Forum Thread

"...good luck, Atsushi."

Aleksandr was unnaturally still, his usual smile and little idiosyncrasies absent, as he seemed lost in thought.

He avoided looking at Adrik, hands in his pockets, before turning away.

Iliya glanced at Adrik, then Aleks.

"...Adrik...? W-what happened?"

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Adrik Volkov

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Couldn't they just go away? They wanted a bus, didn't they? Then they should go get their goddamn bus and leave Adrik out of it.

He breathed out, shoulders trembling with the shape of the air ripping itself out of his body. "It's fine. Don't worry about it," he muttered. "Go take care of your case. This has nothing to do with you, Iliya. So don't try and wedge yourself in here like..."

Now he was taking it out on Iliya. Guilt pricked at his conscience and he started to say something else, but-

"Come on, Iliya, they don't want us here," Detective Atsushi said coldly, turning away.

Oh, and apparently I've pissed off the Kubo Atsushi's family. Way to go Adrik. Really took one for the team there. You'll be lucky to end up at some backwards college at this rate.

---

"Adrik."

Aleksandr spoke quietly.

"...come on, man. That's not cool."

He muttered, watching Iliya scurry away.

"...What the hell did he do to you, huh?"

aleksandr sighed.

"...Not cool, man. Not cool."

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Adrik Volkov

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His heart seized in his chest, trembling with every beat. "Shut up Aleks," he whispered, watching Iliya leave. "You don't understand anything."

Adrik ran a hand through his hair, and just as he did so, heard the train roaring in the distance.

"Sounds like we better get to the platform," he said, mostly to himself.

---

"...Yeah. i guess."

Aleksandr muttered quietly, stuffing hsi hands inside his pockets. he made a point to avoid looking at Adrik.

"...Rude."

He muttered.

---

Merika would board the train she takes to the office and try to catch up on some overdue files that she said she'd do, but in the end slept on. After she got done with those she took a small nap.

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Adrik Volkov

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You're one to talk about being rude, Adrik mused bitterly, then hated himself for the thought.

What was wrong with him? Why was he looking for everyone else's faults right now? It was his first day, couldn't he make a little bit of an effort to get along with people? Why was he having these bad thoughts, about wanting to hurt Aleks, who was the only person even trying to help him after that disastrous introduction with that awful Andreja girl?

It doesn't matter, a voice murmured in the back of his head. They'll never like you anyway. This whole thing is pointless.

Panic surged up in him and he whipped around to face Aleks, opening his mouth to say sorry, I'm sorry- please love me- and then he realised that the train was coming to a stop with a loud screech.

"We better hurry before it leaves without us." His voice was dull, expressionless, and he averted his eyes, not wanting to look at Aleks.

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Niwa Atsushi

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"What on earth is his problem?" Niwa glanced at Iliya. "The second he saw you he looked like he bit down on a lemon or something. I've never seen someone go so sour so fast. Do you guys know each other or something?"

He wasn't used to being this direct. It wasn't right to poke your nose in other peoples' business.

But... all the same, something about that face just reminded him of something.

Something awful curled up in the back of his own heart, a memory of a face he couldn't make out. Someone's reflection in the pond, repeated twice over, which was wrong, how could it be-

"Iliya?" he asked, desperate to pull himself out of his thoughts. "What do you think?"

---

Aleks let out a tired sigh.

God, this boy was exhausting.

"...Yeah. That seems smart, doesn't it."

He shrugged, waiting a beat before heading into the train behind Adrik.

--

"That's my, um, Cousin. Adrik."

Iliya laughed a bit awkwardly.

"...We're not very close. At all. B-but-! He's a good guy! He doesn't mean harm."

---

Merika would wake up and see a few familiar faces from her workplace, she'd get up and approach the two.

"Hey what's up?"

She said groggily, still waking up from the somewhat short nap.

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Narcisse Michon

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Chika's grip tightened around his throat, lifting him up and off the ground. Black spots creeped in the corners of his vision, and as his limbs slowly went limp, Narcisse realised he was about to die.

But no. He couldn't die. Not before he found her.

Narcisse's hand landed on the knife he kept between the bookshelves. And just as he felt Chika's grip tighten for the final time, he plunged it right through her arm.

