[Private] Come alone.

The trip to the antique store was anything but pleasant for Chiharu.

The bus had old brakes that screamed in agony every stop, thankfully the people inside of the bus were much more peaceful. That can't be said for the pandemonium she was greeted with upon exiting on a busy street in the middle of the city on a bright summer day. She managed to walk through  the crowd for a short while, but soon became overwhelmed by the chaos around her.

"Did you hear about lilly?" "the weather is great" "I need those quotes by tomorrow!" "Akiko!!! Long time no see!" "I thought maybe we could grab some lunch?" "But your brother told me you were out of town" "Life is a stage play my love" "I don't care what it takes, get it done!" "Did you hear about lilly?" "the weather is great" "I need those quotes by tomorrow!" "Akiko!!! Long time no see!" "I thought maybe we could grab some lunch?" "But your brother told me you were out of town" "Life is a stage play my love" "I don't care what it takes, get it done!" "Did you hear about lilly?" "the weather is great" "I need those quotes by tomorrow!" "Akiko!!! Long time no see!" "I thought maybe we could grab some lunch?" "But your brother told me you were out of town" "Life is a stage play my love" "I don't care what it takes, get it done!" "Did you hear about lilly?" "the weather is great" "I need those quotes by tomorrow!" "Akiko!!! Long time no see!" "I thought maybe we could grab some lunch?" "But your brother told me you were out of town" "Life is a stage play my love" "I don't care what it takes, get it done!"

Merely a second passes after she stops before a man bumps into her. She staggered from him for a moment, and preceded to bolt. She didn't choose a direction before she began to run, she just knew it was her only option. Eventually she came across an alleyway. After a couple turns she finds a point of respite within the shadows of towering walls all around her, only plagued by echoes.

It took her a while to gather herself, but eventually she found the courage to bring up a map on her phone to plot a route with the least foot traffic.
<I'm going to be a little late, I hope he's in a patient mood>
A block from her destination, Chiharu dials 110 but waits to hit send until necessary. Just in case this is a trap.

Five minutes after the agreed time, Chiharu arrives at the rendezvous point behind the antiques shop.

The young man pulled his phone out and briefly checked the time. It had been exactly 58 minutes since he sent that text to Chiharu. As such, he decided to wait exactly two more minutes before turning around and leaving - anything other than that would've simply been too risky. Hell, even the text itself was a stupidly large risk that placed his entire plan in jeopardy. Sure, there was a good chance that the gambit wasn't going to pay off - for all he knew, Chiharu had already alerted the authorities and/or his family about the text, in which case Wade was going to have to ditch his phone and escape from the scene, which wasn't going to be easy. Then again, Chiharu was anything but unreliable, and he felt it in his gut that she wasn't going to betray his trust. Still, a few necessary precautions weren't in excess, all things considered, the least of which was Wade's position - the roof of the building right next to the antiques shop, overlooking the small, dark alley where the meeting was supposed to take place, alongside the streets connected to it. His current location kept him relatively hidden - unless someone brought a helicopter in their search for him - while giving him the chance to spot anyone he wouldn't want to get in contact with from a good distance. Said vantage point was precisely the reason why he had picked the antiques store as the location of the meeting in his text. And, best of all, the alley was empty practically all the time - because of its location and shading, the only people who even dared to approach it were gang members and runaways, which meant it was the perfect spot for someone like him.

'No, please! Just take the bag, okay? Take it!'

Wade turned his eyes down towards the alley as a woman's voice echoed through it, losing itself in the walls right before reaching the main street. A young girl, most likely a university student by the looks of her, was crawling on the ground, going deeper and deeper into the alley in a desperate attempt to get away from the three men who had blocked the nearest exit. The girl had lost one of her shoes, probably when she was pushed down on the ground, and her purse was in the possession of one of the men.

