This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!

"No… No… No… Seriously, where the hell is this place?"

Sighing, Homura rubbed the side of her head with an irritated expression. Looking down at the small slip of paper in her hand, her eyes went up and scanned the streets once again for the location that was written down. But her destination was not in sight, causing Homura to release an annoyed growl.

Normally, Homura wouldn't be wandering the streets due to… certain circumstances. But she had a job to do, and it was her intent to fulfill the requirements that had been set and were expected of her. Or at least she would be performing her duties if she could find the location she was assigned to help at!

A teenager with a part-time job was ordinary. A teenager with a full-time job however was not normal. Then again, Homura was not a normal teenager.

Homura was in fact a shinobi. An evil shinobi. Well, a renegade now actually.

How she turned into a renegade however is quite the tale. But there was an easy way to summarize it up.

It all started about half a year ago. Homura and her friends had fought magnificently against a group of shinobi led by a kunoichi known as Asuka in order to obtain a super-secret ninja art scroll from Hanzo Academy, named after the famous ninja Hanzo Hattori.

Little did she know that Dogen, the main investor of the school she was once a part of known as Hebijo Academy, was treating them all like puppets on strings. Apparently with event after event, Homura and the others had played right into Dogen's plans and wound up resurrecting the demon known as Orochi. With the help of Hanzo Academy, they were able to defeat Orochi, but Hebijo was destroyed in the process.

Since Homura was the one who dealt the killing blow to an important man of Hebijo, she was left with few options for her life. With so little choices, she decided to become a renegade. Everyone else of her group too decided to join her and become renegade themselves.

Breaking out of her thoughts about the past was a shadow she saw on the ground out of the corner of her eye. Judging by the movement, Homura whipped around and arm about to raise up in self-defence. One couldn't be too cautious when being approached by a stranger, especially in her situation.

But when she saw who had approached her from over her shoulder, the body didn't take any steps closer which halted her strike. This allowed the tanned-girl to quickly glance over the person who stood still and despite so flinching slightly at her quick movement.

First of all, this person was male. Second, he looked to be Homura's age give or take a year which meant he was in high school. His hair was black, wavy and unkempt which went well with his dark grey eyes from an aesthetic point of view. He didn't really look like much with the set of black glasses on his face, but Homura knew that looks could be deceiving. He wore an unbuttoned black blazer over a black-trimmed cream sweater, blue jeans and brown shoes.

"…" The boy seemed to have his own eyes linger around the female, mainly taking in the arm that was raised up to elbow his face. "Homura-san?" His voice questioned her identity, his gaze now careful probably due to almost being given a bloody nose suddenly.

Seeing the wary expression the boy had on, Homura quickly fully turned her body and lowered her arm. "Ah, sorry about that." She apologized while folding her arms. "You just startled me. Though it's kind of on you that you came sneaking up behind me without a sound." A nod of her head came after. "But yeah, I'm Homura. Who's asking?" An eyebrow raised up.

"Akira... Akira Kurusu" The boy introduced himself while offering his hand out, which Homura shook after a couple of seconds. "And sorry about that. Fukina-san said that he was waiting for a friend of his to send one of his workers over to help. Since you didn't show up on time, we thought you probably got lost and so I went out to search for you." Akira took another look over her. "Though color me impress that you're not only a teenager working with a moving company but also willing to work on an off day."

Homura shrugged her shoulders. "Just need a way to make more cash. Besides, you're a teenager as well." She stated. It then hit her. "Wait, you're not with the company and you're helping me out with this stuff?"

"Pretty much." Akira nodded his head before gesturing with his hand. "Now come on, let's get going to Fukina-san's place."

Akira then spun around on his feet and started walking in one direction. Homura immediately followed but at a couple of steps away mainly to take in the boy's build once again. She had to ask though… "What the heck is a guy like you doing on his day off school helping move furniture around? You don't have anything better to do?"

"Not really. Homework is done, and I've got a good grasp on all my subjects right now. Though chemistry is still a shaky topic right now." Akira answered without turning his head. "But I'm doing this because the manager of where I work part-time asked me to help out for a favor and some extra pay."

"More money, huh?" Homura put her hands into her pockets while continuing to follow the boy with no noise between them.

…Wait, what? No noise?

Homura narrowed her eyes in a focused stare as she warily looked down towards Akira's shoes. Indeed, his footsteps weren't making a sound. The way that he was walking as well… which ever foot stepped forward, that side of the body would move as well; leg and arm. A technique that is done to minimize noise of the body and clothing for any person that's walking.

