Long chapter time my dudes... 7k+ words! Enjoyyyy!
...btw, do you guys see it when i add a new chapter but dont publish it? What does that look like to you guys? Just curious. Anyway, onto the chapter!
Edit 4/8/24: Minor edits
===
"Now, perception is..."
It's cheap, but...
He scribbled a note on his page:
Too basic. Sweater is easy to get tho...
"...Meaning, no one truly sees the world as it is."
Very cool, He wrote near a sketched-out scarf.
And gloves! Gloves are a must... maybe a mask too... is a ski mask too cliche?
Absentmindedly, he began to scribble out a circle. Then another. Then some lines... Wait, is this a spider? He shook his head and went back to the costume.
There was something about the design that didn't seem right yet, but if there was anything he remembered of those video tutorials, it was that a trial design never hur-
"Kurusu!"
Akira shot up to find a very angry Mr. Hiruta, and his pencil snapped in half in the process. Amidst his seething, he heard the snickers of a few students.
The shift of his seat towards them was enough to silence them. Good.
"Kurusu," the teacher repeated, the boy in question turning back slowly. "Since you seem to have no interest in paying attention, can you tell me which of these lines is longer?"
Akira squinted at the board. You would think enhanced sight could tell the difference between two lines, but he found nothing. The angle was a bit confusing, but it made no difference. He shrugged. "I don't know, they look the same..."
The scoff he anticipated never came. Instead, a brief clapping. "Very good," he said, almost in disbelief. "As you can see..."
Weird...
He returned to his sketches to find a massive dash of gray where he was drawing before. And unfortunately, the eraser part of his pencil was long gone. Another spider was sketched, but he stopped. What is this...? I need to focus! Stupid pictures don't matter when I'm just robbing a place...! Frustrated, he wrote his thoughts.
This... is... stupid-
The bell rang abruptly, sending his heart into a panic. His pencil, once again, had its edge broken. The splintered edges nearly drew blood from his finger when they grazed him. He wrote a furious note to get earplugs, threw his things into his bag, and left in a huff.
===
It was basic, but functional. Some sweater, pants, shoes, a mask of some sort, gloves, and hopefully a scarf. Akira somewhat wished that the plan was to be seen, so he could at least have some fun with the costume... Who am I kidding, he sighed internally. I don't have that kind of time...
He opened the door to Leblanc as normal, but froze.
What the...?! No... oh god, that can't be real...
Half-forgetting to be gentle, the door was shut with a slam. Akira took a forced breath.
That's not there, that's not there...! It doesn't make any goddamn sense!
The customers inside clamored from the sudden exit. Sojiro came out.
"Kid! Kid, what's wrong?"
How do I say this...
"Do, uh..." he glanced inside again to check if he wasn't seeing things. The strange person was still there. "Do... you see that?" He pointed to the short figure with the giant head.
"What're you... Wait, are you talking about Futaba?"
"She's real?!"
"O-Of course she's real, what the hell are you talking about?" Sojiro sputtered in disbelief.
"I was sick as hell..." Akira breathed. "I thought she was a hallucination..." He stared again.
"Don't-!" Sojiro waved his hand in front of the boy. "Stop staring, you'll scare her!"
"Kinda hard with a head like that..."
Sojiro sighed. "It's just the thing she wears in the shop- Now, just go up to your room."
"I'm starving!"
"Then don't make a big deal about it, and be nice!" He yelled. It sounded less like a command and more like a prayer... Akira supposed it made sense he'd be distrustful, but... whatever.
He tried to ignore the stares of the old couple as he walked in. Just don't make a big deal... Cautiously, he sat down at the counter. This "Futaba" seemed to be grabbing a cup from the coffee maker. She muttered something incoherent while looking past him, then turned towards him.
He tensed up as a coffee cup was placed quickly in front of him. Futaba was swift as well, as if expecting him to jump at her.
"...Here," She whispered.
"Uh..." He glanced at the cup, then her, and then the cup again. "But I didn't..."
A glance upward surprised him with a stern-faced Uncle Sojiro, muttering a silent "BE... NICE..." through his teeth.
Futaba seemed to visibly tense. "O-Oh, sorry, did you not-?"
"No no!" Akira sputtered. "It's uh... It's fine... yeah..."
He glanced worriedly at the drink. It smelled great, sure, but...
...A sip couldn't hurt, right? He looked up again at Futaba, and though he couldn't see her face, her tense shoulders were enough to tell him this wasn't easy for her.
Hesitantly, he took a sip. To his surprise, it didn't taste awful. He never understood why his father always loved bitter coffee... His mother would always put something sweet in it, but he never got many sips of it either. Akira prayed that this sip wasn't enough to get his heart pounding. He wasn't sure if caffeine was really that powerful, but he was always too afraid to find out. It never hurts to be careful...
