Disclaimer: I don't own OreGairu/Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru

CHAPTER 5

~~o0O0o~~

Butterflies were in my stomach.

The definition of excitement is a feeling of great enthusiasm and eagerness. One might say that I'm just a little excited. I smirked to myself as I biked home from school, just a little faster than I normally do. I rarely get excited about anything, seeing as most things can be predicted on a day to day basis. You might think that a lion might get excited watching the target of their predation. The expectation of a meal after the kill. But I'm sure they contain their instinctive eagerness, and patiently wait for the perfect moment to strike. One wrong move and they could go hungry for god knows how long. You could say that I had the similar feeling in the past day.

Isamu had called last night before I fell asleep. He informed me that their contract with me had been approved. However, the conditions had changed a little bit. One, I wasn't allowed to know anyone outside of Isamu, and one other person, who I have no idea who that person is right now. That person was an intel coordinator of sorts, kind of like a mission guide. As much as I didn't trust them, they didn't trust me. So the only people I would deal with from the S.C.F. would be Isamu and this specific person. If I remember they said that their name was Rikku… They didn't give a family name.

The second condition that they had was that I was only allowed to do missions involving Ashi. Limiting my information on other targets that the S.C.F. might be dealing with. That's fine by me. I don't want to know about any other organization and frankly I don't feel like I need to know. Isamu had said that these mission's operations had varied in their category. Some of them could be assassination targets, which I really hope I wouldn't have to deal with, to protecting a strongpoint, defending civilians, stopping Ashi from completely a task, rescuing a kidnapped person or persons…

The only thing I needed to know was that I had to steel my resolve.

Isamu had warned me that killing would be a norm for me now. As much as I was displeased, I had accepted it. The less vile evil out there, the less harm that could come to my family. Besides I've already taken two lives already. An image of the overturned sedan flashed through my mind. I grimaced. Just because I had accepted it, didn't mean I truly liked it.

Now the reason why I was so excited was because tonight Isamu had said that they have their first assignment. It wasn't much, just an assignment to figure out exactly what I was capable of. Something that I myself was curious about. So far I wasn't entirely sure of much that I could do, or even what my limits were. I know for sure that I have an incredible recovery ability; my broken bones and wounds fully healed in a couple of days. And clearly, my intelligence was another skill, as it was developed into an entirely different being in my mind. Whom I had named Yuu-kun.

Besides those two, I have my incredible eyesight and hearing, which were the first things to show. The last thing I can think of would be my strength…seeing as I was able to stop a moving van and completely demolish the front end. Although I'm not sure if that is actually strength, or if its resilience…maybe it's both? Well, I guess I'll find out tonight. Isamu had mentioned about giving me a couple operation uniforms for me as well. I was actually pretty excited about that. I wonder how cool it's going to be. I pedaled faster, they asked me to come right away to this meeting ground.

I got home quickly, and hopped off the bike. And basically ran inside. A large smirk on my face. I'm not one to smile or grin, but even this had me practically bouncing on the balls of my feet. I entered my home sweet home.

"I'm home!"

I shouted, not expecting anyone to be there. Today was Friday, which means I have the next two days off. Thank god. My school could burn down tomorrow and I'd never miss it, I swear. But instead of spending my weekend in solitude, I'm going to spend my weekend bettering the world!

"Oh! Onii-chan you're home early!"

I blinked and looked at the sofa. Komachi was sitting there with a sandwich in her hand, head tilted a little curiously. She had a magazine in her hand and was still in her school uniform. Possibly…Schuniform…Hah. I shortened it. Less effort on the words I say now. I'll have to use that in the future. But anyway… What are you doing home so early? My eyes travelled to the corner of her mouth where a little bit of jelly was.

"Oi, wipe your mouth."

Her mouth formed an 'O' and she used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe it, "Ah is it jammed?"

"Is your mouth a machine pis– wait we've had this conversation before." A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed me, confusing me for the briefest of moments.

Komachi tilted her head again, cutely. "Have we?"

I put my school bag down on the table, "I feel like we have. Maybe at the beginning of the year."

"Oh, good memory Onii-chan!" She stuck her tongue out, "I'd never remember something that long ago!"

I smirked smugly at her, "I've always had good memory, just another one of my 108 loner skills-WOOAH!" I faced her frowning suddenly. "Why are you home so early, and distracting me!"

She giggled, "I wanted to be home before you for once! Since you've been such a good Onii-chan recently. Woah! That totally earned me lots of points!" She gave me a toothy grin. I exhaled softly, smiling. What a cute girl.

"Ah I see." I looked at the table and noticed a small meal on the table there, prepared for me. It was a simple sandwich with a glass of milk.

"You even made me food. What a wonderful little sister you are."

She giggled and put her hands on her hips, "Yosh! That's scored me pretty high in my book!"

I picked up the sandwich mumbling a quick 'thanks for the meal' and took a bite. "By da way, I'm gon to leaf her petty shoon."

"I have no idea what you just said, don't talk with your mouthful!"

I swallowed my bite. "I'm going to leave here pretty soon. I have some business to take care of tonight."

Suddenly she was in front of me, a bright grin on her face. "Onii-chan! Are you going out with a girl! Is it a date? Which one is it? Or is it both of them?!"

I put a hand on her face and gently pushed her away from me, scowling. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But it's neither, just some business. I'll be gone for a while I think. A school project, you might say."

In a way it could be described as a school project…I was my new project, that involved my club mates whom I see at school. See? School project. I connected the dots. Problem solved.

Komachi blinked, "Oh, so no date?"

"Not in a million years."

She shook her head, "Idiot! You just need to grow some guts." She looked at me in disappointment.

I scowled at her, glaring. "I'm never going to ask someone out. They'd just reject me. Why would I put myself through that again?"

"You never know until you try, Onii-chan!" She winked at me. "You might be surprised."

I snorted, taking another bite from the sandwich, trying to finish it quickly. "Yeah right. Besides, I don't need the hassle of a girlfriend right now."

I finished the sandwich and picked up the milk to chug, it was delicious Komachi, thank you for the meal. She was silent for a minute, one that I took as a pondering moment. Suddenly she spoke up.

"So if someone were to confess to you, you'd reject them?"

I looked at her weirdly. "Of course. A girlfriend is too troublesome. Calling you at inconvenient times, taking up precious free time, and not to mention the expectations of spending money on her. That just sounds like a pain in the ass."

"But don't you like anyone right now?"

I thought about that question. Did I really like anyone right now? Not really. I mean I can acknowledge if a girl is cute or pretty. I'm a normal, well I used to be normal anyway, but I'm still a teenage boy with hormonal desires. And I do have to admit, I've been surrounded by some pretty gorgeous girls recently. Maybe my luck has turned around somewhat? But the real question, is there anyone who I like right now? Now going by the simple terms of 'like' is there anyone that I would consider ever wanting as a girlfriend. Well, I'd have to say all of my female friends. I'm not picky. And I really don't have that much to choose from to begin with, because let's be honest here. We're talking about ME. The monster of logic, the king of lonesome. I can't just get any girl I want, like Hayama.

But specifically, If I were to picture myself with anyone, nobody's face shows up. It's just a regular image of a faceless girl next to me. Even still, I really don't want a relationship right now. Not with everything that is happening. Coming to a conclusion, I shook my head.

