haul, especially since the power curriculum is the crucible for developing and treating our esper abilities."

Naoko continued to rant toward the aero-hand for some time, but Shinji eventually butted in before she might start a fight entirely. It wouldn't be the first anyway. Stepping between the two, he smiled crookedly trying to act natural as he began shoving Naoko down the sidewalk. "W-we better get going! We have to go to a study session for this weeks topics! See you later, Yoko!" Shinji waved him off awkwardly, while Naoko just raised her arm once, but put no real energy behind the wave.

"See ya, Cry-baby."

They weren't going to keep pushing him to come back to school if they were always given the same answer. 'Maybe next year.'

"Tch...whatever." The grey haired boy muttered, tossing his empty plastic cup into the designated recycling bin and adjusted his backpack. He wasn't sure why he was wearing it besides having a water bottle or two. There was no delivery job today, and he picked it up out of habit. He's been getting by with this new unofficial delivery service, but his adviser has been shy on tasks as of late. "...Masked man with a dagger, hm?...Vigilante..Serial Killer...Maybe not the worst move I'd seen.." The boy imagined the potential block buster hit, before attempting to walk off to tend to he uneventful day.

Oda Taichi's Apartment

"Finally, wanted to get this off my chest ever since! I'll just get you guys some cha--- Aren't you guys going to come in or we going to do this elsewhere?"

The officers shared an awkward glance before the woman, Tessou Tsuzuri accepted Taichi's gesture with a smile.

"Of course. Thank you."

The questioning took a while, going through the minutiae of his movements before they even came to the matter of the crime scene itself. Throughout the conversation, it would dawn on Taichi that they were clearly suspicious of him. Though he tried to appear natural it was noticeable that the male officer's hand rarely moved more than a few inches from the grip of his firearm. As far as they were aware they might be dealing with a dangerous killer with the ability to melt their flesh from their bones with a thought.

"And did you see anything out of the ordinary? Anyone else perhaps? From what we've managed to gather so far the incident must have occurred shortly before you... made... your.. call..." Tsuzuri started to realise how accusatory she sounded at that moment and broke into an apologetic smile. "I'm sure it was only a coincidence, but you must understand how it looks..." She composed herself quickly before continuing. "If there's anything you can remember, then you must tell us. It's the only way we can catch who did this." The keycard in Taichi's pocket would start to feel uncomfortably obvious.

But in the end, there was nothing that connected Oda with the crime other than the suspicious circumstances of his call.

"If you remember anything else, Oda-san, please contact us immediately." Tsuzuri and her 'escort' stood at his door once again, bidding him farewell. "And it should go without saying, but please don't leave the area. We may need to question you again if anything new comes up." She said, making it increasingly clear that he was their prime suspect at this point in time.

***

District 11

The lock would be trivially easy to break, especially for someone of Mugino's ability.

Inside a single young man of who looked to be in his late twenties sat beneath the harsh orange glow of a desk lamp. The interior was neatly organised with all the outward appearance of a normal shipping business. A small office with just enough space for a pair of desks between the countless filing cabinets crammed into every available square inch of space.

The office's occupant looked up in surprise at the girl who had appeared unexpectedly. He had not been expecting anyone at this hour. Nor did he have any reason to fear her. She had the element of surprise.

He looked like a regular overworked company man working late to meet a deadline for a regular company.

But clearly that was not the case. The owner of the phone would not be interested in the office of a normal shipping company. They had visited once and for a very specific reason. There was something else here.

Digging through all that paper work would take a team of analysts a few days at least. But it was doubtful that Mugino had the time or the patience for such an undertaking. Those in the business of intelligence gathering would know the usual hiding spots for confidential information and illicit property. Air ducts, air conditioning units, false wall panels and concealed compartments in the backs of drawers and apparently solid sections of tables. Searching quickly and efficiently would not be quiet or tidy.

But luckily for Mugino, there was someone here who could point her in the right direction...

***

Hisakawa Miyako's residence

Hisakawa Miyako would not have much difficulty finding the information she sought. Within an hour she had the name of the man who had been reduced to a pile of biological matter in a shady underpass. Watanabe Kaji. An office worker and research liaison at Arisawa Science and Research and avid gambler.

His address, an apartment in District 3, was the sort of affluent residence common amongst the few adults within Academy City. A private complex with its own security and all sorts of modern conveniences such as a gym, high-speed internet and private parking.

His financial situation was as dire as one would expect from a regular gambler. Spikes in income correlating to his monthly paycheck disappeared as quickly as they arrived.

But beyond that there was little that stood out as extraordinary among his private records. No signs of prior criminal activity or peculiarities in his private life.

Watanabe Kaji was as boring as they came.

And somehow he had ended up dead under horrific circumstances.

Mugino couldn’t deny her disappointment at how the events turned out to be. No ambushes, no traps, not even an alarm that exploded outwardly as she forced the locked door open by her ability’s means. There wasn’t even a heavily equipped guard, an over the top security system or a bunch of shady gangsters gathered around a suspicious collection of banned items.

All there was, was your everyday office, with your everyday working slave.

However she didn’t allow for that image to deceive her.

The trail she had picked up was that of a professional in this kind of business and from the smell this place held in all its ordinariness it felt as though it was just the kind of spot she’d been looking for. This facade likely hid so much darkness, it would more than just even out the conditions. In the end, the least striking places always prove to be the most suspicious.

Her eyes, sharp as always, would meet the man, her glance stabbing like daggers.

«Yagyu Saito.»

She spoke a single boy’s name. Her voice was pressuring, becoming the hammer to knock the daggers even deeper into the body.

Without awaiting a response, she’d simply wander closer towards the single occupant of the office, her demeanour cold and merciless.

«You know who he is. You know what he wanted here. You know what kind of business you do in here. You know what he wanted here with you. Spill it all. You have five minutes.»

There was no respect, no mercy, nothing. To conclude her approach, she simply seated herself on top of his desk elegantly, while not minding the piles of paper she’d push over that way, making it clear how little forgiving she would be for any resistance. He was her pawn, that was what she had decided. He would obey, that’s what her actions would tell him. Objections? She wouldn’t even give him any. He had fallen under a tyrant’s rule.

No need to put it into words.

Her body’s language was all it would need.

Tuesday, August 31st, 7 A.M.

To the average student, mid-July to end of August marked the very incarnation of freedom; a period of the year where they were granted the right to dispose their time as they saw fit with none of the constraints that usually came with the notion of imposed responsibilities. And up to a certain extent, this was true for all kinds of students, no matter their social standing, though there was a much more unfortunate group of elite students who, depending on their families, upbringing, and circumstances, still had responsibilities to attend to and expectations to meet regardless.