Another incomprehensible noise was uttered by the girl in front of him. The sound seemed happy. Akira let out a breath of relief. He proceeded to wait until his meal was ready. Hopefully that's all I have to do...
Sojiro eyed the boy speculatively. He had been worried that Akira would be snappy with her too, but perhaps he could steer him in the right direction? He could only hope.
===
There was a peculiar feeling that surrounded his drawings.
It had been years since he designed something like this. A part of him wanted to continue, but that would be stupid... He frowned. I have to focus... there are better things to do.
He opened his browser on his phone, only to pause mid-sentence:
How to-
How do police stat-
Where are the files for-
His mind began to race. Was this enough to be put on a list? Right in the middle of probation, that was bound to be a red flag... hell, 20 of them. He darted his eyes about the room, half expecting someone to pop out and arrest him. This certainly wasn't legal, but surely no one watching would believe him, right? Who am I kidding... He sighed. What else would this be for?
He could have sworn that he saw an old laptop for sale at the secondhand shop nearby... surely that could do. He picked up his bag.
"I'll be back," Akira said, shuffling down the stairs.
"Oh no you don't," Sojiro huffed. "You're staying here."
He turned around dumbfounded. "What... What do you mean? Why?"
The glare on his uncle's face softened. "Look, it's just..." he pressed his fingers against the faucet, then put another dish in the cabinet. "Just... Just for now, ok? If I can't be there with you, you're staying, alright?"
Akira groaned and dragged himself upstairs. "If that's code for 'I don't trust you you little shit', it wasn't subtle..." he muttered out of earshot.
He sighed in defeat, looking around his room. Is there anything else I could-
The glow of the outside shone through his window.
do...
Stepping closer, there was a locking mechanism in the middle. Softly, he unlatched it and shifted the glass to the right. He popped his head outside to see nothing but the wall of another building. Seems like an inconspicuous enough alley... He shuffled back over to the stairs. He seems pretty busy... shouldn't check on me for now... A light burning in his chest, he grabbed his bag and headed for the window.
There was no reason for him to believe he would just fall in a pathetic heap, but it wasn't like people just... scaled 90° walls on the regular. Maybe I could be the first.
But seeing that all that stood between him and painful concrete was a flimsy wall planter and however this shit worked... he found himself justified in his fear.
Gingerly, he placed a hand on the outside wall. He shut his eyes tightly, praying this didn't require that much focus. A light tug eased him, as his hand didn't slip off.
It took him a moment to estimate the least awkward way to get his leg out, though he never really found one he liked. Nevertheless, he was halfway out, and not falling to his... death? Maybe just an injury... I hope.
With the window closed and nothing to latch on to, Akira hung on for dear life. But there was still the whole process of getting down...
Just... one limb... at a time...
Each time he moved, his whole body chilled. But slowly and cautiously, he made his way down, though his last few movements were somewhat frantic.
Safely on dry land and not splattered on the ground, Akira beamed. This'll be useful! He thought, smiling. Now, for that laptop...
===
Akira looked down at the laptop in his hands in shame.
It wasn't like he didn't think a 3,000 yen laptop was suspicious, he just couldn't afford Sojiro walking in on an empty attic, or worse, needing to explain how he could stick to a wall. But examining what was left of the device... it seemed as if someone was having a bad day before they sold it... how they did so was beyond him.
Now what...?
He checked his phone and found a repair kit for sale in Akihabara. But there was no way he could ride the train there and back before Sojiro would check... He glanced at the time; 5 pm. He'd have to wait for nightfall.
===
As he waited for the train, he fiddled with his sweater. He had remembered putting a very comfortable sweater in a box from home, and figured it'd at least be better than wearing his school uniform to sneak out alone.
The sweater had been bought with his father long before he died. It wasn't an eventful purchase in the slightest, but the sheer memory of him was enough to unsettle him.
It was just a cheap sweater from a thrift store, but a careless touch of the fabric was enough to intrigue him. It was soft and fluffy on the inside, with a simple yet pleasing design. It wasn't hard to convince his father to buy it. Once it was warmer, he often opted for something lighter, but he was fond of it nonetheless... every time he saw it he thought fondly of colder weather to come.
Why is something so simple so nice...
"Doors closing"
Akira's eyes shot up.
"Wait, waitwaitwait-!"
The train started to accelerate, slowly but surely. He seethed at his incompetence. Something so pointless, at a time like this? You don't deserve that kind of time! He thought. Though, as he stared at the moving vehicle, an idea formed.
