[January 28th]

Naomi woke up that morning. Someone was yelling in Serena & Yuruko's room.

' - fuck, are they fighting?' she thought and shot up; her old tracksuit on, she rushed outside and to Serena's door, Avalanche arm's readied as she knocked -

" - everything alright?!" she shouted, sound pausing inside. She kept knocking until Yuruko opened the door -

" - hey, Naomi." she said, face clear as Naomi stepped inside. Julia was sobbing with Serena standing over her.

"Fucking leave." grunted Serena. "Now."

The redhead nodded quick, trying not to look at Naomi as she left. Yuruko shut the door.

"…o-oh." Naomi winced. "She - told you?"

"…um." mumbled Serena as she sat down. She glanced at Yuruko as the chemist sat with the amnesiac.

"…was - was that - why you were yelling?" said Naomi.

"I… You... should - probably see this." Yuruko winced and handed Naomi her phone.

(Kate) "I went out this morning and found this."

Anxiety consumed Naomi at the photo attached, candid magazine cover of Julia & her mid-yell, direct quotes bolded.

(Kate) "Figured it might have been some tabloid stirring shit. I checked it out - Naomi was yelling because Julia tried to grab her ass. Said she was touching her like that a lot. You two need to talk to her about Julia."

"N-No - n-no no n-no n-no -" - Naomi gripped Yuruko right as she started sobbing, Serena saying beside -

" - god - I want to fucking - if she's been fucking touching you like that -"

" - Serena." said Yuruko, hugging Naomi close - " - now's not the time -"

" - I - I don't like her fucking -"

" - Serena." said Yuruko, Naomi's tears growing, grip clutching as Avalanche disappeared -

" - n-n-no -" panted Naomi - " - t-this - this can't be happening - t-this can't be h-h-happening -"

- her mind started to fill with the entire world seeing her anger, entire world thinking she overreacted, entire world laughing at her; that she'd never go another interaction without them knowing. She felt Serena & Yuruko's arms on her and sweat come out between her tears, breath shaking as she tried to stay still between them -

" - e-everyone's g-going t-to -"

" - hey." said Yuruko. "You've got us, okay? We're - we're right here. Right?"

"Y-Yeah." nodded Serena. "Um - we can just stay right here, right?"

She gripped Yuruko tighter. Just that a group - some group of writers had decided she was story worthy. One shove could collapse her tower of confidence, and maybe she'd never recover again -

" - they're a bunch of dicks." said Yuruko. "You're better than them. Right?"

"Yeah." said Serena. "Um. Remember - remember when we dealt with that serial killer?"

"Yeah." grinned Yuruko, patting Naomi's back. "You saved a lot of lives with that. Tabloids are, uh…"

"…um. A bunch of small-dick retards?"

Naomi laughed up some calm, still shaking.

"Yeah." laughed Yuruko. "Serena's, uh -"

" - yeah. You, um - you don't - have to worry what they're saying. Right? You're better than them."

"Much better." chimed Yuruko.

"…o-okay. O-Okay." said Naomi, wiping her eyes. "N-Need to - b-breathe."

Serena&Yuruko pulled away.

"Yeah." said Yuruko. "No matter what - you've got us. Right?"

"…y-yeah." Naomi nodded. "…s-sorry. I-I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah." said Serena.

"…o-okay." sniffled Naomi. "...t-thank you."

"Definitely." Yuruko smiled. "Do you, uh... want to talk about it?"

"…y-yes." panted Naomi, anxiety & tears threatening her again. "I - I - I feel like I overreacted a-and -"

" - I bet you didn't." said Yuruko, hand on Naomi's shoulder. "Let's just - talk about that first. Right?"

"…o-okay." Naomi sniffled. "…j-just. G-Give me a minute."

"Sure."

Two minutes later, she started. "…o-okay. She's - she's just been… S-She - she was nice at f-first, b-but - she just - keeps trying to compliment me, and…"

"...on your appearance?" said Yuruko, and Naomi nodded.