As such, it couldn't be said that Summer vacations was true liberation for all children and teenagers alike as some would like to pretend, but it was as close as they could possibly get if they were lucky enough to not be burdened by any of the above.

Which the girl who sprawled almost all of her limbs all over a park bench like a discarded mannequin was certainly not.

Luck was hardly an attribute of hers.

“Hujisaka-chan?” A voice called out from the device she was holding with the only arm that wasn't laying limp like some kind of noodle. Realising she was still in the midst of a conversation, Natsumi held back a sigh that would more than likely catch the worried attention of her interlocutor before replying.

“I'm listening.”

“We went ahead and settled the two down in their respective dorms. Iresia-chan is really looking forward to tomorrow! Komoe-sensei would love it if all the students at her showed the same kind of enthusiasm towards attending school!” The petite woman happily reported on the other end of the call, it seemed this call was a simple check-up on the situation of the girl she had gone to great lengths an approximative month ago to drag out of life-endangering trouble.

“At least there's one, so surely that's better than no one? Kinda surprising to hear considering today's news, though.”

She was willing to understand the feeling since the girl in question had never been truly scholarised, but she just couldn't share it. It was less the idea of attending school daily once more starting on September 1^st that bothered her, in fact she quite enjoyed the aspect of having something that would shape her daily, “normal” life without her having to think too much about it, and more that her status of elite student within a prestigious school forced her to pretend to get along with her “classmates” whom barely any of their names she recalled.

“Yes...” The enthusiasm of the petite woman was clearly being replaced by concern regarding the well-being of her students. Upon realising this, however, she quickly caught herself in order to not spread the negative feeling. “But I'm sure Anti-Skill will catch the criminal soon, so students shouldn't let it deter them from having a fun back to school period as long as they stay safe!”

(She thinks having to go back to school is a fun experience?) Natsumi struggled to hold back a laugh at that statement, visibly amazed by the optimism of teachers regarding what students would normally refer to as a hellish period which she was no exception to. At the same time, she took a glance at her phone's display to reveal that the call had been going on for about a dozen minutes, and considered that it was perhaps time to wrap it up.

“Well, good to hear things are going smoothly. Anyway, I need to go. Thanks for the help, Tsukuyomi-sensei.” Natsumi ended the conversation with a rare display of sincere politeness, which in turn was answered by that same upbeat enthusiasm that particular teacher was known to have.

“You're welcome, Hujisaka-chan!”

***

Though she couldn't tell how much, a fair amount of time had passed since the call had ended as Natsumi stared blankly at her phone. A feeling of dread she couldn't locate the source of rose made her bite her lip without realising and made her unable to even properly understand the time that was being displayed on her phone; a sense of worry she had rarely felt before. 

All she could tell was that it wasn't apprehension about returning to a “normal life” on September 1^st, and she only felt that stomach-lurching sensation again after bringing the news that had been informed not too long ago.

Details had not been made public as of yet to avoid fuelling rumours and spreading fear throughout the student body, but two murders were reported to have occurred in the middle of the night. Anti-Skill and Judgement alike seemed to have so little leads on who could have committed the crime that they weren't even willing to ask people to report any “suspicious activity” just yet because of how uncertain they were of the conflict's origin. And if they were unable to locate the source of the danger, it was likely they would soon claim it was an accident to quell the parents' worries and impulsive actions

That the part that worried her, however. If it were just the crimes, then Natsumi would only feel somewhat inconvenienced by the now heightened security levels and alarms of the city; the simple action of coming alone to sit down at this still deserted park in District 7 had already received a few odd glances from roaming and armed Anti-Skill officers who were patrolling the area, and she could already tell that moving around for any kind of purpose besides studying would be difficult until the city was deemed safe again.

She spared a thought at the idea that it was perhaps this behaviour from the authorities that turned people off from wanting to hang around and wondered if they would ever get better at inspiring anything but worry.

But the most concerning aspect of this crime was not the fact that the crime had been committed – she was already far too used to the reality that people randomly died in Academy City at the snap of selfish fingers – but that mere minutes before the supposed report call, she had received a call of her own from Hisakawa Miyako.

Yet she had not received a single order, nor any further attempt at communicating. The call had been rapidly cut as if the woman had decided that calling her was a bad idea, and any further attempts at calling her back in the morning had resulted in failure, making the already unlikely scenario of an accidental call all that much more impossible.

(That woman doesn't make it a habit of hers of protecting me. What the hell is going on here?)

In an attempt to quell the unfamiliar feeling down, she tried to get a grip and look up on online boards whatever information she could out of this matter, rumours or not. Then again, internet was more well-versed in rumours than not.

But as she did, it wouldn't stop the simple lip-biting from turning into an uncharacteristically full-blown lip-gnawing, a strong indicator that radio silence from a dark side agent that would normally never hesitate to use people as dog shields meant that whatever was going down right now, it was certainly worth being concerned about.

And in more ways than for her personal safety.

Oda had followed them to the door as the officers left his apartment and as the door closed he lead against it feeling the exhaustion setting in. Sure the dog had got some sleep, but calling it that may be a gross misunderstanding. You see he was rough around the edges, but the boy was rather tidy by nature. Sure it was often he made a mess in the kitchen in his attempt to create something eatable and yet every time he always cleaned up afterwards. But right now it was only a disaster, something was out of character as you see the entire night he's been up and down.

Half an hour there, half an hour here the dog kept waking up in the night and attempted to do something before trying to sleep again. But he kept waking up by every hour and normally the boy who would be immensely grumpy in the morning was different. He had no proper sleep and something was wrong which he didn't really understand.

You see he was far more dense to his own problems compared to anyone else.

"What am I doing?" Oda said to himself as he took the keycard out of his pocket. The boy was struggling to understand his actions from the moment he saw those bodies last night. It was out of character and order.... He just needs to get his mind off it... he just needs to focus on something fun. That's right, something he had enjoyed and so he looked to his collection of games near his tv. But most of them were open world games and he was kinda tired of them. So the next best thing was classic arcade games and there was only one place he knew had the best sort in Academy city.

"Let's play some games..." Oda said placing the card back in his pocket and decided to leave straight away without eating anything in the process. He was heading towards the Arcades in district seven and without realising he left his Judgement sash behind in his apartment.

That night was not a good night for Kaneko Mirai. She had been too frightened to look at those corpses and take in their demise with her senses until she was driven by her desire for vengeance. Even empowered by hate, the best she could do was steal a glance to make sure they weren't her target. By the time she fled the scene and got home, the stench and sight of death lingered in her mind.

