What's An Otaku?

Some things need to be gotten to in the next instant: Epidemic's balls of mold formed in his hands. He aimed careful, and threw them forward -

- and with the speed of light Serena turned; instincts too quick for her mind, her tentacle took the hit head-on -

- and the mold started to devour her skin; with a shriek, streams of black fog repaired her flesh anew, Yuruko&Naomi holding hands as they turned on this sidewalk -

" - there's a bitch!" shouted Yuruko, and Serena nodded; with no time to waste, they started their rushing up the avenue, lines of business right and man two hundred ahead -

" - gotta - gotta be careful -" winced Serena; a globe of mold hit her right leg -

- and tore a clear hole through; she winced as she stumbled, another volley screaming for her as she staggered -

" - Medicinal!"

- but a sweep of Yuruko's gloves formed a swift mid-air barrier; and in to the shield flew the mold, splattering and deforming as they hit it -

- and started to devour it away, corroding clear through, swift streams of fog filling Serena's legs anew. With a nod, the trio peeled left around, seeing their foe rush in to a barbershop right. They came up to the doors quick, Yuruko&Serena careful to sweep in first -

- and there, at the other end was their foe, a hundred feet separating them&he. His right hand swept back again, new volley forming; Yuruko threw her hands forward, new shield forming, and as the mold hit the barrier -

- it burst clear through and shot to her face, starting to corrode her skin away; her hands went to her face, swift Medicinal clearing her eyes as they started their rush again -

- and all around them burst open the floor, tendrils of mold shooting out of the tiles and blocking their advance, surrounding them quick. A dozen sweeps sought Serena's neck -

- and underneath them she dodged, words swift - " - Yuruko! Need a glove!"

- Yuruko nodded, handing Serena a sudden glove; streams of fog filled as it as she threw it to the side -

- and it hadn't hit the ground before three tendrils had caught it, mold population in steady decline a they ate through the glove filled with flesh. Serena nodded, the trio starting their rush in true confidence as she threw another three macabre gloves; no option left, the man rushed to the back wall, catching up a chair on his way and hurling it back -

- but a cup of liquid nitrogen hit the chair and froze it solid, stumbling and sliding at their feet; and a dozen streams of fog flew in to it -

" - wait!" shouted Yuruko - " - remember, Naomi!"

- Serena nodded, knowing to be careful with acid as the trio hurtled right and around, seeing the man's hands sweeping down the back wall and corroding a hole out to the sidewalk -

- to a man holding a shotgun -

- and blasting his head off like a crimson water balloon. They stood stupidly watching as he turned and fled right, trio bursting in to sudden pursuit; and as Yuruko came outside, she threw something at him, released Naomi's hand as the couple ran in pursuit of him -

" - that's - eel neck!" shouted Serena, seeing him disappear right down a street corner. They took a wide berth as they turned -

- and saw him still running, hurtling out to the road and veering to another sidewalk. The two came halfway down sidewalk, stepping out to the road -

" - wait, shit!" panted Serena, turning with the speed of a punk back, fearing what was back around the corner -

- and sighing relief to find Naomi wheezing at the barbershop's new exit. Serena rushed up to her quick, endurance of a host in her.

"W-Who -" - panted Naomi - " - why do you have fog around your arm?"

"C-Check your phone." Yuruko sneezed, and the three sat against the wall. "I-I got the tracker on him, anyway."

"Who are you?"

Yuruko showed Serena her phone. While Yuruko didn't hunt much - usually too focused on her schoolwork for Revenant research - she had found blueprints of tracking chips online, and a way to connect them to her phone. "Still moving. Probably, uh, gonna run for a while..."

Serena frowned. "Um, he definitely had an eel tattoo, too, right? Did you see that?"

"Yeah, I did. You've still been getting attacked by them since the ransom stuff, right?" (Serena nodded.) "But he killed the guy attacking us. So, um... that means they like Naomi more than they hate you. Does that make sense?"

"I think so."

"Didn't he shoot her in the hand, too? If he was trying to kill her, that's not where you shoot."

"Yeah, but couldn't he have missed?"

