Kazuma observed his reflection proudly: wearing a black top under an orange vest and baggy dark-green khaki shorts, he was ready to go out. He also smiled down at his new shoes: black with orange soles and laces. He looked out his window to see his new friends had arrived. He jogged downstairs and bypassed his mother in the kitchen. "Bye, Mom, they're here!"
"Is it the KND again?" asked the pregnant woman. Kiyomi Ikezawa wore a pink apron over her yellow shirt. "Not a mission, I hope."
"I'm not even done with training, Mom. But you're gonna have to get used to me being gone eventually."
"Just make sure to-" But he was already gone. "Sigh…" Kiyomi had been worried sick about him after Kazuma was trapped in Aincrad, but knowing he wanted to join KND didn't ease her concerns at all. Still, she was proud of his supposed heroism during the crisis, and she was glad that he was going out more. She had hoped that he would grow out of recording videogames eventually, but it was a huge leap to want to be a hero. Even so, she couldn't say it was a bad path to take. "I just hope it works out."
…
"Hey, dude!" Jenny greeted spritely, eying him head to toe. "Sick new duds! So weird to see you in sneakers~" She rolled her blades over the toe end. "Won't have to worry about stubbing you now."
"I'd still like it if you didn't try." Kazuma raised his foot to shake her off. "But yeah. Thought I needed a stronger change of clothes. And speaking of stronger," Kazuma reached in his pocket and fixed on some metal knuckle bracers. "I think these should give me a boost in battle!"
"Ooo, sweet!" Miko perked up, her palms open. "Test 'em out, give me some fist-palms!"
Kazuma thrusted the first fist, then the second, and built up speed as he punched Miko's palms repeatedly. His speed was like that of a mad rabbit, and they could hear the rush of wind and almost imagine the force of his fists. After a few more seconds, he stopped.
"Oooooo!" Miko rubbed her sore and dented palms. "Prob'ly shouldn't hold anything today."
"Eh heh, sorry."
"Still, with your fists and my kicks," Jenny said, "I can already imagine the skulls we're gonna break."
"Wanna test Eddy's durability?" Quill asked with a smirk.
"HEY, NO!" Eddy panicked, protecting his stomach. "He'll break me like a twig!"
"You're his fanboy, wouldn't you consider it an honor?"
"Or I could just punch you." Kazuma noted. "Bet you'd go flying across town."
"Don't even!"
"Hah! So, where we heading today, anyway? You said you wanted me to meet somebody?"
"…" The friends donned more somber expressions as Carmine spoke. "Um, yeah…come to the bus."
They led Kazuma to the Q-Bus parked on a fenced path. A feminine-looking boy with bushy brown hair, pale eyes, and a brown oversized sweater with an artist's apron was sitting by the bus, his skinny legs propped up. "…?" He saw the operatives returning, and seemed to look worriedly at the stranger with them. "Who's this kid?"
"Kazuma, this is Jataro. He's a friend that I met recently." Carmine said. "Jataro, this is Kazuma. The boy I told you about."
"H-h-h-hi…" Jataro seemed to shrink away somewhat.
"Uh…hey." Kazuma looked upon him with confusion. "Is he a shy dude?"
"Kind of. Jataro… actually has something to tell you."
"Yeah, what? He don't look familiar to me."
"Uhhhh…" Jataro nervously pulled out a photo. "Ch-check out this picture."
Kazuma leaned closer. To his curiosity, the photo was an overhead shot of this very area… in fact, they were in it. …And it seemed they were moving slightly. "?!" Kazuma looked up. There was no cameras that he could see. "Are we being recorded?!"
"I-I-I took this picture with my power."
"Your… power?"
"Uh-huh. Ch-check this out." Jataro rolled up his right sleeve and stuck his bare hand into the photo.
Jenny directed Kazuma to look up. "AAH!" To his horror, a massive hand had appeared in the sky, its fingers wriggling nervously. "W-what?! What is that?!"
"I have the power t-to make photos, a-and stick my hand in them." Jataro stuttered. "I-I-I can stick in other body parts, b-b-but I don't do anything d-d-d-dirty, i-if that's what you think."
