殺せばええっすか？

You certainly aren’t afraid of the dark, are you?

Still, the elevator is slightly…

A shower was had using what little hand soap remained in the bathing area and the formerly stinky man was… less so.  He refused to wash his suit jacket, it being a very expensive suit.  He hung it in the shower area, opting to wash his underwear, socks, pants, and undershirt.  He hoped a quick rinse with hot water and some soap in particularly smellier areas would do the trick.  Clothes couldn’t take that long to dry, right?

Time was money however, and rather than sit around in the nude to wait for his clothing to dry, he set out to the place where he saw others heading earlier.  In that moment, he recalled seeing Atria fly through the air and himself a good chuckle under his breath.  He revealed himself, now having returned to an area where he could use his powers once more.  He then manifested two large hands to give him ample protection from peeping toms.

It was rather, breezy.  Thankfully he had those shadowy appendages.

It was in the moment before he approached the busted elevator that he had a gander at his own skin.  Littered with scars, bullet wounds… He past his, for once, un-gloved hand and ran it over his chest, remembering old bruises, feeling the rough texture of the scars versus his skin.

“…”

Hideous.

He went and touched his mouth over his mask, knowing the ugliness beneath.

Grotesque.

A perfect imperfection. An embodiment of a great semblance of misfortunes. 

A monster.

He didn’t want to get too into his head for it was an inhospitable place. 

So his hunch was correct after all.  Before he could change his admittedly petty vote, the matter had been decided.  Brandi was the traitor, and they were allowed to proceed.  What followed wasn’t the most glamorous scene, that was for sure; one second she was there, the next she was gone.  Gone.  He felt one of his eyes twitch uncomfortably at the sheer swiftness.

“Hold the FUCKIN’ phone–”

Next floor?  What was this next floor business?  They had caught the traitor, now they had to play this game all over again?  He was beside himself with anger, so much so that the second the word ‘super’ left his mouth he was up and over his seat and barreling towards him as if to stop him.  Rage fulled his steps, not logic.

A futile attempt, the suited man left grasping at nothing.

Jin glanced over his shoulder to survey the varying degrees of shock and alarm.  It was simple business to him – people quite frequently came and died after all. His surprise from the Catalyst mercilessly neutralizing Brandi Ono without battering an eyelash aside, Jin was solid.

``Tch… another floor he says… It doesn’t matter.  I’ll weed all of you traitors out one-by-one.  That’ll show that prissy sonofabitch,” he said quietly to himself, fist clenched at his side.

If this scene was over, he desperately needed a shower.  He began his walk towards the exit of the area, but, not before taking a somewhat roundabout route.  Ana was so vulnerable right now, how could he not take advantage of the scenario.

``Afraid you’re gonna be vaporized too, Ana?”  His voice was sing-songy, purposely so.

``Let’s hope you and your ‘friends’ are as innocent as you say you are.”

Jin didn’t trust a single soul among them so it was very easy for him to say such callous things.  He knew he wouldn’t find himself feeling an ounce of sympathy for a traitor, and he wouldn’t give the Catalyst the satisfaction of seeing him scared.  He had felt true fear before, this was nothing compared to it.  That’s what he told himself, at least.

When discussion of the missing organs and the sheep brought up, Jin’s eyebrow twitched: that sheep, illusion or otherwise, was dismembered by none other than himself. He took a moment pass a glance to Atria, wondering if he was about to be snitched.

“…”

He didn’t feel the need to elaborate on the event as it would only add to the conjecture.

But…

What if the vegan theory held true and the traitor had a certain connection with animals? He passed a glance to Ana, realizing how easily he had rilled her up by suggesting he would vote for her. Maybe describing the incident would insight some emotion from the traitor.

He took a deep breath and shrugged heavily. “I thought that maybe there could’ve been a clue inside one of those dopey farm animals.”

He scoffed quietly and made a tearing-open gesture with his hands. “Rustled around in there, threw out the stuff I didn’t need…”

There was a very detached way he spoke that clued in on how his brutality had little to no effect on his conscious at all.

“And could find anything even remotely useful,” he finished.

If there was one thing that Jin didn’t like, it was threats against his person.  He took it as them finding themselves so bold that they felt like they were stronger than him, which nine times out of ten, Jin found himself the stronger party by his gift’s absurd amount of strength. 

