8 An S-Rank's Anger

I woke up the following day feeling absolutely refreshed. My mind finally felt rested and I was in top condition. Now I only had to buy a building, do all the necessary paperwork, think of a name and recruit people. All easier said than done.

"First is attracting the public's attention" I said as I got up and wore my casual clothes. "To do that... I might want to clear a Gate"

Leaving the master bedroom I went into the kitchen and prepared a bowl of cereal with strawberry milk, while preparing some canned tuna for Felix. Luckily, he seemed to like fish. After doing that I turned on the TV and watched the news to see if there was something interesting, while paying attention to any mention of Gates. Never would I have expected that they would still be talking about me.

"On to the latest news, yesterday we were revealed the identity of the Mercenary who effectively cleared a Rookie Killer for the first time" the news lady said while pointing at a picture of my face that appeared on a screen above her. "The man in question is Noah Hasegawa, a young and, if I'm allowed to say so, devilishly handsome Mercenary"

I turned off the TV the moment I heard that. I was confident in myself, perhaps a bit too much, but I didn't need to know a 50+ years old lady from the news was lusting after me.

<Great, now I can't get the image out of my head> I thought while really hating my very active imagination. <I have to get a phone, it'll make searching for info much faster>

Making plans to get a smartphone fast, I finished my bowl of cereal and picked Felix up. Going to my room, I changed into more fashionable clothes and left the house, deciding to ride the Kawasaki beast for more convenience... Besides I was going the city and my presence would cause a scandal on its own.

*

Only twenty minutes later, I was already in the city. The streets were bustling and the neon signs that ruled the night were replaces by news broadcasts and different ads. I even saw a few mercenaries working as models. <Guess my future is bright in the modeling industry, no matter the world>

Parking my bike in front of a store dedicated solely to phones, Felix climbed on my bike and sat on my shoulder. I almost fell like screaming "I'll be a Pokémon Master!", but managed to hold the urge in.

As soon as I took the helmet off people were already staring, but no one approached aggressively until I entered the store. I just happened to enter right when the store's TV was showing the news about me, so my picture was right there to be seen. Just like my face. Besides, Felix was also a celebrity of his own and a dead giveaway of my identity.

"It's Noah! OMG!"

"He's so handsome!"

"Dude I saw you soaked in blood!"

Trying my best to go through the small crowd before it grew bigger, I managed to reach the counter. The clerk was a girl around my age who was blushing madly while staring at my face. "Hi, I wanted to see the latest models" I asked while giving her a soft smile.

Looking at her better, she was an extremely cute girl. She had big, slightly round, pink eyes and long pink hair tied in a low ponytail, with messy band over her forehead and two longer ones falling to the sides of... her face... <That... isn't this... Yuno Gasai?>

"Um... N-Noah-san... would you sign this?" she asked while literally giving me her phones case. She also seemed to be nervous... perhaps here she didn't develop any Yandere tendencies... "Sure"

With an even bigger smile than before, I signed her phone case. She seemed extremely giddy at the fact, holding it close to her for a few moments before showing me the latest smartphone models. After checking them for a while, I settled for a Motorola Razr V4. Why? I liked that it was foldable. Harder to lose.

"Miss... Gasai" I called Yuno while pretending to peek at her employee card. "Would you mind helping me with the configuration?"

She first showed confusion, but quickly overcame it and eagerly agreed to help me. After a few more minutes, once the phone was up and running, I did the craziest thing possible. "Hey, would you mind giving me your number? I might have to call you if I have any doubts about the phone"

I don't know what came over me, but I was really interested in this seemingly innocent Yuno Gasai. After a few seconds of doubt, she gave me her phone number and even added herself on LINE. After thanking her and saying goodbye to the crowd, I left the place to head back home. Felix had behaved extremely well, so I stopped on a pet shop and bought him a treat of his choosing. He was so smart he could even grab my card and pay himself.

*

Later in that same day, I was playing with Felix while taking a few photos for my recently made Instagram. As soon as I set it up I asked for a verification, which was rapidly granted as soon as i confirmed my identity.

I had over a million followers in a matter of hours. I wanted to work with social media as much as possible, since that would allow me to promote my future Guild with relative ease.

I of course had also sent a message to Yuno asking for her full name and when she would be free again. She seemed to be eager to see me again, which I wasn't surprised about taking into consideration how she acted around me earlier.

"What is it, Felix?" I asked my animal friend, who was acting excitedly, but in a bad way. As if he was worried about something.

I didn't need an answer though, as I soon heard a police siren. It prompted me to turn on the TV, in which the news showed a new Gate that had just opened. Apparently the big issue was that two idiots had taken a girl hostage and the Gate opened behind them.

I received a call when I was about to turn off the TV, but both the news and the call made my blood boil in anger, something that probably the entire city felt. "Noah, save me, please... pl... *bzz*"

"The hostage's identity has been confirmed to be Gasai Yuno, an eighteen year old girl who had just left her apartment to get some groceri..." I wasn't listening to the TV anymore.

I didn't even bother picking Felix up, he just followed me and sat on my lap when I got on top of the motorbike. Breaking all transit laws in the world, I reached the place in under ten minutes.

"I'll handle this" I declared while everyone around me trembled from the bloodlust I was releasing. There was someone though who was brave enough to move. He looked like a police officer. "Y-You're Mr. Hasegawa, right? C-Could you pleas stop scaring everyone?"

I looked at the man and did my best to calm down. Smiling at him reassuringly, I did my best to pacify the situation. "Sorry everyone, I lost myself in the heat of the moment."

Everyone released a sigh of relief when my aura died down, turning back into it's peace indusing state. "Everyone please don't worry, I'll go inside and bring Yuno back safe."

What I didn't say was that if I couldn't, her kidnappers wouldn't live to see the light of day again. But I would still grant them eternal rest, that was my task, after all.

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Short chapter, written on the phone. Leaving this here to ask if you guys would like me to change speech to "speech" or if you don't mind it remaining as -speech-. I personally prefer using --, but whatever is more comfortable for you. I will leave two comments on this paragraph, one being "speech" and the other -speech-. Like whichever you prefer, or none if you don't care.