[January 27th]

While the Elite Four ate & ate again, Kate had brought another three men to her storage unit. She'd just left the lot that morning -

" - Miss!" shouted a man's voice behind; she turned, and there stood the lot's owner, fat & untrimmed. "Miss - Uraseeria student, miss."

"What's up?" she said as he came up, twenty feet separating the two with hands up.

"I - I understand that - I can guess what you're using your unit for. N-Now. I-I don't mind - I assume it's for, for Urasaria work, and - I don't want to -"

" - go ahead." she nodded, waving to put his hands down. "Don't worry. Tell me what's up."

He paused & breathed & sighed. "…I. I - received a - complaint this morning, about - about de smell."

"…ah. Shit." She sighed. "Alright - alright. Sorry, uh. Guess I'm a bit desensitized to that." Her head shook. "Alright. Here's what you do. Anyone from police comes by - you tell them to contact me about it. Anagen. I'm gonna, uh… gonna call someone up. Clean it out for you. I'll pay for it."

"…y-yes." winced the owner. "T-Thank you, miss."

"No problem." she said and went off.

She called up a local crime scene cleaner. Her badge shoved out their questions too, but she still waited until they finished & the owner had checked the smell before she left again. Midway through the city she ducked in to a library's single stall bathroom, taking her badge off and taking another man's phone out. He'd left it unlocked with pictures of himself.

'…alright. Hope they don't need me today.'

Her hair went taut.

Ten minutes away, Naomi & Julia were patrolling. Over the days in-between, she had learned Julia liked all of her shirts. Once she mentioned her amnesia, Julia had immediately offered to help solve it, and yesterday she'd accepted a compliment she shouldn't have, so now Julia's hand lingered on her back after fights. She had thought of asking Yuruko to swap, but resolved she would solve it herself, even if she wasn't sure how.

"So - like I was saying, u-um." laughed Julia. "Your - salary gets better. Lucky you're in, uh - two-star housing too."

"I - guess so." shrugged Naomi.

Julia nodded. "Uh, do you - uh, want to get something to eat?"

Naomi wondered how Julia saw that question. "I - um… sure -"

" - excuse me." said a man's voice behind; they turned, to a man wearing a backpack & full head of facial hair. "Excuse me. Do you know where, uh - Mystic Apartments is?"

"…uh." Naomi shrugged. "I can - look it up for you, I guess."

"That - that would be a big help, yes."

Naomi stepped back as she checked on her phone, then handed it to him after.

"…lemme see." he muttered. "…yes, that - that looks right. Thank you, women. Urasaria."

He handed it back to them and went off.

"Let's go eat." chimed Julia.

"Sure." said Naomi, promising herself she'd say something during lunch.

◆◆◆

A quarter past three, one man in Mystic Apartments apartments answered the door.

"Got it." said the other, man Naomi & Julia had seen earlier.

"Good to see you." said the first, barefaced. "Come - come inside."

The haired man stepped inside and set his bag on the kitchen table. "Right in there. Got it just this morning."

The barefaced man opened up the bag, still-beating heart within. "…good. What's its ability?"

"The chick I got it from? Let her, uh, control her hair."

"One of the students?"

"Yeah."

"How old?"

"…looked to be - about twenty. Tried to torture me. Some fucked up shit."

The man nodded and zipped it back up. "Two coins, then. You'll get it back within a week."

"…uh. Two coins?" he said. "It was... more last time. Yeah?"

His mouth went grim. "What are you talking about - more last time? Last time you were -" - his eyes grew - " - Unbreakable Diamond -"

" - Split!"

- and the two swept with the speed of lightning away from each other, purple fists forming on her foe's hands, four fists of hair bursting out of her disguised cheeks, table & still beating heart between them. Two hair-fists grabbing the table, she flipped it up and in to him -

- but a sbarrage of purple shattered the table to wooden chunks, shards flying behind & in to the wall and ceiling, twenty feet separating the two as he stepped back against the stove.

'Out of range.' she thought. 'Need to get closer.'