Except you, huh?  The one out of ten…

Jin was savage at times, but he was no animal.  Had the setting been different and they weren’t in the midst of weeding out the traitor, Jin saw himself throwing himself at Ana and wringing her neck right there and then.

Jin was silent as he resisted the urge to cause a scene, knowing full well that it would only cause unnecessary chaos, the antithesis of what he wanted at the moment.  There would be nothing amusing about him needlessly attacking someone just to prove his own strength.  That’s what his brain said, at least. 

He took the following moment to quiet the noise and remove himself mentally to quiet the darkness within him starting to bubble up.  He had to settle down, he had to put aside this affront to his person and focus.  Mental discourse to dissuade himself from acting rash, at least, for now.  Thus Janet and Kaori’s responses were mostly ignored.

“…”

His line of work often had him being treated more like an object than a human, so he often found himself engaging in cool down moments to prevent what happened with his neighbor from happening again.

Though, it’s been a while since that sort of thing happened…

``Somewhere in that ocean of incessant rambling there is a point,” Jin chimed in after Ana. ``After an altercation with a barnyard animal,”

That’s what you’re going to call slaughtering a sheep, Jin?  An altercation?

``It was very clear that even the herbivorous, seemingly docile creatures were expressly not pleased.  It’s safe to say that she’s right to some degree, and that the link between behavior and diet aren’t mutually exclusive.  It was conjecture.”

He ran a gloved finger over his jaw as he felt any remaining hostilities dissipate to free up his mind to theorize.

``Hearing technology upon touching it would be very tiring… So, wouldn’t a place with low tech or hardly any of it be ideal in a way?  May I ask, Ono, just when did your gift manifest and did it have any bearing on your ‘uneventful’ childhood?”

This one sure had a potty mouth, didn’t she?

It was the first thing he could think of as she continued to explode, live, before the entire task force.  He wouldn’t interrupt knowing full-well people like that better were better off exhausting themselves.  He never to break eye contact, as there was something very familiar about said explosion. 

The desperation, the frustration, the disbelief…

When the dust settled, Jin quietly exhaled and began a rebuttal, with a seemingly calm, focused voice.

“You are absolutely correct.  I don’t care an ounce about you, as I’m sure you to me given our interactions.  I don’t care for your loud voice, vulgar speech, or your inability to handle ‘scary’ things.  I don’t care that you’re holding some sort of vendetta against me because I took charge and facilitated our encounter with the feral creature, learned or not.”

He paused.

“There’s one thing I care about, and that’s whether or not you can assist me in completing my – no – our objective.  There’s only one objective and it’s one we all share.”

He looked towards the Catalyst for a moment, and then back to Ana.

``There is nothing useful about you polluting the air in a desperate attempt to defend yourself.”

His body language was surprisingly relaxed, maybe because he knew he was completely free of any guilty suspicions given than he didn’t express him as female in the least.

``But, I digress.  Introductions aren’t finished.  …maybe I was hasty in my judgement.  Apologies, Wantanabe, for accusing your buddy there so quickly.”

He hardly sounded sincere at all as it was nothing more than a ploy to placate Ana’s ally for the moment and return to the investigation.

A multitude of expressions were typically hidden beneath his mask, but the way his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows rose gave the impression that he had begun to smile.

``Still, Ana, even if your previous racket wasn’t helpful, it was… amusing,” he chuckled under his breath. ``If you’re finished, let’s get back to work, shall we? ”

Jin rubbed the muscles on the right side of his neck, the entire area always feeling a bit tingly and unpleasant after he administered the medicine that kept him stable. Residual aches followed as he filed behind others to the trial; turns out that being left on the side of the road for as long as he was did not do wonders for the human corpus. Alas.

A handful of faces he recognized. The person who could meld into things, the girl with the cat, the VERY noisy girl from the forest, and, his neighbor no less, his most recent opponent. He turned his nod with one of his own; he appeared in much better shape then himself, and much more… fragrant? Jin didn’t want to smell himself; no amount of umbrakinetic energy could get that stink to disappear.

The idea of using his brain to do things didn’t really sit well with him, but when another member of their task force dropped that the guilty party was a girl, it made things a lot easier. His head perked up, maybe this thing would be easier than he thought? He looked over at the Catalyst upon his little throne, a grin concealed under his mask in almost a “take THAT” kind of way.

He didn’t bother with any introductions or the like. The minute this experience was over, Jin would return to the dark underbelly of society of which he came.

