Wicked Little Games (Worm/Kakegurui)

[Cold_Fusion]

Thank you for giving this insane idea of mine a shot. I couldn't find a crossover between these two anywhere (except The Whims of Fate on Spacebattles, which while enjoyable, didn't quite scratch that itch for me), so I started writing one myself.

I have no beta but myself. If you see any mistakes, please let me know and I'll fix them as soon as I can.

That's all from me. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it!

---

Buy-In 1.1

Buy-In - The initial investment a poker game or poker tournament player must make to receive their starting chips.

As I trudged into Winslow on Monday morning, the weather matched my mood: gray, cold, and life-sucking. Spring had started a few weeks ago, yet winter refused to go away; I'd left the house wearing gloves and a heavy coat and still felt like the wind was carving gashes into me.

While the temperature improved once I stepped inside, my mood didn't. The population of Winslow remained as lethargic as always this early in the morning, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't jump at the chance to knock me down a peg. Thus, I kept marching toward my homeroom, making sure not to meet anyone's gaze as I walked.

Then Emma revealed herself from around a corner. Maybe I should have turned around after seeing her. I didn't see who precisely stuck out their leg, but their identity didn't matter: I tripped and hit the ground all the same.

"Wow, Taylor! I didn't realize you were so clumsy," Emma said, her smirk audible in her voice.

Several of her cronies laughed right on cue. I got up and kept walking, having realized there was no way to win long ago. If I ignored them, they continuously escalated until I couldn't take it anymore. If I lashed out, I'd get punished for hurting them, and while they might not get off scot-free their punishment would be a joke compared to mine. The only option that consistently worked was avoiding them, and that was difficult at best because they always sought me out whenever they wanted or needed a punching bag, which was often.

Fortunately, I suffered no other 'accidents' before homeroom. After arriving a few minutes before the opening bell, I entered a half-full classroom of half-asleep classmates and plopped down at my desk, ignoring the stares I'd gotten used to by now. My backpack stayed in front of me. Leaving it out of sight was a recipe to have something stolen from it, perhaps even the whole bag if the perpetrator was gutsy enough, and I had limited funds to replace anything I lost this way. Best not to take chances.

The morning crawled by as it always did, homeroom filling up as Mrs. Knott kept half an eye on the room. She marked people present when they arrived, but otherwise paid us little attention. Then the bell rang, and to my surprise, Mrs. Knott strode to the front of the room instead of remaining at her desk like usual.

"Today, I'm breaking the tradition of having nothing to announce during homeroom," Mrs. Knott said. "A new student will be joining us for the remainder of the year. She asked to be allowed to introduce herself, so she will be doing just that. She was finishing some paperwork in the office last I checked, but she should be here any minute."

As soon as Mrs. Knott finished speaking, the classroom door swung open and our new classmate entered. She was a girl and a very pretty one at that. She was about average in height, with long, straight black hair that fell almost to her waist, vibrant brown eyes, and a wide smile that appeared all sunshine and rainbows. She wore a simple red dress and black shoes, and her posture was so ramrod-straight it looked like her spine had been replaced by a steel cable. Definitely the popular girl type back home if how she was looking at us meant anything; hopefully, she wouldn't get as bad as Emma, Sophia, and Madison did.

"Hello, everyone," the girl said, her English noticeably accented but otherwise solid. "My name is Yumeko Jabami, and I moved to Brockton Bay a few weeks ago. I hope you will accept me as your new classmate, and I'd love to get to know you better."

As many of my classmates erupted into furious whispering, Yumeko bowed and took a seat at the empty desk to my left. Not a surprise, since it was the only available desk in the room, but it'd get my classmates' attention nonetheless. I idly wondered how long it would take for her to join the rest of the class in ignoring or taunting me. Probably about two weeks. Maybe less.

Mrs. Knott returned to her usual seat, and the rest of homeroom passed in relative peace. With everyone focused on Yumeko, it meant they had little attention to spare on me, for which I was grateful. Being ignored wasn't great by any means, but it was volumes better than their usual treatment of me.

The bell sounded far too soon. I left slowly enough not to draw attention, but quickly enough to get somewhere. As long as I was in the halls, getting hemmed in for a potential prank or attack remained a hazard. Emma, Sophia, and Madison were always planning, and if they weren't planning, they were up to something. Making myself an easier target than necessary wasn't on my agenda.

"Hey!"

I heard someone's voice behind me, but I kept walking. They were talking to someone else.

"Hey, wait up!"

The voice sounded much clearer this time, but I ignored it once more. I was about to break into a run when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I whirled around, half expecting a trap, a prank, or even a punch. Instead, Yumeko stood right behind me, her cheeks pink. Between that and her heavy breathing, she'd expended far more effort than just about anyone else would to catch up with me. Most of the other students in the hallway must have made the same conclusion because they stopped whatever they were doing to stare at us. No one said anything, perhaps too afraid of embarrassing themselves in front of an unknown, but the implications were determinable without words. "You're seriously cozying up to Locker Girl? Girl, you can do better than her."

She didn't seem to have any tricks up her sleeve, but that didn't make the situation much better. "Was that really necessary?"