Before he knew it, his hand inched closer.
What the hell am I doing what the hell am I-
But as the train grew louder, the voice inside did the same. You want this plan to work?! His mind yelled. Just try for ONCE in your life!
Breathing heavily, he inched towards the train. Closer and closer... till he hopped on.
The screams behind him quickly faded as the sound of wind rushing by overtook him. His heart was pounding, his mind was baffled by the decision, and his eyes were deeply regretting their lack of shield from the wind. On the other hand, he was deeply grateful his hands had agreed to work with him.
He cowered into himself as the closed tunnel soon opened to present him the glimmering Tokyo skyline, almost enough to distract him from the lack of fencing preventing him from a steep fall. Not like anyone expected someone to hang on the side, so can't blame them I guess, He thought.
As the train approached another station, wherever that was, he resisted the urge to look at the faces of the gasping people behind him. When it stopped, he stormed through the crowd and up to the surface, finding a bright and lively Shibuya.
His hands were shaking wildly with fear, but the burning feeling he expected in his chest didn't feel the same... It felt... oddly good. Is this how people that ride rollercoasters feel? He asked himself. He eyed a clothing shop in the distance. If he wanted to do this again... a mask would probably be good to have. Just in case.
===
Akira tapped his fingers relentlessly against his desk. Anything to stay awake, though it was getting harder with every passing second. He had stayed up for longer than he wanted to admit trying to fix the laptop, only to fail every attempt with no solution in sight. He'd grown bored of searching for answers online today, so his only idea left was to just tap-tap-tap his way through the day. He wished the lesson was at least mildly interesting to make it worth the literal headache, but nothing caught his attention.
The only thing keeping him from the sleep he wanted so badly were the suspicions he felt that he was being watched every few moments. It was almost like that weird thing that warned him before, but with more of an uncertainty that he feared would materialize the second he doubted it. But every time he looked back, no one was staring. But it was bound to happen at some point.
They're always watching... He thought hazily.
Always...
===
Akira walked past his friends without a word. It was normal at this point, but the sight of them still pained him. He opened his locker and went into a daze...
"Heh, watch this..."
The boy inched closer to Akira's ear, careful to be silent.
He abruptly screamed.
Akira took a sharp breath and jolted towards his locker, crashing his face into the rim. He barely noticed the mild pain over his pounding heart, however.
"Hah! Told you it would work again! He's nothin' but a freaking coward!"
He barely began to register the 3 boys in front of him, the 3 who found it hilarious to scare the shit out of him once they saw how he reacted to thunder. Why they ever cared was a painful mystery to him.
"F... F-Fuck off already, Shunkan," Akira muttered brokenly.
"Or what, Kurusu? You gonna fight me like a man?" Shunkan jeered. "Hah, can't even look at me, this is great...!"
As soon as he turned around though, Akira came flying at him with a wild punch.
Shunkan gasped and turned around. It wasn't particularly painful, but Akira merely facing him was intriguing. His eyes were brimming with tears.
"I told you... to FUCK OFF-!"
Akira suddenly lunged at him and grasped desperately at whatever he could. Hair, sweater, shirt, whatever. The two toppled down to the floor. Shunkan shrieked as Akira clawed at him, but before he knew it, he was free. Shunkan's friends had torn the wild-eyed boy away from him, though his eyes never broke from his.
Akira thrashed and growled in their grasps, his breaths hoarse and strained, but he was practically locked to the floor. Slowly, the other boy got up, and with it, his frantic movements fizzled out.
Shunkan gingerly touched his jaw, glanced at his fingers, and then looked at him with disgust. "...The hell is wrong with you?!" On his hands, was his own blood.
Blood.
Akira gasped, heart pounding. He wondered if it was pride or fear he felt from seeing it drip down his face.
"You goddamn freak..." Shunkan whispered. His face quickly contorted to anger. "You think you're hot shit?!" He kicked Akira in the stomach. He gasped for air and fell to the floor, the other boys having let go of him at Shunkan's command.
"I'll never forget this...!" He growled as he walked away. "And you better not either...!"
Shaking, Akira glanced at his hands. It was true, there was blood on them, the scent all too familiar.
And yet, there he was, crumbled on the floor.
He was weak. He had lost. He always would.
Always...
===
He jolted awake to hear the bell ringing. He jumped up to look for any eyes, but they were too focused on the door to jump him.
Akira put his hand to his chest. His heart was pounding, but at least it was still there.
What was also there, unfortunately, was his stomach.
On his way to the cafeteria, his mind wandered about his process for fixing the laptop. What the hell did I even do wrong? It was to his surprise that fixing it would be more difficult than he anticipated, but now that it was lunchtime, there was at least something to look forward to. Unlike last time, he remembered to bring a lunch, completely avoiding the line and the need to beg for scraps from his adoptive friends.