It could be a coincidence… but also considering how he approached her without a sound at first as well…

"Here we are."

With her train of thought cut off, Homura blinked and looked up to see Akira walking through a small parking lot towards an apartment complex. Following the boy through the concrete area, up a flight of stairs and through a corridor, Homura made sure to keep her distance when Akira began knocking on the door.

"Fukina-san, I found Homura-san." The black-haired boy announced.

A few seconds later, the door opened to show a middle-aged brunette waving. "Oh, hey Kurusu-san. Nice to meet you, Homura-san. Come on in, I'm still in the middle of boxing everything up before bringing it downstairs. My now former roommate is renting out a truck."

As the door opened wider for them, Akira was the first to step inside. Turning around, he looked over towards the female. "You coming inside?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, coming." Homura nodded her head as she took a couple of long strides to get inside of the building and closed the door behind her. When looking around on the floor, she saw so many little things scattered all over the place ranging from cups and bowls to random pamphlets. "This is a total mess." She sighed while placing a hand onto her forehead.

"That's why you're here. You two can take the living room and kitchen. Anything with black tape slapped on is what I'm taking with me." Fukina instructed, pointing towards the two general areas. "I can take the rest of the rooms. Call me if you need to know anything." With those words spoken, the adult dipped out of sight and into another room of the apartment to leave the two teenagers alone.

Silently for a few seconds, the two of them stood side by side. Wondering what they should do, Homura turned her head only to find that Akira was eyeing her back. "So… do you want to take the kitchen while I work in the living room?" He offered.

Homura looked around once again to see the work that was placed out before her. The kitchen didn't have much, the main concern was just wrapping all the glass things in newspaper or anything of that material. The living room meanwhile had a lot of large, heavy things with tons of boxes meant to store it all.

Was Akira trying to be a gentlemen or something?

Homura wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or insulted.

"…Why don't we just both take care of the kitchen first and then living room together?" Homura suggested, pointing from one place to another with a tanned finger. "It's just newspaper wrapping in the kitchen so it can get done pretty quickly. That way the living room business will be easier."

Akira hummed, putting a hand to his chin and looking over the space. "…Yeah, true enough." He agreed with a nod of his head. "Let's get to it then."

The two of them then began their tasks. Grabbing sheets of newspaper lying around, both worked quickly with ease. Wrapping each bowl or plate, all objects were organized into appropriate boxes with no space wasted to make perfect fits.

Homura was not surprised with herself. Due to her training, dexterity was one of the key aspects of being a shinobi. Due to her status back when she was at Hebijo Academy, it was either excel or be kicked out. Bad things happened to those who were kicked out.

Once again however, Akira's actions caused the girl to keep an eye out on him. The proficiency the boy performed was spectacular. By itself, it wouldn't be too much of an issue and Homura would just leave it as is.

But her mind drifted back towards when they first met. The silence he maintained when approaching and leading her combined with this new dexterous presentation… Things were beginning to add up and she was not liking what the answer was turning out to be.

"…You're staring."

Blinking, Homura recognized that the statement Akira had made was directed to her. Registering his words, she shook her head. "Sorry," She apologized to brush away his attention. "Just blanked out for a moment."

She watched his eyes linger on her body for a few seconds, wondering just what could be going on in that black-haired boy's head. With a few smooth motion, Homura put the last plate in a box, closed the carboard shape, and taped it shut. "Right, now let's start working on the living room."

Brushing past Akira, Homura didn't turn around and she looked about the area for things to grab and store. Seeing a pile of books, she immediately got to work and began organizing everything. After a few seconds, Akira came into her vision once again and helped her go through the boxes.

Just like the first time, silence was exchanged as they both focused on their tasks. It was completely uneventful, which Homura was satisfied about. Nothing unnecessary or too distracting which would create any trouble.

But just because there was nothing too distracting doesn't mean that there was no distractions.

She swore, her thoughts were betraying her since almost for the entire time Akira was on her mind. Just two things… two simple things and Homura couldn't help but be careful. There was no such thing as too paranoid in her situation after all. For all she knew, he could already be aware of her status since he would be a shinobi himself and is just waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

After some time, Homura and Akira began moving everything downstairs. There was a junk that had to be carried around, ranging from large fans to even a television. Though Homura noticed that Akira struggled a bit when they were carrying what could be considered very heavy objects to the average person. Perhaps she should have done the same thing with this suspicious boy around instead of lugging everything around like it was nothing.