Yumeko didn't seem too bothered. "My apologies for that. I didn't think you heard me and that was the first thing I thought of. Your name is Taylor, right?"

I nodded. No reason to lie about something that simple.

"Good, you're who I'm looking for," Yumeko said. "If you have time to spare today, would you mind showing me around? I still have a lot to learn about this place."

That seemed suspect; Winslow wasn't that big a building. From what little I remembered of my freshman-year tour of the building, it didn't have much to offer besides the obvious. That sounded like bait to lure me somewhere secluded. "They didn't show you around before you enrolled?"

Yumeko giggled a bit, then shook her head. "Well, they gave me a tour, but it felt way too glamorized, and it was on a weekend so the school was empty."

She leaned in closer before I could respond, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I'd like someone willing to show me all the worst Winslow has to offer. No offense meant, but given how I've heard everyone's been treating you, I'd bet you've seen plenty of it."

That answer had not been on my radar. She hadn't picked me as her tour guide in spite of my status, she'd done so because of it. Why she'd need someone with my reputation remained a mystery, but a few possibilities manifested without too much effort.

Was she part of an elaborate scheme to humiliate me again? Possibly. Unless she'd met with the usual suspects before school somehow, they probably weren't behind it, but plenty of people could have put her up to this.

Was she a potential gang member scoping out Brockton Bay's other criminal elements? Maybe. Yumeko seemed a bit too straight-laced to be involved with one, but looks could be deceiving and I knew little about their initiation procedures.

Was she just someone who wanted to know what to expect during her stint at Winslow? Discounting paranoia, this was the most likely option. No one with a brain between their ears thought Winslow was an easy school to survive in, at least by the standards of Brockton Bay. Getting advice from someone who'd been through much of what Winslow had to offer wasn't the worst decision she could make.

The rational part of my brain caved; I wouldn't know unless I tried. "How about during lunch? We have a full hour, so we'll have time to eat after we finish."

"That sounds lovely," Yumeko said. "Thank you. Is meeting by the cafeteria entrance okay?"

I nodded once more.

"Then I'll see you at lunch," Yumeko said. Once she finished her sentence, she disappeared into the mob of students packing the halls, leaving me to get to first period alone, as always. The students who'd stopped to watch our conversation began moving toward their first class of the day, but even as I did the same I still felt eyes on my back.

It disappointed me that skipping my lunch break felt like the sensible alternative, especially since most of the teachers didn't allow eating during class. At least it meant a break in routine. Worst came to worst, I'd find a bench somewhere and eat my lunch before I came home; I'd be hungry the rest of the day but a seat in the park, overlooking the ocean, or even in my room at home all beat the girls' bathroom by a mile.

Thankfully, I didn't run into anyone else in the hall before I made it to my first-period class. With a few minutes free before I had to write anything down, as soon as I had my things set I allowed my mind to wander.

The last time I'd looked forward to a lunch period had been in middle school, before Emma had turned into the bitch I knew now. And that was with me making my own lunches, so I had no complaints about the food itself. (I'd tried Winslow's cafeteria food on a whim once; it was edible, but my compliments ended there.). Good fortune didn't come my way often these days; hoping this was the start of something bigger was ill-advised, but I did so anyway.

Still, hope wasn't a substitute for reality. This would only be temporary. Even if she somehow wanted to be my friend, I doubted that sentiment lasted too long given my reputation and track record. She'd join the rest of the school eventually. I'd have to enjoy someone else's company while it lasted.

 

[Cold_Fusion]

Buy-In 1.2

When the bell rang at the end of World Issues, I almost knocked Mr. Gladly over in my haste to get to the cafeteria. Wanting to stay ahead of the crowd, I took the most efficient route I could and speed-walked the whole way there, only slowing down for the final straightaway. No one tried anything on me, and for that I was grateful.

Once the cafeteria was finally in sight, my hopes reignited. Yumeko leaned against the far wall about five feet from the cafeteria doors, other students streaming around her in their pursuit of lunch. About a minute later, when that stream had reduced to a trickle, Yumeko approached, her smile uplifting my mood several notches.

Yumeko spoke first. "Thanks again for agreeing to give me the tour. So, how's your day been?"

"My day was fine," I said, which for once wasn't a lie. During the first three periods, I hadn't been hit with anything worse than snide remarks; between that and my upcoming tour, this was shaping up to be one of the best days I'd had all year. "What about you?"

"Pleasant enough, thank you," Yumeko said. "This school's definitely a unique experience."

"That's one way to describe it," I thought. Thankfully, those words stopped just short of my mouth; there was enough negative energy at Winslow without me adding to it. "So, where would you like me to start?"

Yumeko went for the obvious answer. "How about the cafeteria? We're already here."

I nodded; the cafeteria was as good a place to get started as any. I'd never had a consistent place to sit without being bothered, which was part of why I'd taken to eating lunch in the girls' bathroom, but it was open and easy to surveil, plus it was technically where I was supposed to be right now so no one could kick us out.