His mind soon wandered to the other day, the 3 of them in shock as to what he could do. But everyone else? They were too terrified to question it and obeyed.
A privilege foreign to him.
But for whatever reason, those 3 still seemed to be sympathetic to him. As annoying as Ryuji was, he seemed more genuinely interested than a lot of people... Now that he wasn't starving, maybe they could talk about... normal things. Whatever that meant. Besides, he thought. It's safer in groups...
As he wandered around the tables, he resisted the urge to stare at the immediate mass silence upon his arrival. He held his head up, praying they wouldn't notice the feigned pride, and continued his search for the 3 friends.
"...ack off, you asshole!"
Akira picked out the sound of an angry Ryuji through the crowd. He stood with Ann and Shiho facing another group of students.
"Mind your own business, Sakamoto!" snapped a girl from the other group. "Takamaki and I just need to talk...!"
"I told you, Nakagawa, I've never talked to your boyfriend!"
"You lying bitch!" Nakagawa gripped Ann's shirt and pulled her closer. "You think you can get away with anything 'cause of your looks, but I see right through-!"
"Hey!" Akira snapped, catching the girl in a cold stare. He approached the table slowly. He could practically hear their breaths, growing faster and faster. He took a breath. "How about... You and your friends leave," He said softly, pointing to the unknown girls.
The girl was rattled, her composure crumbling. "A-And what makes you think I'd listen to you?!"
Akira paused, his eyes dead.
He jumped at them, gripping the table.
The girls gasped, huddling closer together. Perfect.
"Now, you tell anyone about this, and I'll come back," He snickered. "But, if you leave and never bother them again, I can back off as well. Do we have a deal?" He grinned.
The girls whispered amongst themselves, something frightened, and scuttled away.
Akira sat down at his group's table feeling pleased. "Mission accomplished..."
"Um..." Ann mumbled, slowly sinking back into her seat. "Thanks..."
"Least I could do," He said. Though, looking at Ann, her face lacked the same joy he expected. "What's up...? You seem kinda...?"
Ryuji sighed. "I don't know, man, it's just how you kinda-"
"I-It's nothing," Ann cut in. "I was just... spacing out..."
"...You sure?" Akira asked.
Ann nodded. Ryuji shot a brief glare at him.
"Alright then," He sighed. He took him lunch out and took a bite out of his sandwich, unsure of what to make it all. What's up with them? He swallowed his bite and looked up. "Hey, can I ask something?"
Ann tilted her head.
"What was that girl talking about, anyway? Does she do this a lot or something?"
Ann sighed. "It's just..." she fiddled with the napkin under her hand. "Let's just say that besides Shiho, the other girls don't really... like me that much." She made eye contact whilst playing with her hair. Her hair...
Akira nodded and looked down. Her looks, huh? Who knows how long they've been at this...
"Well," He chuckled. "I bet they won't come after you again for a while, eh?" He smiled. The others glanced at him, but make no reaction. He frowned. "Do you wanna say something, or...?"
"We're just starvin', man," Ryuji said dryly. "That's all."
Akira squinted, but then shrugged. He took a sip of his water. "I understand," he sighed. "I hate those kinds of people..."
The others continued to eat in silence, Ryuji the only one left looking about the room. There were eyes on them, eyes all too familiar to him.
"Yeah... me too."
===
"Now for that computer...", Akira grumbled to himself, approaching Leblanc. He opened the door.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to-" Sojiro paused and made eye contact with Akira.
"Hmm?" The unfamiliar man turned around, an easygoing smile on his face. "Oh, now who's this?"
Behind the man, Sojiro was nodding his head upwards. Akira squinted. Up... upstairs?
Hesitantly, he walked past the oddly cheery man, darting his eyes between him and Sojiro.
Something's going on... but what?
Sojiro's face grew more insistent. Baffled, Akira walked upstairs. He did, however, stop at the top to eavesdrop. He figured he could probably do it from his bed, but he was already comfortable squatting down where he was.
"Well, as much as I'm hurt to realize you didn't tell me about your shop, at least now I know where to find you!" The man said. "I'll be going now-"
"Have a nice day..." Sojiro muttered dryly.
"Ouch... cold," said the man. "Hopefully next time you're in a better mood. Well, until then!"
The doorbell rang.
Ok... Akira puzzled over the conversation for a moment. Whatever that was about didn't appear to be his problem, so he shrugged and stood up. Hopefully YouTube had answers...