'This thing? There's only make-up and shit in there! What a fuckin' waste!' the man groaned out, throwing the bag right back at her. Wade squinted his eyes - he recognized those bastards. They were a motorcycle gang who had been terrorizing the city for a few months now, causing about a dozen incidents, most of which related to mugging. At least, those were the ones that were reported. The police never managed to catch them, and after the civil war started a few years later, no one even cared. They never did anything worthy. Probably didn't have families, either.

No one was going to miss them.

Wade grabbed the bill of his baseball cap and pulled it down, partially concealing his vision. As much as he wanted to, taking them down was wrong. It meant interfering, and that was the one thing Kanna had warned him not to do. So the only thing he could do was close his eyes and hope those fuckers would be finished by the time Chiharu got there. The young man pulled out his phone - 59 minutes. She was going to be there any second now. Wade opened up a new text message and started typing - "Change of plans - be there 15 minu"

'Oh God! Please!' the woman yelled out from below as one of the men pushed her against the wall, gripping her throat tightly with one hand while holding a short blade in the other. They weren't going to kill her - they didn't have the balls to do it. But they could hurt her, badly.

'Shut up! Shut the fuck up, or I swear I'll slit your throat!' the man insisted, pulling his hand down from the girl's neck and placing it right onto her chest. The two thugs with him were grinning loudly, as if they were watching the coolest live show ever. If Wade had to guess, this crime probably wasn't one of passion - more likely than not, the guy with the knife was a new addition to the gang who was being tested. "You want in, huh? Well, let's see how far you can go!" or something like that. Hell, perhaps it wasn't even a test - maybe they were just screwing with the new guy to see if he'd actually go as far as rape an innocent woman for their amusement.

They were making someone suffer for their own personal amusement. And that was something Wade could no longer overlook.

Shit... Why's there always a damsel in distress when I need to stay quiet?

Wade stood up and placed his hand on the parapet, then pushed himself over it before landing on the other end of the alley, next to its other entrance. The fall wasn't particularly long, and the landing was swift, so Wade managed to get away with only some pain in his right foot that was probably going to disappear in a few moments.

Gotta be more careful from now on - I can't heal like I used to, so I should probably take less risks from now on...

As soon as he landed, the men turned around, staring right at him.

'The bloody hell are you? Some kinda superhero fallin' from the sky?' one of the thugs asked, making his partner next to him chuckle. Said partner responded by pulling his own short knife from his pocket and whipping it out intimidatingly. The person holding the girl, however, only appeared to be even more distressed.

They're going to kill her if I rush things... Need to play it smart this time

'No, I'm just passing through' he spoke calmly, causing the two thugs to chuckle. Slowly, they started approaching him.

'Oh, really? Just passin' through that alley?'

'Well, it's alright, that's an honest mistake... But I think there ought to be a penalty to make sure you don't repeat it, yeah?'

'Indeed! So why don'tcha show us what you got in those pockets?'

Slowly, Wade complied, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out his smartphone.

'Look at that! That's some fancy shit right there!' one of the thugs exclaimed.

'Pass it over, and maybe we'll let ya off with a warning'

'You sure? It's pretty fragile, and I'm not sure I can pass it to you' Wade spoke calmly, holding the phone out in front of him. The thugs looked at each other, with one of them shrugging and the other sighing.

'Alright, get your ass over here. Slowly'

Wade nodded, holding his right hand forward, with the phone in its palm, and his left one up in the air to reassure the attackers that he wasn't going to try anything funny. After a few steps, he was close enough to allow the unarmed thug to reach out and try and get the phone.

Alright, this is it... Can't mess this up...

As soon as the man's fingers were touching the device, Wade dropped it on the ground. Less than a split second later, he lunged at the attacker, putting his foot forward and using one hand to grasp the thug's outstretched arm and another to grab him by the forehead. One shove to the left later, Wade tripped the man over his foot before slamming his head in the brick wall, knocking him unconscious and possibly giving him a nice concussion. The entire action was completed on pure instinct before the phone had even finished falling to the ground.