When we entered the cafeteria, the unfolding scene was about what I expected. While there were exceptions, for the most part the cafeteria separated itself into the usual cliques. The skinheads and Empire Eighty-Eight sympathizers/junior members all sat together in the corner of the cafeteria nearest to us. What was left of the Azn Bad Boys' junior members marked their territory in the opposite corner, quiet and huddled together as if for warmth. The popular kids, including Emma, Sophia, and Madison, sat clumped together in the center, chatting and laughing; they hadn't noticed me yet but it was only a matter of time. Almost everyone else not waiting in line for the school lunch either sat with a small group of close friends or kept their heads down. I pointed out each group as I saw them, Yumeko appearing to take notes on her phone as she did.

I made special note of the Azn Bad Boys, since Yumeko was a potential recruit for them even if her gender didn't match their name. "They're down real bad, so the odds they make a pass at you are pretty high. You know what to do if they approach you?"

Yumeko nodded. "Just say no, right?"

That sounded about right. "If they keep pushing, get the Protectorate or the police involved if you can. Winslow has security systems in theory but they haven't done anything for me, and the security guards are a joke."

"Good to know," Yumeko said. "I'll fend for myself."

As I scanned the cafeteria once more to make sure I didn't miss anything important, Emma looked up from her lunch, and her gaze met mine. I took that as the sign to move on. "How about I show you the rest of the school?"

"I'd love to see it," Yumeko said. I exited the cafeteria with no resistance, Yumeko tailing me. As far as I could tell, Emma hadn't followed us out, but that look could mean anything these days. I thought about sending some flies to scout ahead for me in case this tour was the setup for a trap, but even though the odds of getting caught were low I didn't want to risk outing myself before I'd even gone on patrol.

Thankfully, trap or no trap, the rest of the tour was easy enough. While I showed her all of Winslow's prominent landmarks, such as the dated auditorium, the ancient computer lab, and the half-empty library, I also brought attention to things her earlier tour guide never would have. Blind spots where it was easy for someone to ambush you without witnesses. Faculty members I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw. The best places to go if you needed to hide from someone. The security cameras that I'd bet money didn't work. The security guards who didn't even attempt to corral us back to the cafeteria. Yumeko occasionally asked a question or two, but otherwise she just took more notes, her fingers moving so fast they seemed to blur. It took about thirty minutes for me to cover what I knew of the school, and I was pleased that I didn't feel even a bit winded by all the walking and stairs once I'd finished; my runs were starting to pay off.

"Don't take my words for gospel, I don't know everything," I finished as we began the trek back to the cafeteria. "This is just what I know. Hopefully, that should be enough for you to make it through the rest of the year unscathed."

"Some information is better than none," Yumeko said.

I agreed. Of course, having full control of the situation was preferable, but that didn't happen often anymore; anything I could control or obtain remained precious.

We began to circle back toward where we started, but I'd clearly drained my reservoir of luck dry. A bit less than halfway there, Emma, Sophia, and Madison stepped out from behind a corner, blocking the only way to the stairwell. Unfortunately, my usual strategy of avoiding them until the bell rang wasn't an option here, since leaving Yumeko alone with them felt exponentially worse than just taking my lumps.

Thus, I switched to Plan B. Going on the offensive didn't make my odds much better, but it was all I could think of. "Don't you three have somewhere to be?"

Sophia's grin went switchblade-sharp. "Don't you have a bathroom stall to be eating in?"

"Oh, Sophia, don't be ridiculous, Taylor's not eating in there," Emma said. "I mean, she's definitely jilling off. Why else would she be hiding in the bathroom during lunch?"

Madison made several exaggerated sex moans in time with suggestive motions, causing Emma and Sophia to crack up. Nothing I said here wouldn't just give them another comeback, so I clammed up. Yumeko's expression didn't change, but at least she didn't laugh with them. I'd take what I could get.

Once her laughter subsided, Emma addressed Yumeko. "I know you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack for now, but if you value your reputation, Taylor's not your friend. She isn't anyone's friend, and there's a reason for that. I ditched her as soon as I started here and everything's looked up for me since."

Yumeko didn't seem too convinced. "I'll make friends with whoever I please, thank you very much. And might I ask why you care so much about how I live my life?"

"We're just telling it like it is," Madison said.

"Well, so am I," Yumeko said. "If your opinions bothered me, I don't think I'd be here."

Sophia breathed deep. "Last chance, new girl. Play by our rules or you will regret it later."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Yumeko said. "She's been way more helpful than any of you have been. Besides, I have my own standards, and to say none of you meet them would be just a bit of an understatement."

Sophia's fists clenched at her sides and her cheeks flushed, but Emma got in front of her before things could escalate any further, then whispered something into Madison's ear. I didn't hear what it was, but after Emma finished, Madison took Sophia's hand and the two of them began walking down the stairs, presumably to return to the cafeteria.

"You know what? I'm not going to stop you," Emma said. "You made your choice, now you get to live with it." Once she finished, she spun on her heel and joined her friends.

"Have a great day," Yumeko called after them. I saw Emma flinch, but she didn't rise to the bait, instead disappearing from view.