===
"This entire time?! You gotta be kidding me..." Akira sighed to himself. Apparently he had misapplied one piece of the motherboard, causing the laptop to constantly make annoying beeps instead of working. But despite how utterly annoying the process was, there was something about the laptop actually turning on that invoked joy in him.
I did that...
As far as he knew, the only thing he had to do now was just set it up as normal. Step one... connecting to... the wifi...
Wait. Can't I be tracked through this?!
He dropped his head in defeat. "So stupid!" He groaned, smacking his head. "Can fix a laptop but can't remember that wifi exists!" He tugged at his hair in frustration. He stared at the screen as he did so, resisting the feeling of awe that came from the sight.
He looked down and sighed. "...You know what? It's fine, it's fine... I'll just... make a new account, and throw this thing away later if I have to..." His hands hesitantly approached the keyboard.
It's... it's good enough. It'll do.
Once the initial setup was over, he brought his cursor over the Internet Explorer icon.
Now, where to start...
Maybe... pickpocketing? Should be easy enough...
===
Despite hating the subway, Akira figured it was the easiest way. He readjusted his goggles in boredom. He hoped they'd be enough to protect his eyes. If they were enough for water, air would be a breeze, right? He tugged at his gloves. All he needed to do now, was wait...
"Now approaching: Shibuya"
He looked around absentmindedly, soon spotting a wallet in the back pocket of a young man. He couldn't be much older than him, but certainly more exhausted. And certainly very close to him.
"Shibuya. This is Shibuya"
He paused. He planned on waiting to get to the city before trying anything, what with the enormous crowd. It would be so easy! But then again, he thought, so would this... He inched closer, watching for a reaction. Nothing.
"Doors opening"
As they left the train, he made a dash for the man, snatched the wallet, and knocked him over accidentally.
...Shit!
Several eyes landed on him, including those of the man he just robbed.
Wait... I have the wallet!
His eyes darted between the crowd and the train behind him.
"Doors closing"
"That man stole his wallet!" Shouted a woman.
A burly man approached him, but in an instant he was atop the leaving train, and soon far far away from him.
He couldn't help but snicker. "What did I say? Easy!" He yelled in triumph to himself. Albeit, there was the whole getting spotted thing, but...
Eh, could have been worse... Besides, I've just scored...! He opened the wallet, to which his mood instantly dropped.
...That's it? 2,000 yen?
He wasn't sure what he was hoping for, but not this. It's better than nothing though, Akira figured, so he shrugged it off. Aside from the cash, there was a student ID card to some college, a credit card, boring stuff he couldn't do anything with. As the train opened up to reveal the skyline, he looked down at the crowd... and dropped it. He watched it slowly disappear into the masses below. Wonder if it hit someone... He chuckled at the thought. Would it hurt though? ...Nah, it's just a wallet.
For a while, Akira sat mesmerized by the way the sunset illuminated the city below. Eventually he wasn't sure where he was anymore, but... maybe that wasn't so bad. Wherever it was, there were bound to be more people there. More people, more-
The bang of a bullet flying by below threw Akira off balance. Adrenaline pulsed through him as he slid off, barely caught by his feet.
He climbed back up and looked frantically for the source, finding a group of police officers below. They were chasing after an oddly dressed figure with a cape who was bounding through the streets with bags of what he assumed to be cash.
Another one of those weird-?
Instinctively, he jumped off the train. By the time he looked back, it was already deep in another tunnel. He found himself on the top of the nearby building.
Whatever this ability was, he was grateful for it.
Down below, masses were gathering to watch the showdown. The masked figure seemed to be getting cornered, with more police cars approaching in the distance.
So many people...
He jumped to the wall of the nearby building, making his way down to the alley below. The crowd was suffocating like usual, but at last he had the optimal chance to steal something good.
He glanced around for another back pocket like the man before, hoping it would be as easy as before. A simple "accidental" bump was enough to snatch one, though he quickly discarded the excess. But as he attempted to leave, he found himself bumping into a multitude of shoulders against his will. Why would anyone want to get closer to that kind of mess? He thought. But no matter how hard he tried, he found himself shoved around like a pinball. He considered shoving back, but worried it's be another instance of the group falling like a hoard of dominos... Still, his anger was boiling to the brink, only to be swiftly silenced by another bullet.
He jerked his head around to find the police right in front of him... By some miracle (or curse... he saw that as more accurate) he found himself at the front of the crowd, some terrified by the masked criminal and others mesmerized.
Akira flinched at every sound. But through his daze, he spotted something shining in the back pocket of one of the officers:
A clip. A wallet clip.
He shook his head. What are you thinking, that's insane! They probably don't have cash on them anyway! A wallet in their back pocket, they can't be that stupid! His face turned to a scowl at the thought. Who am I kidding... of course they are!