“This one already said the only information I got,” he remarked, pointedly to Atria.

There was definitely a dash of spite in his voice.  Having heard said spitefulness he closed his eyes tightly, ashamed that he was getting caught up in this silly game.  Usefulness seemingly exhausted, his eyes fell on the Catalyst once more.  It took a lot to keep his cool, to not fidget in his spot.  He wanted to get this over with and continue on.

``Ono’s right.  Let’s just get a vote and move on to the next set of bullshit.”

He pointed across the room to Ana.  He had zero qualms about inditing anyone if it meant some progress could be made.

``She’s a girl and does animal th–”

Brainblast!

``Hold up.  All those animals the wolf mentions are carnivores right?  So… If that wolf said that traitor wasn’t a meat eating animal, would that imply that they’re, I’unno, some kind of vegetarian?  Ana, do you eat meat?”

He broke eye contact and looked down at table, panel… whatever you call it beneath him, scratching the back of his head.  Just what sort of nonsense was he participating in.  It was embarrassing how much power he lacked in this scenario.  It bothered him a great deal.

He looked back up, crossing his arms across his chest.

[ x ]

As if the Catalyst’s words themselves were an “on” switch, the moment his voice was essentially broadcast for all to hear, Jin’s eyes were open. An umbrakinetic hand was generated and dismissed within a moment enough to get him on his feet with a firm push. Exhaustion was a force to be reckoned with however as the results of his previous altercation manifested themselves. He needed a pick-me-up, and pronto. 

He would hear his targets words and make it his priority to find his bag and get himself the aid he needed.

(As to where the sheep and his opponent went, he remained clueless, just as he questioned how he had moved during his previous unconscious state.)

Trials? Traitors? Puzzles? 

What sort of foolish game was this creature having them participate in? Jin was aware that those with power had the ability thereby right to manipulate and control those beneath them. It was what made such positions so coveted, so few. Even having experience in wading through the dregs of the lower ranks, it didn’t ease even a fraction of his anger. The fact that the mastermind still had such overwhelming power over them wa—

“THAT'S–”

He thrust an incredulous finger towards the crude drawing of him upon the barn. There was no denying that the little ninja-looking one was him. As it changed to him being the “guilty” party, and subsequently punished, his eyes widened in disbelief. Just what was the Catalyst trying to illustrate with him as default traitor?! Exhausted or not, it got under his skin. The fact that this was turning into a social game made him infinitesimally uneasy.

It didn’t matter how strong his powers were against an entire group of people thinking he was on the Catalyst side. Whether he liked it or not, this proved that he had to get along with these people. That would need to inspire some… major changes of his personality. The thought alone was irksome; it wasn’t out of his skill set by any means, but it was a lot harder than his typical solo act he had been used to. That meant no more scaring, or being needlessly intimidating, no more coldness, etc.

He hadn’t made the best first impressions.

The Catalyst would never fail to show off just how much control he had over. They were like ants. At any time he could stomp them flat and yet he didn’t. 

Infuriating.

“Hmm… yeah, I think that’s enough for now. Have a good day, loves!”

Infuriating.

He eagerly awaited the day he could wipe that smugness clear from his face and make him rue the day he started messing with Jin Susa.

His searching hadn’t been fruitful after some wind botched-up a leap across a bridge, aggravation getting the better of him. Then there was the fight… The only clue he had was from the battle with the learned wolf. Was that enough to send someone to their maker? The responsibility and inherent risk was far too high, far too uncertain.

“Whose side would you rather be on though when the world’s coming to an end though, on the side of the destroyer or the destroyed?”

A pause.

“Disgusting?  More like brilliant.”

He crumpled up the note a chucked it away after they came to the joint consensus of its lack of importance for the time being.

”…Brilliantly futile.”

There wasn’t any use sinking into negativity, so he redirected his attention to his fellow curious party.  The more surprises he could eliminate down the road, the quicker he could establish himself as the most gifted among them, or if not, the one to not mess with.

“What’s your gift?”

The question about their gift, however, put Izumi on edge and they side-eyed the man… but that was only a defensive reaction. It made sense that they should all get to know each other… and what each of them were capable of. They met the man’s eyes and faced him straight on.

“My skin can meld with things, and if I try it can go through them.”

