“Hey, get the fuck away from her.”

  Emi and her bullies looked in her direction as soon as she spoke up. Now standing right at the entrance of the park, Kana had left her bags on the street and was aiming the massive grenade launcher at them. For a second, they stood there in complete confusion. The three boys took a step back until one of them started laughing. After that, the other two joined him.

  “Kana?” Emi asked, unsure of what was happening.

  She looked around, and since they were busy laughing, Emi took the chance she had and ran over to Kana. Standing right in front of her with her long skirt grazing the barrel of the gun, the half-foreigner had her cute puppy eyes on. She looked like she was about to break down crying, having met her again.

  “Alright, keep the toy down. Wow, these things are getting ridiculously out of hand.” One of the boys stopped laughing to gather his breath, “Where did you buy it? Ward J? I heard they got some detailed stuff like this there.”

  “Kana, what are you doing? Come here, let’s go.”

  Go? Go where? She shot Emi an annoyed look and then turned back to the boys with her finger teasing the trigger. This hadn’t been the first time that someone had made fun of Emi for her hair, and it wouldn’t be the last. The casual racism made her blood boil, and yet the victim said nothing. Based on her reaction right now, this hadn’t even been the first time this particular group had tried to harass her.

  Yet, she wanted to leave them alone and move on. Kana respected that. She really did. Or, well, even if she didn’t respect it at all and thought that it was a bitch move that only weaklings pulled, she loved Emi enough to be a hypocrite about it. Emi was the only person who was allowed to be a weakling like that. Because she was that amazing, plain and simple.

  Unfortunately for Emi, though, Kana loved her for a reason. And that was because the two of them were not the same person. Maybe many years ago, Kana would have let them go too. But it was funny how the smallest things changed you.

  “What are you looking at?” One of the other boys spat on the ground, “Go on, take your girlfriend and get out.”

  “Emi…” Kana whispered.

  “Kana, just listen. Come on, let’s go.”

  “Have you ever heard of the Paradox of Tolerance?” Kana asked her, “It says that if you are kind to assholes, then one day, the only people left in the world will be assholes. You can’t keep answering their harassment with passive acceptance. No matter who they are.”

  Whether they were some random bullies in the park…or the greatest and most famous pop idol group in the entire country. Pricks were pricks, and pricks deserved to be wiped off the face of the planet. Kana aimed the gun at them, but the smiles on their faces just did not give her any satisfaction. She could not just shoot and let the shock value be the only fear.

  No. She needed more. Kana turned to the swing and shot once. The projectile flew off with a pop, and the smiles were wiped off their faces. Emi let out a short yelp. At first, they probably thought that the toy was a bit too detailed. But then, as the grenade hit the bars of the swing and the explosion rocked the entire land, four screams burst out at once.

  Emi collapsed on the floor with one hand on Kana’s leg. The three boys scuttered away like rabbits, falling down just like her, and trying to crawl away from the insane girl. Kana did not let them go, though. Prepping the second shot immediately, she aimed a little higher and shot once more. Another grenade flew through the air and landed in front of them.

  The explosion stopped them in their tracks and formed a crater on the ground. The boys looked back at her and stood up.

  “Alright, alright, alright. Calm down! Calm the fuck down! What is wrong with you? Where did you get that thing?”

  “Get over here. Right now.” Kana ordered them with a stern voice, “Emi, stand up. Stop crying on the ground.”

  “You…you’re…” Emi pulled herself up using the gun-wielding girl’s body and leaned on it, hand on shoulder.

  Kana shuddered with excitement. If she hadn’t been staring down three bullies and trying to correct their ways, she would have jumped up with joy and pulled Emi into a tight hug. But for now, she stayed as she was and waited for the boys to line up in front of her. One by one, they came and stood at attention with their eyes locked on her weapon.

  “Do I need to explain what will happen to you if you try to pull something like that again?” Kana asked, “Not just Emi either. You touch anyone or try to make fun of them, and doctors will be studying your thousand-yard stare next, got that?”

  The boys furiously nodded and did not stop. They kept going for five seconds, then six, and then seven. Kana leaned in towards the one in the middle and let out a soft chuckle. Not an honest chuckle, but one of those cute laughs she would have normally reserved for the camera.

  “I guess you already have one, though. Good luck with your classes tomorrow.”

  They stopped moving their heads, but did not respond at all. Leaving them there, Kana turned, put the launcher back in the inventory, and walked back to her bags. Emi followed.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Kana, what…” she stuttered, “what was that? H-how did you get a whole grenade launcher? Where did it go!? What is happening!?”

  “Emi…” Kana sighed and pulled the girl into a hug, “I just came to say goodbye. I won’t be seeing you again. Ever again, probably. As for the weapon, uh…forget that? You’ll just get into trouble if you try to dig too deep. Take my advice.”

  Emi stood as she was, but slowly wrapped her arms around her back too. Kana smiled as she did. The girl then whispered in her ear, “B-but…why? Why did you come back after so long, only to say goodbye? You could’ve just stayed gone. You didn’t have to come back…”

  “But then those bastards would keep making fun of your pretty hair!” Kana scoffed, “What do you mean why I came back? I love you, that’s why.”