He watched the eyes of the other officers, some frantically pushing the crowd back in the distance, some with stern looks, and others oddly hesitant.
He flinched at another bullet. His heart pounded faster and faster. And yet, he inched closer and closer. He wandered cautiously over the barricades, watching closely for any eyes on him. Nothing.
The officer pointed his gun at the criminal ahead, completely unaware of the boy behind him.
Akira's hand inched forward. The officer muttered something into his walkie-talkie, nothing he cared enough to pick out over the noise.
3... 2... 1...
A light tug and Akira's eyes were slammed shut, waiting for some sort of recoil. But strangely, the scene continued on as before. He could have sworn someone was trying to call him out, but over the uproar it was nothing but meaningless.
A grin graced his face. I... I did it! He laughed. "Take that, you bastard!" He yelled.
Akira's eyes went wide with terror. It didn't help when the bastard in question turned around a mere moment later.
"What the...?" He patted his back pocket, eyeing the boy at every second. He slipped his gun back into his holster and approached him rapidly. Akira scrambled backward, almost crashing into the nearby building. Praying, he planted his foot on the wall instead and tried to run up the wall. After a few seconds, he hurled himself to the side to secure his hands on the building's corner. He looked down and began to tremble with panic; he had caught a lot more attention than he'd intended...
"He's one of them! Capture him!"
What... where did he-?!
A loud boom caught his attention, the source being another costumed person with... gauntlets? Is that the guy from before? I thought they arrested him already?
"Don't let any of them escape!"
As soon as the guns were pointed his way, he shot his face upwards and ran for the top. He tumbled at the top of the building, his hands barely grasping the border of the roof in time. He struggled to catch his breath. Hands shaking, he bent open the wallet clip.
"Okay, okay, way better this time," he said between breaths, stuffing the 5000 yen into his pocket. "What else is there..." Gift cards to places he'd never heard of, credit cards, a family photo...
He hesitated on the last one. He shook his head. Irrelevant, it's all irrelevant. All you need is cash...
He tossed the remains within the clip to the alley below. It wasn't long though before he heard a yelp from an unknown man. Cautiously, he looked below, finding more officers scanning the area. They looked up, all locking eyes. In a panic, Akira ran off, bounding across the rooftops in search of a nearby train station.
He had had enough of the skyline for today.
===
"Home," Akira said in a dash into Leblanc. He had fallen asleep on accident upon returning home from his adventure. All he remembered was falling onto his bed and waking up the next morning without a clue as to why his alarm was going off. He had no idea he was so exhausted, but the strangest thing was how tired he still felt. Not that he had any desire to sleep earlier anyway. There were things to be done. But what, exactly...?
"Put your stuff down and come help," called Sojiro from downstairs. Akira groaned. He was dying to refuse, but he figured a little help was needed now and then to satiate him, like an annoying pill he had to swallow. Panicked noises emanated from below, familiar ones...
The noises quickly subsided once he arrived downstairs. It was Futaba, only this time without the odd mask. He paused to take in her hair, an odd color of orange. Before he could note anything else about her, however, she slid behind Sojiro. Akira caught a quick glare from him as he put on his apron.
He wandered over to the dishes, but was abruptly stopped by his uncle's hand. "Oh no you don't," He muttered. "You can't keep breaking these dishes, I'm not made of money, you know."
"Oh, come on, that was one time!" He groaned.
"One time was enough to break 5 plates! Now," Sojiro nudged his nephew to the fridge. "I need you to check if we have all the ingredients on that sticky note there; Futaba will handle the dishes."
Akira rolled his eyes and opened the fridge. Making me do shit he could do in his sleep... He scowled and counted the spices. Cumin, fenugreek, turmeric... He looked behind him again to see Futaba struggling to hold an enormous plate. His daughter, probably... Wonder where her mom is... Divorce, maybe? I can imagine that... He snickered lightly and turned back around. Gotta figure out my next move, stat... otherwise I'll be stuck looking for... cayenne, forever... He sighed. A few spices later and everything was accounted for, meaning veggies were next. There's carrots, and-
Akira perked up at a phone ringing. Sojiro slipped his cell out of his pocket and put it to his ear. "Hello?" His eyes quickly widened. The voice was quiet, but oddly familiar.
Futaba yelped and quickly ran behind Akira, latching on to him. He gasped and strained himself to not swat her off, trying desperately to ignore how tightly she was clinging to his skin.
"H... How did you?!" Sojiro checked the number of the phone briefly. "What... now?!" He checked his watch for the time. He took a sharp breath. "Fine," he sighed in defeat, hanging up. He looked over at Akira. "Go back to your room and do homework or something, I need to take care of this."