Yuruko stared at her, formed a pistol, threw three clay targets and used three bullets to shatter each. "And I haven't even shot one in like, three months, 'cause it doesn't work on hosts. Host dexterity is based." She checked her tracker. "…uh, still moving, but... we'll wait until he stops. So, he kills someone trying to kill her, then hurts her..."

"Was he trying to activate her Revenant?"

"I... yeah, actually. That's what I was thinking. But why? I mean, okay, the bombs and shit makes sense, but what about the amnesia? Why drop her off at Urasaria?" Yuruko glanced down. "Okay, he stopped moving, so let's go."

Soon they came up to a house in a neighborhood that had been suburban ten years back, sidewalk and houses where expected, hearing shuffling inside. Yuruko suggested they go around to the back. Serena looked ruefully between her cup and Naomi, wishing she could commit a war crime to force him out. Yuruko showed her her phone.

"Near the back - right, right?" she whispered, and Serena nodded. The three stepped carefully off to the side, ducking under every window, and came eventually up to the back door. Yuruko formed Medicinal-brand helmets that Serena filled with graphene.

"Alright. You first." prodded Yuruko, and Serena winced as she took front, tentacle readied like a shield.

"Blackb- wait -" she groaned. "Uh. I can't acid this."

Yuruko stifled a laugh, setting her arms around Serena and tapping the door -

- and turning it to water. The three crept inside, kitchen with a glass case of vases right, fridge&cabinets left, door to a hall up ahead. They heard rustling from one of the doors down the hall, and started stepping down -

" - who are you?" said Naomi -

- and two groans filled the room as they heard the rustling stop, and in the next instant -

- the glass case burst open in a shower of glass, and out of the shattered aperture flew a dozen antiques towards Naomi -

" - Blackburn!"

- and streams of fog filled each with rubber, smashing Naomi's helmet and staggering her back, no injury but for her armor as she stumbled -

" - we're safe for - you!" winced Yuruko, gloves readied as the next volley shot for Naomi -

- and a swift sweep of Yuruko's gloves turned the projectiles to true rubber, bouncing off Naomi's helmet and ricocheting away. The far-right hall door burst open ahead -

- and out came the man they knew as their foe, shotgun readied as he stepped to the kitchen entrance -

- but a swift kick of Yuruko's legs formed sandbags for the three, and down they swept in to the cover, fifty feet separating them as they heard the shotgun blast -

- and the fleeing of footsteps a second later. With no time to waste, Serena swept over, Yuruko yanking the amnesiac along as they rushed across the room, hearing the fridge rumbling as they passed by, and in the next instant -

- it was yanked off its hinges, pulled and smashed in to Naomi's back -

- and streams of fog filled it with wind, blasting it away&back; and as it flew back for the return -

- Yuruko kicked it in half, disintegrating it as the three started their rush up the hall, running in to the same room the man had -

- and finding it to be a bedroom, open window leading out to the side. Serena took the lead again as she hurtled out the window and to the grass, seeing their foe on the sidewalk thirty feet ahead, and as Naomi&Yuruko swept out -

- the dirt underneath began to buckle; then suddenly burst up, enormous clouds seeking to bury Naomi alive and shoving her down -

" - Medicinal!" panted Yuruko, sweeping the dirt to liquid; the house's windows shattered behind, glass shards shooting towards Naomi; another shogun blast arose from the man ahead and entered Serena's helm, unseen force yanking it clear off -

" - god, fuck this -" groaned Yuruko; a hailstone of dry ice formed in her hands; she threw it forward, and as it hit the ground, a cloud of smoke burst outward and swallowed the man -

- and a shotgun blast rose again, cloud suddenly flying back over to Yuruko -

" - fucking -" - Serena groaned, dipping her tentacle in the cloud as she rushed ahead; another dozen clouds of smoke erupted outward, shrouding the scene ahead as Yuruko and Naomi rushed back, still hearing the chaotic shotgun blasts behind -

- and out of the smoke came one blast direct for Naomi -

- and yanked her helm off; before she could react, a second shot went for her -

- but a stone helm formed over her head, keeping her safe as she stood; but they had no time to rest -

" - Serena!" shouted Yuruko, sweeping a shield forward -

" - got the bitch!" laughed Serena's voice ahead, and as the smoke cleared -

- they saw the ground pockmarked ahead, impromptu tunnel burrowed underground, another hole behind the man -

- and Serena at his back, tentacle thrust through his back and out his chest, gasping. "I can heal you, if you tell us why you're after her."

