Disclaimer: I do not own the anime "Paranoia Agent" or any of its original characters. However, all of the characters in this story are ones that I made up; with the exception of Lil Slugger and other people from the show that will probably be mentioned.

Please R&R, no flames or anything please! Just be happy and enjoy the story; or Lil Slugger will get you! Ha ha, just kidding!

Strike 1-School Daze

"…Suzuka, 90…Tomozenki, 94…Yamamoto, 61…" the teacher's voice echoed in the classroom, calling out students' grades. Shina Yamamoto buried her face in her folded arms on her desk and groaned. Once again, she has failed another Biology test. Someone's hand had reached across and rubbed Shina's back to comfort her. It was Yumi, one of her best friends. "You can pass it next time," Yumi reassured her. Shina didn't answer; instead, she sat up and asked the teacher if she could use the bathroom. As Shina got up to get a pass, she heard someone whisper, "She just wants to go cry 'cause she failed again." Shina gripped the pass hard, crushing the laminated paper in her fist as she exited the room.

She walked down the hallway with her head hanging low. "Can't believe I failed again…" she muttered; tears began to form in her eyes. Shina started to imagine how her parents would react to this. They would fuss at her and complain about how she's not going to get into college if she doesn't buckle down. Her father would probably slap her and tell her that she was grounded. A faint beeping sound snapped Shina out of her thoughts. It was the tamagotchi clipped to her skirt. She took it off of her hip and fed the hungry panda that she named "San". She continued to walk with her head down, but a skidding noise made her look up. She didn't see anything in front of her. The sound of rollerblades gliding on a floor made Shina whirl around; still nothing. "Do you have a hall pass?" asked a boy's voice. The girl turned back around and saw her friend, Minoru, standing before her. He smiled and asked, "Where are you off to?"

"Bathroom; what about you?"

"I've got to bring these papers to the office."

"Oh…"

"Are you okay? Your nose is a little red."

"Yeah, yeah fine" Shina looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was there; then faced Minoru again, "Could you walk with me?" she smiled at him weakly.

"Okay" Minoru happily agreed.

Shina was in the bathroom tending to her needs, while Minoru stood outside leaning against a wall. Shina gently tugged at her small, brown pony tails and stared hard at her reflection. As she stared at the twin before her, she began to feel hate. She felt like she was looking at a failure. It seemed like no matter how hard she studied, Shina just couldn't pass most of her tests. Although she did do well on her class work and homework, it was not quite enough to get her the high grades that she wanted. Maybe she wasn't studying as hard as she thought; maybe she really was "slacking off" as her mother would say. To top it all off; some ignorant students would tease her for various reasons, which made Shina's school life even harder.

"Get it together, get it together, get it together" Shina chanted over and over. She shut her eyes tight as if she was trying to activate the so called spell on herself. But when she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, she spotted Lil Slugger standing behind her. He reached forward and covered Shina's eyes with his hand, and then…

"Shina-chan!" said Yumi as she shook the sleeping girl.

Shina found herself sitting next to Yumi on the school bus. "Oh, I fell asleep" she thought to herself.

"Come on, this is our stop" Yumi helped Shina to her feet. The two girls got off the bus and Yumi faced her. "Hey, if anything happens, feel free to call me or you can just come over. Just be brave and show the test score to your parents. You know they'll probably find out sooner or later."

"Yeah…You're right" Shina stared impassively at the other houses across the street.

"So are you still going to have a party for your birthday?"

"Um, yeah I guess; I invited Minoru-kun too. Don't forget, its Sunday."

"I won't; wow, that's in two days, I have to get you a present," Yumi smiled.

"…Thanks Yumi-chan; you're a good friend. Be careful on your way home."

"You too, bye!" They parted and Shina began walking in the direction of her house, which wasn't too far from Yumi's, but it's a bit of a walk to get there. She stuck headphones in her ears and listened to Evanescence, humming along with the music. Yeah, that's right, Shina's 16th birthday is in two days, but she wasn't looking forward to it. Her parent's were on a budget because her father had quit his job and was looking for a new one. Her mother was unable to work due to a back injury years ago. Although it had not paralyzed her, she still suffers from pain and her doctors told her that she couldn't work, so she's just a housewife. While walking, Shina was unaware that someone was following her. As the person came closer, her mp3 player had stopped. She smacked it to get it working again, but it was no use. Shina then heard the sound of rollerblades again. The sound grew louder; Shina was too afraid to turn around. She broke off into a run. The steps of the rollerblades became faster and a loud scraping noise pierced Shina's ears. She knew it was Lil Slugger who chasing her, and she didn't want to take the chance to see what he wanted with her. She figured he'd either knock her out or kill her, like he did with his other victims. She wasn't ready for that. Just a few more steps and she would reach the front porch. Lil Slugger was gaining her on. Shina hopped on the porch, unlocked the door and she was inside. Locking the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm home!" she called out as she removed her shoes. No one answered. Shina walked to her parents' room, "Mom, Dad?"

"They went out" came a boy's voice. Shina's heart jumped; she turned around and saw her brother standing there, eating a brownie. "Oh, its you" Shina breathed.