"…y-yeah - but - it's - it was just about my shirts, and… I-I don't know - I should've said something, but then she - she just - started t-trying to talk about how my legs looked, a-and -" - she closed her eyes, tears forming - " - and - and - it's so fucking s-stupid that - t-that I'm even getting bothered by this -"

" - it's not." said Yuruko. "Is that why you yelled at her?"

"…n-no. She - she tried to - she put her hand on my back, and - I thought she was trying to - grab m-me, and -"

" - and you stood up for yourself." said Yuruko.

"Yeah." said Serena. "…u-um."

Now that she couldn't be angry, she'd started to feel guilty and wonder if she'd ever be as good a mentor for Naomi as Mia had been. Maybe that's why Naomi hadn't come to her.

"…y-yeah. M-Maybe." said Naomi, wiping her eyes. "I-I just… I-I wanted to just - t-try to handle it myself, y-you know? T-Trying to - f-figure out what to do, a-and - a-and I just ended up y-yelling."

"Is that why you didn't, um - talk to us about it?" said Yuruko and Naomi nodded.

"…y-yeah. S-Sorry."

"It's - it's okay." said Serena, hand on Naomi's shoulder. "Um. You know you can always come talk to us, right?"

"…y-yeah." smiled Naomi. "Y-Yeah. I-I know."

Serena glanced at Yuruko's eyes on the floor. Yuruko looked to Serena and nodded.

"... Naomi." said Yuruko. "…I - don't know if this'll - make you feel better, but… I know what you're going through."

"T-Thank you."

"My - old mentor used to do stuff like that, too." said Yuruko. "When I was in my first-year. He used to - like you said - compliment me. Try to get me to go on dates with him. Stuff like that." She nodded. "But. I want you to know that - you stood up for yourself. That's what you should've done. You did the right thing."

"Yeah." said Serena. "I'm - you don't have to, um. Worry about what anyone thinks about that."

"Yeah." said Yuruko. "They don't - they're just a bunch of dicks."

"Uh, dicklesses." chimed Serena, and the three laughed.

"I-I guess so." smiled Naomi. She didn't like the thought of feeling superior, but knew she was better, better, better than them still.

"Yep." chimed Yuruko. "But, uh… I think there's something you should do, too."

"What?"

Yuruko nodded. "…so. I… my old mentor. I - ended up going to Aimee, since - she was president, back then. And I got to work with someone else."

"Yeah." said Serena. "Um, if you want to talk to Matoi, she - I can go with you, too. Um."

"I mean, she can't like - expel her, but…" Yuruko shrugged. "She can make sure, like - Julia won't try to talk to you again."

"…m-maybe." mumbled Naomi. "M-Maybe. U-Uh. I-I just - I just - r-really want to sleep right now, a-and - n-not think about this. R-Right now.

"Sure." Yuruko smiled. "I'm gonna, uh. Still need to pair up - so I'm gonna pair up with Julia, instead. Sound good?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"O-Okay."

Yuruko hugged her and went out to the hall. She knocked on Julia's door, and the redhead had stopped crying by the time she answered. If Naomi hadn't already, Yuruko would've yelled at her again.

"We're pairing up." said Yuruko. "Let's go patrol."

"O-Okay." said Julia, following behind. The two didn't speak as they went down to the lobby, but found their third walking inside before they walked out.

"Hey." said Kate, eyes pointing to Julia. "You two pairing up?"

Yuruko's mouth went grim. "Yep."

"Mind if we swap?" she said. "I'll head out with Mint Condition. You, uh - stick with Naomi. Just do a trio."

Yuruko smiled. "…sure. Thanks."

"No problem."

Julia braced herself as they went outside and walked down the sidewalk.

"Anyway." said Kate. "We're going to a storage unit rental place on the other side of town. Looked through that guy's email all last night, found out he was renting one. Owner isn't going to be there until 11:00, though. Got some time."

"O-Okay."