Whether or not I could stop Yumeko in the future remained in question, but it was my duty to at least warn her about what she'd done. "I'm going to be straight with you: those three are the queen bees of the school. Emma's dad is a lawyer and Sophia is a track star, so they can get away with murder. You don't have to defend me, and go against them at your own peril."

"Don't worry about me," Yumeko said. "I can take care of myself. If they underestimate me, that's their problem."

As heartwarming as that sentiment was, reality wasn't that kind. Any further attempts at dissuading her seemed doomed to fail, but at least I'd tried.

Yumeko checked her phone, then broached the next topic for me. "We still have twenty minutes left before break ends. Do you want to have lunch together?"

"Thanks for offering, but I'm still full from breakfast," I said. That was a lie, I was starving. However, I'd had my fill of Trio encounters for the day, and entering the cafeteria was just asking for something nasty to happen at this point. I hoped my stomach didn't growl loud enough to give me away.

"No worries," Yumeko replied. "In that case, I'll see you tomorrow in homeroom!"

She began walking toward the cafeteria, leaving me with a smile. Even with the interruption, this qualified as the best thing that had happened to me since… the incident. If she actually looked forward to seeing me again and her statement wasn't just for show, then I'd just made the closest thing I had to a friend at Winslow.

In that moment, I made another decision. I'd been training physically and mentally for months, I'd assembled everything I'd need for a night on the town, and after a few weeks of finagling my costume was finally ready. I felt ready to be a hero. Most importantly of all, I wanted to keep this good feeling going.

Tonight, I'd hit the streets for my first patrol.

 

[Cold_Fusion]

Buy-In 1.3

My bedside clock showed midnight, yet I still hadn't left the house. I'd been psyching myself up for this moment ever since I first got out of the hospital, but now that Dad had gone to sleep I was struggling to go through with it. I hadn't told him anything: not about the bullying, not about my trigger, not about my heroic future. The time never felt right, but every day that passed only strengthened that sensation and I knew it wouldn't get any better.

For a while, I'd shoved those thoughts down: it wasn't like Mom's death hadn't affected him too: those first few months in particular had been rough. He seemed to have moved on, but some days were still much worse than others. He had enough problems himself without needing to worry about mine. Thus, my preparation finished without going any further down that path.

I double-checked my bag for everything I'd put together for this night, marking items off a hastily made checklist as I found them. Pepper spray in case my bugs didn't do enough to someone. A hammer in case brute force became my only choice. A first-aid kit to patch myself or someone else up. Two energy drinks and a bag of trail mix to keep me awake. Fifty dollars in cash to purchase anything I deemed missing, including a dollar in quarters in case I needed to use a pay phone for some reason. Apart from the costume itself, I didn't come up with anything else I couldn't do without, so I packed everything once more, swung my bag over one shoulder, and began creeping down the hall.

A glance into the other bedroom revealed Dad asleep and snoring; maybe he'd notice when I came home but he definitely wouldn't notice me leaving. However, after slipping down the stairs, I paused right before the front door. Did I actually want to do this? Would it be worth it?

That conclusion came a few seconds later. If it meant I could do some good for the world, then yes. A thousand times yes.

Taking one last deep breath, I threw the door open, stepped out into the night air, and closed it behind me before breaking into a casual jog.

I'd worn gloves and the exercise kept most of me warm, but the wind blowing against my face felt like sandpaper. Considering the morning's chill, the night made it ten times worse: it had to be below freezing out. Brockton Bay could get frosty in the winter, so it wasn't even that bad by comparison, but most of us just wanted a taste of summer after so much cold.

That wasn't at the forefront of my mind for long, though. Another benefit of my weekly runs was that reaching my destination took less time than expected, especially after I passed the Boardwalk. After that, I cut out the idle thoughts in favor of gathering bugs and checking for threats.

The Docks manifested gradually, like the flu; within two blocks my surroundings changed from a middle-class neighborhood to a middle-class neighborhood that had been bombed weekly for the past year. Shadows covered every surface, the darkness so thick I could barely see to the end of the block. Most of the windows in the area were some combination of barred, broken, and boarded up. The few people I saw wandering the streets were looking for trouble as intensely as I was, so I gave them a wide berth and stayed out of sight whenever possible. This remained true for a few more blocks, then the Docks' messy exterior was left behind and its much more organized interior loomed before me, not in its appearance but in the people there.

Now that I'd reached my destination, I needed to do what I'd come here for. Ducking behind a half-full dumpster and checking twice to ensure no one could see me, I put on my costume, keeping half an eye on the narrow slits of visibility someone else might have behind the dumpster. Thankfully, I emerged without incident and thus began what I hoped to be my first night of heroism.


The patrols I'd expected arrived in simple groups of two or three, though their demographics diverged from the norm. What remained of the Azn Bad Boys had been lying low recently; their new leader (identity still unknown) didn't seem keen on terrorizing the populace nearly as much as Lung had. However, their apparent decline left a power vacuum for the other gangs to fill, and the Empire Eighty-Eight in particular pounced on the opportunity. Now, men and women with shaved heads, white robes, and/or swastika tattoos pounded the streets where bandanna-clad Asian men and women had before.