She let her breathing get out of control. Adrenaline pumped through her veins; the pain from her more serious wounds, which were still not fully healed, began to become increasingly apparent. Could she have died like those two? Was that what death had in store for those who faced it? Just lying there in the street, nameless until some uniformed person put you in a bag and had someone else identify you?

Why had she nearly faced this fate when scum like...him were able to get off scot-free? Shaking from both anger and pain, she haphazardly opened up a bottle of the painkillers and took a few, probably one or two too many. But she didn't care so long as she could numb everything. There was no justice in the world, was there? Not even one of those corpses belonged to her attackers.

After preparing herself for sleep, she flopped onto her bed and took some deep breaths. The medicine had begun to work, but her mind still was haunted by memories and visions of what she had witnessed, as well as the night of her own betrayal and near-death. There was something to be said about one's mind being more powerful than one realizes.

Falling in and out of consciousness, Mirai was treated to what appeared to be a mix between dreams and hallucinations. There was naught but regret, pain, and hatred in them. Conversations of the best zoomed by as if she were watching videos on a higher speed setting than normal. Why couldn't it have been his body laying on the ground? Blood and corpses. The horrid smell.

Blink. There was his sweet romantic talk again. The boy appeared to be fearless when recounting his life to her. So much confidence. Would he have been frightened to see those bodies? Maybe they were his friends. But it would be better if it had been him. He did begin to show some fear and hesitation one day. Wait. Pause, pause!

It was an offhand comment made one day before the incident. The boy was worried about some colleagues of his. Apparently some had been speaking of some kind of masked boogeyman, and that some had either gone missing or into hiding. He refused to speak much more of it, chalking it up to some high-powered Esper who decided to go power mad on the powerless. Hardly a rare occurrence in this city, right?

That was it. Maybe those bodies were connected? Blood, the stench. There he was, sprawled out on the street, being identified by whichever sucker he conned into loving him after he used her up. The last look on his stupid little face being that of fear the likes of which he had never once felt before. Wouldn't that be...perfect?

Tuesday, August 31st, 6 AM JST

Mirai rolled out of bed, filled with a new determination. She barely slept a wink, and was still numb from the pills, so she downed a bunch of caffeinated drinks to perk herself up and headed online to check out possible rumours to see if she could find anything. In her obsessive, drugged state, she poured over all the information she could find.

8 AM JST

So, there weren't many other rumours that fit what he mumbled about. But there was still not much to go on. Still, she at least confirmed the possible existence of a person possibly going around making life difficult, so to speak, for certain types. A man in a mask, if you will.  That boy who intercepted her the previous night...wasn't he part of Judgment or something, and didn't he take some evidence with him?

The biggest grin she could muster appeared on her face. After sending off e-mails and private messages to those who posted the better of the rumours asking for further information or even places where the mysterious man had been spotted before. Her phone would let her know if they replied, anyway.

After the awkward shower which only further reminded her of her newly acquired disability, she took more drinks with her and headed out to seek that boy out. Even if he refused to help her, she could at least kill time waiting for replies to her inquiries. She didn't know where Taichi lived, so she'd have to wander until she found him. Shouldn't be too hard with all her excess energy, right? You could see that boy in a crowd easily.

Perhaps now, things could be set in motion. The grin appeared on her face again as she left her dorm into the sunlit city.

Now I can make him pay.

Takamiya Jin made it his business to know about the goings on of this accursed city. Who knows when a harmless lead might lead him to a loophole out of this damn place. It goes without saying that he'd heard the rumours about the man in the mask. He just... Didn't care much. There were a million and a half urban legends in this city, and frankly, this one didn't seem particularly enticing.

If it was real, of course, then things might change. But only if that Masked Man wasn't an agent of the city itself- An entirely real possibility, as Jin knew. If he wasn't, then that meant he was somehow slipping through Academy City's famed surveillance... And that was an ability Jin would desperately love to have.

Enough to break his own rule of not drawing the attention of the authorities, even.

But, that chain of thoughts ended long ago, as there were other leads to follow which were less... Wild Goose Chase-y. Not that they were any more fruitful.

But right now was daylight hours, hardly a time to hunt down that which lurks in the depths of the night. Now was a time for Takamiya Jin to put on his one man play, an act for the benefit of none, not even himself.

But he'd be darned if he didn't have fun doing it!

---

Tuesday, August 31, 8 AM JST

It was an odd sort of day. The sort of day where Jin hadn't actually decided what he'd be doing that day. You know, normally Jin would actually have a sort of plan, such as doing a pole dance in the sky, then harassing whoever gave him a weird look for it, then figuring things out from there.

Okay, so he never claimed it was a good plan, or a well thought out one. But at least it was one!

But today, Jin had decided to wing it, right off the bat! Which was why he had decided to follow the wind, literally. He just up and went whichever way kept the wind at his back, until he got bored. Which was how Academy City's Greatest Nuisance™ ended up at the Sakugawa Middle School Female Dorms.

Right on time to encounter a certain wheelchair-bound girl exiting them.

This attracted his attention for one simple reason. This was Academy City. The city of science. And while he may hate the damn place right to its core, even Jin must admit that its medical sciences are top notch. Even if they got to that point by cutting open the brains of people like him. But then, why bring up the past.

Anyways, the mere fact that Academy City either couldn't fix her, or didn't bother to, was more than enough to catch Jin's eye. Slicking back his hair unnecessarily, the nuisance sidles forward, into the path of his target's automatic wheelchair.

"You," the nuisance stated bluntly, "Look like shit. You know that, right?"

The grey haired delinquent wasn't sure how to pass the time once his friends had left. What was there to do? With lack of activity and being on his home computer all day usually ending uneventful, what exactly was there that he can be genuinely entertained, or at least preoccupied with? With his friends preoccupied with classes, all there was to do was maybe ignite a cigarette or two and use his abilities to play around with it. That's what he did back when he was a level 1.

During his time in the power curriculum, they didn't measure just sheer power and application of abilities their subjects received, but how they may effect the biology and natural processes with in someone's body. First instance, one of them was to test if the boy could breathe and filter chemicals and toxins with in the air. The easiest test they could come up with, was a simple cigarette, given to the teenager by one of the examiners. Worst case scenario, the boy would start coughing from the chemicals and ash itching at his throat and lungs. However, the results came back that the boy had unconsciously filtered the smoke of everything that was natural in the air. Oxygen and Nitrogen. Though it was noted that didn't make it taste or smell any less gross. All the ash, nicotine and chemicals would just be puffed out.