They raised their right hand with the fingers spread. After a few seconds, the fabric of the black gloves gradually appeared to sink into their fingers, and the paler skin of their fingertips showed through instead. Then after a few more seconds, the opposite occurred: Izumi’s fingertips sank back into the glove, and then the gloves looked exactly the same as before they showed off that little trick. They flexed their fingers and then let their arm hang at their side again.

“Hm... intriguing,” Jin muttered.

He wanted to see more of the others’ powers but for now, this was good.  That mean one down, fourteen others to go, provided that one person’s power wasn’t shitty shooting.  He tucked his hands into his pockets and brushed by the melder lightly, bumping their shoulder slightly.

“No,” he replied curtly.

He wouldn’t sit there twittering his thumbs, waiting for someone among them to stab him in the back.  His eyes were on the prize and prize alone.  That said, the instant the Catalyst returned to… wherever Catalysts hang out when they’re not being condescending ASS HATS, Jin made it a point to investigate where he stood.

As he made a motion to grab what was left behind, he noticed his gloves had returned.

“A barrier…”

He muttered under his breath before continuing.

Two empty bullet shells, swiftly put into his pocket for “safe keeping”, and… origami in the shape of a star.  Cheery yellow paper.  He carefully undid the folds, being sure not to tear or rip the message itself.  There, he read it, finding it easy to read thanks to the black ink and plain printing.

“I hope your comp–”

The sound of footwear against the ground signaled a curious party.  He braced himself, not knowing what sort of person he was up against; despite being a team, traitorous parties were, confirmed, present.

He weighed the pros and cons of the message’s contents, and realized that perhaps its contents were sharable.  The enby had managed to approach him despite his shifty appearance and bad vibes.  He thought of it as a reward for their bravery.

He started again.

” I hope your compensation is worth every minute here, is what is written.”

He paused, looking over the group below.

“What do you make of it?”

“That’s not very helpful.”

But what could it mean? Izumi crossed their arms and bit the inside of their cheek in thought for a moment.

“The only thing I can think of is if it’s a message to the ‘traitor’ he mentioned. The traitor must be expecting some kind of ‘compensation’ for their actions.”

They gritted their teeth.

``Whose side would you rather be on though when the world’s coming to an end though, on the side of the destroyer or the destroyed?”

A pause.

``Disgusting?  More like brilliant.”

He crumpled up the note a chucked it away after they came to the joint consensus of its lack of importance for the time being.

``...Brilliantly futile.”

There wasn’t any use sinking into negativity, so he redirected his attention to his fellow curious party.  The more surprises he could eliminate down the road, the quicker he could establish himself as the most gifted among them, or if not, the one to not mess with.

``What’s your gift?”

Izumi, unlike most, had emerged from their tent fully dressed. After their confrontation with the rioters went much peacefully than they anticipated, the tower miraculously opened. They rushed in, and met the Catalyst for the first time… or perhaps some kind of illusion of him, given how none boy’s bullets seemed to touch him. However, upon hearing that at least one of them would have to die in order to ascend, Izumi’s blood ran cold. They glanced around at their teammates, almost afraid that one of them would strike right at that moment. They didn’t know each other well, after all. They were all chosen for their extraordinary gifts. Who knew if there wasn’t at least one trained killer among them, if not several?

And then… what was this about a traitor? Surprisingly, Izumi felt themself relax, if anything. If one person had to die in order for them to climb the tower… then it would only be logical to kill the traitor, right? They just… somehow… have to figure out what that was.

But what about that implication that they might have to kill several of their number in order to reach the top of the tower? Possibly non-traitors? …They’d cross that bridge when they got to it. This whole situation had grown punishingly grim enough. 

Izumi was staring stony-faced into the distance by the time the Catalyst vanished, but a fluttering piece of white caught their attention. As everyone began dashing their separate ways, Izumi approached the man who had picked up the piece of paper that the Catalyst seemed to have left behind. As intimidating as the man seemed with his buzz cut, mask, and ominous vibe, Izumi didn’t really seemed intimidated at all as they leaned slightly to peer at the paper.

He wouldn’t sit there twittering his thumbs, waiting for someone among them to stab him in the back.  His eyes were on the prize and prize alone.  That said, the instant the Catalyst returned to... wherever Catalysts hang out when they’re not being condescending ASS HATS, Jin made it a point to investigate where he stood.

As he made a motion to grab what was left behind, he noticed his gloves had returned.

