Chapter 68
[93]
Haru’s blood ran cold at Sugimura’s words. Her eyes were wide with shock as her heart pounded against her chest. The letter opener she held between her and her father’s killer shook in her hand as its weight seemed to increase with each passing moment.
“Aww, did I scare you?” Sugimura taunted as he slowly took a step forward. “I’m sorry Haru, I can’t just let you tell people about me. Buuut if you’d be willing to *ahem* ‘bargain’ for your life…” Sugimura began to imply. “I’d be willing to hear it.”
The man took another step closer to Haru, gently pushing the weapon away. Her arm fell limply to her side as tears began to pour down her cheeks. Sugimura wormed his arms around her torso, holding the girl as she cried.
“Oh poor girl, don’t worry. I’ll help guide you throu-AGH!” He cried out as the letter opener was embedded into his shoulder blade.
Sugimura released her, attempting to pull the sharp object out of his back. Haru watched as his image distorted once more, returning to his white bodysuit, only now with dark red streaks running down his back.
Snapping out of her trance as her adrenaline kicked in, Haru ran out of the room before Sugimura recovered. She wasn’t granted much of a head start though as the voice of the murderer called out after her.
“Fucking bitch! I’m gonna make your death hurt now! Dammit!” The sound of footsteps chasing after her followed closely after.
Haru didn’t listen to him, she was too preoccupied with trying to escape her own death. As she ran straight to the front door, she didn’t see Sugimura grab a remote from off of the table and point it at the door, locking it remotely. The girl grabbed the door handle and attempted to pull the door open, only for it to not budge an inch.
‘Damn these smart houses!’ Haru thought as she fled in an alternate direction. The door could still be opened without the remote, but doing so required a code that would take her too long to input.
As she ran into the hallway, she noticed that Sugimura wasn’t running after her anymore. Now that the only escape from the penthouse apartment was blocked off, he was confident, cocky even as he slowly stalked the girl through the apartment.
Haru took refuge in a linen closet, trying to control her erratic breathing as she heard the soft footsteps of Sugimura slowly coming down the hall.
“Haaaruuu, that was awfully mean of you. I mean, do you have any idea how much this suit costs?” His voice taunted before suddenly going quiet, only the creaking sound of footsteps on the floorboards could be heard for several long moments.
“Haru! It’s me!” The voice of her father called. “Come on! We need to get out of here quickly!”
Haru felt a lump in her throat at the thought that her father survived, but she wasn’t fooled for a moment. She remained where she was, trying to steady her breathing.
“Haru *cough* p-please! I *cough* don’t have long! We need to run! Now!”
Despite the pulling of her heartstrings, she didn’t budge.
“No? Nothing?” Sugimura’s voice asked. “Wow Haru, I never suspected that you were so cold-blooded. I mean really, what if I really was your dying father? Would you just leave me to bleed out? Alone?”
As he spoke, Haru could hear Sugimura getting closer and closer to her hiding place. She searched desperately for something to defend herself with, only to find blankets and pillowcases.
“Could you possibly be in...HERE!?” He ripped open the door to the linen closet, only to be pushed down as Haru rushed past him. Only having bought herself a few seconds, Haru didn’t rush to the front door. Instead, the girl ran into her room.
Sugimura quickly followed after her. “Really? You’re going to hide beneath the covers? I knew you were childish but-” He was cut off once again as an object came into view as he entered the doorway.
Haru hadn’t ran into her room to hide, she had gone to grab something. A gift she’d received a long time ago from her mother. Something she used whenever life with her father became too stressful and she needed to blow off some steam.
Haru grabbed her axe.
The blade wasn’t sharp enough to kill, it was barely enough to break the skin. But with the force Haru swung with, combined with the axe’s weight and the speed that Sugimura was running at, it slammed into his gut and broke straight through his suit. The Chameleon doubled over in pain, gasping for breath after having the wind knocked out of him. Blood seeped from his wound.
Haru released the axe and gasped in shock, she hadn’t been thinking when she used the axe. While it had been in self defense, she’d never actually hurt someone, let alone to this degree. Her first instinct was to check if he was alright, before remembering who it was that was in front of her.
“Damn *wheeze* Haru, I didn’t think you *wheeze* had it in you. I guess you are your father’s daughter.” His form shifted once again and he took on the face of Kunikazu Okumura.
Haru began to tear up again. The stress of everything that had happened in such a short time was getting to her.