I only saw a few of these men and women, though, and no known Empire capes. Kaiser seemed content to keep most of his forces in his original territory, only leaving a few guards in the area to protect against potential incursions by his rivals. Maybe he thought Coil and the Merchants weren't worth it so long as they weren't actively attacking.

It took a lot of restraint not to try my hand at it myself. Given their repugnant ideology, it'd be cathartic to take down as many Empire Eighty-Eight goons as I saw, but I wanted to do it right. As horrible as they were, I couldn't attack them unprovoked without getting branded as a criminal myself. Once I had a reason, though, I wouldn't hold back; they wouldn't do that for me, and taking the high road could easily get me killed.

The first hour or so of patrol gave me no surprises. On occasion, some of the Empire Eighty-Eight members gave me a look like they were debating whether or not to attack me, but either they thought I was one of them or didn't see me as worth the trouble, so they left me alone and I did the same for them. Many of these groups carried a flashlight with them, so for a while, my patrol devolved into following the pools of light to ensure nothing heinous was going on, which was proven true again and again.

Then, right as I'd deluded myself into thinking I'd have a mundane first patrol, I heard the unmistakable bang of a gunshot. Even in the unlikely scenario Miss Militia had entered the area and was breaking up a disturbance, that noise couldn't mean anything good. While most rational people would flee the situation, I did the opposite; how could I call myself a hero if I ran away from the first incident I knew about?

Half a block later, I found what appeared to be the source of the disturbance around a corner, illuminated by a powerful flashlight; every alarm bell I had went off as I took in the situation. Three skinheads, all muscular men armed with various weapons up to and including guns, were backing a lone girl into an alley. The girl was also packing heat and hadn't bothered to hide it, so her situation wasn't a lost cause yet, but I'd heard about incidents like these far too many times to hope this ended well. I didn't approach yet, since I worked best at range, but I found a nearby hiding spot behind an unmanned newspaper stand and began gathering my insects for a tactical strike.

As I prepared for an ambush, one of the skinheads started talking; to ensure I wasn't somehow misinterpreting the current situation, I listened in. "Put the gun down, little girl. This is Empire turf, filth like you doesn't belong here."

"You're pointing a gun at me too, dipshits," the girl said, her voice somehow devoid of fear. "And this isn't your turf no matter how hard you pretend. I'd recommend you fuck off now, then none of us will need to waste any more perfectly good bullets."

No matter how confident that girl sounded, with guns involved my goal was to de-escalate the situation as fast as possible. Someone's life could end with one pull of a trigger; even if I could inform the Protectorate with my latent psychic powers they'd never arrive in time. I was pretty confident in pinning the skinheads as the aggressors, so they'd go first, but I'd need to watch out for the girl too in case she wasn't any better.

"No bullet's a waste if it takes down a freak like you," one of the skinheads spat. "If you want to walk out of here, I recommend holding your tongue."

The girl chuckled. "If you want to insult me, you're going to need to try harder. My freak flag's been flying for a long time, and petty assholes like you wish you could be freaks like me. You want to have killing me on your conscience? I'd like to see you fucks try."

"Oh, fuck you," the closest skinhead to her replied, leveling his gun at her. "Stay back, guys, I got this bitch."

If that wasn't a cue that I had seconds before things turned deadly, nothing was. Now or never.

At my command, every enthralled insect in my arsenal flew or crawled toward the skinhead trio, my senses thrumming as they did. With the light focused more on the girl in front of them than anything coming behind them, my swarm advanced without anyone noticing until it was almost on top of them. One of the men had just enough time to point and scream before impact, but they could do little more than turn around and cover their eyes as the insects touched down.

My swarm cascaded over the skinheads, a tidal wave of insects threatening to sweep them away, biting and stinging and otherwise hurting the skinheads. In barely a second, two of them had been disarmed, the pain causing them to drop their weapons. However, the man with the gun was just a hair too fast. Right before his arm spasmed and sent the gun skittering down the alley, he aimed at me and pulled the trigger as I attempted to dive out of the way.

The sound of the man's gun firing threatened to blow out my eardrums, a painful burst that resonated far longer than it should have. However, that was immediately dwarfed by the explosion of pain that ripped through my left leg as the bullet grazed it. For a split second, all other thought processes shut down and it took everything I had not to scream bloody murder.

At that moment, I realized that no matter how much mental and physical training I'd put in to get myself ready for this scenario, nothing could have ever prepared me for it except jumping right in.

 

[Cold_Fusion]

CW: Self-harm, canon-typical Midari.

---

Buy-In 1.4

Somehow, I got back to my feet and didn't immediately resort to hopping on one leg. However, the jolt caused me to lose control of my swarm and grit my teeth against the pain. It didn't mean that much, though; a good chunk of the insects were still firmly clamped to or stinging my targets and had no intent to let go.

Fortunately enough, my loss of control didn't matter; by the time I regained control of the insects in the area, the fight looked pretty much over. The two I'd initially disarmed were both rolling around trying to crush the insects on them while screaming their lungs out. The other girl had moved our enemies' weapons behind her in the chaos before pointing her gun at the skinhead who'd just shot at me. However, instead of shooting him, she buried a bullet in the ground six feet away as he collapsed, howling in pain. With the situation firmly in hand, I pulled the surviving insects back, though I kept them in range in case the skinheads somehow still had some fight left in them.