Ironically, there was no point in having a cigarette at all, and yet Koyoko had made a habit of it. Not as much as the average smoker, only when he's bored. It was because he somehow found enjoyment in manipulating the cloud of toxins around and making all sorts of shapes and even intimidated people if he concentrated enough. But it's not exactly eight hours worth of entertainment, and he was only allowed to smoke in certain areas due to 2nd hand smoking laws, so it wasn't common for him to do so.

Koyoko ended up stuck with his phone, while aimlessly wandering around the School District, looking at the many facilities that many of Academy City's populace resides. Though, he would only ever be allowed to look from an outsider's perspective, with many of them walled off and even gated entirely.

"Why am I even here..." Koyoko begrudgingly asked himself, unsure of why exactly he picked this district of all places to keep himself occupied. Students were already in class by now, and he can vaguely here the track team running laps, in the morning where it's not too hot to the point most mortal creatures would collapsed. That is unless someone had the Esper power of being cold-blooded like a lizard.

This must be what hell is like. It's not a fiery pit of suffering, pain and torment, run by a half goat, half human weirdo with a very bad sun burn. No...It's Absolute...Fucking...BOREDOM! The aerohand had already resorted to talking to himself and complaining to no one eternally to keep himself distracted from all the reminders that he is technically no longer a student. The hidden fears of being potentially kicked out of the city for being such a dead beat waste of resources always lingered, but Espers aren't even allowed to leave this place. So this delinquent was forced in a form of Limbo where the city doesn't know what to do with him...well except maybe spam his computer and phone with ads about how wonderful the schools are, but that may be just a coincidence.

Before walking disappointment knew it, he was sitting on a bench in a nearby park, tapping away at his phone looking at recent news reports and weather forecasts. It was a brand new phone, but was on the lower end in terms of quality, as he was forced to buy a new one after a certain incident, and the worst part was he couldn't even recover his contact information and account information for his bank account. Three grueling days of trying to get everything back in usable shape. 'Hot..Hot..Hot...Hot...Come oooon! Fall is right around the corner, at least give us one day where I can go outside longer than a few hours every morning!!' Sighing, he pulled at his white collared shirt, already feeling the suns beams coming over some of the tall buildings nearby and stood up once more to move on. Well...I better get inside before solar system cranks up the heater a-...??

For some reason, he stopped. Just as he stepped away from the bench, his irises stayed transfixed on a brunette, perhaps a couple years younger than him that looked...oddly familiar. They were tapping away on their phone, eyes glued to the screen as she appeared to be searching for something. The boy was probably about 10 meters away but watched as the girl went from blankly browsing her phone, to chewing her own lip in an increased frustration.

It soon came more clear, as her clothes were the only warping factor to the confusion he was having. A girl he had met only twice, and the first time ending up with a destroyed plastic device on the ground.

...Geh! The phone in his hand was practically a constant reminder of who exactly smashed his phone barely two months ago. A flash and click of a camera. The whining comparable to a five year old, and the cracking of microchips and software grounded up into a smooth tile floor. What is she doing here?! Wait...She goes to Tokiwadai too?! He kind of froze in place as conflicting emotions hit him all at once, and three options presented themselves to him.

A) Confront her about the incident and ask for compensation.
B) Walk away, and don't start a conflict with a rich kid, who potentially pulled some strings with the right people to erase ALL his data.
C) ...Take a picture.

The girl was really livid about having an image of her taken of her before, and it did sound like the perfect revenge since this time he had some good spacing and had a head start to run away. But maybe that was a little too mean. But it certainly would be an entertaining way to greet the strange girl and get her attention.

With that foolish mindset in mind, if the boy wasn't caught staring already. He would have pulled up his phone up as if he has learned nothing from his past mistakes. He brought up the camera and turned off the flash, before tapping his thumb on the prompted button, with an audible click, that captured the gnawing girl perfectly in a high definition image. Actually...Now that I think back on it. What did she do after I past out...she ran after that man with the weird Esper power. She doesn't look like she took any serious damage like a broken arm. These thoughts distracted him, from what could be a violent sense of danger looming over him just 12 meters away.

District 11

The man blinked rapidly at the approaching girl, still caught off guard by the sudden appearance of someone else in his office so late after hours.

«Yagyu Saito.»

"E-excuse me?" He asked. Despite her outwardly lovely appearance, the attractive young lady was projecting a fierce aura that was hard to miss.

«You know who he is. You know what he wanted here. You know what kind of business you do in here. You know what he wanted here with you. Spill it all. You have five minutes.»

"I- uh. I don't know what you're talking about." He lied poorly. "This is just a shipping company..." He swallowed hard, leaning back into his seat as if to put as much distance between himself and the dangerous looking girl as possible. But he was physically backed into a corner, wedged between the metal filing cabinets and his own desk, with Mugino sat directly between him and the door.

Seeing that she wasn't going to take his denial for an answer he caved quickly.

"Listen, I don't know anything. I just work here..." He was not a hard boiled criminal, he was only a lowly office worker. He wasn't going to cover for his employers at the risk of his own health. "I don't know the names of our clients and I don't want to!" He sounded on the verge of pleading. "I've never heard of this Yagyu guy, I swear!"

10:25 A.M.

A sigh escaped her as she'd lost herself in thought once more browsing through online boards in a vain attempt to distract herself. She had still yet to receive anything from, admittedly, anyone and it was weighing down on her mind that she was seemingly being protected from “something”.

That, or they were protecting “something” from her.

There was currently no way to tell, but it was an option to wisely keep in mind.

Realising that she had been hanging out at this park for longer than she intended, Natsumi decided to set down her phone and prepared to leave. Hardly even she knew where she would be headed next and what she would be doing.

The brief amount of attention she had paid to her small but convenient device had only taught her of matters she thought to be trivial. In the past few weeks there had been a rumour of an assassin who hid himself behind a mask, and in typical internet fashion, the majority of the information had either been speculation or manga-like delusions from those seeking to escape good old boring reality.

However, today's news seemed to have particularly fuelled the fire of the most enthusiastic lovers of urban legends, and it seems that rumour had been spread with great intensity in just mere, count on a hand hours.

It was truly bizarre, and it was at that point that Natsumi decided that it was a waste of her time.

She stood up, and as she did, her gaze wandered to a boy who seemingly hadn't been here for very long, yet was standing still and holding his phone in a camera position as if fascinated by something.

And had decided that something was her.