"…Wait…" Realization was dawning on Kazuma. "A giant hand… what…"
"Jataro… can you tell him the truth?" Carmine requested.
His teeth were clattering as Kazuma faced down at him again. He could sense the resentment burning in his one uncovered pupil. "U-u-u-u-uhhh… f-f-, a few years ago, I-I used my power, t-to pull Towa City, o-o-out of the earth. I-I-I'm an earthbender, s-so… I can do that."
". . . . . . Why?…"
"He used to be a member of the Sky God Pirates." Quill answered. "They used his power to rip towns out of planets and make them into islands for their floating kingdom."
"Th-then… it was you… you're the one… who killed Chiaki…"
"I-I-I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't mean to kill anyone! E-except my parents, but that's only 'cause they were bad, though I guess I kinda thought they were good 'cause I was raised to-"
Kazuma's knuckles flew faster than he could see, and Jataro wound up on the ground with a long dent in his head. "J-Jataro!" Carmine bent over to check his injury, thankful he was still alive.
"W…why…why the hell is he here… and why the hell do you know him?!"
"I met him after the Pirate War! We sort of became friends… But when we heard what happened to Chiaki, I thought…"
"We just thought that you should meet him." Jenny said. "I…I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier. But we wanted to make sure you could both be available."
"Available? I mean, this kid's going back to prison, right?"
"Er, he's not technically a prisoner." Carmine answered.
"WHAT?!"
"AH! W-w-w-we just kept his group supervised on GKND, and now I think they're doing community service on Avalar, or something… B-But I brought Jataro here to apologize!"
"Huuuuu…" The boy in question slowly felt his senses reforming. He could only cower as the iron-knuckled gamer towered over him. "I-I-I'm… sorry… for what I did. I wasn't thinking… about who I was hurting. I was selfish… and stupid… I would take it all back if I could."
Kazuma glared at the pathetic boy with spite. "You're not sorry. You were told to say all that. You were probably just rehearsing."
"You're not wrong." Quill said.
"Quill!" Eddy hissed.
"When we went over this with him, he wasn't all that apologetic."
"Yes he was!" Carmine argued. "Just now, he was nervous because he felt bad."
"He was nervous because he was worried of getting beat up."
"Quill, stop making this worse!"
"I can just tell." Kazuma stated. "His dimwitted look and that dumb-sounding voice. There's a few kids like that at school, and I can't stand them. Can't do anything without people holding his hand. I can't believe someone like you fucking killed Chiaki. And that you're just 'pals' with him."
"Jataro's a complicated boy. It's true that he doesn't understand what he did. He doesn't understand a lot of things. That's why I wanted to teach him. He can't just forget all the problems he's caused."
"Hmph." Kazuma reached down, grabbed Jataro by the collar, and pulled him up. "So, do you understand now?"
"I…I'm trying. B-but… there's so many people that we hurt. We already put all their towns back. And we were doing service on Evermore. But just imagining having to do service for all those other towns… it's too hard. How're we supposed to make up for all the people we hurt? We didn't know what we were doing. What we were thinking. W-what are we supposed to do? What?"
Kazuma grit his teeth. He couldn't stand this boy's voice or those watery pale eyes. A loser like this killed Chiaki with some weird-ass power. He killed her as casually and accidentally crushing a bug. "Stand still." Kazuma ordered, releasing him.
Jataro shuddered as Kazuma made sure his bracers were on right. "I'm gonna beat the shit out of you."
"Whoa ho ho, hey, hey…" Miko calmly slipped over and held his fists. "Let's not get out of hand."
"Why not? When you were going crazy, we beat the shit out of you."
"Y-yeah, but that was before I apologized. I-"
"Miko, I don't think it matters." Quill said. "Just let him vent it out."
"F-fine." Jataro shut his eyes. "Just make it quick."
Kazuma pulled his fist back and socked him in the gut. "Uh! Uck! Ueck!" The fists came slower than when he punched Miko, but packed much more force and aggressive intent. His torso was heavily bruised under his sweater, and blood began to hack out. "Cough, huof, hof!" After Kazuma finished, Jataro fell to his knees, then to his side. "Cough…ow."
