I'm Okay

Chapter 28 - Overwhelming Guilt

—A few Minutes Earlier—

Alright. I should be out of range. Shoto hovers a hand over his ear, assuming the communication interface wouldn't affect him from a certain distance. Damnit. Why won't it work? The teen discovered the earpiece malfunction, most likely destroyed at some point during his earlier fight.

Cursing under his breath, Shoto dialed Tsukauchi's number on his cracked cellular device. Hurry and pick up, come on—

"Shoto-Kun? What's wrong, are you okay?" The investigator asked with concern. "Why are yo—" Before the man could ask further questions, the hero interjected by apologizing in advance.

"There's no time to explain, so I'll keep it short for now..."

There was a slight pause on the other end before a voice finally came through. "I'm all ears."

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—Present Time—

"You're all going down!!!" The red and white-haired maniac leaped off the bike unexpectedly and onto the hood of the truck, gripping the railing with his remaining strength as it swerved left to right.

It'll take a bit for backup to arrive... The younger glanced at his wristwatch, calculating the time it should take for reinforcements to make their grand entrance. I'll have to hold my ground for at least five minutes. I shouldn't struggle too much. Shoto wielded out a sharp blade he kept in storage, proceeding toward the edge of the speeding vehicle.

"Brat's not letting up! Do something, Taka-Chan!" The driver panicked as he risked flooring the gas pedal despite the heavy traffic in front of them. Although he swerved left and right and collided with other vehicles, he still failed to shake the pesky hero off their tail.

"Damn, shoot him!"

"I already did with the drug!" The man to his left countered, reloading the weapon with a second dose.

"Huh, don't you have a real gun?"

"It's illegal to own one!"

"Are you stupid?! We're criminals!"

"Enough and just step on it." So Usojun cuts their argument short, having enough of the excessive yelling.

"Hold up, can't you use hypnosis?" Taka brought up, "He's already marked, ain't he?" Desperation laced his tone as he referred to the teen above them.

"Like all quirks and their drawbacks, using my ability sends throbbing headaches after usage, especially if it's continuous." Usojun clarified, recalling the most agonizing moments. "Drive. When things worsen, I'll take over..." Just the thought alone sent imaginary pain through his head, making the criminal quiver involuntary.

—

"Shit!" The younger exclaimed as he slipped trying to reach the back tires. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea—" He talked aloud, catching his breath after recovering from the slip-up. Shoto removed the stripped helmet completely, giving up safety for a better field of vision.

This is insane—Damn! Proceeding with a 'screw it' attitude, Shoto aimed to pop the rear tires again using a blade he kept in storage. The boy leaped down, firmly clenching the railing and remaining vigilant to prevent falling to his doom. Ok... Ok. Aiming to jab the sharpened blade into the right tire, a bullet zoomed past him, in which the lad was lucky enough to evade.