Before I could close the gap or say anything, the other girl took charge, marching up to the least injured of the three. "As much as I'd love to play some more, I suggest you fuck off. This is not your turf, and my next shot won't be aimed to miss."

The odds were technically still three to two, but perhaps realizing a brawl with a gun-toting tough girl and a parahuman who'd just incapacitated all of them was unlikely to work out in their favor, the man on the ground listened to those instructions. He helped both his friends stagger to their feet, then they hobbled down the street like competitors in the slowest four-legged race I'd ever seen. My companion kept her pistol trained on them until they disappeared around a corner.

I approached the girl on unsteady legs, just in case she still needed my help. "Are you okay?"

"Better than ever," she responded.

I presumed the girl was a fellow cape, but I didn't know for sure yet: she didn't wear much of a costume. Black clothing covered her from the neck down, presumably to help her better blend into the shadows. She wore something over her eyes so I couldn't see what color they were, and her mouth was hidden behind a cheap mask like the kind used in hospitals, but that was as far as she went to obscure her identity. Her hair, as dark as her clothing, hung loose around her shoulders, she had several piercings in each ear, and her cheeks were bright red from the cold. The only stylistic choice she'd made was something around her neck, which on closer look appeared to be a literal dog collar.

Before I could size her up any further, the other girl addressed me. "Look, girl. That was fucking cool, but I really didn't need the help. I had everything handled!"

That provided further evidence of her being a cape, but I pressed anyway. "You sure? I definitely wouldn't have been able to take down all three of them with just a gun."

"But none of those fucks knew how I worked," the other cape said. "Watch this."

She produced a knife from one of her costume's pockets and pulled up her sleeve, and before I could stop her, she slashed her arm, grinning like a loon as the blood started spurting. I opened my mouth to ask her if she needed the first-aid kit, but before I could say anything, she'd used her other arm to point to the injury. Within fifteen seconds, her stab wound had disappeared like she'd scrubbed her arm with a magic eraser.

"Oh, that's good," the newly confirmed cape said, followed by a deep, shuddering sigh. Then she resumed talking, her volume increasing as she went. "I get better real fast, and pain helps me focus. Unfortunately, if I use it too much, then it starts feeling way too fucking good, and then all I want is more. Then it just builds and builds and—"

Before she got too far into the weeds, I started a new line of dialogue; I wasn't about to kink-shame the person who could have saved my life, but that was not the conversation I wanted to have at two in the morning. "If you can do all that, then what's the gun for? Most capes don't use those."

"It's mostly for show, I don't like using it on anyone else," she said, her volume returning to normal. "Today was an exception, since I wanted to make a point."

What point she wanted to make other than that it was unwise to mess with her escaped me, but before I even had to ask, she provided the necessary clarification.

"They think that just because Lung and Oni Lee are gone the ABB just rolled over and died," my companion said. "They're wrong; the ABB may be no more, but the Beautification Committee rose from its ashes and is stronger than ever. We're here to stay, and we're going to clean up this fucking city if it's the last thing we do. Anyone who gets in our way… you're smart, you can fill in the blanks."

Taking her words at face value, Brockton Bay was now home to what sounded like a vigilante organization, and one I'd never heard of before to boot. In theory that at least sounded like an improvement over the ABB, but in practice they could be just as bad if not worse. I'd withhold judgment on the Beautification Committee as a whole until I had more information, though.

Maybe I could get something out of her now. "Are you guys new?"

"Close enough," the girl said. "Fuck, I'm new enough I got to pick my own name. You know how often that shit happens? Basically never."

She gestured to her collar. I noticed a dog tag hanging off the left side, which read "PAIN GAINER" in spiky gold lettering. Perhaps I'd seen her mentioned once or twice on Parahumans Online, but if she'd only been here for a few months, I could easily be misremembering things.

"Well, that's my name," Pain Gainer said. "What about yours?"

Damn it, I hadn't thought of that yet; a bit of a critical oversight now that I remembered it. "This is my first time caping, I don't have one yet."

"Well, then I suggest you fucking figure one out," Pain Gainer said. "News travels fast, and if the PRT isn't trying to pin one on your ass, someone else is. Being stuck with a shitty name you didn't pick hurts like a bitch, don't waste the opportunity."

I nodded in agreement; while not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, getting stuck with a terrible name wouldn't be fun.

"Well, I enjoyed the chat, but I'm going to go find more skinheads to thrash," Pain Gainer said. "Maybe we won't meet again, new girl, but I'd have a name ready next time if we do."

Pain Gainer jogged the same way the skinheads had gone, quickly fading into the night. Now that I was alone again, after a quick check to ensure no one else planned to ambush me and a few minutes spent gathering insects again as a precautionary measure, I had time to assess my gunshot wound.

While my leg throbbed badly, given that my first few steps caused no issues the injury wasn't as bad as I'd initially feared. I was going to have a huge bruise in the morning, but I could live with that; the Trio had given me way worse. It still meant my patrol was done for the night, but I could probably sneak home without getting found out.