"Hmph…I was all ready to hang out with you guys and you decide to show me this fucker?"
"That's kinda what we were worried about." Eddy replied. "We didn't wanna wait too late before telling you… well, Carmine kind of knows him better than we do."
"We can throw him in prison if you want us to." Quill mentioned. "He's got nowhere else to go."
"What does it fucking matter? He looks like he just does what he's told, anyway. Only thing he's scared of is beating beat up. Sigh, fuck it, I'm going home." Kazuma began to walk away.
"Hold on, dude." Jenny skated after him slowly. "Alright, maybe we shoulda warned you about this… It was kinda low on our part."
"No kidding. Hope you all liked seeing my sensitive side, again."
"We were gonna hit a pizza arcade. We can ditch him here, he didn't have to come."
"Tah…" Kazuma stopped at the corner, glancing at his house. It would be pretty awkward to go home after his rushed farewell. "…" Kazuma decided to backtrack, seeing Quill applying ointment to Jataro's bruises, while Carmine had him disrobed.
Internally, Kazuma would've preferred if Chiaki were killed by some horrible villain. But Jataro may as well be an ordinary kid. A kid who hurt people without really thinking. Just like Kazuma had done a few times, albeit verbally… but it was still far different from murder, let alone the scale that these 'pirates' could've been doing. How was this kid living with himself? Was he really that stupid?
He then noticed Boly climb out of the bus, approaching Miko with saddened eyes. "Miko… should I be attempting to atone for my crimes as well?"
"Well, there are probably a ton of people who are still hurt by what we did. It's kinda why we haven't fully introduced you to the whole KND, yet. We've kinda just wanted to take it easy after that…"
"So, is this sort of thing common?" Kazuma questioned. "When a villain decides they don't wanna be evil, anymore, we just… let them hang out with us?"
"It actually is pretty common." Quill answered. "And, when I think about it, it's kind of one of the KND's virtues. Just forgiving people who want it. And more often than not, those people end up becoming helpful allies."
"It's true." Carmine said. "But, you wouldn't really guess looking at Jataro. He's been a sweet boy to me, so… it's hard to imagine him killing anyone… by accident or not."
Kazuma approached the injured boy again. Jataro stared at him with cowering eyes. "So, what do you plan to do with your life, anyway?"
"I…I don't know. I just wanted to keep playing with the captain and my friends. I wasn't gonna hurt anyone, anymore. What do I need to do? Just tell me…"
Frankly, there was probably nothing he could do. Nothing but rot in prison. Kazuma would probably feel dead inside if he were in Jataro's shoes. All that guilt weighing down on him. Though it didn't seem like Jataro was feeling much of that. He really was that stupid. "…Ugh, my head fucking hurts. Are we going somewhere or not?"
"Uh, you, still want to?" Miko asked.
"Yeah. I wanna eat something. And I guess we can take this shithead, too."
"I always felt my head was comparable to doo-doo." Jataro said.
"God, I seriously hate you."
"Maybe we shouldn't…" Eddy figured.
"Too late! You guys set this up, this is what's happening." Kazuma assertively stomped onto the bus. "Let's hurry up and go."
The friends shared concerned looks and climbed back on the bus. Quill started it up and switched into a flight mode, lifting off to the sky. Kazuma rested on a seat while Jataro sulked in a corner. Carmine stood near him in comfort. "I guess I am… ugly after all."
"Do you feel bad, Jataro?"
"I already knew we hurt a lot of people… but I didn't think we could make up to every single one. So, why should we even try?"
"At least you tried to make up to one."
"Is that enough?"
"It's something to work on…"
Kazuma pulled out his phone and logged into YouTube. After a bit of skimming, he approached Jataro. "Hey." Jataro turned and flinched at seeing him. "I want you to watch this."
Jataro nervously took the phone. The video's thumbnail was of Chiaki. It was her video showcasing her game collection. "This is the girl you killed. Watch a few of her videos and get to know her."