As soon as the other thug realized what was going on, he raised the knife and pushed it forward, aiming for Wade's face. But he wasn't quick enough - a second before the tip of the blade reached his skin, the teenager grabbed his attacker's wrist, squeezing it tightly before twisting the entire arm, loosening up the fingers holding the knife. Wade quickly grabs the knife with his spare hand before twisting the attacker's arm even further, pulling it around and dislocating it from its socket before placing the palm all the way up on the thug's back, right in front of the scapula. With one swift move, the young man swung the knife, stabbing his opponent through the hand and embedding the blade right into the bone, though fortunately for the thug the knife wasn't nearly long enough to rupture the lungs.

Noobs... I've taken down machines specifically designed to exterminate humans with nothing but a sword. You think I can't take a bunch of pansies with my bare hands?

One trip later, the second man was on the ground as well, unconscious from the pain. The thug who was holding the woman had backed away, holding her in front of him like a hostage, with his own knife next to her throat.

'M-monster! What the hell are you?!?'

'Me? I'm just someone used to taking out trash like you. Guess you can call me the garbage man'

Man, that was terrible... Been a while since I worked on my one-liners.

'But I better not see that name in tomorrow's paper' Wade spoke, pulling the bill of his hat down once again before taking a step forward.

'Don't come any closer! I've got a hostage!' the thug threatened.

'Oh, is that right? Well, in that case, I've got one, two...' the young man pointed at each of the passed out thugs at his feet before raising his hand and aiming his finger straight at the one in front of him. 'Three'

The thug's hand was shaking, twisting the blade in front of the girl's throat. Frankly, at this point, Wade couldn't tell who was more terrified - the criminal or the hostage he was holding. Finally, he did the smart thing and threw the girl on the ground alongside the knife and bolting off in the opposite direction. The young woman took a few deep breaths as Wade approached her to ensure that everything was alright with her. After crouching down to pick her purse up, Wade stepped forward and handed it back to her.

'T-thank you... Thank you! Thank you!' the woman repeated, her wet eyes looking up at the boy in the baseball cap.

'We never met. You don't know who rescued you. You never got a clear look at me. Is that clear?' he asked the woman, maybe a bit more sternly than he was supposed to.

'But... But why? I thought--'

'Because I'm a criminal myself' he interrupted her. 'Now go before that guy comes back with his buddies!'

The young woman still looked confused, not to mention utterly terrified, but she did what was asked of her and promptly took off, passing through the narrow entrance and emerging back onto the bright street.

Great... Now you've done it, Wade... You might have created an alternate future where the Earth explodes or whatever. Ah well, no use crying over spilled milk. And besides, I'd rather risk the worst future imaginable than to allow someone to suffer in front of me again.

Wade turned back and made a few steps forward, pushing one of the thugs' bodies away with his foot before crouching down in order to retrieve his phone. As expected, the display was cracked, but as far as he could tell, the thing was still functioning.

And that's when he noticed it - a shadow that wasn't there before. A roughly humanoid shadow. Someone was hiding out behind the corner of the alley. And Wade could probably guess who.

Gotta give it to her - it must have taken an immense amount of strength for someone like her to have found the bravery to not run away when things heated up. Then again, maybe Chiharu arrived just now and missed all the action... Or that's not Chiharu at all, in which case, I'm probably about to give someone a heart attack.

'You're late' he yelled out.

Chiharu took a deep breath and replied with a slight hint of fear leaking out in to her voice.
"I'm, not used to the city."

After a short pause, and after pressing the end call button with her phone still in her pocket, she continues with, "We should.. We should probably go somewhere else to talk, <The cops> those guys are going to be back."

'Nah, they're going to stay away from this place. They're cowards looking for cheap thrills. Once a bigger fish shows up, they'll know better than to seek revenge' Wade responded as he stood up, phone in hand, and pulled the bill of his hat down. 'But we can't exactly chat with two unconscious gorillas around either. You know the hotel a few blocks from here? There's a similar alley nearby. Meet me there'

With that said, Wade turned around and jumped up on a nearby dumpster before swiftly running up the wall and climbing back on the rooftop he had jumped down from, disappearing from sight once again.