"Going to ask him about that guy. Probably'll know which one it is."

"…o-okay." said Julia. "I - sorry. Just, just a bit - shaken up."

"I don't give a shit. You can go cry again for all I fucking care." said Kate. "Fucking having to see that shit. 'Urasaria sexual assault scandal'. One big fucking dumbass on the cover -"

" - I - hey, it's not like - not like I f-fucking chose that -"

" - what, are you gonna cry?" said Kate. "Maybe some dipshit with a camera'll record that, too -"

" - w-what the fuck is with you? I know I -"

" - I actually take my job seriously, unlike you, who -"

" - hey - no, you - y-you fucking listen to me! I know I fucked up - I-I know I'm a piece of shit or whatever the fuck you want to think I am, but I don't - I don't fucking deserve to have EVERYONE giving me shit for it -"

" - you're a fucking child. That's what you are - some fucking child with a badge and a Revenant. You know when people write those articles about Urasaria students being a bunch of hormonal pigs? That's you. That's you they're talking about."

"You're a fucking asshole. Trying to fucking lecture me while you're -"

" - I don't give a shit what you think about me. You or anyone else. Last half of your fourth year and you're fucking acting like this. Ongoing investigation and you're busy trying to get fucking laid -"

" - what, am I - what, supposed to just be totally fucking serious? You don't even know how -"

- Kate laughed - " - look, look at you! You're still -"

" - what about Miasma? Huh? You see those two - as soon as she got off the f-fucking airplane with her fucking girlfriend -"

" - no, no, come on -" laughed Kate -

" - fucking asshole. You don't even - you don't even know how f-fucking lonely it gets. F-Fucking seeing that."

"Here we go. Give me your sob story. Go on. And -"

" - fuck you."

" - and, and incidentally - Miasma's rank #26 in her second-year. She doesn't let shit like this get in the way. You're not even going to get three-star before you graduate -"

" - look at her -"

" - here, you want to hear a story?" said Kate. "Once upon a time, a dumbass creep tried to talk shit about her betters -"

" - you know what? Fuck you. Fuck you. You can - you can go fucking investigate on your own -"

" - fucking child." laughed Kate as Julia started walking away. "You're a fucking child! Just like I said! Don't blame me if some - some Revenant shows up!"

"Fuck you!" her voice shouted back, Kate still laughing as the two went separate ways.

"Sheesh." She texted Genesis to warn her, and Split's hair swung her in to the storage unit's lot with a half-hour left.

Half-hour later, the owner's truck pulled past her and in to its spot at the end of the lot. She started walking towards him as he got out -

- and another man ran past her, fifty feet away; she watched him sharply as he rushed up to the owner -

" - you - I need - I need the key to my storage unit -"

" - slow down." winced the owner. "Which - which is your unit -"

" - my fucking storage unit, man! #8! I need the -"

" - Miss - Urasaria!" shouted the owner, and in the next instant -

- a fist went through his chest & out his back, non-beating heart in its grip as he went rigid; the man turned back -

- and groaned as he saw Kate, fifty feet separating the two, aisles of storage units right of her and foe ahead. She saw his jaw start to unhinge as he crouched down; a roar erupted out -

- and Split's hair yanked her twenty-five feet back before the waves of sound caught her ears, man's skin cracking & bursting open ahead, limbs growing and head peeling open, and in the next instant -

- there transformed her foe seventy-five feet away, yellow lizard the size of two cars, spines erupting out of its maw&head.

'…one of the ones Matoi mentioned, too.' she thought as she stepped back, aisles of units right&ahead, foe straight ahead. 'Might need to keep his Revenant.'

She saw #8 at the end of the aisle right; with no time to waste, she started rushing towards it, Split's hair yanking her up to the units' roofs as she saw her foe running towards it on the other end, and as he roared again -

- Split's hair shot over her ears, black earmuffs covering the sound & dulling her stagger as she rushed along the roof, strands assuring she was quicker than her foe, #8 up ahead as she leaped -

- and landed right on the roof; her eyes turned down & left, seeing her foe standing on four limbs below, two combatants with eyes on each other, only twenty feet of height separating the two.