``A barrier...”

He muttered under his breath before continuing.

Two empty bullet shells, swiftly put into his pocket for “safe keeping”, and... origami in the shape of a star.  Cheery yellow paper.  He carefully undid the folds, being sure not to tear or rip the message itself.  There, he read it, finding it easy to read thanks to the black ink and plain printing.

``I hope your comp–”

The sound of footwear against the ground signaled a curious party.  He braced himself, not knowing what sort of person he was up against; despite being a team, traitorous parties were, confirmed, present.

He weighed the pros and cons of the message’s contents, and realized that perhaps its contents were sharable.  The enby had managed to approach him despite his shifty appearance and bad vibes.  He thought of it as a reward for their bravery.

He started again.

`` I hope your compensation is worth every minute here, is what is written.”

He paused, looking over the group below.

``What do you make of it?”

Investigating the space where the Catalyst had previously stood, you notice two bullet shells dented against the stairs they visibly appeared to have hit. However, beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be… well, anything really. 

That eyesore stood to ruin the lands perfect view, however. An irritation began bubbling within him as he recalled trying to scale the infernal tower itself. It’s rigid surface made climbing a breeze, he didn’t even have to use his gift. But after what seemed like hours of scanning for a window or any sort of entrance, his own anger prevented him from investigating further, deducing that there really was no way to enter the tower.

Besides, he was on a team, a valuable resource if used to his advantage. There would be no gain for him, and by extension his associates, if he climbed to the top only to be swiftly eliminated by the foe above. Patience was, indeed, a virtue.

A voice pulled him from his thoughts, giving him a little surprise. But to know Jin Susa was to know that he hated surprises, passionately so. The voice didn’t seem hostile, so any sort of violent inclinations escaped through him by a quiet sigh.

He had to interact with the members of his team, didn’t he? Though he was a solo player, lone-wolf through-and-through, he acknowledged the importance to establish his presence.

Despite being clad in what looked like an inflexible 3-piece suit, it showed surprising flexibility when he hopped down from the roof of the lookout. Heights didn’t phase him in the least, judging by his calmness upon landing.

Though his teammate – a term that that made his skin crawl – was taller than him, he hardly let that affect him. Jin’s stance was rigid, unflinching. Even being the shorter of the two, there was no denying that face-to-face that he had a undeniable presence about him. Something dark, something uncertain, illuminated by bright his bright eyes.

He looked so damn tired.

“I don’t wear this mask for that purpose.”

He vividly recalled a time where anyone making his mask into conversation topic were made to regret it after. His face was… rather… his face was. No. He had come a far ways away from that place.

“…You want to see why I wear it?”

He ran his finger over the outer edge of his mask, raising his chin slightly. An invitation. It hardly seemed like a harmless act. His words were dripping with a certain danger that made a simple question all the more threatening, however harmless it seemed on the surface.

No, all that registered on his face once in close proximity to Jin was…disappointment.

“Awh, man. Here I was, hoping you had some cool gas mask under there. Though I guess it’s pretty obvious it’s something else now that I’m up close. Nyahaha!”

His eyes did, however, widen slightly the moment he was presented with an option, of sorts. Social conventions might dictate that he refrain from prying, but then, Satoru had never been one for tact. His grin widened slightly - just a fraction - and yet another laugh escaped his lips.

“Woa-hoh, really? There’s, like, an actual reason? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since we’re all, y’know, special. What is it? Toxic kiss? You figure out your power after tragically causing the death of your girlfriend? Pretty stock hero backstory, but hey, I won’t judge!”

And then, for the first time, something other than pure glee settled in on his face. Something almost apologetic, though it disappeared almost as soon as it arrived.

Mulling it over, why would the man before him have any reason to actually fear him?  Sure he had an imposing aura, but this man also had a gift.  He was dying to know what it was.  If it weren't for, one, being teammates, and two, for him wanting to hold his cards close to his chest, Jin would've likely conjured up something to give the man a fright.

The man's assumptions of his power were amusing.  At least, he could see that he was trying to be.  Humor didn't really click with Jin, leaving him to just stare back, dropping his arm slowly to his side.  Stock heroes?  Backstory?  That... stuffed toy?  He was supposed to be on the same level as him?  Jin could hardly believe it.  They were very different people, it seemed.

"... as expected, there's no need to show you at this time."

