Who Am I? (What's My Name?)

The next Friday, Mia rushed around a street corner before Serena's tentacle pulled her back. "I- wait, let me go first -"

"- but Miss Mentor, we -"

" - d-don't call me that!" Serena giggled, then checked around first before letting Mia follow her. They were running up the sidewalk past a variety of shops with outward windows, and as they passed by one -

- two liquids hit the glass from within and exploded, sending the shards flying towards them -

- but streams of fog filled it with osmium and the super dense projectiles hit the ground, Serena nodding as they stepped away: "-um, it's control over liquids, can't use acid -- use your fire."

Ahead, a gust of steam blasted out a store window and swirled to shroud the path ahead, threatening to engulf them; streams of fog filled it with wind -

- brt it stayed centered & almost-solid ahead; streams of fog flew into it again, but then retreated. "Melt it."

"Melt what?" said Mia.

"The wall!"

"With what?"

"G-God damnit." mumbled Serena and Mia grinned. "With your -- fire!"

Mia laughed, disintegrated it, and in through swept the two as she mumbled about not liking Serena's tone. They saw no sign of their foe ahead, and Mia grumbled about how boring it was & started to check her texts. "Can we go back yet?"

Serena groaned and pulled Mia with her as she rushed ahead, then felt her blood begin an unnatural undulation in her veins -

- then rapidly rise in temperature and boil -

- but streams of fog flew in to her veins and set them cooler, replenishing with new material when needed even as her blood pressure still continued to rise.

"Miss Mentor, my blood is boiling..." chimed Mia, having already solved this issue.

"Cool your blood down."

"How do I do that?"

"Use your ice scarabs."

Mia smacked her right hand and a globe of ice formed on it. "It isn't working."

"I- use it inside your blood! Summon it inside your blood!"

"Oh, there we go." chimed Mia. "All better."

(Mia was doing all this because she had heard stories of other proteges, and concluded that even if she acted as one of average intelligence, 50% of them would be stupider than this.)

"I- he's gotta be hiding in one of these." mumbled Serena, before turning up & down the strip of stores. She stepped north and felt her blood temperature normalize; she swept south and felt it rise as she rushed towards a small bookstore -

- then duck again as she peeked through the window and saw a man, turned away, browsing through the shelves inside; she knew he was trying to cover his Revenant, and in the next instant -

- streams of fog flew into the glass -

- and an explosion sent the shards shooting towards him; he turned just in time to see the shards filled with acid, and as Serena's blood began peeking out of her veins -

- the next scene was instant. The acid reformed into a single stream and flew back at her -

"-CHECKMATE-DA, BITCH!" shouted Serena; another explosion burst ahead of her feet -

- launching a superheated knife that shot through the man's jaw and went out his skull; a horrific gurgle came out of him as he slumped back, brain, bones and sinew melting in a pink layer -

"-CHECKMATE-DA!"

- another superchilled knife shot through his chest and shattered his spine like a stone on the way out -

"-CHECKMATE-DA!"

- and a final electrical knife shot through his throat and pulled each other deeper inside, resting as one metallic mass inside his former neck.

"CHECKMATE-DA!" Serena posed.

Mia looked at her resumed-protege as the man fell dead ahead. "Serena, I support you, but when you do get assigned your protege, please don't make that the first kill they see."

Serena shrugged, took Mia's tablet off her back and crouched down to scan. She handed it back to Mia and started rooting through his wrists, shoes for any valuables she could later pawn. For whatever reason, Mia decided this would be a good time to say: "Also, we're getting a pay raise."

Serena was two fingers deep in his pockets and looked up. "Huh? Oh, gross, there's lint in here."

"I... you know what, I'll tell you when we're back at Urasaria."

Serena nodded and stood up. "Okay. I think I left something at our old house, too, so."

(Serena was referring to her & Mia's previous home; a week ago, Serena had moved in with Yuruko, and Mia in to her new mansion.)

On their way back, Serena saw Kate walking on the other side of the road, waved to her, and Kate crossed the street to her. "Hey, Mia, Serena, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing good. Uh, are you responding to something?"

"No, I was just out patrolling. Landed about a few hours ago. Have you, uh, had any trouble -- anyone at Urasaria?"

"Um, no..."

