[B]Night, School District 15[/b]

Though it had felt like an eternity, there had barely been fifteen minutes since Bang's fateful call connected to 119, and with the passing of those hands on the clock, so did the police pass into the alleyway where the assembled teenagers had made their discovery. They filed out of their windowless stage wagon in black helmets and padded suits, the dark rifles gripped within their hands almost blending in with the night. Antiskill's duty was first and foremost the protection of Academy City's students from any form of Esper violence, and after the explosive end to Bang's call to the emergency services, they were very much intent on ferreting out the lay of the situation and those responsible.

"Can we ask what happened here tonight?" asked one of them, replacing his weapon for a notepad and pen even as his comrades set up a perimeter. His face was obscured by the tinted visor of his helmet, adding to the professional and aloof demeanour he seemed to exude as he spoke to the gathered teens.

Meanwhile, the ambulance finally arrived, wheels screeching to a halt nearby. The paramedics were the first to exit, and upon surveying the situation, immediately made a beeline to Bang, whose injuries were clearly to be prioritised. They would check up on the rest of the teenagers soon enough, making sure that none of their injuries were too severe. Also present was the 119 operator - recognisable by her voice - a short girl wearing a paramedic's cap who had come to help out.

In the end, however, the body would be delivered into the hands of the authorities, the injured into the care of the hospital system, and once the questioning was over, all were free to go, with the understanding that further questioning may be involved, particularly if suspicious individuals contacted them once more. And so, the events of the night were brought to a close.
[hr]
[B]Night, School District 15, the Dianoid[/b]

The metal key emitted a successful click as he pushed it into the lock. The safe house door swung open, the lights within spilling out into the shadowy corridor in which he stood, refracting against the prismatic carbon that the Dianoid had been constructed from. He did not flinch at the sudden illumination, the bright glare that bounced against him merely one more source of irritation in this disastrous night. After the disgustingly undignified events that he had been forced to experience, Gandharva simply did not possess the energy or patience to respond to such minor problems. In any other circumstance, they would have been magnified, but against the galling behaviour of those two cackling Caucasian pursuers, such little things simply could not compare.

He trudged into the safe house, hair still soaking wet from the events in the alleyway. It was done. At the cost of his dignity, the inelegant nightmare of a night was finally over. There was little more that could surprise him, little more that he wanted to be surprised by. Gandharva only had one goal on his mind as he removed his shoes in the entryway: to get a shower and head straight to bed.

"[sup][b]1.[/b][/sup]おかえり!" exclaimed a voice ahead of him. Gandharva glanced up. His comrade had jocundly emerged from a room, a cup of instant ramen and chopsticks in hand. It was clear he had returned earlier. And ...

"Why are you shirtless."

Gandharva could not muster the energy to even pose it as a question. The casual, lackadaisical behaviour of his comrade was well-known to him, but to discard all upper wear for no apparent reason? Where was Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sense of dignity? For what purpose would he be traipsing half-naked in the apartment like a slightly-prudish exhibitionist?

"I needed to use the jetpack, you see?" explained his comrade, turning around to show Gandharva the burns pockmarking pale skin. "It really 'made a cat's breakfast' out of my clothes, right?"

There was a pause as Dhṛtarāṣṭra tapped the back of his chopsticks against his chin in thought.

"That [I]is[/I] how they say it, yes, no? It might be 'dog', right?"

"I do not speak English." And yet his comrade continued to ask him such questions.

"Ah well." Dhṛtarāṣṭra shrugged as he pirouetted back to face Gandharva. "How was your night, friend? Did I 'get the heat off you', as they say? Hopefully?"

"A symptomatic rabies carrier and a woman of order Rodentia attempted to extort money out of me."

"That's not good, yes?" Dhṛtarāṣṭra was still casual, but there was a certain businesslike air that had draped itself over his half-naked body. "What did you do? Did you 'cut your losses'? You don't seem very 'worse for wear', right?"

It was a choice he despised the necessity of having made, but his pragmatism had won over his sense of elegance in the heat of that moment, and though he regretted everything involving that alleyway and those two individuals (particularly the fact that he had been forced to such a irritating state), there was a certain catharsis in foisting the spotlight onto [I]her[/I]. It would not impact her financially, but it was a responsibility she would need to take on. As she should have far earlier.

And it was that he told to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

"Prolly a bit morbid, you think? And it might 'shine a light' on her too."

"She will be fine."

"Hopefully. But that will one hundred percent be 'very suss', right? Especially if Antiskill 'gets their mitts' on it, yes?"

It was a possibility, but for Gandharva, he would simply have to bring about a more elegant solution to their issues later on. At this point in the night, he was far too exhausted to deal with such things.

"Maybe," he replied, walking past his comrade. "But let it wait until morning."

"Oh, you don't want 'some grub'?"

All he wanted to do was shower and sleep until dawn.

[hr][sup][b]1.[/b] TN: Okaeri means "welcome home".[/sup]