"…Okay." Jataro tapped the video as Chiaki's soothing voice would resound from the speaker.
Shooting Gallery
Sector SA watched through a camera as Sinon sniped down cardboard cutouts. Cutouts of thugs would slide along tracks at varying speeds and distances. Some were along the ceiling, others appeared from behind her, and some were hidden behind civilian cutouts, requiring her to make careful shots.
Shino wore a blackish-gray sweater sweater that went with her skirt, stockings, and combat boots, as well as her hair and spectacled eyes. She was the kind of girl one would find sitting quietly by herself at the table, studying or doing homework with a bored expression. She was never seen hanging out with friends or doing any sort of activity… not until today.
By the time the course looped back to the starting room, Sinon had scored over 10,000 points. "Yep, that doesn't surprise me." Goombella said. "You're k-…kind of awesome at this, Shino!"
"She's a little more than kind of!" Nagisa laughed.
"I know!" Goombella blushed. She was actually about to say that she's 'killer at this,' but pulled herself back.
"It isn't actually as advanced as Arctic Base, huh?"
"No, but it's a good place to warm up." Shino replied. "I need to brush up my skills with normal guns in case I end up in close range battles. Marcus also says I should try to learn Observation Haki."
"That'd be one up on us!" Goombella said.
"I guess you guys never learned it?" She smiled wryly.
"I mostly just focused on improving my durability. Otherwise, I need my mental space for Tattling."
"And I only trained in Rokushiki." Nagisa said. "The Six Powers require complex chi concentration, so I didn't feel like stacking Haki on top of it. Killua can pull it off, but he says it's hard for him, too. I bet Morg could pull Armament off if she tried."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn a little bit." Morg agreed. "I think the only reason I didn't was because I was practicing team attacks with Nagisa. Otherwise, I was pretty confident enough in my own strength."
"You seem like a pretty heavy hitter." Shino recalled. "Especially since you're actually a giant lion~"
"Not that I plan to change into that again."
"You just about will with that outfit!" Nagisa remarked.
Morgiana was wearing a replica of the clothes she gave herself in Aincrad: a fiery skirt and top with a red lion's mane collar. She had gone to the Negaverse and asked her opposite, Anaigrom to make it. "Well, that's why I got rid of the lion headwear."
"It was just kind of creepy." Goombella said.
"Yeah, a little too much on the feistiness." Nagisa agreed. "But even if you'd kept it, you're still my sexy lion warrior either way~" He put an arm around his girlfriend.
"Uh, Nagisa…" Morg sported a blushing smile.
"Man, are you always this kissy-faced?" Shino rolled her eyes.
"Ever since they were official, yeah." Goombella nodded. "Though before that, Morg was much more kissy."
"I-I was not." Her cheeks puffed.
"You're just making me feel lonely." Shino moped.
"C'mon, Index and I don't have boyfriends either." Goombella said.
"Remember that Goomba boy from Field Day?" Nagisa asked. "I think he kinda liked you."
"I guess so…"
"So, do you wanna go a few more rounds here or you wanna go somewhere else?"
"Hmmm…" Shino looked Morgiana over. "Well, speaking of you, I wouldn't mind building up my leg strength."
"More training?" Goombella frowned. "You don't wanna go to a restaurant or something?"
"I just wanna make sure I can keep up with you guys. I probably couldn't kick like Morg, but I don't want my legs to conk out in the middle of a mission."
"You're really committed to this." Morg acknowledged.
"I'm pretty eager to be a part of you guys." Shino blushed. "Having friends like you makes me feel special. Even despite all the dangerous parts."
"Awww." Goombella cooed. "Well, operative or not, we're happy to hang out with you."
"Yeah." Morg agreed. "Even so, I hope it doesn't prove to be too much for you. You have a lot of potential, so it would be great to have you as a teammate."
"I'll do my best." Shino smiled. "So, why don't we visit my school's track?"
"Yeah!" Nagisa beamed. "We can work up an appetite that way!"
"Heh, some of us will, maybe." Goombella remarked.