"I - I don't know how you - fucking disguised yourself, but -"

" - Split!" she shouted; one hairfist burrowed in to the floor -

- and ripped up the entire line of tiles; the man gasped as he stumbled, sudden footing lost -

- but a purple punch hit the ground, and the tiles flew back to their former position, Kate nodding as she realized it.

'Repair. Know what he'll do if I step forward.' she thought, stepping forward, and as she stood where the table had been -

" - Unbreakable Diamond!" he shouted, tapping the wooden shards behind -

- and the next scene was instant. The shards started to fly towards her -

- but out of the chunks burst her embedded hair, gripping his arms as they flew -

- and slamming him with the strength of a thousand against the ground as Kate swept left to avoid the table's half-repair; the man struggled against the floor as she rushed up -

- and four fists of hair smashed his nose back in to his skull; he started to scream as he thrashed -

" - could go much easier!" shouted Kate, one hairhand gripping his neck back as another shoved him down -

- and her blow to his stomach couldn't even fold him as he gasped, purple fists still thrashing against new restraints against the floor. Split's hair formed spikes on her boots -

- and two stomps left his arms with a dozen leaking holes, Kate grunting as she stomped again and again, purple fists losing their struggle as his bones broke -

" - p-please -"

" - sheathe your fucking Revenant and start talking, now -"

- he tried to scream -

- and a bouquet of hair burrowed down his throat, man thrashing & gagging, strands tightening around his limbs -

" - ggggf! Ggffff!"

" - going to try to scream?" She saw consciousness start to leave his eyes, but Split yanked out of his mouth, wringing itself out on him as she stepped off. He started to scream again -

- and one punch to his stomach folded him like a jackknife, breath pinching one gasp out. "Every time you scream - it gets worse. Tell me what you're fucking doing with these Revenants."

"H-Help -" he panted; another punch, and Split threatened under his nails. "P-Please - all, all I - stop, please, I can't - I can't think with - how hard you're gripping -"

" - get used to it. What are you doing with these Revenants?" Split's grip started to choke, so she slammed him against the wall, one giant hairhand gripping him tight.

"I-I…" He panted. "P-Please - please don't kill me -"

" - start talking." One strand peeked under his thumbnail. She was a pro, and there was no guilt in torturing an evil thing.

"A-All - anything - a-all that happens - I, I get - I get told if - someone's fought a Revenant -"

" - from what? The news?"

"M-Maybe -"

- one strand came inside; he screamed as it dug deeper - " - n-no! No! N-Not the news!"

"Stop fucking lying to me. One more time."

"I-I - please - please s-stop -"

" - answer me. How do you know someone's fought a Revenant?"

"S-Someone - I - I, someone - calls me! Calls me when - when - they give a location, and - g-god - p-please -"

" - next set is going in your fucking eyeballs -"

" - Blackburn!" shouted a familiar voice behind; she turned -

- just in time to see familiar fog corrode the door away, others right behind Serena -

" - wait, wait!" shouted Kate, grip loosening -

" - Diamond!" panted the man, and in the next instant -

- Split's grip tightened, and as a woman might crush an orange -

- crushed his body in to red&white pulp, grisly chunks bleeding between Split's fingers -

" - it's me - it's me!" shouted Kate, ripping her badge out - " - second, give me -"

- a thousand hairs burst out of her face, returning her appearance to normal; she stifled back her scream as she hit the ground, rolling faceup pained to ensure they could see her -

" - wait, what?" panted Serena -

" - s-s-second." gagged Kate, entire face bleeding. "D-Don't - me. It's - me."

Serena rushed over and crouched down, fog readied.

"…c-c-come on." gagged Kate. "…h-heal."

Serena's fog filled her nostrils, tendrils growing to heal her wounds as she groaned.

"…a-alright. Mind… mind if I sit up?"

"…slowly." murmured Serena, and Kate nodded as she slumped up.

"…r-right. Split. Can - use it for disguises." She winced. "N-Not - quick ones like - fuck. Like that."

"Show me." said Serena, and Kate nodded, strands of hair going to her own pores -

- and every eye turned & groaned away from the spectacle, strands hardening&softening as they burrowed under her skin.

