N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

17.2 - Dead Apple

The fog surrounded you, making it difficult to see. You rushed inside and grabbed a handful of face masks - if the fog was what caused ability users to kill themselves, not breathing it in seemed beneficial. For some reason, you felt as if you could see much better, though you weren't sure if that was because of the panic coursing through your veins or due to a development in your ability. You ran off in the direction of the agency, hoping to find some of your coworkers there. However, you didn't manage to get far before a knife was thrown at you from a long distance.

You gasped and leaned back ever so slightly, the blade grazing past stray strands of hair before imbedding itself into scraps of metal. You turned in the direction the knife was headed towards, surprised by the sound of metal. A car had crashed into the nearby alleyway, releasing puffs of smoke from the area of impact. Confused, you turned in the direction where the knife came from, where a distantly familiar figure was.

"Papa?" You called, hearing the door open.

"Sorry baby, still me," your mom sighed, trudging into the living room.

It was pouring outside, yet she still went out, searching high and low for a man who seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. 

"Papa!" You huffed, thrashing in your mother's arms.

A week since he'd gone missing, and your mother was getting no closer to finding him. You only grew more restless, for suddenly, your mother didn't have any energy to play with you anymore.

"He's not coming back," your mother glared. "Why couldn't he have taken you with him?"

You began to cry, having heard those stinging words. Less than a week later, your mother left you to be found by a nearby orphanage, unable to take care of you anymore.

When you were younger, you resented her for it. But now? It seemed like the most sensible thing to do, so much so that you could even go as far as claiming that her decision was the reason you were still alive.

And now, she was standing in front of you.

Or rather, a hologram of her was.

Silence dominated the city as if everyone had suddenly disappeared, leaving the two of you staring at one another, a large distance present.

Suddenly, she threw multiple knives at you. Out of pure instinct, you attempted to raise a shield with your ability, only for nothing to appear. You narrowly dodged, skidding to a stop as you escaped. That's when things started making sense - the Ability Users killing themselves with their own ability, your eyesight suddenly improving after six years, and your own lack of ability - the fog separated the ability from its user, and in a fatal duel, only one would ever survive.

"Don't even bother, I know all your strengths and weaknesses," you scoffed, stepping back.

However, before you could increase the distance by a lot, your ability sent a flare of light your way. It travelled so fast, making its presence visible before you'd even seen it leave her finger. By the time you noticed it, it was already too late, for the light morphed itself into a bullet and imbedded itself in your hip. You gasped from shock, feeling the smooth yet cool surface of the bullet ingrain itself into your flesh. You couldn't figure out for the life of yourself how she had moves like that stored up without you ever noticing. Then, it struck you.

When the previous boss agreed to letting you join the mafia, he only had one condition for doing so - you only used your ability as he asked you to. You spent four years doing just that, before Mori took over. While he didn't reinforce the rule or change it, your promotion didn't require you to be on the field much anymore, so you only used your ability when necessary. Of course, in those times, you stuck to the basics of what you knew, which just so happened to be creating solid constructs over and over again.

Naturally, you'd gotten stronger over the years. Clearly, your ability had developed as well, festering deep inside you until you noticed. Except, you never noticed, for you tended to rely on weapons. Ever since the Dragon Head Conflict, when you'd overused your ability, you'd been nearly legally blind. To prevent it from worsening even further, you reduced your ability usage to the bare minimum.

Still, it felt wrong to go against the previous boss's orders.

You grit your teeth and shot at the ability, aiming to disorient rather than kill. Having achieved your goal, you turned and ran as fast as you could with a bullet lodged above your hip, until you ran into Kunikida.

"Kunikida-kun?" You gaped, seeing him on the floor, bleeding out. "Hey, you awake?!"

"L/N-San..." he groaned out, turning to face you. "The bull-"

"Kunikida-San, L/N-San!" A voice yelled, causing both of you to turn and face the newcomer.

"You're both alive," you breathed out, relieved. 

"You're wounded, Kunikida-San?!" Atsushi panicked.

"Atsushi, I'm fine," Kunikida insisted, sitting up. "The bullet wound isn't a problem."

"I found out why these ability suicides are happening," you blurted out, tearing off a strip of your shirt to make a makeshift torniquet for Kunikida.

However, before you could continue, a loud crash was heard from nearby. You heard the purring of a beast, immediately recognising what you were faced with. Kunikida did as well, and fired a few shots in its direction, clicking his tongue in annoyance. His bullets bounced off a car, causing it to explode while the four of you ran in the direction of the Agency.

"In here!" You yelled, holding a small door to a warehouse open, allowing everyone to crawl in.

Kyoka immediately got to work, and started locking the place up. You helped her, well aware that if Demon Snow or the Matchless Poet were to attack now, you would all be screwed. 

"Kunikida-kun," you called, kneeling down by his side to wrap the torniquet.

"How did you get injured?" Atsushi asked.

"I was shot by my own ability," he sighed.

"Shot by... your own ability?" Atsushi gaped.

"Now that we know what's going on, we should be able to defeat it, no?" You checked, standing up and dusting yourself off.

But before Kunikida could respond, the door to the warehouse was smashed in, a flash of light following.

"Demon Snow!" You gasped.

Thankfully, you didn't need to plan a getaway, for you heard the tires of a car screeching to a halt. Kunikida, Atsushi and you turned to look at it, only to find Kyoka driving the car.

"Get in!" She yelled, throwing the door open.

"Atsushi run!" Kunikida ordered, pushing the two of you in the direction of the car. "Keep them safe, L/N!"

"C'mon kid, let's go," you hissed, sprinting alongside Atsushi.

Both of you were slowed considerably, Atsushi due to not having his tiger's speed, and you due to your lack of experience with running with a bullet lodged in you as of late. Still, you made it to the car in one piece. Atsushi pushed you into the front seat, before trying to reach out to Kunikida.

"Move, we need someone to drive like they've got nothing left to live for," you muttered, effortlessly picking Kyoka up and swapping seats with her.

With that, you swerved in Kunikida's direction, and Atsushi threw the door open before pulling him in. Before Demon Snow could slice at the car, you sped off in the direction of the Agency.

"Hurry to the Agency," Kunikida whispered. "We'll stay there for a while."

"Got it," you nodded.

"L/N-San, Kunikida-San, you both said you knew the cause for the continuous suicides?" Atsushi asked, remembering your confession earlier.

"The Ability Users aren't committing suicide," Kunikida began. 

"They are being murdered... by their own abilities."