うそつき？

✘ – yellow: Your writing is great! keep it up! / orange: i can hear ____’s voice when i read your writing! /  red: i admire your writing and stories from afar. just know i always read them.

「well, why don’t you “make clear” why you had to have an outage in the ( middle ) of me boiling water? do you expect me to run on dry ramen, huh? that’s way too cruel! i demand compensation.」

A reason to be here–

The girl had been living in Utopia for almost a month at this point, but still, her feelings on the situation were muddled and confused. 

She almost felt blurry, walking through the large city, her friends not by her side. Like something small could blow her away easily, without their support.

So, having found Ayano, and then Shintaro, was a blessing. A new hope had sprouted, that she could find everyone, that they could live happily here, without him to hurt them.

Which was why she’d been trying to find every tiny inch of the city possible, despite her low stamina and her lack of proper self preservation when compared to the hope of her friends. Which was why she was here, practically exhausted, pushing open the door of a cosy cafe to the sound of a bell–

A waiter stands by the cash register. A familiar hoodie.

Blink and you’ll miss it, the cashier disappears from Marry’s sight–

only to approach her from the side, a carefree voice cutting through the sense of silence to bring a lump to Marry’s throat.

“K…Kano…!”

The corner of Marry’s eyes start to glisten. Her lips move frantically, as if trying to think of what to say–

A warm mug is pressed into her palms. The boy in front of her smiles. 

[ Take a load off and relax. ]

That’s what he says, but Marry’s fingers feel weak, and her eyes are glued to the boy who had often brought her to tears back home. Even now, the waterworks start to turn, though the reason is perhaps a happier one than usual–

The mug slips from her hands. She pushes herself forward, and wraps her arms around Kano.

“…Too long… You took too long… It wasn’t funny, Kano…!!!”

Her face is buried in his chest, so the sound of her voice is muffled and distorted. The girl is weak, but still, she manages to hold unto Kano tightly, her tears soaking into his clothes. 

          CHARCOAL SOLES s t a g g e r backwards, clamoring to retain balance against the hardwood flooring. his arms hover-- uncertain, unable, undeserving-- at his sides, the slightest hint of a tremble working its way down his wrists. words hang at the tip of his tongue, but the only thing that falls is silence. hazy frustration bubbles in the pit of his stomach; even now, he can’t just say something, anything--

          that only lasts a moment. his composure rebounds instantly, formulating a lively exclamation as he waves his hands in a pacifying gesture.

「woah! you’ll wrinkle the uniform if you’re rough with it like that! plus, the cup-- well, i’m here now, aren’t i? as an apology for my bad ( joke )-- well-- how about another cup of tea?」

          he overestimated his composure as the words tumbled out, fragmented, terse, and awkward. the blonde looks down, finally making contact-- leaning in for a few brief pats on the back-- before breaking the embrace. there’s no mischief in his expression this time around, but there is something else; something complicated. however, there’s no time to figure what it is as he turns to retrieve a handkerchief and a second cup. he's composed for real this time, all smiles; the “classic” kano sits down across from the other, elbows on the table.

「it must’ve been really rough for you . . . sorry! i’ll make it up to you somehow-- let’s start with forgetting about that cup you broke, huh?」

Now this scene looked familiar, it didn’t take any more than the stranger’s parting words for the IB to piece what was going on. Sure, she could just send a missile at the thug, as well as throw a grenade at the shopkeeper to easily get out of this situation. But no hero she has seen would do that. They would start start following the cause of it in a mixture of confusion and panic. At least all the ones she seen in manga and other heroes shows would.

So she will copy their example, with a fake expression of panic and all.

“Uwah?! Hey, wait uuuuup!”

「no can do! i’m afraid you’re on your--」 

          “OWN” LIKELY would have capped off his sentence, had he not just tripped over a stray crack in the pavement and tumbled to a stop. rubbing his head, he looked at the two pursuers and sighed, picking up a rock-- no, that’s not a rock, but a cardboard box, identical to the one he had given to the girl-- and tossing it into the npc’s path. as the distraction serves its purpose, he motions to the other, trailing down yet another side street. finally, he slumps against a wall, holding his stomach; not from pain, but from laughter.

「ha-- was that  ( close ) or what? sorry for dragging you into that-- but it was entertaining enough, wasn’t it? man, what a reaction . . . !」 

Metal Bat had still been in the process of growing accustomed to this place. A difficult change, to say the least. Having spent the majority of his life as an S-Class hero, suddenly being summoned as not only a servant, but as a completely nobody meant he had to integrate into society normally. It wouldn’t have been so bad.. If being a hero was the only skill he really shone at. Well, that and-

“Huh-“

His instincts kicked in as he found something flying straight towards him, his hand reaching for his bat before knocking the object straight up into the air. What the fuck was that? Who the fuck was this?!

“THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT, DAMMIT?! THROWIN’ SOME SHIT AT ME OUT OF THE BLUE LIKE THAT! YOU TRY’NA START A FIGHT?!“

          STAYING COOL under fire, or just feigning ignorance; it could be either, as a black hoodie craned skywards, owner placing a hand above his line of sight, a low whistle between his lips in appreciation. 

「whew, what a hit! that’s a home run if i’ve ever seen one-- unless . . .」

          the afternoon breeze seemed to shift, just for a moment; a minute disturbance in the flow of magical energy. kano glances upwards, tilting his head before slowly holding his hand out to the side. he turns his gaze back towards the other as, like clockwork, the triplicata falls soundly into the palm of his hand. 