Serena & Kate went back and forth for a while, until their inane bullshit reached a rhythm and then was ended by Kate responding to another call. Mia watched her swing away and was perplexed. "What was all that about?"

"She's been doing that ever since last summer." said Serena. "I dunno why, though. Like, she even sent me a letter checking up on me like that, asking me if I was having any trouble with other people, um, stuff like that."

"…she knows you have a girlfriend, yes?"

(Mia didn't know Kate's sexuality, obviously.)

"Yeah, she does. It's still weird, though. It's not like we have anything in common." Serena shrugged.

+++

Two Mondays later, Serena was standing in the arena where second-years would be assigned their protege, waiting until Hirogane showed up. She had already made some smalltalk with Kate, and could see Tiffany showing off to every other woman her new tattoo of Rochelle's name. Tiffany was somebody Serena had learned to avoid - not due to any animosity, just that she was dull - so she turned and mumbled to Kate that she would leave once she received her tablet.

"Makes sense to me." muttered Kate. "I swear, I hope she doesn't come over here with that. I can't lie and say that isn't the stupidest goddamn thing."

Serena nodded. As Hirogane came through the doors, Serena quickly went up to him and explained she wouldn't need to hear the announcements: Mia had already told her of the policy changes.

"And if she told you whatever Matoi did, don't tell me." he muttered. "S'fine, though. Give some thought to what we talked about." He handed her a tablet from his bag.

Serena nodded. "Um, sure. Thanks." She walked out to the hall and outside of the building, where Yuruko was waiting for her.

"Hey. Did you get your tablet?"

Serena showed it to her. "I did, yeah. Um, where do I check distress calls or whatever?"

"Right here."

Yuruko pointed it out to her, and while Serena leaned over slightly, she grabbed a tuft of Serena's hair & turned it Ayanami-blue, then grinned. Serena was confused for a second, looked up, then grabbed a few strands of Yuruko's hair and turned them black.

Usually here Serena would walk home with her, unlock the door with streams of fog, let her voice deepen and take her jacket off as she stepped inside, and dropped it off on a spare spot of the couch: if there were any. If there was anything that set their house apart, it was probably that most of what was in it was stolen. Much of the wall space was taken up by posters of anime or shelves of figurines, making it unpresentable to normal people, even as the dirtier items were kept to their bedroom: partially for Serena's comfort.

They still rarely had sex. Many a night had been absorbed in to the early AM on their computers in the living room, where both would still play some videogame together and type to the other a dozen feet away. Online, Yuruko could use the worst of spoken & typed word to lash the skin off of somebody two hundred miles away, and Serena would sometimes join in using the same language she did in fights. In indulging her more typically 'masculine' hobbies, Serena tended to feel more comfortable living with Yuruko than she had with Mia: both had always been out of sorts with their own sex.

But, none of the aforementioned would occur today, for Serena saw a first-year student running out from the gate, then shouting. Serena waited a few seconds, then realized he was shouting to her & Yuruko, who ran down to him.

"There's - there's somebody unconscious o-outside, I-I'm a first year student and I just got here and-"

Serena nodded, and the three ran through the hall out of Urasaria and the gate. He turned and pointed right, to where an unconscious black-haired woman wearing a tracksuit was lying against the wall. She was covered in bruises, badly scraped, and was bleeding: she essentially looked like if Kate had been torturing her. A few students were standing over her and mumbling what to do.

"What happened?" said Serena as she rushed over and crouched down. Yuruko gestured for the others to move away as Serena started filling her wounds.

"I-I dunno, w-we just found her like that. We're first year students, s-she was like this when we showed up."

"Should take her to Hirogane." mumbled Yuruko.

Serena nodded, carefully picked the woman up, and carried her inside Urasaria. They came back in the middle of Hirogane making some announcement, and Serena called for him as she set the woman against the wall. Some of the second & first years tried to come over and he gave them a shout that made them think twice, then went over to Serena.

"We found her laying outside like this." said Yuruko. "Do you know who she is?"

"Don't recognize her." Hirogane drew Pulse's tendril out and up her vein. "…lot of damage. She has a Revenant, though - should be alright once you heal her. Pulse wouldn't automatically move like that if she didn't. Isn't active, though."

"…wait, Pulse moves automatically?"