They didn't have to wait for the roommate for long with the truck though. To be precise, it only took a couple of minutes. But what greeted them was a sight that Homura couldn't believe even existed.

Burned right into her retinas was a pickup truck that was decorated with what Homura could describe as a magical girl's paint job. The truck was just covered in so many colors and character designs she could practically feel her eyeballs melting in her skull.

"It's like a highlighter puked all over that truck." Homura groaned in agony while closing her eyes and gripping her head.

"Japan sure is an amazing country." Akira deadpanned. "You can almost get anything you need… Even if it's a rental car with anime characters painted on them."

"Hey, looks like you guys got it everything down here!" The man inside of the truck, suspected to be the roommate, waved while getting out. "Sorry for the wait. Now before we load everything up, there is something I need to tell you guys." He then pointed back with his thumb. "There's only two seats in the front, so the other two will have to ride in the back."

…So that meant two of them will have to be seen in public riding such a ridiculous vehicle…

That was one of the most dreadful thoughts Homura had come up with for the day. With almost dead eyes, she turned around to see that Akira probably had the same idea judging by how he was wearing the same look as she was.

Sighing, Akira looked between her and Fukina. "All right… let's do this fair and square…" He raised up a hand and the brunette adult did the same. Confused, Homura followed in suit. "Rock… paper… scissors!"

Immediately understanding the gist of what was happening, Homura caught on quickly. Preparing herself, she struck with the precision of a-

Both her and Akira choose rock while Fukina went with paper.

Before she knew it, everything was piled up in the back of the pickup truck and she was riding out in the open with Akira right next to her.

Sighing, she leaned back against the boxes to both relax and hide herself from the public eye. Hopefully the pay by the end of the day would be worth it. The extra money would be good to keep on the side just in case an emergency would come up back with her comrades.

"…So, Homura-san… you're pretty strong for a girl your age. Do you work out?"

Still lying down, Homura turned her head slightly to see that Akira was still sitting up but was leaning his back against the boxes as well. Feeling the bumps of the road, she squirmed around to make herself a bit more comfortable. "Yeah, I made myself a strict training regimen to stay in shape."

It wasn't a complete lie. Training back in Hebijo was incredibly tough on purpose. You had to be the best of the best if you wanted to survive in such a harsh environment.

"Though I can say the same about you." Homura remarked, making a small movement with her elbow to point at Akira. "You look like a wimp but you weren't that bad when it came to lifting everything up."

Akira simply shrugged his shoulders. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Yes… they can be deceiving." She agreed, looking back up and a silent atmosphere sunk between them once more. Wait, that's right… silent. "I'm curious about something." Homura spoke out, mentally trying to make sure her wording didn't give away her true intentions. "You're a really quiet person, huh?"

Hearing movement next to her, she knew that Akira shifted his body. "What brings that up?" He questioned.

"Well, I just found it weird that when you walk you almost make no sound whatsoever. Not only that, but you're really good with your hands." Homura listed off a couple of things. "Are you some kind of – I don't know – ninja or something?"

Turning her head once more, she saw Akira stare at her with the eyes behind glasses widen slightly. He was unresponsive for a couple of seconds. A small grin soon grew on his face with eyes twinkling in amusement. "I didn't take you for the comedic type." He said.

That comment irritated Homura for some reason.

"But to answer your question, no, I'm not a shinobi." Akira shook his head slowly with his funny face. "Although I am familiar with a couple of their techniques," He revealed which caused Homura to raise an eyebrow. "Like walking silently. They've interested me when I was younger and I so I did my best to replicate them." Lifting his hands, he then wiggled his fingers. "Though that comment you made about my hands I just developed though a few months I had been in Tokyo. What makes you ask?"

"Just curious." Homura waved off.

"Well, in that case, do you mind if I ask you a question as well?"

"You already did."

"Again, didn't take you for the comedic type." He pointed, chuckling when Homura smack his hand to the side. But she rolled her hand in a way to give him the go ahead. "Why is a high-schooler like you working full time and having money trouble?"

Homura went silent, doing her best to keep her eyes trained on Akira. Her body slightly stiffened, getting ready to spring into action just in case something bad were to happen. She wasn't too sure if the boy noticed it or not since he did not visible react. That was not a question she expected from a stranger her age of all things.