“But it looks like you don’t have the guts to finish me. And that’ll be your last mistake.” He stood up, clutching his wound. As he continued to speak, his appearance shifted each second. “Next time, you won’t see me coming. I can be anyone. I can be anywhere. And you’ll never know. See you soon Haru.” With that, Sugimura moved out into the hallway.
Haru got up to follow after him, but when she entered the hallway, it was completely empty.
[94]
Ren wasn’t used to not being the one injured after a battle, but on this occasion, he would’ve preferred that to the current situation.
It was an hour after the fight when he got the call from Ryuji, telling him that he and Ann had been admitted to the hospital following their encounter and subsequent fight with the real Mysterio. The news of Mysterio’s true identity came as a shock to Ren, he’d never expected Mishima, the shy boy from his class who’d never hurt a fly, to become a super villain. When Ryuji explained Mishima’s reasoning behind what he’d done, Ren was even more devastated, in a way, he was responsible for Mysterio’s creation. Before he could feel any more guilt over the situation, Ryuji had reassured him that none of this was his fault, that Mishima was the one responsible. Still though, Ren wasn’t entirely convinced he was free of blame.
Between himself and Ann, Ryuji had (according to him) come out of the confrontation less scathed. His leg, previously broken by Kamoshida, had been dealt a heavy blow by Mishima and needed to be reset. He’d have to wear a knee brace for several weeks and wouldn’t be able to run for even longer. Ann had suffered a concussion from her fall and was currently receiving stitches for the large gash in her forehead. The cut to her head was so deep that it would leave a noticeable scar running down her forehead.
When all of the explanations were finished, the two boys were left sitting in the hospital waiting room for Ann to come out. A TV mounted on the wall displayed news coverage of Mysterio’s attack. It seemed that, despite Mishima’s belief that the attack would be harmless, 26 people had been injured, mostly being trampled in the crowds' attempt to escape, and 3 people had been killed, two in a car crash and one from an asthma attack caused by the gas.
“Dammit.” Ren said, holding his head in his hands. What kind of hero was he if he couldn’t stop a villain who wasn’t even trying to kill people?
“What should we do?” Ryuji asked. “About Mishima, I mean. Do we turn him in? How do we explain to the police-”
“I don’t know Ryuji!” Ren shouted without meaning to. Upon receiving stares from the other patients in the waiting room, he realized just how loud he’d been. “I’m sorry man it’s just...I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do in this situation. I failed big time. All of this could’ve been avoided if I’d just-”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
As she entered the waiting room, Ann interrupted Ren’s train of thought. Her forehead was wrapped in fresh bandages, but otherwise the blonde girl seemed no worse for wear.
Before he could even think, Ren ran over to the girl and enveloped her in a hug. Blushing at the sudden embrace, Ann quickly accepted the hug, her heart fluttering as she did so.
“Ann! I’m so glad you’re okay!” Ren no longer cared about his volume. “If you had...I-I’d never forgive myself.”
“What the hell?” Ryuji interrupted the reunion. “Why does she get special treatment? I got hurt too y’know!”
“Guys!” Suddenly, the rest of the team entered the waiting room. Makoto, Yusuke, and Morgana ran over to embrace the rest of the team. This situation with Mysterio had been the groups first outing as a team working together to take down a villain rather than Ren going solo, and more than anything, they were all glad that everyone could walk away from the fight.
“We were so worried!” Makoto exclaimed. “When we got Ryuji’s text, we came as fast as we could! Ann are you alright?”
“I’m okay, just a scratch, nothing major.” She replied, waving off Makoto’s concerns.
“...I’m fine too y’know!” Ryuji interjected, hoping to get a little sympathy.
“HEY!” The group turned to the unfamiliar voice, its owner a gruff, bearded man in his forties. “Can you take the reunion somewhere else!? Other people have things going on too!”
Now embarrassed, the six teens decided to follow the man’s advice and exited the building. Ren was surprised to find it dark out, he hadn’t thought he was in the hospital that long, but he had been rather busy talking with Ryuji. As the group headed out the door, they conversed further, trading stories about their experiences during the attack. About to join in on the conversation, Ren was interrupted when his phone buzzed with a text.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone. He’d expected the message to be from Naoto, possibly wanting a debriefing on the attack, so when he read the sender’s name, he was surprised to see it was from someone else. The message was from none other than Futaba, and despite having not spoken to him in weeks, the girl kept the message short, only two words long.
“Leblanc. Tonight.”