"Who do you think it was? Harry Potter?"

Shina smirked, "Yeah, but you're not him 'cause you're too ugly."

"Heh, very funny. You should do stand-up, Little Clown Girl" Keitaro said sarcastically. "Anyway, Mom and Dad said they should be back by 8 o' clock. There's beef stew for dinner." He returned to his room. Before going to her room, Shina looked out the window to see if her stalker was there; she found nothing…She plopped down on her bed and switched on the television to watch the news. At first nothing interested her so she began unpacking her school bag.

"…Breaking news today" said the reporter's voice, "Two girls at Hyomura High School were found dead in front of the school this afternoon…" After hearing the name of her school, Shina directed all of her attention onto the T.V. The female reporter continued, "Witnesses say that they saw Lil Slugger appear and attack the girls. Now we'll go to Ren Nabamasu at the scene…" The screen now showed a man wearing a brown suit, holding a microphone in his hand as he stands in front of the camera. "Yes, now the witnesses said that Lil Slugger came skating down the sidewalk in front of the school and approached the two girls; hitting them violently in the head with his bat." In the background, paramedics were carrying the covered bodies into the back of the ambulance. All that was left were the spots of blood where the students were hit. "They said that he hit both of them at least three times. Now I've been informed that the girls' names were Nariko Hamako and Asahi Suzuka…" "What!" Shina yelled in surprise, "Them! No way!"

-Flashback-

(Lunch time at Hyomura)

"Hey, Yamamoto-san!" Asahi called, walking up to Shina. "How come you're always failing tests? Are you retarded or something?" The red-haired girl placed her hands on her hips.

"No its just-" Shina began, but was but off by another girl, "Just what!" it was Nariko. "I don't get you; you're failing in your classes and the teachers are still nice to you. You should get some kind of punishment for messing up your grades. Or maybe they just feel sorry for you, 'cause you're such a failure. And how the hell did you even make it to high school?"

"Yeah, and I want to know how you made it here with that ugly face!" Shina retaliated.

"Shut up! You're just jealous 'cause I'm prettier than you and get better test scores," said Nariko as she made sassy movements.

Shina rolled her eyes and answered, "Not likely; at least I have common sense and don't look like a slut. Plus I have self esteem, and I don't have to go out and get implants; you fake-ass hoe."

"Girl!" Nariko tried to hit Shina but she moved out of the way and Minoru came over. "Back off!" he shouted at Nariko, "Leave Shina-san alone! Don't you girls have anything else better to do than mess with other people?"

"Hmph, protecting your little girlfriend, huh?" Asahi jeered. Minoru gave her a threatening look. "Hmm, whatever…" Asahi and Nariko walked off.

-End Flashback-

"Hm, well, that's right; they got what they deserved" thought Shina. She pulled out her assignment pad to see what homework she had to do today. "They're not my problem anymore" Shina muttered. A tiny smiled stretched across her face, when she realized this, she shook her head. She began to feel bad for her being glad that they were dead. Trying to forget all this, she started doing her geometry homework.

It was around 12 o' clock, and everyone was asleep, except Shina. She had woken up to go to the bathroom. She ended up not showing her parents the test score, for she had fallen asleep before they got home. She returned to her room and climbed back into bed, yawning widely. All was quiet in the house; however, the sudden sound of rollerblades terminated the tranquil atmosphere. The sound traveled to Shina's bedroom and stopped right outside her door. Shina's heart began to beat rapidly. Her heartbeat could be heard inside of her head, along with her own thoughts. "Oh my god, it's him, I know it's him!" The door opened slowly, and the rough, muffled sound of skates brushing against a carpeted floor purred in Shina's ears. With the dim moonlight shining through the blinds, she could see Lil Slugger's figure slowly approaching her. She was starting to feel sick in her stomach and her body trembled a bit. She knew that he had come to kill her, just like he did with Nariko and Asahi. Once in striking range, Lil Slugger raised his bat high, Shina closed her eyes tight preparing for the blow, but it never came. Instead, the boy lowered his bat and gently tapped the girl on her shoulder. Shina opened her eyes and removed the sheets that covered part of her face to look at him. He stood there, quietly staring. Shina sat up, still cautious of him, and stuttered, "Uh-um-um".

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Lil Slugger interrupted.

Shina was a bit surprised to discover that he actually talked, "Um, for what?"

"For getting rid of those girls."

"But, what? Why? Why did you do it?"

"They were bothering you, weren't they?"

"Yeah"

"So you should thank me for killing them off."

"Well, I am glad that they can't taunt me anymore, but you didn't have to kill them."

"I did have to; there was no other way."

"Okay well, why do that for me anyway?"

"Do you always need an answer for your questions?"

"Um, well…yes."

"Hm…well all I'm sayin' is: you need someone to look out for you."

"Ah-but I have my frien-"

"You talk too much."

Shina lowered her head in shame. Lil Slugger bent down and kissed her cheek. Shina looked up at him and was about to say something, but he walked out the room and disappeared.

End of strike 1

So, how was that so far? Where you guys surprised or not? If anyone has suggestions for the story, I'll gladly take them into consideration. Please tell me what you thought in a review! Thank you!