"Take care of what...?"
"None of your concern," he said coldly. His gaze shifted slightly to Akira's side, where Futaba was still clinging. "It's ok, don't worry," he said softly. She only made a few strange noises. "Promise," Sojiro said, seemingly in reply.
Slowly, Futaba unlatched herself from Akira's back. Once off, she made very brief eye contact with him before a rushed bow and a quick dash behind his uncle.
All he mouthed was a quick "thank you" before heading towards the door. He stopped, glanced at Akira again, and then at Futaba who was right by his side. "Futaba..." He glanced at Akira again. "...Stay here. Just this time." She made a frightened noise. "It's ok. He'll be in his room, right?"
Akira caught his stern gaze and nodded hesitantly. What, he doesn't trust me a few feet from his daughter? He paused to think. Well, maybe he... He huffed internally. Whatever, it doesn't matter, I'm finally free to do important things...
He waved his uncle goodbye, and watched him leave. He then waved the girl goodbye and darted up the stairs to contemplate his next move.
===
"Pop quiz!"
Akira woke up with a start. All he slid was a glare at his classmates as they mumbled about him.
He grumbled. They knew better than to laugh.
Ms Usami walked around the classroom passing around a single piece of paper to each student.
What's this class again... math?
His suspicions were soon confirmed when triangles were slid in front of him, along with some odd-looking equations he couldn't recall ever doing.
...and yet, there everyone was, scribbling along with confidence.
He scoffed internally. Bastard didn't teach us this... He scanned the strange problems, shuffling through his mind for anything.
...shit.
All that came to him were vague memories of some idiot raising their hand and asking some stupid question... but the rest? Nothing came to mind no matter how hard he tried.
I mean, I was just... I was doing... more important things. Yeah...
He could clearly remember searching up where to find the parts of his disguise, watching close-up magic tutorials, and that irritating trudge through forums to find out why the fucking laptop wasn't working, but nothing about these stupid, stupid problems.
He tried forcing his pencil to the page, but froze. He stared for a moment, but soon set the utensil down.
...No one cares about this stuff anyway.
He played with his pencil and pondered his plans. The previous day had yielded no results, mostly losing time when his mind wandered off or his stomach demanded whatever he could find. I mean, what else should I even practice? Breaking and entering?
The clock ticked relentlessly.
But I don't even need anything from them besides cash, right? It would be pointless! Nothing but a break in just to break out!
He looked around the room, eyeing another paper. No matter how many hoops his mind ran through, it didn't make sense. He inched his pencil towards the paper, praying they'd slow down to think-
"Time's up!"
He looked up baffled, but couldn't think through the growing chatter.
"How'd you do?"
"That sucked..."
"Seriously? That was easy as hell!"
Easy?!
Figures... Akira's anger rose to a boil. This school was just one of many, full of smug bastards who were dying to mock him.
"How many times do I have to explain it?"
"I literally told you this yesterday!"
"Are you even listening to me?"
He woke up to his paper still sitting on his desk. With the crowd still gathered at the teacher, he stuffed the quiz into his pocket. Maybe they'd forget. Maybe they would pretend he passed.
As if.
He took a deep breath as the paper crumpled in his pocket. It doesn't matter, he told himself. Even if you tried, it couldn't have gone differently.
He sat down and took out his phone, searching for yesterday's news. He soon found a blurry picture of what was presumably him scaling the wall. Three words caught his eye:
"A NEW MENACE"
He looked out the window to gaze at the skyline. School would end soon. This would all end soon if he made the right moves.
This doesn't matter, it never did... Besides, I have better things to do...
===
The force of the ground below could barely contain him as he bounded across the rooftops. He never imagined being able to run like this; full force, tearing through the ground, with only the wind to try to stop him in futile efforts. The way his heart leaped when he nearly lost his grip on a wall was exhilarating in a way he never thought he'd come to love.
And not only that, but it was more practice for what was to come. Sure, stealing had gone a bit haphazardly, but it worked, so wasn't that enough? Besides, who would dare try to mess with the new "menace" they'd just been told to watch their backs for? He was a force to be reckoned with, and he could feel it.
That's all that matters.
He scanned the people below for any airheaded passerby, though it was hard to find specifics from his height. He walked down the wall like it were the sidewalks his victims walked, then merged himself with the crowd. He found a woman taking a photo of herself, completely absorbed with her camera and not the masked man behind him. Akira wandered over and slid the wallet out of her pocket. He paused and waited for a scream...