"I-I ain't stupid enough to believe t-that shit." He coughed. "…y-you know, I-I t-thought you were just some story some of the o-other guys made u-up and shit." He looked to Naomi. "N-Naomi, I don't like to use this type of language in front of you, but it's because of this little faggot here you ain't gonna have nobody looking out for you soon. A-An' we never even bothered *it* one time, and we're supposed to be the fucking bad guys when we're just makin' money and-"

"Hey, dick, you're the ones who fucking tried to ransom a student." said Serena.

"Hahah-aa." He coughed. "T-That sounds like some shit Isaac would do. Him, you asked him for money and he'd roll old ladies and shit. B-But I-I'm telling you f-fuck all else."

"Yeah, we'll see about th-"

- still impaled on her tentacle, he jerked himself right; before Serena could realize -

- he jerked himself left -

"I- fuck!" Serena groaned as she threw his corpse to the ground, his still-beating heart attached to her tentacle's suction cups. She looked up and saw Yuruko crouched over Naomi, who was suddenly on the ground and gasping in pain. Serena ran over. "What happened?"

Naomi clutched her head and fell on to her left side, writhing.

"I-I don't know, she just started…" said Yuruko. Her hands scrunched.

Serena rapidly checked her for wounds. "H-Hey, what's-"

"-SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT..." Naomi's eyes clenched. "…s-shut up..." She kept kicking, thrashing, screaming in to the grass.

Yuruko just looked at Serena. After a minute, Naomi sat up and rubbed her stone helmet. Her left arm had turned to stone and enormous. "…o-ow..."

"What happened?" whispered Yuruko.

"Is that her Revenant?" whispered Serena.

"…Y-Yuruko. Yuruko, r-right?" Naomi winced, her monotone gone, and her stones disappeared. "A-And Serena."

"Yeah." nodded Serena.

Naomi checked her right arm, and Serena went over their usual checklist of questions with her: she was able to answer without the phone.

"Is your memory back?"

"…I-I don't think so..." Naomi winced, and leaned on Serena as she stood up. "I-I remember a little, b-but... c-can we go back to Urasaria? I-It still f-fucking hurts, r-really bad..."

Serena nodded, and the three went back to Urasaria. From what Naomi could tell, her ability to form new memories had returned, and she remembered an old address she once had: one she realized while being treated by Hirogane. As they were walking out and starting to talk about what they should do next, Serena's new tablet vibrated, and she took it quick.

"Message from Satsuki." said Yuruko, leaning over. "She wants to meet Naomi?"

"I guess so."

"Satsuki?" said Naomi.

"Yeah, she's Urasaria's student president."

Naomi nodded, and the three went off to meet Matoi in her office. She asked them to relay everything up until now, which Serena did.

"Plus, some of her memory came back, but... we don't know why." said Yuruko. "We checked the guy's ability and it didn't have anything to do with amnesia."

"Mm. Naomi, have you heard your Revenant's name yet?" said Matoi.

"Um, I don't think so."

"You would know if you had. I won't be available to help you further than this, unfortunately, but my hypothesis would be that whatever is causing her amnesia is still acting on her. Blackburn or Pulse may not be able to detect this, depending on the Revenant."

"So you think she's resisting it?" said Yuruko. Her hands scrunched.

"It's possible, if her Revenant has only partially activated. The stone arm, correct?"

Serena nodded. This was her favored type of investigation: one she could do no work for yet not be accused of laziness.

"Her amnesia may disappear once her Revenant activates, if it was planted. There was a mind control host I killed who had something similar - I broke out of it simply by willing myself out of it." She glanced at Naomi. "Regardless, I wouldn't worry. Serena and Yuruko are experienced students. If it's something constant, however, you may need to find the original host and kill him. Was that everything?"

"Um, I think so." Naomi nodded. "Thank you. So, your name is President... Sats-"

"-Matoi." panted Serena desperately. "Um, her name is President Matoi."

"Yep." added Yuruko quickly.

Matoi gave the two otaku both a look of unplumbable disdain, who quickly excused themselves and forgot Naomi in the room.