Did that mean that Akira knew who she-

[Magical girl, Princess Kami! Listen to my shining, dazzling rhapsody!]

Springing up from her flat position, Homura spun around to give an incredulous look inside of the truck. Hearing Akira groan but not move (an indication that he accepted his fate), Homura ignored the boy anyways to bang against the window that separated her from the two at the front of the vehicle.

"Oi, don't go playing anime songs at full blast!" She shouted angrily.

"But it's my set of godly anime songs for when I go out driving!" The roommate shouted in return, slightly turning his head so he could pay attention to the road.

From her small glass view, she noticed another thing. "Can you at least roll up your windows then?! There are people that can hear us!"

"But I love the breeze as the car drives!" Fukina responded back. "Oh, red light up ahead."

"Come on, give us a break will you!" Homura continued pounding on the back of the truck as it came to a halt.

Those passing by didn't know what to think when seeing a truck with anime girls painted on blasting music with a bunch of stuff and two people riding in the back as one of them being an attractive tanned teenager was punching a window repeatedly.

SmokeBombBreak

"Put the fridge there! Fold the boxes and put them here!"

As the night went on, Homura and Akira followed the orders of Fukina about where should go where. Homura was indeed strong and had lots of stamina, but she could only do so much on her own. That could be said for any person. She was at least thankful that Akira was there to help her out.

"Okay, we're pretty much done. Thanks for the help." Fukina nodded his head.

"Haa, we're finally done." Homura sighed while rolling his arms. Even Akira had his hands on his hips and was leaning backwards as far as he could. Eyeing his back when she heard a couple of pops, Homura brought her attention back to Fukina. "Alright, that's a good 8 hours of work. Plus since I'm working overtime, the amount that I'll be paid should be-"

"Apologies for cutting you off Homura-san," The man raised his hand, interrupting the tanned girl. "But why exactly are you telling me this?"

"…What?" Homura folded her arms while giving a puzzled look. "Because I was told that I was going to be paid hour and a half for helping you out."

"Yes, that does make sense." Fukina nodded in agreement. "But what made you think that it was coming from me personally? After all, I already paid my fee to your boss."

"…Oh, right." Homura felt the urge to bang her head right against a wall due to the absolute stupidity she had displayed. "Sorry about that. It's just been a long day."

"No problem, I have worked you two to the bone after all." Fukina stated. "But I'll definitely tell your boss about all the hard work you pulled off. Who knows, maybe you'll get a raise from it as well."

Nodding her head, Homura said her farewell and walked out of the door. But as she began to make her way down the stairs and through the parking lot, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in herself.

The funds they had been making were low. Yes, they could begin using their emergency reserves but that was purely meant for dire situations. It's just that such a scenario was becoming apparent now.

Not only that, but she had promised that with pay she thought she would have made today, she was going to buy some nice food for them all instead of having to nibble on whatever the wild provided for them.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she spun around sharply with hands about to raise only to see Akira right behind her. Exhaling loudly through her nostrils, she put her hands on her hips. "Please stop sneaking up on me like that." She commented, mentally cursing herself that the boy got the jump on her. "Anyways, what do you want?"

Akira lifted his hands up. "Fukina-san gave us a couple of moving sobas." He informed while handing one of the cup noodles to Homura, making the girl simply stare at the object. "I was thinking that we both could go to a convenience store and eat them together. Food tastes better with company as they say."

Those may have been the words that were said, but Homura knew that there were hidden intentions behind Akira's offer. The boy was very observant from what she could tell. She knew that he noticed her frustration and disappointment with her very short conversation with Fukina.

But despite wanting to say no at first, she couldn't help but feel like she should say yes.

SmokeBombBreak

Sitting down while gazing out of the window towards the night, Homura's spirits were lifted slightly with the small amount of warm food filling her belly. Slurping up the noodles, it felt kind of odd simply relaxing in such a place with a stranger keeping her company. Bringing the cup up to her face, she gulped down the broth.

"Phew, that's the stuff!" Homura breathed with relief and wiping her mouth with her arm. Watching Akira, the boy had just began drinking his own broth. "So…" She rested her arm on the counter they were sitting at. "That's it? You just wanted to sit and eat your soba with me?" She already knew that there was another reason, but she brought it up just in case it slipped his mind.