"No. I could honestly say I don't."

Komachi frowned. "Wow, I feel like I should be surprised Onii-chan, but I can't bring myself to that."

"Shut up."

"But honestly," She shrugged. "I was expecting at least an interest in someone."

I took off my school jacket and started to walk up the stairs, pausing briefly. "There's nobody. Like I said, I don't need or want a girlfriend right now. Besides, I've got you." I smirked at her."

She looked disgusted and annoyed, "Siscon?!"

I chuckled slightly. "No way in hell."

I could hear her giggle to herself as I ascended the stairs to my room, I needed to get changed out of my schuniform so that I could meet up with Isamu. I changed into some plain clothes, and some running shoes, and headed downstairs. Komachi was nowhere to be seen, but her plate and cup were. I frowned and quickly cleaned up her mess, then headed out the door.

I grabbed my bike and headed to the direction that we were supposed to meet. I pedaled as hard as I could, carefully dodging the very little traffic that there was. Isamu had told me to try to take back areas, and not to gain too much attention on my way there. My eyes darted left and right, as I expertly weaved my way through obstacles. This seemed easier than it normally would be, because I was actually going pretty fast.

I pedaled my way across town. I was breathing a little harder than normal but I was surprised by my endurance. Surely this must have been another change in my body. I first noticed it while I was running with Hayama, but stuff like this is ridiculously easy now. And I've been biking at pretty fast speeds here for a good 30 minutes straight now. I have to be coming up on my destination soon.

Within the next couple of minutes, I had arrived at the designated location. I hopped off of my bike and leaned it against its kickstand near a building. It looked like a rundown soccer field. There was a construction building right next to the battered and worn down field and a car ramp on the other side. But I couldn't see Isamu anywhere. I frowned and pulled out my phone, looking at the time. I'm only a couple minutes early.

I frowned. I'd figure that he would be here by now. Wait, he didn't get kidnapped or anything did he? I walked to the middle of the field. I put my hands in my pockets and looked around. I feel like I'm in some sort of stadium, with the field this low and the garage ramp on one side and the other side is a construction zone of a tall building. My eyes travelled around. I blinked as I saw a quick flash of white coming from garage ramp.

What was that?

The next second I heard the very faint sound of metal scraping, and a whoosh noise. Then Yuu-kun yelled in my head.

"MOVE!"

I looked up and froze, seeing a garbage truck sailing through the air towards me. What the hell?! Its descent went much quicker than I thought it would, probably due to the weight of the truck. With as much leg power as I could manage, I dodged to the side, and sprinted out of the way. I was surprised at the distance I covered from my single lunge. I took an extra step and tried to get as much distance as possible, the distance on my second step was even greater than my first step. I heard the truck land in the field in a with a loud crash, sending debris and truck parts flying at very dangerous speeds through the airs. I watched, almost in slow motion, as one larger metal debris started flying towards me at speeds I really shouldn't be able to register.

"Head! Left!"

I followed his instructions instantly, watching in almost horror as the metal piece just barely whizzed by my head. I could feel the wind breezing my hair from the metal. I continued to watch it sail through the air, and bounce along the ground at dangerous speeds before imbedding itself into the side of the building behind me. My mouth fell and I dumbly stared at the piece, half of it now buried in concrete. Mouth hanging, I slowly turned my head to the crash of the garbage truck. I'm surprised it didn't explode.

The truck looked something like a pancake, if they were made of metal. Cracks in the ground formed around the truck, and various metal debris were strung around the field. I blinked and finally registered the distance I had covered with two steps.

Impossible… there's no way I could do that!

From the center of the field, where I would have been standing, to where I am now easily had probably 70 feet distance between it. I stared in shock, not expecting it at all. But man if I hadn't dodged that piece of metal, I think I would have died. Thank you kindly Yuu-kun. You saved my life!

"Don't mention it. We're one in the same, so quite honestly, I saved my own life."

I guess you're right huh? Still, I'm shocked that you're able to tell me this stuff so fast!

"I've said this before; I am the manifestation of our new intelligence. I could instantly recognize the sound of a truck flying through the air and was able to calculate the trajectory of the vehicle, and deemed that we were in a danger zone so to speak. And I could see the debris soaring at your head using the same calculations. We would have died if we wouldn't have moved."

I'm shocked you could do it that fast.

"Our intelligence is nothing to scoff at. I'm here as a guidance and a 'buffer' so to speak."

That makes sense.

"Of course it does. Everything I say is always sensible."

Cocky bastard.

"One in the same, buddy."

I looked at the garage ramp and saw Isamu standing at the edge, cigarette in his mouth and smirk on his face. My eye twitched in annoyance. So this bastard was the cause for this? I noticed another presence next to his. It was a petite girl. She looked around my age. She had hair the color of fresh snow, and amethyst eyes sparkling in glee. Her wavy hair cascaded down her back and ended just above her waist. She had bangs, which looked like she constantly was pushing them out of her face. Her hands were on her hips as she grinned at me. She was wearing what looked to be some sort of combat uniform, probably the same that I would get. She hard grey cargo pants on, with black combat boots on, and a plain black t-shirt on. Huh. I wonder who she is.

"She's probably the Rikku that we would work with."

Oh right, Isamu did say that we'd work with a Rikku right? And that they would be the only other person who I would know of. I guess it makes sense that she's here. Assuming that it is her. I watched as the girl waved her hand, and the two of them stepped off the side of the garage ramp. I reeled back in shock and horror, expecting them to fall to their death. Instead of falling though, it looked like they had stepped onto some sort of invisible ground. Slowly, kind of like an elevator, they drifted to the ground safe and sound. I stood up from my crouched position as the duo approached me.

I set my face to a neutral one, trying not to embarrass myself in front of the pair. Isamu took out the cigarette in his mouth when they were close enough. Although they probably could have talked to me over by the ramp and I could have heard them. But that takes too much effort. I looked Isamu up and down, noting his plain attire. It must be a regular thing for me. Today, he was wearing a dark grey suit, once again the sleeves of the jacket were rolled up to his elbows. His shaggy brown hair was, of course, a mess. It kind of looked like a mop. He had a bright yellow dress shirt under the grey jacket, and today he had no tie on. He was a handsome guy; I would admit it. I'm sure he was popular with the ladies.

My eyes drifted back to the girl, who I noticed just how short she was. She looked mature, but she probably was as tall as Totsuka, maybe even shorter. Damn she was small. Tiny, in fact. One thing for sure though was that she had an athletic body. My eyes lingered on her chest. At least she wasn't flat. Suddenly I remembered that somehow, someway, the two of them had thrown a garbage truck at me. I turned and glared at Isamu, which just now I had realized we were probably the same height.

"Oi, what the hell were you thinking?"

Isamu chuckled, "Well hello to you too kid." My eye ticked at the 'kid' remark.

He took a drag of his cigarette, humming. "Anyway, didn't I say that I'd test your abilities today? We couldn't just send you off on a mission and have you dying right away." I frowned. Of course, I seemed to have forgotten that I will be risking my life doing all of this. I hope it's worth it.

"I see." My eyes drifted over to the girl next to Isamu, who was now smiling at me. "And who is this?"