'Wants to destroy whatever's there first.' she thought, stepping forward. Split's hair burrowed in to the roof behind, nodding as her follicles felt the storage unit's door. She saw him roar again -

- but no stagger came, Split's earmuffs growing plugs to block it, brief breathing to allow her some hearing once it passed. Her foe started rushing right & down the aisle, and she saw it tear through #6 on the other end as she leaped down -

- and two hairhands threw the door up as she rushed inside, no sight yet as her back hit the wall & she glanced right, knowing her foe expected her to be here now. Another fist smashed open the left wall, sunlight peeling through the aperture, and in the next instant -

- she heard her foe rushing back up the aisle -

- and appeared before her in the next, leaping with the speed of a lizard towards her -

- but the next scene was instant. Split's embedded strands yanked the door down -

- and cleaved halfway through halfway through the creature as it hit the ground gasping, trapped & thrashing as Kate rushed forward, more hairhands keeping the door smashed down, but in the next instant -

- a dozen spines shot out of its head -

- but a dozen spines returned them to sender; six hands shoved six spines through its mouth's top -

- and another six impaled right through the bottom of its maw, rabid beast with maw trapped, thrashing and gagging yellow blood as it screeched -

' - could knock it out - no, too risky -' thought Kate; nearly all her hair expended, two strands burrowed in through its eyes - '- gotta have some fucking brain in there, right -'

- and she nodded as she felt her strands travel deeper in -

- and snap its brainstem from the inside in the next; she heard his screams turn human through her muffling set, lizard starting to transform back to man -

- and a whirl of sharp hair went through him a thousand ways, shredded discs of skin&blood falling in four directions and rigid to the ground, still-beating heart carefully carved out.

"…alright." she muttered, hair stitching her wounds. "Not scanning this."

She turned in to the lit unit -

- to a room of shattered scalpels & scissors, one surgical bed at the end, chunks of a surgical machine's arms. Hair formed gloves as she started searching, wall of hair blocking the aperture.

'…medical equipment. Right. Brand name on any of these…'

She flipped over one white arm, inset for a syringe.

'…uh. Guess that's some type of arm. Maybe those robo-surgeries.'

She nodded. Another dozen black chunks were in the corner, shattered bits of a screen.

'…okay. Screen for how they use it. Probably. Guy could repair, so…' She flipped over one. 'Intuitive Medicine. Got it.'

She texted Yuruko.

(Kate) "Yuruko - you're studying to be a Revenant researcher, right?"

(Yuruko) "yeah. what's up?"

(Kate) "Any idea what this is?"

She sent over a dozen photos and waited.

(Yuruko) "that's, uh - Intuitive Medicine makes robotic surgery machines"

(Yuruko) "can you show one of the white arms?"

She did.

(Yuruko) "yeah. that's a - I think it's called a Hades system."

(Yuruko) "lemme look it up."

She laughed, wishing she'd thought of it. A few minutes came.

(Yuruko) "yeah. that's a robotic surgery system, yeah. Hades ones are specially-made for Revenant removal."

(Kate) "Can it do that by itself?"

(Yuruko) "nah, but it makes it easier. you still need to know how to do it."

(Yuruko) "I'm gonna send you the Wikipedia page for it, but - those are super, super fucking expensive. like, $10 million."

(Kate) "Might be stolen."

(Yuruko) "probably, yeah - I guess it's broken too, so"

(Kate) "I fought a guy whose Revenant could repair it. Lemme think for a bit."

She sat back against the wall, checking her notes.

Fujishita was the only person she knew who could perform it, though most gangs had a man who could. None of the men she'd found so far knew who transferred Revenants, and she checked a Revenant surgeon's salary; high, but not as tall as $10 million. Black market would've costed extra, but maybe it'd been broken from the start.