...But, nothing ever happened. Even when he looked back several feet away, she was still posing for another photo. The way she was focused, an explosion could go off behind her and she would fail to notice. It was so irritating. Not even the enormous crowd had seen him! All those people, all those eyes, and nothing?!
He hesitated to put the wallet in his pocket. It would be easy for sure, but...
Why not have some fun?
"Hey lady!" he shouted. He caught the woman's eye. "Yeah, I'm talking to you!" He hoisted the wallet into the air and waved it around. "How about instead of your tacky selfies, you pay attention to your money, huh? Unbelievable."
He turned around with a hidden smirk, his legs tense. A chase would ensue any second no-
"Hey! Get back here!"
He turned around briefly to throw his hands up in mock defeat, then bolted.
There were shrieks and gasps as he shoved his way through the masses. He saw a split between the buildings coming up, and made a dash for it, only finding a dead end. Not like it was a problem, just inconvenient.
He stuffed the money from his new wallet into his pocket and chuckled. "Idiots." He bent down to leap onto the wall, but a strange feeling overtook him again. Almost like he was being-
"Freeze!"
...watched.
He begged his legs to obey him and bolt, but there was that lingering fear in his head that wouldn't go away. It wasn't just eyes on him, he was... being aimed at?
"Just... J-Just turn around... and-"
"-hands up?" Akira finished dryly. "Yeah, I know the drill." He rose slowly and turned around as asked. As he expected, an officer was aiming at him, albeit with shaky hands and wide eyes. Akira stared him down in disbelief. He stifled a laugh. "What's the deal with you? Afraid of some petty thief?"
"P-Put the wallet down."
"Okay," He snickered, tossing it over. The officer flinched, much to his amusement. He bent down and gingerly picked it up, never moving his gun from Akira's direction.
Incompetent bastard... "You know, if you gave a damn about killers like you give a damn about me, maybe something would be different." He growled.
"Who do you work for?" He said between breaths.
"Myself, dumbass. Why do you care?"
"Y-You, People, t-there's people getting hurt because of criminals like you who-"
"There's people getting killed because of bastards like you." He seethed.
The officer held the gun tighter.
Akira took a step forward and laughed. "What are you gonna do? Shoot me? Like you should've done to them?!"
"I-I don't know what you're-"
"I know what you want, you piece of shit..." he hissed. "A paycheck's all you need to make me disappear, right?"
"I want to help-!"
"I bet you do," he mocked.
"We know you work for some syndicate, so just-!"
"You just love to make shit up to make big deals out of nothing, don't you?"
"J-Just give it up! You're endangering innocent people-!"
"Then shoot."
There was silence between them for a brief moment. Akira stepped closer, stuffing his hands in his pocket.
"I'm a threat, aren't I?"
The officer took a step back, pushing his walkie-talkie closer to his face. "Call for backup-"
"You're afraid of me, aren't you?" His voice trembled.
"I'm not afraid of-!"
"Then shoot me...!" He demanded.
His steps became a slow walk, a shadow now looming over the officer in front of him.
"What's the matter?" He mocked. "Aren't you sick of acting like the useless bastard you are?!"
The officer was frozen in place. How pathetic.
"Times have changed, officer... I see you as the worthless scum you've always been!" He snarled. "Are afraid there's someone better at giving a shit than you?!"
"I... I-!"
"Shoot."
"Y-You have the right to-!"
"SHOOT!"
Akira jumped at the man, point-blank of the gun's barrel.
All he heard was the bang of a single shot ringing out before the world went dark.
===
A/N:
Well that was intense.
Have fun waiting for next time!! <3333
But seriously, thank you for all the support on this story so far! 200+ reads so far and only growing! Do you like all the art I added in this chapter? It certainly made the chapter take longer, but I hope it added to the immersion and overall fun of the chapter!
And I finally got to write that scene I wanted to so badly! You can guess which one it was~
Anyway, before I go, as a bonus, have some concept art for Akira's homemade costume so far!
And here's some digital art of what his costume ended up looking like:
Speaking of art... have you guys seen Spider-Man Across The Spiderverse?? IT WAS SO INSANE AND INCREDIBLE!!! For the sake of all my readers out there, please don't spoil it in these comments, but feel free to keysmash your joys like so: FJURGEIHUFIEWHIEFWHUIEFUI AAAAAAAAAAA <333333
Idk if I'll add more art like this in the future, it took a hella long time to finish them all, but it was pretty cool. I'm pretty proud of what I made.
(note: I also added a few easter eggs into this chapter, hope you find them! I usually add them anyway, but i'm particularly proud of one of them. It's something you'd have to do a smidge of research for, but nothing crazy. I'm all about the little details :3)
Let me know what you think about the chapter, talk about some spooder things, and have a great day!