And decided to represent that by taking a picture of her, if the digital “shutter” was anything to go by.

She took a quick look around without moving too much, noting the persistent presence of Anti-Skill officers not too far away from the two of them, likely keeping a light eye on the only people who were in the park.

Today wasn't a day where she felt like getting angry. No, quite the opposite. It was a day where she felt terrible enough to be worse than angry. “...” She stared wordlessly at the currently distracted with an assertive glare, one that made it clear he would regret his actions as, if he focused, he could start feeling the slight, but carefully controlled heat and smoke coming from each of his belt loops one after the other.

After a few seconds, the inevitable happened.

And as it did, Natsumi put on her best act of a crying, truly disturbed Tokiwadai student, burying her face in her hands to hide the smirk that she would be unable to hold back as her shoulders “shook”.

“Perveeeeeeert!!!” She cried out loud enough for even distanced people to hear.

Indeed, today, she didn't feel like getting angry and condescending as she usually would. She felt like being a passive-aggressive, troublemaking asshole, her secondary and even more bothersome "default" mood.

The response was a tad disappointing, much like everything that had come before. She had come out to District 11 expecting at least something and what she found was lowering in scale moment by moment. When entering her expectations had still been kept high by the implicit knowledge she held over these kinds of circles. However, now even that was waning, as the man turned out to be exact the thing he was looking like.

A mere underling. A peasant. A useless pawn.

Mugino could complain all she would about his lack of surprise that usually was all too common for the world she traversed, but would that truly bring back her time?

Clicking her tongue in annoyance over what she had gained, she quickly altered plans, accepting the fact that this was most likely to be the truth. After all, names were a thing that usually was avoided in such shady business, especially if lowly pawns were concerned.

Therefore she had to switch her approach a little, bringing her phone into the conversation, picking out the image of a certain corpse – of course the one taken from the best angle for both the visibility of his face and the gruesomeness of his end (he couldn’t possibly deny it had been her doing) – and holding it right before his eyes, as though bragging, accompanied by the same cold eyes as before.

To her it was indifferent, to him however, if he was what he was claiming to be, it’d most likely trigger an effect somewhere inside his stomach or mind. And that would be when his tongue would break loose. Either for the memory he held of the face, or for the fear it might trigger within him.

«Does that ring a bell? You don’t want to join him, do you? Then again feeling the experience thoroughly is usually the more recommendable deal.»

As she spoke, her voice picked up a faint bit of curious delight, the kind you find with girl’s trying out new brands of lipsticks. Her eyes glancing here and there, her fingers trailing across a bunch of the papers strewn about the table. Before long however, their focus would return to their prey, reclaiming the lost contact.

«I can imagine a piece of paper, if used correctly, serving quite well to replicate a fine enough cut. Or maybe one that isn’t all too clean, while still precise and thus quite the sensation? I wonder could we even get deep? How about we try out? I mean, if my time is wasted, I do need something compensate, don’t I~?»

Oh, that playful ring, wasn’t it heart tearing?

August 31st, 9:00 A.M

A crowd bustled through the city, each person with their own story, motives, and desires all wrapped up in their own little worlds. Amongst the bustling voices and common street ambiance, seemingly frustrated humming could be heard. The source: a girl with a black sweater and black and blue headphones sitting comfortably on her head. She hummed to her own beat as she made her way past other pedestrians, all the while poking around in her own chaotic world. Having chased a rumor of a masked man for several days, she was quickly becoming stressed beyond belief. At one moment, she sighed, as her thoughts came to another of many dead ends and she could only ask herself: "What are you doing, Kita?"

Kita's thoughts raced as she looked through all the places she's visited and people she's talked to. Despite the long list of details, it resulted once again in nothing but endless stress and wasted potential. Becoming irritated, she stopped for a moment, pulled herself together, and continued. "Recap...where haven't you been yet?" Going through the list once again in her head, her eyes darted from building to building, checking for any potential leads. Every building she looked at was either already checked off on her list or deemed a complete waste of time. Frustration built until she groaned and weaved her way to the side of the sidewalk to gather herself.

As she stood there looking at the people passing by, her mind slowly, but surely began to clear. She went through the list one last time, starting from the very beginning when she remembered one play she hadn't been to yet: the Arcades! She never saw a reason to be there, as she had more productive ways to pass her time. However, she couldn't deny the possibilities with plenty of potentially talkative people gathered in one place. At that moment, it sounded like a goldmine of potential leads, especially with news of this masked man spreading like wildfire. More stories, more leads, less time wasted chasing dead ends. Trying to keep the location locked in her head, Kita blended back into the crowd and made her way over, anticipating the amount of information she could gather. Besides, she had pretty much exhausted most of her other options. What else could she have to lose?

10:28 A.M.

Oda was on his way towards the arcades he often frequent, there he would usually play against other students in the many co-op games available. And then usually sit and stare jealously at couples who would often play the crane games together. He can never actually win at those games and often thought that only became possible when you're trying to impress someone and so stared jealously at the couples who managed to win.

But despite his attempts to refocus his mind, to understand what was wrong with his previous actions. The trip to the arcades was soon out of his reach upon hearing a distant scream.

“Perveeeeeeert!!!”

Everyone heard it around them, the girl who shouted that must have had one powerful set of lungs as there was barely any one who hadn't stopped to react to the scream. And without thinking, seeing this as the usual thing he would undertake Oda responded by walking in the direction past the crowds. He then hurried in the direction while checking for his Judgement armband.

"Damn where did I put it?" Oda thought not realising he had forgotten about it in his apartment. And trying to think where had many him blunder his way past the Anti-skill officers without noticing them as he made his way to the centre of the park towards the scene of the commotion. Despite his usual denseness, he could at least tell what was going on, the girl hiding her face apparently scared and embarrassed and the grey haired delinquent who was holding his phone in her direction.

"You there!" Oda shouted at the grey haired one his foot slammed heavily on the ground. "Stop in the name of Judg--- What the hell are you doing man?!" Oda shouted erratically noticing the offending delinquent not only was taking pictures but had pulled his pants down. Seemingly flabbergasted, Oda charged forward furiously. "Pull your goddamn pants up and come with me! I'm taking you in!"

"Oh? You've quite the eye for detail, my friend. Truly, your observations are cutting. How would you feel if your entire life was ruined one day by someone you were foolish enough to put your trust in, and you're left to rot without even the use of your legs? And you know, you try to make the best of it. But the pain never goes away. Then you have a bad night because you come across a couple of corpses in the street and the first thing on your mind is 'why couldn't this be the people I hate?' Then you have a hard time getting presentable because of the disability and having nobody to help you. And then..."