"Hachiman, let me introduce you to your unofficial partner." He put his hand out, indicating to the girl. "This is–"

She jumped forward and held out a dainty looking hand, a bright grin on her face. "My name is Rikku-sama! Pleasure to meet you!"

Her voice, contrary to her tiny stature, was smooth and alto. It was nice. But immediately I noticed something off. I tilted my head. "Ore?" (1)

A thin eyebrow twitched on her face, grin still in place though. "You got a problem with how I talk?"

Translation: I'll beat your ass if you say anything else.

Scary, how scary. Please go back to how you were a second ago. I swallowed a lump in my throat, feeling sweat form on my forehead. She's small, but intimidating. I shook my head nervously. "Nope. Not at all."

I grasped her hand as she chuckled lightly, her intimidating presence suddenly gone. We shook hands. Her smiled dimmed slightly, but her eyes sparkled still. "Nice to meet you….um…" She trailed off, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. The unspoken question hanging in the air. Oh right, my name.

"Hikigaya Hachiman. Nice to meet you…Rikku…" I frowned, it felt too personal. "Um, do you have a family name or something I could call you by?"

She laughed. Waving off the question. "Na, I don't have anything fancy like a family name! Nice to meet you Hachiman!"

I felt my cheeks heat up as we shook hands. I dropped her hand after a few shakes and scratched my cheek in embarrassment. "Please, just call me Hikigaya."

She chuckled. "I think I'll stick with Hachiman. Your name just too cool!"

I sighed, feeling my blush strengthen. "T-Thanks."

I adverted my gaze but suddenly found her bright purple eyes inches away from mine. I took a step back in shock. "Gah!"

Her eyes were wide as she stared into my own. Oh please, Rikku-san if you stare long enough you might get infected with some sort of disease…or something. She suddenly gave me an almost heart-warming smile. "Hachiman!"

I gulped again, taking another step back to get my personal space back. She's going to be the death of me! She got closer. We were so close our noses were almost touching. I could feel her breath on my face.

"Y-yes?" I stuttered out. God, I'm pathetic. Being this close was flustering me.

"Hachiman." She said my name again.

I felt like she was trying to insinuate something. "What is it?" Good, I didn't stutter. Plus one for me.

She leaned back, and I finally registered that she was standing on the air, I blinked. No wonder she was standing at the same height as me. I practically towered over her, with a good two feet. It looked like she was still standing on something though, although I couldn't see it. She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sorry, sorry. I was just getting used to your name. Now I'll remember!"

She nodded her head affirmatively. I sweat dropped. Oh so she was just testing my name? Huh, interesting.

"Um, Rikku-san–"

She glared at me. I suddenly went stiff. Oh man she's scary. She's small, but she promises pain. Her glare was accompanied by a scowl. "It's just Rikku. I'll be having none of that '-san' stuff, alright?"

I was in no position to decline her, so I hurriedly nodded my head affirmative. She dropped her glare and nodded. "Good boy." She seemed to approve, but what am I? A dog? This time I couldn't resist my own glare at her somewhat obvious insult.

"Anyway, how were you doing that?"

This time I heard someone clear their throat next to us. Both our heads turned and stared at the new voice. Well, it wasn't new, but we had both forgotten about it. Isamu stood there, one eyebrow raised and an amused look on his face. I cleared my throat as well, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"If you two are done…Let's get started then." He took a drag from his cigarette. "Now a good place to start would indeed be, how can Rikku do that?"

I nodded, hoping to obtained some information. Isamu smirked. "You didn't think that you were the only one with powers, did you?"

My voice caught in my throat. I was surprised. I actually had forgotten that Isamu had mentioned other people who had abilities. I looked over at the white haired girl. She was smirking at me. So she has a special power huh? That would make sense. She does seem to have a different presence compared to everyone else that I've met so far. Maybe this is some kind of connection we have as 'special' people?

Seeing as I wasn't able to talk right now, Isamu continued. "Rikku here, has the power to control barriers. Or specifically, one barrier."

Rikku nodded and picked up where Isamu left off, "I can only create the one barrier, but it's powerful. I can't conjure it too far away from me. Maybe fifteen feet away at max. But I can change the size, and position of it. It's a barrier, so obviously It's flat and two dimensional, and it's always shaped like a square. The biggest I can make it is around ten feet by ten feet. I control it with my mind. I can also keep it active and move its position to match mine. As you saw, I lowered both me and Shin here to the ground using it."

I nodded, so that made sense a little bit. Before I could process anything, Isamu spoke up. "Think of her barrier as a piece of paper. It has edges, but it's two sided. Not much more too it."

Rikku jumped in, "The great thing about it though, is that since I can position it in any way I want too, I can use it to cut things if I wanted too." She grinned viciously. "As long as I have the force behind it. The barrier is connected to me like an extension of my body, and is limited my own abilities."

"Haa." I furrowed my eyebrows in vexation. "That seems kind of over powered, doesn't it?"

Rikku shrugged. "Well maybe, I do have limitations. I get tired from using it, like anyone swinging a bat over and over would be. Like I said, it's an extension of me. Plus it can only reach fifteen feet away. At my current strength, I can block bullets with it."

I blinked, "That's pretty amazing."

She grinned, "I know right!? And it's completely impenetrable. I mean, if I get hit with enough force that I can't stop it, it'll break my concentration and I'm sent flying back or something."

I cupped my chin thinking, "I see. But it's strong enough to throw a garbage truck at me?"

Sheepishly, she scratched the back of her head. "Ah, yeah, sorry about that. Shin said he wanted to test you in your reaction speed. We knew that you wouldn't die, though so don't worry!"

I glared at Isamu in irritation. Bah, what an annoying guy. I sighed and looked back at Rikku, "So, do you have any other powers?"

She shook her head, "Nope! I mean, us 'Specials' as we call them, normally have higher than average human capabilities. Generally, we're all faster, stronger, and more resilient than a normal human being." She tilted her head, a small smile on her face. "But from what I've seen, yours outclasses ours significantly."

Oh really? Cool. I raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

She nodded, "Yeah, your speed is incredible! I mean in two steps you covered half the field here. And then your reaction speed when the debris flew at you was definitely something else! I'm actually surprised that you're able to have a power like this. My Baria is powerful, but I never could do that in a million years."

I chuckled softly, amused. "Baria? Really? That's kind of a lame name for your power."

She scowled, "Shut up. I'm not very creative okay?" She pouted and crossed her arms.

Isamu chuckled. "You see, Rikku only has the one, but what makes you special is that you have multiple. I'm sure you've noticed by now a few extra powers than the last time we've met?"

Now that he mentions it, I have noticed another power. Today actually, something had happened that made me think it could have been another power…

FLASHBACK ~~o0O0o~~ FLASHBACK

The class bell rang, signaling classes were over for lunch. It was a nice day outside, and by all things damned, I was NOT going to let anyone disrupt a peaceful lunch today. As quickly as I could, I packed up my things and cast a look over across the class. Thankfully, nobody was looking at me, and several students were laughing and conversing with their friends and classmates. I stood up, as quietly as I could and grabbed my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. This was it. This was the time.