Chiharu stood there for a second, looking up towards the tops of the buildings above her.
<One of these days I'm going to have to learn how to do that>
She then began on her way towards the new meeting area, sticking to the few alleys between the two. Convinced that she wasn't walking into a trap, and worried the Police may be tracking her phone after she called them, she took the battery out while on her way.

Upon her arrival, Chiharu looked around, but mostly up, before saying, "I'm here.", hoping Wade was already there and just hasn't revealed himself.

'Well, that was quicker than I expected!' Wade's voice echoed from a nearby roof. After revealing his presence, the boy climbed down, being slightly more careful in that he actually climbed this time rather than just jump down on his feet like before, ending up in the other end of the alley. At last, the two were alone... Or were they? Wade trusted Chiharu, but it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

'Lift your shirt up' he instructed the girl.

She blurts out, "Excuse me!?", as she tilts her head forward slightly while looking at him incredulously.
<Was this all some extremely elaborate machination to ask me to show him my breasts?>

Wade sighed loudly, with a look on his face that could only be read as "Seriously? We're gonna do THAT now?"

'I'm checking for a wire. Obviously' he explained, trying to keep his voice down. 'Look, if the son of a known schizophrenic mass murderer went AWOL, I assume a lot of people won't be too happy. I trust you, but I wouldn't put it past you or anyone to work with the cops in a misguided attempt to "help" me'

Realizing her folly, she responded with a simple, "Oh..", before complying with the request by pulling her shirt up to show her stomach, clear of any wires, as well as the bottom edge of her white bra. After doing a slow 360 turn she pulls her shirt back down and precedes to take out her phone with the disconnected battery.
"As you can see I don't have any wires, I'm not recording the conversation with my phone, and they can't track my phone when it has no power."
She then puts her phone away as she finishes her statement with, "Satisfied?"

'Quite' Wade nodded. 'Sorry about that, but I need to be extra careful. That goes without saying, but you were never here, you never met me, you've got no idea where I am or how to get in contact with me, etcetera etcetera. With that said...' the boy raised his head, looking at the girl in the eye for the first time, with a faint smile on his lips. 'It's good to see you again, Chiharu'

<I can only imagine after turning into some kind of vigilante, having to lay low all the time, you must miss having people you can count on>
She lets out a short smile while saying, "It's good to see you too."
After which, she resumes a somewhat concerned but primarily serious visage as she continues by saying, "When you disappeared, I started to wonder what had happened to you, but finding out you are some kind of vigilante was the last thing I had expected."
<Actually it was the 37th theory of 68>
Finally, she looks towards him with a more genuine look of curiosity and concern while asking, "So, could you tell me what's going on?"

Wade couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of the word "vigilante". To him, that actually sounded way cooler than the pathetic reality.

'So you saw that, huh... To be quite honest, it was a one-time affair. I'm actually not supposed to interfere, but I'm not the kind of guy who can just stand by and watch someone being attacked. Not anymore' he looked down.

Then again, after I'm gone, Past Me will get back behind the steering wheel. Gotta be careful about exactly what I say to her.

'In any case, you don't need to worry about that. I won't be patrolling the streets looking for crimes to stop or whatever, but I also need to lay low for a while. It's, uh... It's complicated. Very complicated'

"I've got time. As far as anyone else who bothered to ask is concerned, I'm meeting my old friend Sayuri while she's in town and we could be spending the whole day catching up."
She looks to Wade, waiting for him to continue.

'And the moment someone actually asks Sayuri about what you two have been doing today, your entire plan falls apart. You need to do a better job at covering your tracks - once they realize you've actually met with me, they won't leave you alone' he explained. Wade figured out that he was probably getting too paranoid, but then again, was there even such a thing as "too paranoid" when the entire future was at stake?