I spent my return trip trying to come up with good cape names, but the adrenaline from the fight had worn off and my brain felt like mush, so I didn't make much progress on that. The fight I'd gotten involved in was small enough and in an isolated enough area that I doubted it'd be caught on camera, much less broadcast anywhere, so I probably had a bit more time. However, for all I knew, Pain Gainer was thinking the same thing, and I didn't trust her ability to name me given how blunt her name was.

That thought process distracted me from my more pressing problems. Even taking the most direct path back, my leg was throbbing hard by the time I reached the house; going on a run tomorrow was out of the question. None of the lights were on, so unless Dad wanted to ambush me I'd get to bed without any further issues.

Sure enough, I returned to my room in peace once I got inside. Dad's bedroom door was open, but he was still snoring; he wasn't that good an actor, so I'd gotten in and out without any trouble. It didn't mean that'd be the case every time, but one successful trip still beat zero. Setting my bag down as quietly as possible, I took off my costume and stowed it away, allowing me to see my injured leg in its full glory.

The armor on my costume had shielded me from the worst of the damage, but the sight still wasn't pretty. A gigantic bruise now dominated my left thigh, a small portion caked in dried blood from where the skin had been torn off. It wasn't pretty and had a high chance of scarring, but other than that it'd heal on its own.

I scrubbed the area as best as I could with a clean washcloth, gritting my teeth against the pain the whole time, before plundering my first-aid kit for Neosporin and a bandage large enough to cover the scab. After sticking it to my leg, I took a few steps to test how it felt, which thankfully wasn't that bad. I could tell the bandage was there, but it wouldn't impede my mobility at all.

With the adrenaline high having fully faded, I was left to retreat into my thoughts. I had school tomorrow, and until I felt comfortable patrolling again I'd have to return to my miserable norm. Now that I'd seen what I could do, that thought was almost unbearable; my only reassurance was that it wouldn't stay that way for long. With a little more hard work, I could become a hero, and I could solve my other problems from there.

Until then, though? I'd have to tough it out. I'd done it for almost two years now, a few days longer was nothing.

Even though I was exhausted enough to collapse into bed, sleep brought me no peace that night.

 

[Cold_Fusion]

Buy-In 1.5

Walking into Winslow the next morning felt strange. The atmosphere hadn't changed from yesterday, but most of the things I'd worried about here paled in the face of my patrol the night before. Did the Wards feel like this every day? I hoped not.

Thankfully, my pants hid the bandage on my thigh. Even if someone was inclined to ask questions about my welfare, anyone who saw enough skin to discover it was getting a sneaker to the crotch. How Blackwell had dealt with my trip to the psych ward without getting the police involved was beyond me, but if she thought she could just repeat that process for an act that heinous, she had another thing coming.

I got to homeroom without incident this time; Emma, Sophia, and Madison were nowhere to be found. Once I entered Mrs. Knott's classroom, I noticed Yumeko sitting at the desk to my left. She waved, I waved back, and then I sat down. A weight I hadn't noticed before lifted off my shoulders; yesterday had made an impact after all.

"Hello, Taylor," Yumeko said. "Did you get up to anything interesting yesterday?"

"Nothing much," I lied. "What about you?"

Yumeko shrugged. "Me neither."

For a few minutes, we made small talk, the topics nothing particularly important but refreshing after the dirge of the past year and change. Homeroom filled up as usual. Mrs. Knott returned to her usual status of taking attendance but otherwise not paying attention.

Then, Yumeko steered the conversation in an unexpected direction, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Do you mind if we talk somewhere private before first period? I have something I need to tell you I don't want anyone else overhearing."

That got my attention. "Girl issues?"

"Close enough," Yumeko said.

With the wide spectrum that "girl issues" covered, that could mean anything from the Trio's antics to asking me if I had an emergency tampon she could use; I didn't quite know what I was getting into. However, her not treating me like shit afforded her more leeway than I gave most. "I don't know of anywhere one hundred percent private, but I'll see what I can find."

"I think I've got a place," Yumeko said. "Don't worry about that." She raised her hand to get Mrs. Knott's attention, and not sure what else to do, I did the same.

Some teachers were strict about bathroom breaks, but Mrs. Knott wasn't one of them, at least not here. That sentiment made sense, since it wasn't like I was missing anything. Thus, the two of us got permission to leave homeroom for a bathroom break, and after a quick check that we were marked present, we were off.

Yumeko didn't take me anywhere near as far as I expected; instead of some dusty corner of the school, she stopped at the closest girls' bathroom. She opened the door to let me in, then followed in behind me. Once the bathroom door closed behind her, though, I noticed an awkward sensation in the pit of my stomach. The bathroom was as desolate and silent as a graveyard, which struck me as weird. Normally there'd be lots of girls cleaning themselves up, putting on makeup, or even making shady deals. Today, however, we were the only two in the room.

Preparing to run for it in case this was some sort of pretense for an ambush, I started the conversation once more. "What did you need to talk with me about?"

Sure enough, the question led to an ambush, and an even worse one than I initially feared. "I'm talking about last night; from what I heard, you got up to quite a lot."