I smirked and thought to myself. It was the time for me to activate my Stealth Hikki and get the hell out of here. I closed my eyes and concentrated on diminishing my presence to zero or even lower than that. I took a few quiet steps and I could hear my classmates talk loudly to each other. I could hear Hayama's clique be as loud as ever. I stealthily opened the door to the hallway, and immediately thought of my freedom. I closed my eyes and took a step out of the classroom, a picture of my sacred lunch spot perfectly clear in my mind.

I suddenly felt a very disorientating feeling. Without my body moving, I felt like I was just tugged in a direction that I was unsure whether it was anything that our dimension could describe. As soon as it happened, it was gone. My foot, which was in mid step, suddenly went through the ground and my eyes shot open in surprise. My heart leapt into my throat at the familiar feeling of falling. The first thing I noticed was pitch black smoke like tendrils floating and dissipating around me.

The second thing I noticed was that I was now outside, and in my special lunch spot.

The last thing I noticed was that the ground was really close to me.

"Wha–"

My face collided with the ground in a painful heap. Some pain flashed through my head and I groaned, displeased. I rolled over onto my side and sat upright, holding my head painfully. I didn't seem to be injured, thankfully. That was really annoying. I opened my eyes and studied my surroundings. The warm sun was beating down on me, a gentle breeze danced around me. The sound the leaves rustling from the wind greeted me. I looked behind me and noticed the tennis courts. Nobody was on them as of yet. I looked back to where I had fallen from.

It seems that somehow, someway… in mid step… I had transported from leaving my classroom, to right in front of the stairs I usually sit down on. And obviously, without a ground to support my weight from stepping, I had fallen down the couple of stairs and onto the concrete ground. I rubbed the part of my face where I had landed on the ground, in irritation.

One second I was somewhere else... and the next instant I was here. I scowled in confusion.

"What the hell was that?"

FLASHBACK END ~~o0O0o~~ FLASHBACK END

I blinked, "Oh, yeah actually. Today something happened too…"

Isamu nodded. "Yep. You can have more than one. Which is unheard of so far. But we still know the cause of it."

"Cause?" I stuffed my hands in pockets, frowning in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled at me, "You don't think that these powers were created and given to humans by God did you? No, these are genetic alterations. We like to call them 'Generations'. It's all created by a specific drug. I don't know how the drug works, but what I do know, is that it is the cause of your powers. And the how the Specials have gotten their abilities."

"But I've never done drugs before, and I think I'd remember doing something suspicious like that." I defended myself.

"I know." He took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked the ashes off of it. He was almost done with it. "That's why we have assumed, and by now it's basically confirmed that you're a First Gen."

What? First Gen? Like First Generation? "What does that mean?" This was confusing.

It was Rikku who spoke up. "Specials get their abilities from this drug. The First Gen, as we call them, hadn't ever produced any Specials... Until you. It was administered to several hospital's worth of children in the month of August, 17 years ago."

My mouth fell open. I was given it when I was a baby? Fresh out of the womb? But who? And why? I felt a headache coming up. "Who would do that?"

Rikku had a serious look on her face. This is information that I will have to remember, I can tell that much. Thank god Yuu-kun will probably remember everything. She answered my question. "The government did it."

"Th-the government?"

"Yes." She nodded, "The government created this drug, with a lead scientist named Tanigawa Kioshi. Apparently he pressured the government about the advance of his drug, and convinced them to give it to the recently born babies in several hospitals. They trialed this all of August. The government had agreed, hoping for future soldiers that they could use for whatever sick ideas they had. They weren't sure when the children would start to show their powers, but it was assumed that they would show up somewhere after five years. Of course, not a single child had produced any results."

Isamu flicked the butt of his cigarette away. "Those experiments were later known as the 'Failed First Gens'. Tanigawa Kioshi had been fired from his government seat, and later disappeared. However, rumors started spreading a couple years later about a drug going around on the street. Apparently Tanigawa had continued, in secret, to perfect his drug and he started to use volunteers to administer it. There was no age restriction and the death rate was around 75%."

I gasped, "75%?! How could he get away with that? That's basically murder!"

Isamu nodded, "Indeed it was murder. Those who survived though, actually became the first Specials. They're lifespans only lasted for a couple of years after that though. Now there are no more Second Gens around anymore. Tanigawa continued his practice, illegally and wanted from the law."

Rikku interjected. "You probably would have been around eight at the time."

Wow. So much happened, without even me knowing about it. I'm shocked it wasn't on the news or anything.

"I'm sure the government kept this under wraps. This is some serious stuff going on here. Human experimentation…There really isn't anything that's approved to use humans as experiments."

I understand. This is pretty sketchy business here. I can't believe the government would approve of such things… My thoughts were interrupted by Isamu again.

"Indeed. You would have been around eight. Now a few years later again, after a majority of the deaths of the Second Gen Specials, a new drug drifted around the streets. From an organization called 'Ashi'. This is the first time anyone had heard of Ashi. This drug was very safe to use, and gave people small power increases. But still, this was a criminal organization with hands on an enhancing drug. A permanent one to boot. Organized crime skyrocketed and police force had no control over Tokyo and Chiba. That's when the government intervened and created us, the S.C.F. Not only had they created the task force, they had a group of their best and brightest scientist develop another version of the drug. This time, it was successful and it's been kept around. So far it has a 99% survival rate, but each Fourth Gen Special, ended up with one super power unique to each person based off of what they believe to be their greatest strength."

He waved over to Rikku. "For example. Rikku here, at the time, had believed that her greatest strength was the ability to create barriers. Now that doesn't make sense unless you think emotionally. When Rikku was given the drug, which you would have been around 14, she would set up an emotional barrier between almost everyone that she meets. An incredible way to avoid getting too personal and close to anyone. Kind of like a defense mechanism. Her reasons today are still unknown why she would act that way." He smirked over at the white haired girl.

She scowled and mumbled to herself, but loud enough for the both of us to hear her. "Hey, I had my reasons…"

Isamu smiled and then faced me again. "So Rikku is a Fourth Gen Special. As we call them. The man you had chased down last week was a Third Gen. Your power was still growing at the time, so it wasn't surprising that you had trouble catching up to him. Where you are now, though, you'd have no problem catching him. Which makes your appearance kind of troubling and somewhat shocking."

I ran a hand through my hair, this was a lot of information to take in. But I had a question. "Why was my appearance such a bother?"

Isamu looked up at the sky, putting his own hands in his pockets. "Well because you're a First Gen Special. And from what we can see, you're powerful. You have multiple abilities compared to a Third Gen, who only boosts their physical capabilities, and a Fourth Gen, who only get one super power. What makes it troubling is now we have no idea how many First Gen Specials might start appearing. Or even if they will. You showing up this late in the game kind of throws everything into chaos."

"The past couple of months, there has been another drug drifting around on the street. It's survival rate is unknown, but it gives a temporary power boost. And apparently it's incredibly addictive. The S.C.F. believes that Ashi is directly involved with this street drug. And imagine the headaches it causes with random drug addicts running around with special powers and above average physical capabilities. It's a nuisance, but I guess this drug is sold at kind of a hefty price. Japan never really had a drug problem until this started. Since drugs are seriously taboo, but this drug is a game changer. Not only are the sales doing very well. But dealers are getting more confident and are bringing in the classic drugs that other countries such as America or Russia deal with. Word goes around that cartels are bringing in cocaine, meth, and heroin into Japan. Frankly, this is unheard of. Japan has never had issues with their drug control, but now it is. And it's not looking good for the average citizen because of it. The Streets have finally become an unsafe place at night."