She wheeled up close to Jin, sporting a look equally divided between bemusement and incredulity. Was this boy serious?

"...some creepy sex weirdo-looking motherfucker shows up directly in your warpath one day, looking down on you, telling you that you look like shit. Right in front of your own home, no less! The place that's supposed to be your one sanctuary left in this world! Now, if you were in this...theoretical position, how would you feel?

Her eyes narrowed as she got closer. She stared directly at him, challenging him despite her position.

"Would you like to find out? Because...you're that motherfucker right now. That's you. There's no denying that. You've only a few options left at this point. And if you don't choose to get out of my way or help in my quest, then I can't be held responsible for what happens next."

She slowly sighed, and shook her head.

"Who would believe the word of a creepy sex weirdo who was assaulted in self-defense in front of a middle school girl's dorm? So what's it going to be?"

Mirai's eyes burned with a strange kind of determination. Was she being serious? It was as though Jin had decided to get in the way of a torpedo aimed at something much larger than himself.

The boy looked down at his phone, as the picture was left on his screen as he snapped his phone shut and thought it was a good time to actually approach her now that her attention was caught. What he didn't account for was her reaction changing dramatically from what it was before. Instead of a sequel of terror and a rush to break his phone like what happened last time, the strange girl actually glared forebodingly toward him. This was a normal reaction for any person who hated having their picture taken unannounced, but for the girl from the convenience store months ago? It through him off a bit as he took steps forward.

She doesn't seem to recognize me either...Am I that forgettable? The girl was eventually no longer focused on him, supposedly, as she glanced around the park for a moment, and it honestly looked suspicious. What was she looking for? The boy would put his hand up slowly in greeting and would attempt to communicate. "Yo, remember me?...Or..Maybe you don't? It was a co-" Koyoko attempted to jog her memory a bit, but would stop for a moment as the air around him had a foreign toxin introduced to it. Specifically smoke. But he wasn't using a cigarette right now, and no one other than the brunette was around.

Looking for the source of the smoke, he took a moment to focus on the minuscule amount of ash in the air, and it seemed to be coming from under him. Actually, it was all around him oddly enough. Investigating the trace, as it was rather concerning, he'd look down to look over his legs, and checking his pockets, he got a glimpse of one of his belt loops. They had turned a sickeningly black color where his belt was holding up his jeans. And before he could properly react. "..HA??!" His belt moved right through not just the one loop he was examining, but EVERY loop. His jeans began to fall rapidly toward the earth, and he'd quickly stop everything to grab it once it reached his knees. But-

“Perveeeeeeert!!!”

The grey haired boy looked up in a mix of surprise and horror, and unfortunately nostalgia as he had been in this situation before. A vending machine with two strange women trying to get it to work. Their outfits were very...unique to say the least and after the interaction with them, someone had cut his belt completely clean without him noticing, and was exposed to an entire crowd of people. Except this time, someone or something BURNED his belt loops.

"W-what the hell?! What happened to m- OI! Why are you screaming that?! You're going to give the wrong idea!!" This was ALL too weird. Koyoko immediately thought an esper was involved, but this girl shouldn't have powers related to heat from what he saw months ago. Yet it seemed like she was purposely giving off the wrong idea, as she shuddered in horror.

Koyoko could not fix this as his belt loops were ruined and merely tightening his belt will no longer hold his jeans up.

"You there!" Turning around, a man began running over, a voice booming with authority which gave the impression of an officer, that just spelled out the misfortune of the situation. "Stop in the name of Judg--- What the hell are you doing man?!"

"This ISN'T what it looks like! M-my belt loop-" The judgement member however was not going to listen to a 'pervert' out in the middle of the park, but surely wasn't going to let this incident slide.

"Pull your goddamn pants up and come with me! I'm taking you in!" The man charged furiously over to him, and even if Koyoko finished pulling his pants up with his face flustered from such embarrassment, he had no real means to run. He didn't do anything wrong, but running away will certainly make it seem otherwise. Regardless, the aerohand was send crashing into the grass of the park, with hands being brought behind his back.

"Hey-OW! Watch it! I-I'm not fucking pervert! I haven't even done anything! And I actually know her-..."

Did she...ever...tell me her name? That piece of crucial information that could at least help diffuse the situation was missing in his memories. Because it was never there in the first place.

"Gaah! She fucking knows me, get OFF! Oi, tell him! It's me, remember?! From the convenience store! And that weird esper that attacked us a month ago!?" The boy struggled in Oda's grip, trying to buy even a couple seconds to get the brunette to speak on his behalf, even a little bit. He stared up at the shuddering girl, expecting her to recognize him, even a little bit.

"Ooh, feisty."

Jin couldn't help but grin. Considering he was just called a sex weirdo looking motherfucker, this may imply that he has some masochistic tendencies, but really, it just showed that he was surprised. Whether or not it was a pleasant surprise, remained to be seen. Regardless, it had been a long time since someone had made such a venomous retort to Academy City's Self Proclaimed #1 Nuisance.

The bit about corpses in the street piqued his interest, though. He'd have to file it for later. Especially since he'd just been attemptedly blackmailed into helping her with some sort off quest... Which, all things considered, sounded more likely to be creating more bodies than investigating existing ones.

"Sounds like you've got quite the story there, little miss. But hey, let me try to one up you~"

Jin's voice lowered to a conspiratorial hush as he took advantage of Mirai's approach to lean forward and whisper in her ear.

"You see, once upon a time, there was this little bird in a cage. Being a little bird,
of course he didn't know why he was there. What he did know, was that off, past those grey, grey walls,
there was another bird. He could hear them singing, every morning. He didn't know what they were singing, per se, or why. What he did know, was that the singing, which had started off oh-so distant, was getting closer. And one day, when the song was at it's loudest, he could even hear it. 'Oh, no! Please, no! Not me! Please! Stop!'"

Jin paused for dramatic effect.

"That day, when the singing stopped... The birdy knew that the one singing tomorrow,
would be him."

Jin stood back up straight with a shit-eating grin, as if that story had been made up on the spot, rather than the partial truth that it was.

"You know, if you want to use that kind of blackmail, you'd be wise to save it for someone who doesn't have the moniker of Academy City's Greatest Nuisance. I'm not exactly known for caring about my reputation... But hey, it'll kill time, so why don't you tell me all about this quest of yours?"

On her way to the arcades, Kita noticed two people that stood out to her. One was a boy with a rather interesting look to him that Kita had a few questions about, while the other was a girl who seemed to be bound to a wheelchair. Curious as to what they were talking about, Kita muted her music, but didn't take off her headphones to make it seem like she wasn't eavesdropping. 