  “I mean, yeah, I love you too…but…” Emi sniffed and wiped her tears as she pulled away, “The grenade launcher. What the hell is happening with you!? Are you in, like, some private military now? You got into bad things like guns and violence and…well, I guess you were always into violence, but…”

  “Military? Fuck no. I hate them with a passion, and you know that.”

  “Yeah. Borders are fake, and they’re the worst. I know what you think.” Emi nodded, “What is going on, Kana? I am confused. Just…confused.”

  Kana wasn’t sure how much she wanted to tell her. Of course, she couldn’t tell her anything about the background idol battle royale stuff, but her being an idol would be public knowledge soon. Emi would find out that it was something related to the job either way, since it would be ludicrous if her becoming an idol and her gaining a grenade launcher had been from two unrelated developments in her life.

  But if she told Emi too much, then the girl would get into big trouble. By all means, she was in big trouble for knowing too much already. Even those three boys were the same, but she didn’t give a shit about what happened to him. If they were gonna take their time to bully someone Kana cared about, then their lives were forfeit either way. Let them be ruined by the Agencies Coalition.

  “Emi, I…am gonna be an idol!”

  “What the fuck?” She looked at Kana’s face, and then her stupid multi-colored track suit.

  “Yeah, I know it doesn’t scream ‘idol’, but I’m working on the wardrobe, alright?” Kana laughed, “But I’m gonna be living in Ward B now, under Sakai Entertainment. You’ll see me on TV soon!”

  “How did this happen? What have you been doing? What is up with the grenade launcher?”

  “Emi! Stop asking about the goddamn weapon, alright?” Kana almost screamed, but then controlled herself, “It’s just…self-protection. They give one to every idol under the agency to make sure they’re safe.”

  “What? Whatever happened to pepper sprays?”

  “They’re…old-fashioned?” Even Kana wasn’t sure if she had said that right, but there was no time to think about it. She just shook her head as a couple of cars started to appear in the back, “Look, this is the new Japan. We’re still figuring things out, and carrying a grenade launcher is the most basic level of security one can have here. It’s complicated.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s right. I might not have been born here, but I think I know that much…”

  Kana opened her mouth to say something, but then the cars in the back caught her attention again. Three full-black sedans with black-tinted windows. Eerily similar to the one she had been in last night. As they inched closer without a single sound, she grabbed Emi by the shoulders.

  “Emi? Uh, goodbye, alright? You need to leave right now.”

  “What? Kana, are you fine? Did you fall down on your head somewhere? I am not trying to be rude. I’m just really worried about the things yo-”

  There was no time at all. Before anything could proceed, the cars stopped, and multiple men wearing black suits and black sunglasses ran out of them. Kana tried to push Emi away, but they were all over the two of them before any precautionary measures could be taken. Two of them grabbed Kana and locked her arms behind her back, while three got Emi. Two on her hands and one tying her mouth with a cloth.

  “What are you doing? Let her go. She’s uninvolved.” Kana tried to negotiate, but the men did not say anything.

  Without a word, they pulled them along as Emi struggled and tried to fight back. Legs wildly kicking the air, the only sounds that escaped her gagged mouth were small whimpers. Tears started to form in her eyes as Kana tried to free herself, too. The two of them were taken to different cars, and the doors opened.

  “Emi, don’t worry! I’ll handle it!”

  They were stuffed into their cars, and the doors closed. The moment she got into the air-conditioned sedan, the comfort of the soft seats soothed her like yesterday, but she could not stop looking back to check on Emi’s car. That was until a voice called out to her from the front of her own car.

  “Kana Minami!”

  Kana turned to see that Aiko was sitting in the passenger seat. She calmed herself down and leaned in.

  “Taira-san. What is going on? Why are you taking Emi, too?”

  “You said it, Kana. She’s uninvolved. That is why her seeing the grenade launcher wasn’t supposed to happen. The moment you let four civilians see a classified, top-secret weapon, you got them involved. Those three boys have been taken too, and will be facing the consequences.”

  “Consequences? What do you mean? What is going to happen to Emi? Also, how did you even find out I used that thing?”

  She could not care less about the boys. In fact, she would advocate for them to get the worst possible punishment. Who cared about their pathetic little bully lives anyway? They had no respect for other people in their hearts, so Kana would not want anyone else to show them respect either.

  “Your system tells us when someone uses it outside of the Monster Dimension. We knew the millisecond you opened that inventory screen.” Aiko sighed, “Don’t worry. Sakai-san poured a lot of money into that contract of yours, so he isn’t going to let you go. He’s already fighting to keep you in. For now, we’re gonna put you on a mini house arrest until we figure things out.”

  “House arrest? Wait, where are we going?”

  “Your…home?” The representative did not seem particularly impressed with her own deduction, “Where else?”

  Katsuhara Apartments. Her home.

  This wasn’t exactly how Kana had expected her first day in that semi-luxury apartment to go.