At some point in time my mouth had dropped and I dejectedly looked down. Things were much worse than the news have been describing. It's true, drugs have never really been a problem here in Japan. But I guess with this new drug going around giving people super powers…and it's incredibly addictive, I could only imagine the chaos that this could bring if it gets any worse. A sudden thought pooped up in my head.

"Does this drug have any specific name?"

Rikku, who was looking grim, tilted her head. "You mean the one given to us?"

I nodded. She put a finger on her chin. "Well the one given to you was originally called Cozithallu Type 1. And the second drug was called Cozithallu Type 2, and then Cozithallu Type 3 and 4. Everyone just calls it Cozi for short though."

"Cozi…" I tested the name on my lips. I didn't like it. How could the government justify giving anyone, especially newborn babies, a drug? I shook my head, trying to grasp the concept.

"I don't understand. How could the government even go around trying to get consent from parents to give their children Cozithallu?"

Rikku and Isamu looked between each other. Isamu cleared his throat. "Well, to be frank…They never told anyone. It was covered up as a new vaccine to give to the children."

My mouth dropped. They did this against the will of the parents, and they did it to children! What if something terrible had happened. They would have… no. I would have died. Along with, god only knows how many. I clenched my fists in anger. How could they do this? These were the leaders of our country? How would any syllable of their decision even be justified?

I could feel my fists shaking. This was just unthinkable. At this time, I could never really say that I've hated anything other than youth. But now I think I just hate humans. I hate people. They're corrupt, evil, vile beings that are despicable to the core. And to think that man…Tanigawa Kioshi...was only fired? He should have been thrown in jail! What a terrible system. Where's the justice in this? None of this ever would have been a problem if the government had just done the right thing. The testing never should have been approved. It never should have been administered! And then they fuck up and let the problem man go about doing his own business. This is wrong…this is so wrong.

Yet this is the country I live in… My home. I have never been more ashamed of anything in my whole life. I was disappointed. I had grown up believing that Japan was such a great place to live. Especially Chiba, but here in the cruel world…nothing ever works that easy. Does it? The world as I had known it had shattered. This system of justice was corrupt. Due to their mistakes, people have lost their lives, and families have been destroyed. Now they have been going around creating more of these 'Specials' to fight other 'Specials'. I'm glad I didn't join the S.C.F. This is definitely something I never want to get involved with. But I somehow felt responsible. Not for causing it, but I felt responsible to fix it. If the justice here wasn't going to do their jobs…Then someone had to step up and do it for them. Someone other than the government who had caused this problem in the first place.

Yukinoshita's words suddenly whispered through my mind.

"Those who are blessed should give to those who are less fortunate out of the goodness of their hearts. People call this "community service." To reach out and help those who are in need."

I could finally understand. She spoke of it in a belittling way, and in a completely different scenario than I had. But it still rang true for me right here. I'm now…blessed, aren't I? It should be my duty to help those in need. Which, at this current state of things, seems to be all of Chiba and Tokyo. I sighed. If the government wasn't going to give justice, then I sure as hell will substitute for them and reign hell upon the streets until they step up their act.

With a newfound determination, one that was highly foreign and kind of felt sickening to one such as myself, I stared the other two down.

"I've decided."

They both gave me puzzled looks, clearly not following my train of thought. I admit, I've been silent for about a minute now so it would have been easy to not understand.

"I've decided that I'm going to fix this town." I sheepishly scratched my head as I came to a realization. "But I'm going to need a little help doing it…"

Rikku giggled to herself. And Isamu chuckled, taking out a new cigarette and lighting it. He smirked at me, "That's where we come in, kid."

Rikku punched my arm, "Don't worry, we'll help!" She paused, eye him up and down with a thoughtful look. "You know, you're not too bad Hachiman."

My cheeks heated up again, embarrassed. Quit complimenting me woman. I'm not too sure how to handle it. Nobody really ever says nice things about me…Well accept maybe Komachi. But she's perfect, so it's almost expected of her. Oh... That earned tons of points in my book!

I looked up at Isamu who was still smirking. "Okay, now that's out of the way…" I started, "What's next today? You said you would test me?"

Isamu snapped his fingers, suddenly remembering the true reason behind this visit. "Oh that's right!" He looked at Rikku and nodded. She turned around and jogged over to a nearby building. Shin turned to me. "Before we begin, I have your uniform. It has nothing on it that would represent the S.C.F. but it should give you a more than adequate amount of protection."

As he finished, Rikku jogged back over with a large duffle bag in her hand. She set it down and unzipped the top. The first thing she handed to me was a pair of pants. "Go ahead and try them on. They should fit you quite well. Shin kind of has a good eye for things like that." She grinned at me.

I held up the pants and inspected them. They were black. Actually everything was black. Kind of cool looking, not going to lie. The cargo pants had two pockets on either side of the thighs, and had what looked to be some sort of knee pads imbedded into the knees. There was extra padding around there, and around the crotch. It looked pretty heavy duty. I heard the shuffling of the bag and looked down. Rikku was throwing item after item out onto the ground. I sweat dropped. There's a lot there…

She looked up at me, irritated. "Hurry up and put those on. There's more here to wear."

I blinked, and flushed in embarrassment. "In front of you?"

She waved a hand dismissively. "It's no big deal for me." She gave me a look from the corner of her eye, mischievously. "But if you'd like, I'll turn around."

I nodded, still blushing. "Please do."

She chuckled and turned around, still leaning over the bag and taking out various objects from the bag. I unzipped my pants and took them off quickly. I tossed them to the side, not caring to fold them since I'll probably just put them back on after this. I put on the cargo pants. They felt pretty good, fitting exceptionally well. I heard a 'thunk' and noticed a pair of black combat boots on the ground. I grabbed them and put them on as well. As I kneeled down to tie them, I noticed that they were steel toed. I stood up and tested out the flexibility of said boots. They weren't bad. They needed to be broke in, but they felt surprisingly light and sturdy.

Isamu hummed off to the side. "Hmmmm. Looks like they fit well. I'm glad, it would have been a pain if I had guessed the wrong size. Here put these on over top of the boots."

He handed me a pair of what looked to be Kevlar…plates. I wasn't too sure what they were. I heard a voice in the back of my head. "I think they're shin guards. They kind of look like the ones that soccer players wear."

I could see that now, but these looked heavier duty than normal shin guards. The straps on the back were buckles instead of a Velcro. I kneeled down and put the matte black shin guards on, which seemed to be my running theme here with the clothes they were giving me. I looked up at Isamu as I was securing them to my leg. He looked somewhat surprised that I knew where to apply these tools.

"Why so much black?"

He blinked away his surprise and just shrugged. "I had a feeling you would look good in black." Oh. That's all huh? "Besides, you'll be operating in the night time, and its better than any bright colors, right?"