'As for the reason... Well...' he looked around. Telling Chiharu the truth would've only made him look insane. He had to improvise. 'Let's just say I learned something that puts everyone at risk, my family included. And unless I do something about it, a lot of people will...' the boy stopped himself mid-sentence. 'It's a lot to take in, so I won't expect you to believe me. But I will ask you to trust me'

(OOC: Sorry for the wait)

Deadpool wrote:'And the moment someone actually asks Sayuri about what you two have been doing today, your entire plan falls apart. You need to do a better job at covering your tracks - once they realize you've actually met with me, they won't leave you alone'

<He must think I meant Motozaki, instead of the Sayuri I knew back home, who moved to a different country several years ago. But there isn't much of a point in correcting him>

Deadpool wrote: 'It's a lot to take in, so I won't expect you to believe me. But I will ask you to trust me'

<It'll take more than a request for me to trust the least predictable person on the planet>
Chiharu looked Wade in the eye and gave him a short nod alongside a short response of, "I can do that."

'Heh. I assumed as much' Wade smiled faintly. The reason he responded to Chiharu's text wasn't simply because he trusted her, but also because he knew she trusted him, in a weird way. 'Look, there's no easy way for me to tell you this, but... Basically, I need you to move out of the dorms for a month without telling anybody' he spoke to her, looking directly at her underneath the bill of his hat. 'Thing is, I've got some business in the dorm, but I've got no way of entering it - if I use my own student card on the reader near the entrance, I'll be caught immediately. That's why I need yours in order to enter and do what I was sent here for. And as long as I have it, you won't be able to enter yourself. A month later, they'll find me unconscious somewhere without any memory of where I've been for the last two months, and when that happens, then you can report the card as stolen and have another issued. The moment I lose my memories, that means everything is over, and the danger has passed. But until then, I need to be at that dorm'

Somewhat taken aback by Wade's request, Chiharu takes a short moment before she responds.
"You're asking for quite a lot you know... *sigh*.. Can you give me a day or two? I'm going to have to find somewhere else to stay, gather up my stuff, it'll take a bit of time."
She takes a moment to look at her surroundings as she says, "And next time we meet, could it be somewhere... less.. in the city?"

Wade squinted his eyes as Chiharu asked for a delay. Of course, it sounded like a perfectly reasonable request, but it also might have been a trap... The young man thought about if for a second - if he demanded it more firmly, he was probably going to be able to get the card immediately, but his friend was going to be left locked out of her home, with no possessions or a place to go. But if he didn't, nothing stopped her from telling everyone that Wade's goal lied within the dorms... It was a big gamble, but he trusted Chiharu and was willing to take the risk, especially considering the sacrifice she was making for him. 'Three days. That's all the time I can afford to waste' he spoke. 'After that, I'll really need that card'

As Chiharu stated her second request, Wade looked aside. 'I'm afraid that's just not possible. I'm safe in the city. I've got a dozen hideouts set up all around me. If things get tough, I can always flee to the nearest one, and since I'm in hiding, I can't go out in the open like I do now without having a place nearby where I can cover my tracks. I'm sorry, I know you're already doing a lot for me, but...'

"But you're going to need me to walk through a bustling city again."
She pauses for a second as she presses her lips together and takes a breath.
"That's okay though, it's better that I suffer temporary pain than for you to get caught by whoever is after you."
Just as she was finishing her statement, a blaring siren echoes through the alleys as police cars move through the surrounding area. Chiharu takes in a sharp breath, winces, and clenches her fist tightly. The sound eventually passes and she slowly loosens up as she looks up toward Wade to say in a quieter tone than before, "Could we at least not meet during rush hour?"