Her grip relaxed on his throat, and with a gasp, he shoved her off him, collapsing to the ground. He clutched at his neck, feeling the bones. Thank god. Nothing's broken. Though he was sure he'd sport a nasty bruise for a few days...

Looking up and wiping the grunge off his mouth, he narrowed his eyes at his almost-murderer. Chika was examining her arm, furrowing her brow at the exposed and spitting wiring.

Now was as good a time as any.

He leapt to his feet. In an instant her eyes were on him and she lunged- but he was prepared this time, and ducked under her free hand, dropping and rolling for the door. The moment she hit the wall beside it, he slammed it shut, and wedged the pocketknife through the lock.

His throat was on fire as he staggered down the steps. Chika's furious howling behind the door would feature in his nightmares. He had no doubt that the sound of her pounding fists against the wood would stay with him even longer.

But no matter what came to be in the future, right now he had to run. He had to make sure someone knew that the other one running around wasn't him.

He took a shortcut, ducking through the dusty little break room and crawling through the hidden entrance behind the fridge.

No matter what... he had to get there before his impersonator did. Otherwise... there would be nothing anyone could do for the agency.

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Adrik Volkov

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Adrik took the first available seat, and gave himself a moment to center himself. The carriage was dim and smelled of cigarettes, the only other passenger being an old man with a shirt yellowed by age, fast asleep in the far aisle.

Technically safe... but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something would go very wrong.

It was silly though... he had Mr. Konstantin, didn't he? And he had so much experience... if anything happened, he would know what to do.

Right?

"Um, Mr. Konstantin..." he began.

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Niwa Atsushi

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"He seemed to wish you a lot of harm though," Niwa pointed out.

But with a sigh, he let it go and turned his attention forward. Some people just grated on him. They didn't understand what love or empathy was, or even have the simple concept of basic human decency under their belt.

Rudeness... it just made him sick.

That Adrik kid...

Niwa made himself smile at Iliya, who surely felt down after what that stupid kid had said. "Alright, let's get on our bus now. We can buy ourselves some snacks when we get there, how about it? You like sweets?"

---

Aleks stepped in, just a moment behind Adrik, taking the seat next to the young man.

He looked over at adrik for a moment.

When the boy spoke, he nodded.

"yeah?"

He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Mr. Konstantin? Haven't been called that in years."

---

"Sweets? I- I'm a fan... of sweets."

Iliya seemed to have retreated alittle back into his shell, somewhat shaken by seeing Adrik.

"Um. You don't need to- Okay... Thank you..."

He followed Niwa onto the buss, ahnds firmly in his pockets.

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Adrik Volkov

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"Oh, really. That's uh- cool," Adrik fumbled, not really sure how to explain himself. "Well, that's a shame! It's a uh- cool name. And you deserve that respect, since you've worked here a while, and you're older and..."

He cringed.

Did I just call him old?

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to call you that, uh... Konst... Aleks?"

The old man's eye cracked open, and Adrik could've sworn he was glaring at him. Ducking his head to avoid eye contact, Adrik prayed that his new supervisor wouldn't laugh at him. That would be the final humiliation to send him packing. With a bad track record and without a Senior Detective's respect... then why on earth would the Head Detectives keep Adrik around? This could well be the nail on the coffin.

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Niwa Atsushi

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"Oh- I'm glad to hear that." A moment of realisation came over Niwa with the whoosh of the bus doors and the hot stuffy air crashing into his face. In that moment he discovered that he was just Detective Atsushi- no one special, no one who should be getting mad at anyone, or thinking they had the right to sympathize or worry about anyone's family circumstances.

With an awkward laugh, Niwa settled into his seat. "Sorry. Didn't mean to pry..."

---

"...Aleks is fine."

he said, simply. He sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"Adrik. I know... I know I haven't been around. But there's no need to be so awkward. okay? I got mad. i'm sorry. That's my bad. But... Don't sir me don't 'mr.' me, none of that. Okay?"

---

"N-no, no, it's okay, really... it's complicated. Um. You know my big brother, right? A-Aleksandr? Well, um... adrik is our cousin, and we- we had a bit of a family falling out a few years back."

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♟️Laurence Walton's POV📖

"Naw. Can't say I'm able to help you much there, Walty. Maybe ask the Detective actually in charge of this case?"