「lucky catch . . . i’m afraid you’re out! calm down-- there’s no sense in getting so worked up over a friendly ( game ). you see, i’m not looking for any trouble; just some fun.」

          THIN DIGITS dance on a tabletop, tapping an arrhythmic melody as his chin rests in his idle hand. a looong sigh drags itself between his fingers, pupils darting from one edge of the room to another, backtracking to a solitary figure across the room. his approach is swift, but not urgent; before he could be singled out as irregular, he had already casually seated himself across from the other.

          ON A QUIET side street lies an equally silent cafe, nestled soundly between a laundromat and a vacant storefront. it’s a wonder how the shop was still open, and an even greater mystery as to how kano secured a job there. regardless, there he was; uniform and all, waiting on a completely empty house. a hefty yawn began to escape his mouth, hidden behind the palm of his hand-- cut short as the door jingled open. cool air and the smell of coffee rushed out the door, replaced by the summer heat and the rustling of a dress. 

          now, hold on a second-- a double-take was required in situations like this. that took a moment, and it only took one more for him to produce a cup of tea and pull out a chair, grinning widely.

「wow, what a surprise! fancy seeing you here, huh? and here i was, wondering what the poor  ( dan ) would do without me . . . don’t worry, i’ll make sure to make you feel right at home! take a load off and relax〜」 

          mary would feel anything but relaxed, unfortunately-- the cup he had offered was spiked with hot sauce.

          NORMALLY, this particular street was quiet; just another strip of unassuming shopfronts to pass by. however, a crowd had gathered today. it’s not hard to identify what all the commotion is about; encircled by enraptured onlookers is a single boy. deft palm movements produce cards from seemingly nowhere, which flutter to the ground only to be replaced anew. anyone with rudimentary knowledge in magic would know his sleeves were far too narrow to actually hold cards and the spaces between his fingers were less than adequate to logically execute such tricks; but to the majority of the passerby, magic didn’t really exist, so why did it matter how he did it? abruptly, as if he were plucked offstage, the cards littered across the ground disappear as quickly as one can blink, and so does he. 

          the ensuing confusion serves as such an apt smokescreen that no one notices a slightly smaller figure, equipped with a hood and a surgical mask, weave his way out of the gaggle. once the individual is a safe distance away, a flash of crimson irises is all it takes for the mask and hat to disappear, revealing the magician once more. the perfect crime-- it would be, if he hadn’t just been tapped on the shoulder. kano whips around, the barest hint of ( surprise )-- no, that must have been a mistake. it surely wasn’t surprise that had registered, since an amused grin was now spread across his features.

「ah, what’s this? a fan, already? that was quick! sorry, i don’t do autographs-- but, i will give you props for { seeing } through my disguise〜!」

          STOMPING feet only give momentary notice before a black-and-white hoodie comes into view and a small cardboard box is thrown into the other’s hands. the culprit gives a few breathy words before dashing off, not waiting for a response--

「hey, can you hold onto this for me? thanks! i really owe you one〜」 

           KANO’S EYEBROWS raised, likely from spotting a rather familiar red jersey in the crowd. then the moment passed, and his hesitation turned to mischief; you could almost see the lightbulb above his head, weaving through the crowd until he was right behind the hikikomori. 

          d e e p  breath in.

          a long pause.

          his hands cupped around his mouth, and--

「B O O !」

「hey, you there! you got here at the perfect time. it’s an emergency. this shooting game . . . it needs ( two ) players, but as you can see, i’m only ( one )  person! can you help me out here? i’ll owe you!」 

          POSSESSIONS: unfortunately, they’re only missed when they’re gone. that goes double for the other’s triplicata, which was now in kano’s possession. the blue polygon now sits perfectly balanced upon his finger, spinning like a top as he motions the man over with his free hand. whether he was an adept pickpocket or a humanitarian claimant, it’s jarring to spot such an abnormality in the middle of the street; especially since he was nowhere to be seen moments prior.

「you should really keep track of your things! this does belong to you, doesn’t it〜?」

「crap . . . this is really bad! i don’t know how much longer i can go on . . . i might ( die ) like this . . .」

          GRIPPING his abdomen, kano staggers down the street, arm trailing along a wall for support. feeble utterances escape from under his breath, pale countenance barely mustering the strength to look ahead as he patters onward. the last dregs of strength finally leave his body and he collapses in front of a passerby, reaching his hand out towards them as he utters his last words:

​          THE HOUR was late, but not late enough for loitering souls to generate suspicion. a lone figure, splayed across the length of a park bench, arm draped over the back; nothing particularly unusual about that. what was unusual was in his hand-- a mask, split between black and white, accented with crimson. rather than wear it, he was playing catch, tossing it in the air and letting it fall back into his palm. however, there was something off about the movement it took; a dip in flight here, an extra rotation there. the motion was mesmerizing, casting impossible shadows on his surroundings in the afternoon light. so enthralling, in fact, it took kano a moment to notice the onlooker.

「i didn’t see you there--  how rude of me, to hog the entire bench! here, here-- take a seat. it’s a nice day to just sit around and ( chat ), don’t you think? 」

「woah, that’s some ( bat ) you’ve got there! are you a professional baseball player, or something? here, let’s test your swing!」

         GOING BY common sense, that was the cue for him to pull out a ball, but that wasn’t the case. instead, a glowing cube-- his triplicata, to be exact-- was now being tossed in the air, a mischevious grin on the newly-instated pitcher’s face.

          THE SITUATION at hand would have given anyone pause, and understandably so. shock, confusion, and anger would all be completely rational emotions for one to experience in response to such a change in scenery; expected, even.

           and yet, the boy seemed to be completely at peace with his situation; outwardly, at least.

「hmm, what’s all ( this ) about? situations like these only happen in novels, but it doesn’t seem like a joke. . . ahh, how troublesome. i  think i left the oven on, too! hey, do you have any idea what’s going on here?」