He grinned and winked at me. I sweat dropped. There's the true reason. I mean a navy blue could have worked as well too…but I actually prefer the black as well. I like that color more. I noticed a black belt laying on the ground and grabbed that as well. I stood up and put the belt on, securing the pants safely around my waist. I nodded my head in approval. I felt like the clothes should be weighing me down more than they were, but they felt light. It must be my new found strength…

Rikku through a shirt at me from over her shoulder. "Put that on too."

It was a black semi-long sleeved compression shirt. Tight fitting, but it allowed for easy movement, and an easily breathable material. The only thing would be that it didn't offer a lot of protection. I took off my shirt and focused on putting the compression shirt on.

"Hmmm. You're pretty good looking Hachiman. A lot more fit than I thought you would have been."

I blushed and I hurried to put the rest of my shirt on, glaring at Rikku. She was giving me this predatory look. I almost felt threatened by such a look on her face. I looked away in embarrassment. "Shut up."

She chuckled and took out one more item from the bag, turning around and hiding it behind her back. I ignored her action and tucked the compression shirt into my pants, holding them down with my belt. The sleeves ended just below my elbows, reminding me of those baseball t-shirts that have been a lot more popular. It was a tight fit, but comfortable, and breezy. But of course it was, it was supposed to be. Isamu handed me a black Kevlar vest. Geez, all this black… I put the vest on over my shirt and secured it tightly. There weren't a lot of pockets, but it was flexible yet sturdy. I turned and bent my body, testing the gear that I was wearing. Combined with my recent muscle development, it was probably the first time that I have actually ever felt attractive wearing anything. It was new development. Isamu handed me a pair of gloves, which looked to be the last item on the list. I grabbed them and inspected them. They looked like some sort of militaristic black fingerless gloves.

I unbuckled them and put them on. They fit well, but I noticed that on the back of my fingers and around my knuckles were reinforced with what I could only imagine would be some sort of plastic. I pulled them tight and re-buckled them around my hands, testing them as well as I flexed my fingers and stretched them around. Hm. Not bad. But these fingerless gloves actually kind of made me feel a little chuunibyou-ish… I looked up at the other two who were giving me approving looks.

"Looks like everything fits. How does it feel?" Isamu had asked.

I continued to twist and turn, stretching and crouching. "I'm surprised. They're pretty flexible, and light. These are supposed to be heavy duty?"

Rikku chuckled, shaking her head. "Well they shouldn't be light, but they're actually some of the lightest gear that government officials can wear. With everything on it's about 20 pounds. You're just strong enough to not recognize it. I have one more thing for you though. We can't have you go out on operations without some way to hide your identity."

She brought her hands out from behind her back and held out a matte black helmet. I was surprised. It actually looked really freaking intimidating. Shin chuckled. "That's what we call a bullet proof facemask and helmet in one. It's a Devtac Ronin Ballistic Helmet ((2)A/N: If you're curious, please look up Devtac Ronin Ballistic Helmet). Made of high grade material. It's very sturdy, and for now, you should really only need one." I grabbed the helmet and studied it. There were two, decent sized eye holes that were covered with probably some sort of safety glass, durable and hard to break. It was a light colored grey, but enough to hide my eyes behind it. The facemask had several bolts securing plates to the face. It was surprisingly thin, thinner than most ballistic helmets, and it was light. But again, it could be my strength that made it feel light.

My overall impression was that it was a pretty cool looking helmet.

"There should be a facemask in your pants pocket in case, for whatever reason, that helmet is ruined and you needed to hide your image. Kind of a backup, so to speak. But in all honesty, you really should ever have to use it. That's a pretty special helmet, and actually it was made specifically for you. A gift by the S.C.F. so to speak…"

I looked at Isamu and nodded. I turned the helmet over and put it on my head. I was expecting some sort of HUD to appear, but nothing showed up. I attached the strap under my chin and to the back of head, tightening it around my head. It was kind of separated into two parts, the facemask and then then the section to cover the back of the head and neck area. I had to secure it tightly with straps, and then finally a plastic clip near the tops of my head. I blinked in shock when I felt the two plastic pieces connect easily with the use of a couple magnets. They seemed to be pretty strong too. The two pieces were now firmly in place. The helmet limited my vision a little bit, more so around my peripherals but it was a good fit, like everything else. I was again surprised at how easy it was to breathe in it, expecting some difficulty. Something was off though. I adjusted the underside of the helmet near my chin. Apparently there was some sort of strap that fit almost too tightly around my chin and along the length of my jaw.

"That there would be a built in gas mask. It's not as heavy duty as some of the others, but it should be able to withstand the basic stuff."

I nodded at him, "I see. No wonder it's a little uncomfortable."

Woah. My voice surprised me. It seemed to be altered, if only slightly. It was just barely enough to make it seem foreign. Rikku giggled, "That's the voice changer. It lowers your voice by a half an octave. You already had a pretty deep voice, so now you're kind of intimidating." She smirked at me and pulled out her phone, taking a quick picture of me. She inspected it quickly with a small smirk and then handed the phone over to me.

I grabbed it and looked at it in surprise. I look freaking cool. The helmet was intimidating, and combined with the rest of my black combat get up… I looked ready for battle. I almost giggled in excitement, my inner eighth grade coming out. This was cool. Like really cool!

Isamu took a drag of his cigarette and I looked at him. I smirked at me. "That's a pricey piece of armor right there, so please take care of it. Believe it or not, it's a level 3a bulletproof mask. Your head should be pretty set with protection. Just try not to get killed out there though." He nodded to the rest of the bag. "I'd like you to take care of all of that. There are three more of each item in the bag, minus that helmet. It should last you a while."

I nodded and grinned behind the mask. They had no idea what I was doing behind this. I chuckled and rotated my shoulder around in a circle, briefly stretching. "Yosh. Alright, what else is there to do for tests? I want to get used to this uniform so I'll do them all in this."

Isamu nodded, "Well first of all, you don't happen to have any sort of special training at all, do you? No hidden talent for fighting or shooting guns?"

I shook my head, "No. I've only really been in one fight. I don't count my second time, because I was just trying to survive at the time."

Isamu sighed. "Ever hold a gun?"

Once again I shook my head. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright so we're at level zero then right now. Eventually we'll give you some training with weapons. But at least you know how to stab someone right? That's relatively easy for anyone to do." I nodded. "Well, that's a base we can start with. For now, I'd suggest just trying to beat people up using that strength of yours. Now, let's truly test how strong you are." He gave me a little bit of a sadistic grin, cigarette stuck between his teeth.

"Sure, what do you want me to do?"

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Let's go to the construction building. There are some steel I-beams I want you to try to lift."

I paled, "You want me to lift those? Aren't those ridiculously heavy?"

I followed them as we walked. "That's why we're testing to see if you can lift it. The steel beams are around 40 lbs. per square foot. And there are a few beams in there that are a good ten to fifteen feet long. We'll see if you can lift them."

I followed in silence, somewhat nervous. I don't think I'll be able to lift one of those…I mean I've gotten stronger, but still. I have my own doubts. We arrived at the bottom of the construction zone, and like Isamu had said, there was a pile of steel I-beams on the ground, stacked neatly. All three of us walked up to the stack. Isamu nodded at a lone, unstacked beam on the ground in front of us.

"Alright, give it a roll. Just pick it up."

Nervously, I walked forward and bent down to pick up one end. "Go from the middle, kid."