A steel vice gripped my lungs, the tightening of my chest causing my next sentence to escape my throat in a breathless jumble. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't play coy," Yumeko said. "It doesn't suit you."

"About what?" If I gave an inch, she'd take a mile. Conceding anything unless she had iron-clad proof she wasn't just talking out of her ass wasn't going to work.

Yumeko's smile stiffened. "About the three Empire goons currently in the hospital due to being bitten by more insects than should ever exist in one place at a time. You read me now?"

Well, there went my plausible deniability. News of the incident hadn't made it online or to television yet from what I'd seen, and unless she had more luck than existed on the planet, that was way too specific a description for her to just be guessing. How she'd gotten those details remained in question, though. Had she been to the same hospital? Had Pain Gainer told her? Was she a cape with psychic abilities or something along those lines?

Wait, how did she even know that was me? For all she knew, that could have been anyone. "I don't know what you're talking about. Anyone could have done that! It's not like most capes reveal their civilian identities."

"The perpetrator was your height and had a matching hairstyle and hair color," Yumeko said. "I'm sure Brockton Bay has other people like that, but there can't be very many of them. Might I suggest you stop trying to hide what you are?"

Her being so insistent on the topic wasn't doing her any favors, but the evidence was so overwhelmingly against me now that going any further wasn't going to accomplish anything but make me look stupid. "How the hell did you figure all that out so fast?"

"Oh, I just had a theory based on what I heard last night, since the cape's features seemed similar to yours," Yumeko said, her tone back to what I'd remembered from yesterday. "Your body language told me everything I needed after that."

I didn't know it was possible to make this conversation more stressful, but Yumeko had found a way. This was steering into stormier waters by the second. At this point, I figured the best thing to do was convince her that I had nothing left to lose, because otherwise, she'd milk me for everything I had. "If you're trying to blackmail me, that's not going to work; forget money, I don't even have my dignity left at this point."

"Don't worry, I'm not a fan of blackmail," Yumeko said. "I'm just not that kind of girl. I don't even plan to tell anyone about it, and it should be pretty clear by now that I don't break easily."

That threw things even further out of whack. What was the point of telling me all this if she didn't want to do anything with it? "Then why are you even bringing it up?"

"That's a bit sensitive," Yumeko said. "The odds of a working camera being in here are pretty low, but I'd like to discuss that somewhere we're less likely to be overheard. Would you mind meeting after school at the Ruby Dreams Casino?"

That name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on why. "That's in Brockton Bay, right?"

"On the outskirts, but it's not that far," Yumeko's reply came.

From a technical standpoint, I had two options, but for now I only had one. Whether I followed through with this or not, turning her down when she had all the power felt risky at best. Thus, I nodded. "If it's where you say it is, I'll do it."

"That's the spirit," Yumeko said.

The first bell rang, which got Yumeko's attention. "Well, I have to get to class, and I'm sure you do, too. You want to sit together for lunch, I'm sure you can find me. Otherwise, I'll see you tonight!"

Yumeko left me alone in the bathroom, and needing a moment to sit and think, I entered a stall and put the seat down before plopping down.

For the second day in a row, I had an off-the-books meeting with Yumeko on my calendar. This time, however, I dreaded it as much as I'd dreaded anything for the past few months, including every day of school thus far. It'd taken less than a day for our relationship to turn back on me; it was a sad state of affairs that I wasn't surprised.

Getting my identity revealed this early in the game would be the absolute worst case scenario, even discounting how Dad might react. While some capes could pull it off, such as Brockton Bay's very own New Wave, I didn't have New Wave's level of influence and had no desire to become one of them. Maintaining two separate identities was difficult enough. Having one conflated with the other sounded like it'd make all the usual problems of being a superhero ten thousand times worse.

What was I supposed to do? Take Yumeko up on her offer and see how things went? Turn myself in and let the Protectorate handle things? Take some time off patrolling and try to forget this ever happened?

Thinking through what Yumeko wanted from me seemed like the most logical step to take, so I got to thinking. If the Beautification Committee's goal was to exterminate parahumans, I doubted I'd be first on their list, and in that case, why would Pain Gainer be on their side? That brought up the possibility of a Master pulling the strings, but with the horrible reputation most Masters had, the odds of an undetected one were low even in a city as cape-heavy as Brockton Bay. Maybe their power came with the ability to mind-wipe their victims or alter memories, then? In that case, they'd be one of the most feared villains to ever live, and that brought back the earlier question of "why me?"

I shook my head. Overthinking this could be just as dangerous as not thinking about it, and jumping straight to the worst possible interpretations wasn't doing me any favors. Chances were she had straightforward intentions; she wanted some help, or maybe some vigilante justice, and she saw contacting an untethered cape as the best means of accomplishing that.

I forced myself to try and relax. I'd get out of my meeting with Yumeko just fine, then I'd move on with my life and try to figure out what the next steps were. That was all I needed to worry about for now.

Then the first period bell rang; I had to worry about getting to class, too, so I left the bathroom and began hurrying toward my first class of the day.

At the very least, no matter what today brought me, compared to what was coming up it didn't seem so bad. I'd take what I could get.