'We should probably meet at night. That way, it'll be safer for both of us' he offered her. Of course, there was always the danger of her running into the biker gang in the middle of the night, but it wasn't like Wade couldn't handle their sorry asses if something like that ever happened. All he needed to do was be a bit more vigilant on meeting nights. As for the moment, his bigger concern were the sirens - the college girl had probably alerted the police, who were now coming to scope out the place. 'I should go' he spoke to her - his nearest hideout wasn't far at all, but it was still better to be safe rather than sorry. 'I'll text you the location of our meeting in 3 days, alright?' Wade asked, turning his back towards the girl and preparing to climb back up on the roof before suddenly remembering something.

'Chiharu, wait' he called out to her, turning around and reaching into the pocket of his blue jacket before pulling out a small box, like the ones people used to hold engagement rings in. He approached Chiharu and handed it over to her without getting too close. 'Here'

"Alright."

Chiharu was starting to turn when Wade called out to her. She looked over shoulder as he approached her again, only turning around to take the box. Her first thought and action is to open the box to see what's inside.

Inside the box was a rather beautiful ring with a red crystal attached on top of it - probably not a diamond, but it still looked rather pretty and shiny. It had obviously been made by a proper jeweler and most likely still cost a pretty penny despite the lack of diamond. If Chiharu was aware of the source material, she was probably going to figure out that this was the ring the main character of a very popular recent magical girl anime used in order to initiate her transformation.

'Look, Chiharu, I'll be honest with ya - ever since I first saw you, I felt something I thought I'd never feel towards a woman. Which is why I'd like you to marry me' he spoke, with a dead serious look on his face, his eyes locked onto hers. Of course, his poker face only lasted for about one very enjoyable minute before a grin spread across his lips - a far cry from the hysterical laughter his pranks were often followed up with in the past, but it was still the first time he smiled since the world went to shit. 'Come on, admit it - I had you for a second there. Ellie's birthday was a few days ago, and I couldn't attend... Well, for obvious reasons. Think you can give that to her? Tell her you found it in my room or something'

<What!???? Is he serious? No way is he serious. But I have seen him naked, he gave me a pet name, and he is nearly insane, proposing to me would kind of fit with our usual interactions. Oh shit, what do I say?>

When Wade cracked a smile, Chiharu reciprocated, but her smile was more one of relief than anything else.

As he asked her to deliver the ring, she looked down at it for a moment before looking up while she says, "Eh.. Yeah, sure. But hey, does this thing, this whole staying hidden thing, have anything to do with the Cyborg nightmares? Like when we met?"

She pauses for but a short moment as she puts the box into her pocket before continuing.
"Because I don't think I ever told you that I did look into it, and you were right. People all over school had nightmares about the same thing that night."

Wade's mouth gaped a little as Chiharu mentioned the nightmares.

Oh, yeah... We already tried to fight Takeshi once, in a different world... Way back before he actually became a real threat. I had almost forgotten about that. It's been so long... And everything before getting my healing factor in '25 is kind of a mess in my head...

'I...' he looked to the side, wondering how to explain it. 'Kind of, and at the same time, not really. It's... Really difficult to explain, especially without sounding like someone who's completely out of his mind'

Too late for that, hotshot...

Wade sighed and looked down at the ground. Chiharu was putting a LOT of faith in him - hell, she was living to leave her home for an entire month just because he asked her to, or so she claimed. If anyone deserved an honest explanation of what was going on, it was her. But if she didn't believe it, Wade was never going to get the help he needed from her. Then again, if she did, she was sure to help him out. So was the reward worth the risk?

'Look, Chiharu... If you really insist on knowing, then I'm going to explain everything. You deserve that much, at least. But I need your word that you won't back out on your promise and will still help me even if it sounds completely insane. Then again... Perhaps the reason for my situation is one of the things you're better off not knowing. I'll leave the choice to you'

<Hmm.. Back out now, or get what I came here for? Pretty easy decision>

"Whether it makes sense or not, whatever is happening has caused you to cut off communication with just about everybody and hide out in the city for quite some time. I think that's reason enough to help you, but I'm not the kind of person who can stand being left in the dark, so yeah, I definitely would like to know what the hell is going on."