"...I know it's gross." groaned Kate, appearance masculine again, hair-hardened jaw and beard shadow.

"…uh. Why is your voice different?" said Yuruko as she came up, Blackburn retreating.

"You - really want to know that?" winced Kate as she stood -

" - nope." winced Serena. "What - what was the screaming about? We got called in -"

" - guy I was torturing for information." sighed Kate, stepping over the extra-pulp carcass. "Fucking screamed so fucking loud -"

" - you were - torturing him?" said Yuruko -

" - yeah. I was. These guys are total scum. Worthless pieces of shit. No one -"

" - that's - that's really fucked up!" said Julia and Naomi nodded. "You can't - you can't just go around fucking -"

" - I got here because one of them finally talked, and if I had another few minutes -"

" - that doesn't - that doesn't make it okay! These are - even if they are trying to kill us, they're -"

" - what, 'still people'? Is that the argument you're gonna drop on me? Where did you grow up?"

"What's that supposed to mean, 'where did I grow up'?"

"It's an easy question. Where did you grow up?"

"None of your - none of your business."

"Yeah. That's what I thought. Maybe if you actually grew up in a place where crime isn't just something you see on a screen, you'd…" Kate sighed. "...come on. I don't want to argue about this."

"They're trying to kill us." said Serena. "They would've done the same to us."

"Thank you." said Kate, and Naomi frowned. "Like I said. This guy…" She sighed, head shaking. "… what I got out of him. Someone's running some - service, guessing - to transfer Revenants in to new hosts. Charging for it. I came here, disguised - pretended like I had my Revenant in my bag. Guy said it'd be 'two coins' - and someone was telling him whenever there's a Revenant fight."

"…ugh." sighed Yuruko. "Whatever. At least you… got something."

"Yeah. And - whatever, look." Kate sighed. "I know - whatever. Some of you aren't going to agree with me - but I'm going to keep doing it so long as it keeps working."

"That's - fucking vile." said Julia. "These are still fucking people, not just - "

" - I just said I didn't want to argue about this. I'm not going to change on this -"

" - well - I -do- want to argue about this -"

" - then just fucking leave. Go - just leave. Shouldn't be all in one place, anyway -"

" - what, so you can -"

" - because we need to search this apartment, too." Kate's head shook as she turned to Yuruko & Serena. "You two and me. Gotta be something in here."

"Sounds good." nodded Serena, and her&the chemist went to the hall, Kate ignoring Julia&Naomi as she started searching.

"…fine." said Naomi. "We'll go."

"Thanks." said Kate.

The two left. Sickness came over Naomi at Serena's agreement. Her mentor was violent - her too - but she'd drawn up some border between Serena & her's quick kills and prolonged torture. Maybe she was thinking that way because she'd only heard the second half of screams and not the first half fighting, but she hoped Serena would never ask for that.

"…god." sighed Julia as they came out to the parking lot. "That's - super fucked up, I'm sorry."

"…yeah." Naomi sighed. She decided to believe that her friend&mentor wouldn't actually torture, enough for her mind to leave. "Let's just - can we talk about something else?"

"…yeah. Sure." nodded Julia. "Anything you want."

Naomi's mind went grim. She hadn't said anything during lunch, either. "I… I just don't - want to talk about this."

"Sorry." said Julia. "Just - guess I'm just, thinking about - that stuff. But - yeah. Let's - what do you want to talk about?"

"…uh." Naomi winced as Julia got her hand on her shoulder. "Just… anything - else." She had imagined she'd yell at Julia if she did it again, but now felt she'd be overreacting.

"...sure. Um. Maybe we - do you wanna get something to eat?"

"Um, sure."