She continued at the same pace but paid attention to the rather one sided conversation, catching some of the flak that the girl seemed to be throwing the boy's way. One note worthy detail was that the girl seemed to mention "corpses", which immediately grabbed Kita's attention. She slowed down, trying to filter the wheat that was the possibly pertinent details from the chaff that was all of the insults that she was throwing at the boy. Then, her attention span immediately fell when the boy responded with a story that seemingly had very nothing to do with what the girl was talking about. When the boy was finished though, she felt that while she could keep up the charade and just walk past them, she realized that there was an opportunity to potentially learn something important. Also, she had an opportunity to make her afternoon a little more...interesting.

Turning around slowly, she looked at the both of them, slowly clapping her hands after the boy had finished his "story". "That was one of the most riveting stories I have ever heard. Truly, it was so gripping I felt like I could imagine every detail in my head, or maybe that was me daydreaming to try not to fall asleep as I was passing by. Either way though, I hope you two don't mind if I just listen in on this wonderful conversation you seem to be having with one another especially because it seems like we're sharing some deep dark secrets here, and I, for one, would not want to miss a bit of it." Kita took off her headphones as she spoke and gave the both of them her evenly divided attention as one sentence occupied her thoughts: "This oughta be a fun talk."

The girl who stood by as the pervert and the seemingly Judgement officer was still burying her face, shoulders shaking violently and choked noises sometimes escaping her throat as if she'd entered a terrible crying fit. In a sense, it was a genuine one despite the pitiable image she tried conveying with it.

"Hey-OW! Watch it! I-I'm not fucking pervert! I haven't even done anything! And I actually know her-..."

But hidden behind those hands was the testament to the fact that the reason she was crying wasn't because she was deeply embarrassed or upset as a normal teenage girl would be in front of a pervert; no, it was sheer hilarity she struggled to hold back lest she'd lead the Judgement boy back on proper tracks. 

It was to a point where, in a rare feat of such excessive amusement, she had even forgotten all about her previous concerns.

"Gaah! She fucking knows me, get OFF! Oi, tell him! It's me, remember?! From the convenience store! And that weird esper that attacked us a month ago!?"

That call finally brought Natsumi back from her laughter-brought trance as she looked up, cheeks slightly reddened from all the laughing, towards the beckoning boy. Her previous amusement was gradually being replaced by complete confusion: sure, she had been the support group in a fight against a ridiculously powerful Esper alongside a certain boy a month prior, but...

White hair somewhat on the longer side, a relatively childish face that tried hard to convey anti-socialism despite mostly looking like an abandoned puppy trying to learn how to bark intimidatingly, only looking barely any older than herself, and seemingly very bad at escaping problems he's caused...

(...I've got no clue who's this dude.) She concluded after noting those first-glance traits, bearing an ultimate conviction that going a few hours without hearing of the most standoffish (and only) man in the School Garden wasn't enough to actually forget about him so badly she'd mistake an almost complete polar opposite boy for him.

Hell, they hadn't met in a convenience store in the first place. And that entire fight was supposed to be a secret, so there was no way he would shout it out in front of a Judgement officer who'd just make his case worse for it.

As such, there was only one thing left to said to this boy she had apparently “fought alongside” despite not having the most singular recollection of.

“Who the hell are you?”

«Does that ring a bell? You don’t want to join him, do you? Then again feeling the experience thoroughly is usually the more recommendable deal.»

If she was expecting the image to loosen his lips, she would be disappointed to find it had the opposite effect. In fact, the man appeared to lose all capacity for speech in the face of such a gruesome sight.

"Th-th-th-" He stuttered unintelligibly.


«I can imagine a piece of paper, if used correctly, serving quite well to replicate a fine enough cut. Or maybe one that isn’t all too clean, while still precise and thus quite the sensation? I wonder could we even get deep? How about we try out? I mean, if my time is wasted, I do need something compensate, don’t I~?»

Did he imagine her hand drifting towards the stack of fine-edged papers on his desk or was she really implying what he thought she was implying?

"W-wait!" He blurted out abruptly, cringing away from the elegant looking young woman like a beaten dog faced with a raised hand. "I remember now! That guy was here a few days ago!" He swallowed again, his mouth becoming dry like cotton, making the words hard to spit out. Perhaps sensing the doom encroaching on him, he became suddenly more lucid, speaking slowly as cold fear overtook blind panic. "He was looking for something. A package one of our customers dropped off earlier that day." His heart was pounding in his ears but he managed to keep a clear train of thought. "It was... it was..." He scrambled for one of the filing cabinets.

So the information she required was hidden in plain sight. A plain manilla folder slotted next to countless other, identical ones. It would have taken hours to find without this cretin's help...

"Right!" He laughed humourlessly, finding the correct note. "It was our only incoming delivery that day." His finger traced down the page for the relevant section. "It's due to be delivered today. B-but it's already been taken." He felt his mouth go dry again at the realization he couldn't give her what she wanted. At least, not directly. "Here's the shipping manifest." He hurriedly passed her the paper, nearly throwing it at her. On it, a list of names.

"Our deliveries run off a chain of independent couriers and handlers. F-for security, you know?" He smiled appeasingly, hoping that might be enough to get her to leave. "Makes it harder to trace. that way." He realized she probably didn't care. "B-but if you follow those names, you'll find the person who has it eventually."

At the bottom of the list was the name of a certain boy.

Damion Koyoko.

***

[Got the details on today's job. Or did you forget already?] The text message read as it appeared with a chime on Koyoko's phone. [10pm. Dead drop behind the arcades. Extra pay due to curfew. You want in or do I give it to one of the other runners?] His handler was more curt than usual.

In the end the man’s jaw had run like crazy, bursting out the entire collection of information he held, sparing Mugino – or rather her underlings – the time it would have taken to turn the entire office over. Being given both a list and sufficient information about the ongoings, she could finally lift her bosom up from the table she had occupied as a seat, casually setting herself into motion.

A word of gratitude? A comment even? Any notion towards it?

She showed none, simply running her eyes from the top to the bottom of the list, not minding it all too much, though.

She was no investigator, after all.

«I hope this will prove to be useful, otherwise I’ll come back.»

That was all she left him with when the door closed behind her back. If there would have been anything worth of adding this would remain his only chance.

She had everything in her hands now. The sheet of paper, a basis of information and the name of the company still lingering in the back of her head. With everything that was, ITEM’s assets would most certainly be able to tie up the lose ends, knotting them to build a complete structure. Or at least one sufficient for making assessments over the most logical next step.