…
The track was free for the four friends to use as Nagisa and Morgiana ran laps around it. Nagisa was very swift, and his thinner, lighter frame helped him outpace Morgiana. Shino had to imagine Nagisa's blue sneakers gave him an edge in speed, too.
Shino focused back on the path ahead of her and tried to pick up the pace, even as she felt her legs giving out. She had only finished one lap while these two were on their third. "Whoa!" she gasped when Nagisa suddenly flew by her again. "Damn, I can't even hear you coming!"
"Nagisa's wearing Hyrulean-made shoes that mute his steps." Morg mentioned, slowing down to jog beside her. "They're a present from Killua."
"Maybe I should get some, huff! Speaking of, doesn't going barefoot slow you down?"
"The stress I build up in my soles helps improve my combat style. Otherwise, this just feels natural for me. But you're putting too much force behind your legs, and you aren't pacing your breaths. Try to do like me."
"Okay…" Shino straightened her posture a little and tried to take breaths. "Huff… I think I need… a break… after this lap."
"That's fine."
Once Shino was able to finish her 2nd lap, she retired to the bench, panting heavily. "Sigh… I really needed the practice. Arctic Base expects us to run over a snowy field. And I'll have my rifle to carry."
"You're not expected to be an athlete or anything." Goombella assured, sitting beside her. "So long as you can finish the courses and get used to this sort of stuff, you'll get a passing grade. In a lot of cases, operatives rely on their teammates to carry them or something."
"I guess that's why I didn't see you running."
"Girl, you see any legs on me? You shoulda seen me in training though, some of those jerks kept trying to kick me around."
"I'm sorry…"
"Luckily, I don't think those guys made the cut afterward. They were even picking on Nagisa, too."
"Are we breaking already?" Nagisa asked spritely, jogging up to them. "I can still go a few more laps!"
"Nagisa." Morg said reprovingly.
"Please, back when we started out, you left me in the dust. Nothing motivates like a little teasing~"
"I don't like being teased." Shino said.
"Alright, I'm sorry." Nagisa blushed awkwardly. "I just get a little carried away."
"That's why we need to stop hanging out with Killua." Morg said.
"Don't be jealous, Morg, I'll always love you best."
"Ugh!"
…
As the friends shared flavored water, a trio of girls eyed them from across the track. Their leader was slightly chubby with light-brown hair. Beside her was a tall, thin girl with two long bangs and one with bowl-cut silver hair. "Hey, is that Shino?" the leader asked.
"That's weird." said the tall girl. "Since when does Shino have friends?"
"What a bunch of weirdos." the bowl-cut girl said. "Bet you they're from some otaku fanclub or something."
"Let's see if we can score some dough out of them, too." The leader smirked as they began to approach the group.
…
"So, when will Index be available to hang out?" Shino asked. "I'd like to get to know her better."
"She's setting someone up with their Newborn now." Nagisa answered. "In fact, I think it'll be the last Newborn besides Hoopa."
"Well, there's one more after him." Goombella reminded.
"Maybe once she's done, we'll invite her next time. Though by then, we'll probably be called on another mission."
"Would they let me tag along?" Shino asked.
"Yeah! They sometimes let cadets come on missions in place of training. Of course, they have to be low-ranked missions."
"Makes sense. I wouldn't think…?" Shino glanced over and saw the three girls approaching. "Oh…"
"What?" Nagisa looked over. "You know those three?"
"So, who're these people, Shino?" the leader asked. "Your pop band?"
"We're Sector SA!" Nagisa grinned. "Are you friends of hers?"
"Wow, she actually paid KND ops to hang out with her?" the thin girl asked. "And they're so uncool."
"I guess they're not." Morg figured.
"The fat one is Endou, the tall one is Glendou, and the other fat one is Jendou." Goombella observed.
"Oh God, what's that thing?!" Jendou pointed in disgust. "It's a talking mutant mushroom, ew!"
"Could you please leave?" Morg glared.
"Do you know who we are, Pinkie?" Endou asked. "We're Shino's friends. At least until she started being selfish."
Shino stood. "Guys, let's go somewhere else." She walked around the bench to leave, but the three bullies walked to impede her.