He didn't doubt that showing the man would just open a can of metaphorical worms and a slew of questions.  As he saw no benefit to himself in the situation, he sought to change the subject.  Rather than letting continued silence allow for more of his teammates interesting remarks, Jin took the initiative.

"Guessing games can be rather... irksome.  I'm someone who prefers to act first and ask questions later."

Half truth, half lie.  He looked towards the male's stuffed companion.

"Unless you have some security issues, I assume that's related to your gift?"

He wondered if it could become some sort of large monster that could maul his enemies to death, or perhaps it held his true life force while the man's physical appearance was nothing more than a facade.  Working with these people was like working with corrosive chemicals.  One wrong move and he'd find himself missing a hand. (Though that was fine, he had 99 more.)

For someone who had just been thrust into what was, unquestionably, a life-or-death situation, Satoru Kira was, on the surface, almost unnaturally calm. There was no fear present in his blue eyes, no sweat dampening his palms. Whether due to bravery or stupidity remained to be seen, but judging by the vacant grin on his face, it was easy to assume the latter. Perhaps the reality of the situation simply hadn’t yet sunk in - after all, it wasn’t as though the tower was open for exploration. Thinking in the abstract was easy enough (or it would be, if he cared for hypotheticals), but when it came down to it, the fate of the world depended on a group of ragtag young adults who couldn’t even gain access to their designated battleground.

Pack up, kids. Show’s over. Everyone, go home.

(Or, well, that’s what he would have said, but intellectually, he supposed he knew that a way would open up eventually. Doors always had a way of opening for someone.)

There was no point in standing around and waiting for an eternity, though, because at the end of the day, Satoru wasn’t one to take the initiative and figure out a solution on his own. No, he liked things to be done for him, and so he tucked Jake under his arm and wandered off.

(Desertion: the act of illegally leaving the armed forces. It wasn’t entirely accurate in these circumstances, though. Call his departure a temporary leave. After all, he joined for the excitement, not the monotony.)

At least his fellow teammates seemed to be staying occupied, if the girl screaming up at the tower was a good indication. If all went according to plan, someone would crack the code. Find the password. Realize their gloved hand fit precisely inside an imprint on the door. Until then, Satoru was off in search of adventure.

And adventure he found, if the lookout point counted as something worth getting excited over. For someone who had seen it all, the view would prove to be underwhelming, but at least it was a start.

A start that became even more promising once he realized he had company.

That eyesore stood to ruin the lands perfect view, however. An irritation began bubbling within him as he recalled trying to scale the infernal tower itself. It's rigid surface made climbing a breeze, he didn't even have to use his gift. But after what seemed like hours of scanning for a window or any sort of entrance, his own anger prevented him from investigating further, deducing that there really was no way to enter the tower.

Besides, he was on a team, a valuable resource if used to his advantage. There would be no gain for him, and by extension his associates, if he climbed to the top only to be swiftly eliminated by the foe above. Patience was, indeed, a virtue.

A voice pulled him from his thoughts, giving him a little surprise. But to know Jin Susa was to know that he hated surprises, passionately so. The voice didn't seem hostile, so any sort of violent inclinations escaped through him by a quiet sigh.

He had to interact with the members of his team, didn't he? Though he was a solo player, lone-wolf through-and-through, he acknowledged the importance to establish his presence.

Despite being clad in what looked like an inflexible 3-piece suit, it showed surprising flexibility when he hopped down from the roof of the lookout. Heights didn't phase him in the least, judging by his calmness upon landing.

Though his teammate – a term that that made his skin crawl – was taller than him, he hardly let that affect him. Jin's stance was rigid, unflinching. Even being the shorter of the two, there was no denying that face-to-face that he had a undeniable presence about him. Something dark, something uncertain, illuminated by bright his bright eyes.

He looked so damn tired.

"I don't wear this mask for that purpose."

He vividly recalled a time where anyone making his mask into conversation topic were made to regret it after. His face was... rather... his face was. No. He had come a far ways away from that place.

"...You want to see why I wear it?"

He ran his finger over the outer edge of his mask, raising his chin slightly. An invitation. It hardly seemed like a harmless act. His words were dripping with a certain danger that made a simple question all the more threatening, however harmless it seemed on the surface.

Well, the rigid surface appealingly provides plenty of footholds, and no one would likely stop a capable individual with the bureau of defense from doing anything to complete his mission.