Julia nodded and pulled her phone out. Her Naomi hand trailed down the back -

" - stop - STOP!" shouted Naomi, shoving her hand off; Julia stepped back -

" - wh-"

" - I DON'T LIKE YOU - YOU FUCKING TOUCHING ME LIKE THAT! Stop - stop fucking doing that, I'm not trying to - I KNOW what you're trying to fucking do - I'm not even a fucking lesbian! I don't want to fucking date you - stop fucking trying to touch me -"

" - o-okay, I-I -"

" - stop fucking complimenting me, stop fucking telling me I look cute or whatever - whatever the fuck you're trying to do - because I DON'T FUCKING WANT TO DATE YOU! Okay -"

- and Julia's tears made guilt punch her stomach -

" - o-o-okay, p-please - please s-s-stop y-yelling -" - she started sobbing -

" - I-I - just - just, stop - okay?"

" - I-I-I'm s-sorry, I-I -" - Julia's face slammed shut.

"J-just - s-stop, stop - stop touching me like that. I-I don't like it."

"P-Please d-don't hate me - I-I didn't k-know." Her crying worsened. "P-Please d-don't hate me - p-please -"

" - I - I, don't - don't hate you." said Naomi, stepping back. "Just - s-stop. I - I don't - I just want to be friends -"

" - o-o-okay - I-I'm sorry I'm s-s-sorry I-I'm sorry -"

" - o-okay."

"…p-please d-don't h-hate me." panted Julia, head in her hands. "I-I'm s-sorry -"

" - o-okay." winced Naomi. She felt she should be reasonable by accepting the apology, even if she didn't want to. "Just… j-just - I don't hate you."

Julia sobbed for another minute while Naomi felt guilty.

"…j-just - stop." said Naomi, seeing civilians glancing out. "I don't - hate you. Just - just don't do that - anymore, and... We're still… friends, right?"

"…o-okay." mumbled Julia, wiping her eyes. "O-Okay."

"Let's…let's just walk." winced Naomi, and they did.

◆◆◆

Kate eventually texted them to come back and called them in to the man's bedroom, Serena sitting on the bed, Kate against the wall, Yuruko at his computer. Julia's face had cleared up.

"Coolio." said Yuruko, hard at the keys. "Uh - so, we found out this dude had… He was buying cryptocurrency -"

" - which you two had to explain to me." laughed Kate.

"Yeah." laughed Yuruko. "So, uh - basically, it's like digital currency. You can buy it with regular money, but - once you have it, uh - it's mostly untraceable."

Julia nodded as she continued.

"He was still logged in to his account, so…" Yuruko shrugged, pulling up his transaction history. "This doesn't really mean anything, though, since - it's all just wallet numbers."

"Yeah." shrugged Serena. "Um, I guess we could like - contact the website, but -"

" - uh, the only people in to this shit are libertarians." grinned Yuruko, and three laughed. "They'd probably like - call us fascists or something."

"Probably." laughed Kate. "Still - wallet numbers. Right? You said there's still some weird stuff?"

"Yeah." said Yuruko. "So, back in… September 2019. Someone sent him 3,000 coins, which is… nearly - thirty million dollars, now."

"And that doesn't come up again, right? That… wallet?"

"Yep." nodded Yuruko. "He sent 500 of those to this one guy, and… uh. Looks like - a bunch of unique wallets send him two coins every few weeks, and he sends - one and a half to a bunch of other unique ones. But - so." She shook her head. "So, just because it's - one wallet, doesn't mean it's one person. It's like accounts. Sometimes you can't even - you don't even have to give personal information to sign up, so."

"Sorry, you said - $16,000 for two, right?" said Kate and Yuruko nodded. "Sixteen thousand. Guy said two coins."

"…wait." said Serena. "Uh, you - said he said two coins, right? When you showed him the Revenant?"

"…yeah." Kate nodded. "Good point, yeah. Thought it was, uh… thought - he was buying them, but…" She frowned. "…that's weird, yeah."

"Why would someone pay to give away a Revenant?" said Yuruko.

"…dunno. Must be a pretty good reason for it." said Kate. "Was disguised as a guy he knew had one, too - doubt he thought it was for me."

"…yeah." mumbled Serena, and the five thought for a while.

Eventually Kate said: "I'm gonna, uh - stick around here, see if I can find anything else. I'll call you up if I get anything."

"Sure thing." said Serena, and her & Yuruko left. So did Julia & Naomi, but not too closely.