Of course. It figures she'd be completely incompetent as usual. He didn't know why he even bothered asking at that point.

"Oh, right. Of course you of all people wouldn't be able to offer any assistance. I suppose I'll have t-"

He looked to the left and right, about to set off in search of them, or to maybe inquire about their whereabouts, before the dreaded moron herself answered his question for him. When he had been just about to draw such an obvious conclusion himself.

"Whoops! They're not here! Too bad for you, then."

Ugh. He hated that stupid cheesy grin on her face.

"Can you not take anything seriously?!" he scoffed. He pinched the sides of his nose, inhaling sharply. No, no, he couldn't let her ruin this opportunity for him. He'd solve it all by himself if he had to. Which he probably would.

Focus, Laurence. Focus.

"Jing Yu and Cali Mabey... that's what it said on the sheet. If you can find them, you'll be ahead of me, in any case."

"Right. I'll be seeing you around then."

Hopefully not anytime soon.

After all, he could solve this just fine on his own. And even if he had to work with... with this- impudent waste of space and potential- well. He wasn't going to let that drag him down.

He would rise to the challenge, even if he was going to do everything in his power to avoid her as much as humanly possible, and then after they had both served the remainder of their punishment (mostly his own punishment), he would never speak to her ever again.

Hopefully not.

Though, unfortunately for Laurence Walton, fate had other plans.

🌹Cadence Laurier’s POV👠

(We don’t ask when she got here or why, I don’t know, I’m trying to get back into this after forever of not posting so 😭)
Cadence Laurier adjusted her signature large, red square glasses, humming out a simple “Yes, thank you,” as the person serving her refilled her coffee. It was always important to have plenty of caffeine for the energy needed to get as much done as possible.

And even when Cadence was out traveling, she could scarcely tear herself away from her work. She had brought a number of her papers with her from the agency. After all, it was a challenge to be at the top. Everyone would always try to knock you off your throne… the one you’d worked your ass off for and damn well deserved.

Also, it just paid the bills. Oh, but speaking of those kinds of people…

Cadence heard a commotion going on in the next train car over. And, oh! Wasn’t this juicy… that crackjob Mawer was playing cards with the rest of the scraps. Well. That was certainly intriguing.

…

She was always ahead of schedule anyway. Besides… This wouldn’t be a mere worthless expenditure. Something that those lazy worthless hacks often did, always waiting until the last minute for the most important things. This had purpose.

She did always love to have all the information.

And in this case, she would have all the cards in her hand.

Cadence Laurier pretended not to notice them, that she was merely wandering through the cars, and happened to look up and see the card playing, a perfect look of mock surprise plastered upon her face.

“Oh, Mawer. What a surprise. Are you engaging in some harmless fun? Or gambling all your money away in the form of chips?” She leaned over, giving the people at the table a sickly lipsticked smile. “What are you all playing? I would love to know… if that’s quite alright.”

🧣Eloi Torres's POV🌧

I wish I didn’t have to do this alone.

When he was with Niwa, he knew there was someone there. A friend, someone he could depend on. Someone who also believed in superheroes. Someone who could believe in him when he didn’t believe in himself.

Someone who didn’t make fun of him, belittle him constantly… he wasn’t even sure how he had gotten selected here in the first place. And yet, he’d managed. Eloi was going to figure it out somehow, by himself.

…right.

By myself.

Okay, I can do that.

🍭Sawyer Laurens’s POV📚

(They are a silly goose and I love them but I have no idea what to write for them right now. Send help.)

💝Cali Mabey’s POV💐

(Sigh, yeah, hang on. I’ll post for them too another time, hopefully.)

🥽Suzume Fujimori’s POV🧪

I still don’t know what this is all for. Is this really all there is? All there is going to be… to humanity, for humanity…

Suzume cleaned up her supplies for the day and headed out. There was nothing more that could possibly be said. Nothing more that could possibly be done. It was just like any other day.

Any other day, where she would go to work, do what was required of her. And she would love it. She was doing what she was passionate about.

And yet… sometimes it felt…

Ugh. Her head hurt… for some reason. It didn’t make much sense. Nothing was making sense.

That wasn’t right.

Everything always made sense. She could… always make sense of everything. But something was wrong.

There was something… distinctly wrong.

"Good evening, Sir. Is there something you wish to speak to me about?"