Hirogane glanced at Serena. "Serena, I'm going to give you some advice. 'specially once you graduate: always make your Revenant sound difficult to use." He drew Pulse (or Pulse did itself) out. "Still, take her to the infirmary, heal her, watch her until I'm finished up here."

Serena nodded, and her & Yuruko went up to the infirmary. Serena tried the knob and frowned as she found it locked, started to turn back, then turned forward, ignoring Yuruko's grinning eyes, and mumbled to herself as she unlocked it with streams of fog. "I'm still not used to that, okay?"

"I didn't say anything."

They stepped inside and set the woman on a bed, and in the next instant -

- an explosion erupted out of her legs and threw Serena & Yuruko back, her two stumps following beside; Serena shouted for Blackburn as she & Yuruko hit the wall and two streams of fog filled their wounds before any could become fatal -

"-w-what the fuck?!" Serena winced, dragging herself up against the wall and helping Yuruko up with her tentacle, the tip dipping inside Yuruko's hand. "A-Are you okay?"

"N-Not the first time you've used that on me." mumbled Yuruko.

Cautiously, Serena went back over to the woman and gave her new legs (a level of strength Blackburn had grown to now), transferred her to another bed, and continued healing her. "…g-god, what the fuck was that?"

"Did someone plant a bomb inside her?"

"I-I dunno." mumbled Serena. "A-And I can feel her organs, too, kinda. It's like somebody took a knife to her."

"Wait." Yuruko put her hands over the woman and formed a concrete sarcophagus. "J-Just in case that happens again. It's blast-resistant."

Serena nodded. "…I-I can feel holes in her bones. Like somebody was drilling through them."

"Who the hell did this?" muttered Yuruko, forming chairs.

"Maybe we can ask her. Um, can you open where her head is?"

Yuruko did so. Serena opened the woman's eyes and found her pupils were slit. She replaced her pupils, and spent some time checking her bones, replacing her tongue, blood flow & such. Yuruko reminded her to check the eardrums, which Serena did and found they were perforated.

"This is really sick." said Yuruko. "And then they just left her at Urasaria? She's not a new student, is she?"

Serena frowned. "…um, didn't Mia get left at Urasaria like this? Yeah, she did."

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about. But she just got dropped off, right? I mean, nobody tortured her like this." Yuruko frowned. "This doesn't look like normal torture, either. I mean, if you torture somebody, it's usually for information or because you're pissed, right? Why would they place bombs inside of her and shit? That's like in Metal Gear Solid where they shoved a bomb in her pussy."

"Wait, yeah. Maybe they were trying to kill somebody here?"

"Maybe. We went to Hirogane first, right?"

"Yeah, but why would anyone want to kill Hirogane? Does anybody even know who he is, who isn't a student?"

Yuruko frowned. Her hands scrunched. "…um. I dunno. I mean, with some psycho shit like this, it almost makes me think it could be Kirihara. Like, maybe she is a new student and Kirihara did this to her."

"But she'd get expelled."

"Well, yeah, but when has logic ever stopped her? I mean, I remember that one time I was out hunting with Tuyuan, and we ran in to her threatening this old lady. She was angry, for some fucking reason, but I... I was scared, and I didn't want to do anything until Tuyuan goes up and tells her to stop. He didn't know who she was, he just saw her badge and asked her what kind of loser threatens civilians. I had to run up next to him, and him and Kirihara were saying some shit to each other, until she looked at me and just said something like - 'oh, my mistake.' And she just smiles and walks off."

Serena scratched her neck. "I hate that almost sounds cool."

"Kinda. Except she fucked it up even then, because then, while she's walking away, she starts humming something and... I don't know what she was doing. She was moving to it, a bit, except I could tell she was all offbeat and shit. I hate her, but even when she tries to look cool, she always just looks like a dumb fucking retard."

"It really su-"

"It was 'Black Hole Sun'." mumbled Yuruko.

Serena blinked. "Wait, you know that song, too?"

"…um. Serena, it's a really popular song. I know it 'cause it was in Rock Band."

"Okay, but I didn't have any friends growing up to play that with."