I shot him a look, which of course he couldn't see because of my helmet. I sighed and walked to the middle. I bent down and put my hands on either side of the beam. Remembering my proper lifting mechanics and avoiding lifting with my back in a jerking, twisting manor… I bent from the knees and kept my back straight. With a small breath, and a grunt, I lifted.

Surprisingly, the beam lifted up with hardly any problem. I blinked in shock. By no means was it light, and I could register how heavy it was…but it just kind of felt like I pushed through the weight and picked it up. If I were compare it to anything, I feel like I'm lifting up a cinder block. I could feel the strain the of metal against my hand and I set the beam down, looking over at the other two. Rikku was grinning and Isamu looked pleased.

"Not bad at all, kid. Try picking it up with one hand."

I followed his instructions and lipped my fingers under the beam. With one hand, and a little more effort, I lifted the steel off the ground. This was still nothing that I couldn't handle. I was impressed with myself. I could feel a smirk play on my lips. How cool.

Isamu waved him over, "Let's go to the field. And bring that along."

I nodded and followed him, lifting the beam over my head with the one hand. We walked to one end of the field, I was still holding the beam. Isamu pointed across the field. "Now, kid, try throwing it as far as you can."

I blinked, and using my other hand, readjusted my grip on the beam. I cocked my arm back, and with a considerable amount more of effort, and a hearty groan. I chucked the steel as far as I could.

I was shocked when the beam through the air, flying over half of the distance and past the ruined garbage truck and landed with a loud clang on the ground. The beam vibrated, ringing noisily. It bounced and twirled a few times before loudly coming to a stop, the ringing stopped since it no longer had any room to vibrate. I chuckled softly.

"Woah."

Rikku giggled, "Amazing! That's some power!"

Isamu whistled softly. "No joking. I wasn't expecting half that distance."

I stretched my arms, feeling the exertion. "Thanks. I honestly wasn't even expecting to pick it up."

The chain smoker turned to look at me. "Well, that's a pretty good idea of how strong your arms are. And we've seen how fast you were earlier. Now how high can you jump?"

I tilted my head, thinking. "It's been a while since I've actually jumped… I'm not sure."

Isamu motioned with his hand. "How about giving it a shot. Take one or two steps then try jumping vertically."

I nodded and took a step back. I got in a ready position. I took a breath and then took one step forward. Two steps. With as much force as I could manage, I heaved my body off of the ground, straight up in the air. I was shocked when I suddenly burst up in the air. I could feel the ground underneath me crack a little bit. I yelped in surprise and looked around my surroundings. Damn I was high in the air. I looked around quickly, surveying. Compared to the garage ramp and construction zone, I must have leapt a little over 3 stories high…amazing…

My momentum stopped and I felt my body start to fall. I panicked a little bit and flailed my arms through the air. I looked down and saw both of their surprised faces, my decent coming fast. I steadied my body as best as I could as I focused on landing on my two feet. Within a second the ground appeared before me and I felt my feet touch the ground. The momentum caused me to crouch down to one knee, and I used my two hands to steady myself. Dust kicked up around me as I landed, and slowly settled down. My heart was pounding in my chest, adrenaline surging.

I stood up, chuckling softly. "Well how was that?"

I looked over at the other two, Rikku's mouth hanging open in surprise and Isamu was grinning fanatically. "That was great kid! You'll be ready to go in no time!"

"Is that so?" I perked up, a thought crossing my mind. "Like I could do a mission tonight?"

Isamu powered through the rest of his cigarette before tossing the nub away. He gave me a thoughtful look. "I'm sure we could get you something tonight. But you have no combat experience, or any weapons. Are you sure you're ready?"

I nodded my head. "I'm ready."

He shrugged. "Alright let me give HQ a call here. In the meantime, Rikku why don't you show him at least how to properly use a knife."

Isamu walked away, drawing his phone from his pocket and probably dialing into the headquarters. Rikku turned to me and grinned. She reached down to behind her, and pulled out a combat knife, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Alright then, first things first. Show me how you would hold this knife."

She handed me the knife, and a I took a second to study it. It was a simple combat knife, somewhat intimidating due to the size. Maybe it was around seven or eight inches long. I flipped my hands around and held the knife in one hand, like I would if I were holding my dinner knife. Rikku studied my grip and nodded.

"Alright not bad, that's the most common kind of grip. It's called the saber grip. You could also…" She gently grabbed my hand, and I almost blushed at the contact. I was glad that I had my awesome new helmet on, otherwise it would have been embarrassing. She readjusted my thumb, and put it on the back of the blade.

"You can also hold a blade in the saber grip like this. Some knives don't allow this because of their guard, but this one you can put your thumb on the back of the knife, giving you a little more leverage and power behind your swings." I nodded, absorbing the information. I subconsciously noticed that she smelled really good. It was unique and smelled clean, most likely her shampoo. I couldn't relate the smell to anything. All I knew was that I liked it. She rearranged the knife in my hands again and stepped away again.

"That is called a reverse grip. Depending on the position of your knife sheath, it might be easier to draw the weapon and hold it like this. The saber and the reverse grips are both acceptable and the best grips when in combat. It's going to take a while for you to get used to something like this. So it might be better for you to just start off using your strength to your advantage. I'm sure if you punched someone with all of your might, you might actually kill them." She chuckled darkly and I blanched. That seemed pretty dark, not going to lie…

"But please keep that knife. Whenever you get a chance, and obviously when no one is watching, try playing around with it. Get used to the feel of a blade in your hands. You'll be dealing with a lot of different kinds of guns. And in this world, you don't have to kill, but you have to try to incapacitate or you won't survive." Her face was serious, and I understood the gravity of the situation. This isn't a game. I can't just go out ill-prepared and expect to come out in one piece. This will be a hard life style. But I had resolved myself to this. I won't back down. Not now.

She must have taken my silence as me contemplating whether or not to back down. She grabbed the side of my arm, seeing as she was too short to reach my shoulder, and smiled gently into my masked face. "It's not too late to back out, if you don't want too…" The offer hung in the air between us.

I shook my head. "I'm not backing out. I realizing that all of this is real. It's not just a dream. And I'm actually doing this."

Her mouth formed an 'o'. "Oh I see. Yeah, it's pretty common. Sometimes I still feel like all of this is kind of fake." She grinned kindly, clearly trying to reassure my nerves. I couldn't stop the small smile that formed on my own mouth. I stepped back from her, getting a confused expression. I bowed gently.

"Thank you for everything you have done for me, Rikku. And everything that you will continue to do for me."

It was unusual for me to behave like this, but I had felt very gratuitous suddenly. I stood up straight again and stared at hard at her. She was scratching the back of her head and laughing somewhat nervously.

"Haa, well, don't worry about." She chuckled, clearly embarrassed. "It's nothing really, just an order."

My attention was drawn towards a movement to the side, and I looked over. Isamu was walking back towards us, smirking. He put the phone in his pocket and crossed his arms. "Looks like we have gotten the approval for your first mission! It's nothing big, just dealing with a few Third Gens and one Fifth Gen who have been controlling and distributing illegal drugs in a specific part of town. There isn't more than five of them. Your job tonight is to kick them out of that area. The reports have stated that they've been harassing school kids. They're getting too bold. It's time to kick these punk ass bitches back down the rat hole they came from."