Akira swallowed the liquid. Slowly setting his utensils down, he then wiped his mouth with a napkin. Turning to the side, they both made eye contact with each other. "I just wanted to apologize." He stated.

Homura drummed her fingers. "What do you need to apologize for?"

"For earlier, when I asked you my own question." Akira reminded her, causing Homura to slow her finger movement. Judging by the small drift of his eyes, Akira noticed. "You may be going through some tough times right now and I was insensitive to ask you about it."

…Question?

Blinking, Homura soon realized what Akira was talking about. "On the back of the pickup truck…"

"Yeah…" Akira scratched the back of his head. He lifted his hands up in a placating gesture. "Look, I don't know how or why you are in the situation you are in now, but…" Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a few bills of cash and pushed them over towards her without another word.

Understanding what Akira was trying to do, Homura slid the money back. "I appreciate the gesture, but that's unnecessary." She stated. "If I'm to make money, I would rather earn it than rather be given a donation of pity."

Akira however was quick with his words. "Then consider this," He pushed the pile back. "A forward pay for a potential job for you." Homura slightly turned her head. "You need money. From what I've seen, you are extremely fit and healthy for someone your age. So, how about taking up a side gig as a personal trainer of mine?"

Homura stared. "Why the hell don't you just hire an actual trainer?" She deadpanned. "Plus, I got the moving company I'm working with."

Her response caused Akira to chuckle once. "True." He agreed. "But then it's you who also needs help, right? Plus, I'm sure that we can find a way to work around that schedule of yours. All you must do is let me know what days can and can't work for you. Not only that, but we can work out a price that you can work with. The average mover makes about 1500 yen an hour, yes?"

Thinking, what Akira said was kind of true. Money was an important factor. Working with the moving company was kind of boring when there was nothing to do so Akira's offer could alleviate that boredom. Not only that, but negotiate fees? That was something Homura could work with.

"…Three thousand yen per hour." Homura stated, causing Akira to look surprised. "That's my fee."

"I think 2300 yen an hour is fair."

"Then 2700 yen."

"In that case, 2500 yen should be the perfect price to settle on then."

Biting on her lips, Homura wanted to up her rate up just a little bit more. But she realized just how unprofessional it may be, she took a deep breath. "…Sounds fair." She reluctantly agreed. Seeing Akira raise his hand, she shook it to symbolize that their deal was finalized.

Akira then pulled out a pen and wrote down a series of numbers on a new napkin. "Here's my number then." He pushed over towards her. Standing up, he then shoved the money that was on the counter over as well. "Pleasure doing business with you. Get yourself something nice before going home."

As he walked away, Homura watched as the boy retreated. Just before he could get too far, she quickly pocketed the money and number before dumping the garbage. Exiting the store, she looked left and right before seeing where Akira had gone.

Now focused, she began to follow the boy.

Through the streets, Homura made sure that she not only kept her distance but also so that she close enough to not be noticed. Many may think it was easy. But for a shinobi, it was best to be cautious due to never knowing whether or not the target had their own ways of being aware if they were being trailed.

Homura still had her suspicions of the boy. The movement of a shinobi. Trained dexterity. High charisma. This boy was an entity that she did not want to leave unchecked. Especially since he had interacted with her which potentially risked her team being exposed.

After a few minutes, she stepped back into a building's shadow when Akira crossed the street towards a house facing them. Taking in the structure, she was intrigued at how big the house was. Looking up and down, she could found herself admiring the building for a second.

But within that second, she noticed something on the roof.

Up above Akira as he was entering the house was a figure. Due to the darkness of the night, Homura couldn't really make out who was there. From what she could see though, this figure had piercing yellow eyes and was gazing so intently at Akira that they didn't notice her.

As soon as the boy had closed the door behind him, the figure didn't seem to have any other reason to linger as they ran to the other side of the roof and out of Homura's sight.

That display made Homura frown. That didn't help with her thoughts at all. If anything, it concerned her even more. Did that mean that Akira was still a shinobi and they were just confirming that he had returned safely. Maybe Akira was a target for some reason…

Either way, Homura knew that she had to keep an eye on this Akira character in the future.

As she turned around and began heading back towards her hideout, she didn't see a pair of grey eyes watching her from the house she had just been looking at.

Yeah, rewrote this series… After 3 chapters…

I just didn't really like how I first portrayed Akira to the girls. Hopefully I made this better and will keep such quality up compared to how it was before the rewrite.

No flames please.