"I didn't either. I used to just play Mario Party of one." Yuruko shrugged. "But that's not the only time I've seen her in public. Back in February, when you went on that contract with Rochelle, I remember I saw her in the grocery store talking to somebody that worked there, and she was telling him she was rank #1. First off, I don't know why that's supposed to impress some random dude at the deli. Second off, I was checking the leaderboards because I was... well, you know, after how that bitch treated you, I was worried if she became president. They're online, and I checked them daily - there was never any point where she was #1. She was always behind Matoi - sorry, Satsuki. So, anybody with a WiFi connection would know she was lying. How many other times has she lied about easily verifiable shit for no reason like that?"

"It really sucks Satsuki didn't kill her." mumbled Serena.

"Yeah, it did. I don't know what she was thinking, nobody would let her get expelled for it. I mean, you turn the other cheek to Kirihara and she'll just smack it even harder. Even Satsuki cut Ragyo's head off." said Yuruko. "So yeah, I can definitely think she would attack somebody even knowing she'd get expelled."

The woman started stirring, monotonously groaning.

"Can you hear us?" said Serena. She placed a pillow behind the woman's head. "Um, what's your name?"

"…my name is Naomi." she said in a monotone. "Who are you?"

"My name is Serena, and she's Yuruko."

"How are you feeling?" said Yuruko.

"I feel terrible. My entire body hurts." Naomi blinked. "Who are you?"

"Ah, fuck, she has amnesia." muttered Yuruko instantly.

"…um. I'm Miasma, and this is Genesis." Serena made both their badges more prominent. "We're here to help you."

"Where am I?" She blinked, started to ask it again, then looked at Serena & Yuruko's badges. "Urasaria Academy."

"Guess it does say it." mumbled Yuruko. "Uh, do you remember anything?"

"Yes. My name is Naomi. You are Genesis and Miasma. I am at Urasaria Academy." She blinked. "Are you here to help me?"

Suffice to say, this was the riveting conversation Yuruko & Serena had with her for the next hour. After they fed her Blackburn's oatmeal & water, Serena used her phone to create a list with all information relevant to Naomi, along with writing 'CHECK THE PHONE' on her right arm. Hirogane eventually returned to the infirmary, and after listening to Yuruko relay it, decided that Renault would investigate it & have news for them by the next morning, and that Naomi would stay with them for the night.

The following morning, the three met with Renault in his office. (Careful readers will rightfully note Renault did not usually see students in-person: read on as for why he did here.)

"Unfortunately, she was thrown from outside of Rewind's range, explaining the nature of... some of the injuries you mentioned."

Yuruko frowned. "That means they knew she had a Revenant, right? That would kill anyone else."

"Who are you?"

"The bombs should have done that. Given how she speaks, I wouldn't so quick to say there was no permanent brain damage. Something I doubt a freshly second-year's Revenant would be able to heal."

"You know she's not retarded, right? She just has Revenant-induced amnesia." Yuruko looked at Naomi. "I mean, it's really weirdly specific if it's not."

"I am not retarded." nodded Naomi sagely.

"Can you let us see the footage?"

"When a man can turn in to a woman." said Renault.

There was a vague point to how Renault uttered those words. It was perhaps directed to Serena, but not blatantly so, and to ask him what he meant by it would have opened her up to charges of over-sensitivity.

Yuruko understood it as blatant, however, and thanked the asshole as she stepped out with Serena & Naomi. "Hey, don't let that dick bother you, Serena. Probably just something Satsuki did stuck up his Boomer ass."

Serena nodded. "Um, what are we gonna do with Naomi, though?"

"My name is Naomi." said Naomi.

Yuruko scratched her hair. "I mean, I guess we should just try to get her Revenant to activate, right? Maybe if we get in to some fights, it'll help... stress her out some. Revenants usually activate when you're stressed."

Serena nodded. "Um, Naomi, can you follow orders? If I tell you to duck?"

Naomi crouched.

"Coolio." said Serena. "Um, we should check how much English she knows first, though. We might have to teach her some."

"Yeah, maybe." said Yuruko. "Hey, Naomi. 'Poggers'."

Serena looked at Yuruko. "Please never use that word again."

"Poggers." said Naomi.

"No!"

"And this is my little PogChamp." Yuruko smiled and pulled Serena over, who kissed her.

Yuruko then felt this was too schmaltzy, like one of the bad romance novels other women read, so she stepped away from Serena, and the three loomed in to the afternoon.