Until then, though her job was over. Her night was over.

What would come next? Who knew.

She hadn’t bothered giving the list a proper reading, nor had she used her phone to conduct any online research. She had even avoided the act of calling her handler directly, simply sending them another text message with a picture of the list attached. The contents simply were a short summary of everything she’d learned and that’d be all.

From there onwards she headed off into no direction in particular. Simply returning to her camouflage of the high class lady you’d find in any large metropolis.

Off towards the new day.

Oda was getting stressed, normally he would've restrained them peacefully or at least talked them down. But something snapped within the boy and the rough housing this grey haired boy was trying to escape his grasp has only resulted in one thing.

The perverted boy whose pants had lost their grasp went flying over Oda's shoulder, using the takedown techniques Oda has learned from training. The dog sent Damion Yokoito crashing to the ground in a moment, restraining him on the floor the boy spoke clearly and to the point.

"If only you just cooperated originally you wouldn't be in this mess, but you've only made this worse considering your crazy yapping with your pants down." Oda said who while listened to it only made the guy seem crazy whose previous situation didn't actually help. Keeping him restrained the dog turned to the girl who shouted pervert in this place.

As while the guy seemed crazy, he seemed to believe this girl know him. But the girl clearly didn't know who he was and decided it was better to take him away after that moment.

"Alright, I'll be taking him to my Judgement Branch. But I suggest you leave first it will make it easier for me to escort him away." Oda sighed thinking this whole situation was just strange.

What was with these meddling nitwits who kept getting in her way? She had rumours to look into, and that annoying boy to track down! Surely, today was a day of tests. She had to triumph now if there was any hope at all of victory. First, she stared at the initial creepy sex weirdo who bothered her. Uh...what did he say, again? And then there was the girl who randomly showed up...were they working together?

"Oh, uh..sure! Congrats on becoming parents! I'd offer you a well-wish, but frankly I don't have the time and that baby has a lot of trouble ahead of it, being born to a couple so young and all. You two are going to need all the help you're going to get. Your secret will be safe with me! And the first thing you should do is help ensure the streets are safe from hooligans, murderers, and serial killers. Safer streets are better for everyone, but especially the vulnerable like your baby! That's why I was about to go and find a Judgment member I know to give us permission to form a sort of student watch organization so that further incidents like those corpses I came across last night and my own crippling need not happen again! Fear not, for we are only aiming to increase reporting of crime rather than dealing with it ourselves."

She maneuvered around Jin and began to wheel onward again with determination.

"Come on, you two! You can't afford to stay out of this. Your offspring's future depends on it!"

This whole incident was striking nerves in the delinquent's mind, as he refused to be taken in for something he didn't do, or rather something that was never really out of line, in his mind anyway. Why was the girl acting as if he didn't recognize him? Is a month really the time it takes for someone to forget people involved in a crazed esper rampage, resulting in him going to the hospital for a broken foot, and her pursuing the suspect.

"I said LET GO asshole! You don't understand! She- UWAAH!" The delinquent continued to protest, until the trained Judgement officer grabbed him and hurled him over his shoulder and slam him into the ground. With a grunt of pain, he was immediately pinned and restrained.

"If only you just cooperated originally you wouldn't be in this mess, but you've only made this worse considering your crazy yapping with your pants down." The delinquent's eyebrow twitched in utter aggravation as his torso ached and undoubtedly formed a bruise from the impact of the ground. The judgement officer thought he was just some crazy pervert who willingly dropped his pants in public. And while he had reasons to believe it, Koyoko couldn't help but feel he was being ignorant entirely, and merely wanted to arrest him and get it over with. It was extremely irritating.

He had for the most part lost the air in his lungs from the impact for the time being and was only groaning and coughing at this point as the delinquent looked back up to the girl who's expression changed entirely, staring at him in confusion and annoyance. An expression he had yet to see her use in such a way. The girl only spared a single statement to him.

“Who the hell are you?”

"W-...what..?!"This was just about the final clue he needed to come to the conclusion that this girl didn't forget him. Nor was she playing some elaborate prank as far as Koyoko can tell for the incident before. No, nothing about her besides her looks was familiar. Her mannerisms, her reaction, her attitude in general, a look of pure disdain and annoyance. If the boy was able to struggle still, he would've stopped at this point. "W-wait...You're not..her?" The boy looked even more confused, but at the same time, that answer was the only logical explanation, other than a rare multi-personality disorder. "B-but..you look exactly the same..How could-"

"Alright, I'll be taking him to my Judgement Branch. But I suggest you leave first it will make it easier for me to escort him away." Oda was not going to wait on Koyoko to finish his questions as he began to hoist him up to his feet and prepared to escort him. The delinquent felt dejected to continue to ask questions, or to at least find someway out of this. In fact, he felt defeated entirely. This was one big misunderstanding and he's paying for it.

"..For fuck's sake, just take to the branch already. What? I'm going to turn into a rabid dog and chase after her? Please. Or you can just question me here and not embarrass yourself in front of your supervisor, pal. Tch..." Koyoko was very annoyed with the Judgement officer at this point and just wanted to leave at this point. Now he was currently thinking of how to get out of this, there being a decent amount of evidence to at least get him out of the pants issue, but maybe not so much the picture. 'Oh, I thought I knew her' may not cut it during questioning.

Jin wasn't particularly expecting an interruption, buuuuut... It wasn't like he was particularly bothered by it. Not nearly so much as he was bothered by the fact that his life story was just so totally ignored! Wow, what a heartbreak! ... Or not! Whimsical as always, Jin barely even remembered why he told it in the first place. He probably just felt like it. In any case, that should put into perspective just how unbothered he was by the interruption.

"Hey, if you wanna join the dark secrets club, you gotta share your own dark secrets first~" And that was all the attention he would give the newcomer. Hey, it's worth a shot!

But for now, Jin is much more interested in the nonsensical ramblings of his initial target, a girl who seems to have less of a grip on things than initially thought. Which, to be fair, is perfect for Jin. Sane people aren't willing to do crazy things for stupid reasons

Somewhere in there, he became a father. Fascinating. If the 'mother' did end up joining this ridiculous alliance, he would have to tease her about that. Relentlessly. Because why not?

"A student watch organization, hmm? Why not?"

Jin could think of about a dozen reasons for that. Mostly reasons having to do with getting in trouble for the crap he pulls. But this crazy chick is a gold mine of amusement- He would have to find something truly fascinating to leave her alone at this point.