Isamu gave me a serious look and I nodded. Finally, something was happening. I could feel my own excitement. Before any of my thoughts continued though, Isamu held up a hand. "But first, we need to conclude your test."

I tilted my head. Test? What test? Or is he talking about our reason for meeting up today?

Shin seemed to have read my mind. "There's one more thing that we need to discuss and figure out before we start. Those thugs aren't going anywhere yet. I need to figure out if you have any more abilities. I believe you mentioned that something happened earlier today…?"

He left the sentence open, the question hanging in the air. I tilted my head back in thought. "Oh right, I almost forgot about that. Yeah something did happen today."

Isamu leaned on one leg, "Describe it."

Recalling the memory in my head, I told it too Isamu and Rikku, describing it with as much detail as I could. It seemed odd, saying it out loud. I kind of sounded crazy in my own mind, I wonder what the other two were thinking about it. I studied their reactions as I finished my story. Rikku looked pretty surprised and Isamu had a contemplative look on his face. The white haired girl looked over to the smoker.

"That sounds like…Teleportation?"

What? Teleportation? That's pretty impossible isn't it? But then again, creating an invisible barrier that's impenetrable and is controlled via one's mind seems pretty impossible too… But for me to have some sort of teleportation? That's pretty ridiculous. Rikku was staring at Isamu, who looked to be thinking. He looked at Rikku, frowning.

"I'd have to agree. That sounds pretty close to teleportation to me…"

He turned to me. "Hachiman, you want to try doing it again?"

I nodded, "I can try."

The two of them stepped off to the side, Shin pointed to the truck in the middle of the field. "Try teleporting over there, next to the wreckage."

I nodded again. I stared hard at the pile of metal, concentrating. I had no idea how I was going to go about doing this. My stare turned into a glare, willing myself to suddenly appear over there.

.

.

.

Nothing.

Shit. How to do this. Hmmm. Let's try imitating what I was thinking or doing when I left the classroom. I took a few steps back and put my hands in the cargo pants pockets. Let's see… I was excited to get to lunch and be by myself. I didn't want to be noticed by my classmates. And I was trying to be sneaky. I quietly took a step forward, still studying the truck. I felt a familiar feeling from my core, that same disorientating feeling, but it was nothing but a tickle right now. My concentration was disrupted when I saw the black smoke again. I looked down at my hands and noticed that it looked like the black smoke was steaming from my body. It slowly disappeared into nothingness.

Wait.

I had seen black smoke when I did this back at school. So I was heading in the right direction I think. I clenched my fist and looked back at the truck. Okay, let's go from here. I was walking, I took a step forward, trying to be quiet. I was trying to avoid my classmates. I glared at the wreckage, feeling sweat form on my forehead from the concentration and strain I was feeling from doing this. Huh, weird. I didn't feel this earlier… I could feel that tickle at my core again. Okay, we're getting closer. My muscles seemed to be aching as well from this. It seemed like it wouldn't be possible. I wasn't doing anything except slowly walking forward.

I could see the black smoke in my vision again, and the tickling got stronger. I felt the same disorientating feeling I had back in the classroom. This time it lasted longer, and I felt queasy from it. I started to pant from exertion. So doing this must take a toll on my body… But why wasn't it working?! What else was there? Come on think Hachiman…Suddenly I heard a voice in the back of my head.

"Stealth Hikki…"

I registered Yuu-kun's voice for a second before that familiar tug abruptly grabbed me, I almost emptied my stomach of its contents at the feeling, time seemed to stop for a second and I felt like someone grabbed my lungs and squeezed all of the air out of them. The black smoke enveloped my vision, and faded just as quickly. The tugging stopped and the disorientation ended. My eyes widened and I registered that the garbage truck was centimeters away from my face.

I collapsed to one knee, panting heavily, not able to catch my breath. I felt nauseous. The world was spinning around me. I was suddenly very exhausted and I could feel my hands shake uncontrollably. I put both my hands on the ground to steady myself, but it wasn't helping.

I had just teleported, willingly, to an entirely different area. Why wasn't I reacting like this when I had done it the first time?

I couldn't think anymore, and I suddenly felt the grass against my body, as I registered that I had fallen over to one side. I was still panting, and I could feel my face drenched with sweat. My arms and legs felt like a million pounds and I felt like I barely had enough energy to even breath. The last thing I registered was the feeling of my body being turned over onto my back, and I felt the helmet get tugged off my head. My vision swirled some more and then everything faded out to darkness.

~~o0O0o~~

A/N: That concludes chapter 5! Thanks for reading everyone, I do have a few things to say at the end of this chapter here so please stick with me! Sorry for the cliffhanger... . don't hate me!

First of all, I know it seems like I'm going kind of slow with the story, but I feel like some people take it much too fast, speeding through a storyline as quickly as they possibly can to get to parts with major highlights. I believe that stories and books are just as important to not rush certain sections that might be considered 'lowlights' if you will. Hikigaya has finally learned a few things about his powers and about why he has them, but he's just diving into the tip of the iceberg now.

Last chapter may have seemed like a wasted chapter, complete filler as some people may have said, but this is a book for romance and character development as well. Hikigaya was faced with a tough decision about where he would go with his future from that point on. He took a proper amount of time to think about it, and after seeing everyone's concern for his well-being, he had decided that they were worth protecting.

Now I would like to please note one VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL….

PAIRINGS HAVE NOT BEEN DECIDED YET, BUT I CAN TELL YOU. This will NOT be a HachimanxOC book. Rikku is there to guide him, along with Isamu. They will not get together. End of story.

Now two things to clarify, as I had marked them out in the chapter as well.

Rikku speaks in the Japanese dialect reserved for males. I know it's written in English, but bear with me. She speaks using the "Ore" version of referencing herself. This is something usually only males do, and it's used in an informal way of talking. It establishes a sense of masculinity for the speaker. Usually females use a dialect of either 'Watashi' or 'Atashi' Both of them being informal. Watashi and atashi establishes a sense of femininity for the speaker. There are reasons for this, which will be talked about later.

If you are curious about what the helmet is that Hikigaya wears now, you can go ahead and look up 'DevTac Ronin Ballistic Helmet' and its existence is actually real. While I had added the gasmask section and the voice alteration devices. It's a real helmet that is a level 3a bulletproof rating. (I don't know that that means….) It's freaking badass as all living daylights though!

LAST THING. I have been given a good piece of advice to search for a beta reader, and I have pm'd a few different people. Waiting to hear back from them, and hopefully we can fix any problems that a few of you have with my grammar. I get into this rhythm where I am thinking faster than my hands, and I don't take the time to slow down to consider my own grammar. I usually am very good about that kind of stuff, but when I get going, there is no stopping my hands. When I finish my chapter I go back and reread and try to fix everything, but it'll help to have another mind or set of eyes to help me pick up on the grammatical errors or even clichés. Hopefully it goes well!

Anyway, thanks everyone for reading this chapter! And once again, and like always. Please leave a review with a comment, criticism, idea, praise, or flame. I'll take them all. My PM inbox is also open for anyone who'd like to message me and I'll do my best to respond.

Ja Ne!