The doctor might've had a Revenant himself, but he would've been checked before employment, and they didn't usually activate past twenty. The bulb petered out until her hair had to peel open one dust of light on those jagged outlines and of the dead man. Maybe someone was paying Fujishita in advance or there was someone they hadn't found yet, but she thought of a use for Julia.

(Kate) "Serena, Naomi, Yuruko - mind meeting up with me? I'll send you the address."

(Serena) "sure."

(Yuruko) "I'm with Julia."

She laughed.

(Kate) "Alright - just Serena and Naomi. Yuruko and Julia - I'll meet up with you after at the hotel."

(Yuruko) "got it."

She waited. Once Serena & Naomi arrived, she told them to keep care of the storage unit, and the next trio went off to the hospital after the hotel.

Kate walked up to the receptionist with badge readied. "Hi - I need to speak with Dr. Fujishita."

"He's not in today." she said, and the three groaned expectantly.

"…alright. Who knows his home address?"

"That would be…"

◆◆◆

Julia had stayed at the hospital and Yuruko&Kate talked on the way over.

"God, when you - when you sent that text - I seriously wanted to fucking kill her." Yuruko's head shook. "…ugh."

"Can't blame you for that." said Kate. "Way she acted earlier, too - sees herself as a victim."

"Yeah. She fucking - she fucking…" Yuruko sighed. "…ugh. I don't even - I don't even want to talk about it. It pisses me off."

"Probably better that way." nodded Kate. "Still, uh. Don't know Naomi like you two do - but best thing for her - just ignore the press. Don't make any comments about it, don't talk to anyone that asks about it. Tabloids want to keep a story going. You don't let them - all their shit fades away, two, three days tops. They know people have short attention spans."

"Yeah." Yuruko nodded. "Yeah. I know that - just need to be there for her. We were talking earlier, and - I know Serena was mad, too, but…" She sighed and nodded. "…ugh. Yeah, uh. Let's - talk about something else."

"Sure thing." nodded Kate. "So - gonna head to Fujishita's house and search the place. Probably not going to be anything there, but - never know."

They turned in to one street, and in the next instant -

- the hollow point of six bullets entered their chest, foe with six revolvers on his shoulders and fifty feet away -

" - Split." grunted Kate, swift hair ripping out the projectiles, streets clear ahead, foe reloading on the other end -

" - got something." whispered Yuruko, relaying it to Kate quick.The hairwoman laughed as she cut a pouch of hair off & handed it to Yuruko, and as the chemist dipped her glove inside -

- the next scene was instant. Throwing it up in to the air, Split's hair formed a baseball bat beside -

" - batter up!" shouted Kate; Split's bat hit it towards the man, and as the projectile smashed his skull -

- the explosion within tore his body in a dozen chunks of homerun gore, two laughing like true players as he fell dead -

" - homerun!" laughed Yuruko, and Kate nodded as she stepped up, hair she'd sliced off regrowing.

"Revenant still survived, too. Good job."

"Yep. Uh, no scanning, right?" said Yuruko, and Kate nodded.

"Yep. Gotta be careful." Her hair formed a pouch for it, another strands cutting their sisters down. "Fujishita's house is right up here."

The two stepped up to Fujishita's house, a two-floor home with a few added rooms. His car was still in the driveway. Yuruko turned the door to water as they stepped inside, and once they verified there wasn't a Revenant, Kate called the airport.

"…yes. Hi - this is Anagen. I'm a Urasaria student. I need to - have someone check your flight records for someone." She sighed. "… badge number - 678786. Yes, I'll hold."

Ten minutes.

"…A warrant?" She laughed. "Yeah, no - whatever - lemme just - I'm gonna come down - no, no. I know. A warrant. Bye." She hung up and laughed as she went to the other room with Yuruko. "Genesis - I'm gonna head out to the airport. Figure they need to see me in-person to uh, slicken the wheels a bit."

"Good luck." laughed Yuruko, and Kate nodded as she left.