"Not so fast, Shino. We need money for groceries."
"Go fucking get your own." Nagisa said.
"Yeah, well how about you wannabe operatives split the bill? 20,000 yen." Glendou said.
"You know what'll happen if you don't, right?" Endou asked, reaching into her jacket.
Shino tensed up a bit as the bully withdrew a handgun. The operatives glared at them with spite. "Got five shots in this baby. Maybe I'll shoot the mushroom first. You can just grow another one, r-?"
Shino's hand whooshed and swiped the gun, stunning the bullies. "You know what I learned last week, Endou?" Shino twirled and turned the gun on the leader. "If people like you just live to torment others… then you don't deserve to live."
The girls shuddered on the spot, wondering if she would actually pull the trigger. Why didn't Shino cower like she normally does? She couldn't possibly have the heart for it…
Nagisa held his hand up behind Shino, positioning for a snap. She pulled the trigger. BAM!
Endou keeled back and fell, her eyes turning milky and unconscious. Her friends were utterly stunned by what Shino had done… but as they looked down horrifically at their leader, Endou had no wound. "You left the safety on." Shino said, flicking it off. "Besides, the gunshot wouldn't be loud."
Shino walked about 20 feet away and aimed at one of the soda cans on the bench. The small bullet punched the can as orange water spilled out from both sides. Shino returned to the bullies, turned the safety on, and casually dropped the gun on Endou's belly as she walked past. The operatives glared at the bullies before following their friend… but first, Morgiana turned back and STOMPED the ground beside Endou's head, denting a hole. "That, too." And she followed the others, leaving the henchwomen frozen in fear.
"Last year, they pretended to be my friends." Shino explained. "Started crashing at my place, getting their asses drunk, even inviting their horrible boyfriends over. I decided to tell them off and call the police. After that, they looked into my past and… well, you just saw."
"That's horrible…" Goombella said.
"Now I'm a little worried." Nagisa replied. "It was cool you stood up to them, but I feel like they'll end up being worse."
"But if I'm about to be an operative, I can't afford to be afraid of petty bullies."
"We should at least call the police on them for doing that!" Goombella argued.
"I wanted to, but I was always afraid it would backfire. If someone could bail them out, or they would make me seem like the bad guy… which they probably could now."
"Hmmm… Shino, you live alone, don't you?" Morgiana asked.
"Yeah?"
"Would it be alright if I stayed at your house for a bit? Just knowing those bullies are around makes me worried, too. I know Nagisa lives nearby, but still."
"Um…I dunno."
"I mean, she was just saying those guys were mooching off her." Goombella said.
"Yeah, but Morg isn't that rude!" Nagisa replied.
"What do you mean not 'that' rude?!"
"I mean, ya might get up in the middle of the night for some push-ups! Our treehouse is big, so it's not a big deal, but in her small apartment…"
"I can still be quiet about it! At least I'm not sleep-eating like Index."
"Ha ha!" Shino giggled. "You know, why not? I'd love to have a roommate." She moved up to Morg and whispered, "You can share all sorts of secrets about Nagisa."
"Sounds fun~" Morg smirked, doing a knuckle-touch with her.
"Better check if Killua's available." Nagisa said. "I'll need his help to combat the gossipy girls~"
"You're still outnumbered five to two." Goombella remarked. "And yes, we are including Fie."
"Then I'll call Romeo and Deku over! That'll be just enough to win!"
"Not unless we call your Negative over."
"HEY, that's not funny." Nagisa stated, his mood dropping.
"Yeah, Goombella." Morg said.
"Okay, okay, sorry…" Goombella shirked back.
"Uh, am I missing something?" Shino asked.
"Don't tell her about it." Nagisa requested.
"Don't worry, we won't." Morg assured.
Shino sighed and shook her head. "Let's just hit a restaurant. I think we all need some lightening up."
"Yeah, we sure take some getting used to." Goombella smiled. "Sure you don't wanna bail out?"
"Heh, not at all. This is the best day of my life so far~"
"Don't say we didn't warn ya!" Nagisa grinned, earning a giggle from the sniper.