Group 5 began running to the location of the awakening. Kanji-Man felt an immense surge of excitement, he was now an official hero of sorts after all.
"Rento told me that you already have your unique ability, Kanji-Man-kun. What exactly is it?"
"Wait and see, mademoiselle. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.", Kanji-Man said with a noticeable excitement in his voice.
"I heard him explain it to The Chairman, its definitely something."
About a 4 minute walk away from Nippori Station, there was an apartment building. One of the residents had been the one to awaken.
"Its this building here, my kohai. The awakening happened on the 4th floor to someone in apartment 6." All the residents of the building had evacuated except the ones that the alternate may have caught and was feasting on.
Group 5 rushed to the 4th floor and arrived in front of the door of apartment 6.
knock! knock!
"Are you there, alternate!?", Rento shouted.
"ARGHHHHHHH!", It screamed back. "Its a dumb one so its weak. How about we let Kanji-Man handle this, senpai? It'll be good training for him."
"I don't think tha-"
"Splendid idea, Takahashi-kun! I shall proper show off my unique ability to Ikari-san!"
BANG!
Rento broke down the door with a small swing and said, "The glory is all yours, Kanji-Man."
Kanji-Man walked in and saw the alternate standing there with bits of human flesh scattered around it. "You killed the other people living here, didn't you? You vile creature, I shall avenge them and the man whose soul you've tainted!" Rento and Yuko also entered the room and sat on the couch ready to observe.
The alternate rushed towards Kanji-Man with its teeth lengthened and sharpened.
"KANJI PUNCH!"
The alternate went flying back into the wall. "Let's get serious, alternate." The alternate began to growl in anger, its teeth got sharpened and it began deforming its head in order to eat Kanji-Man. The alternate stretched out its arms and sent them towards Kanji-Man. Before they could wrap themselves around him, he grabbed both hands with his own and crushed them.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", It screamed in pain and agony. Looking at that creature screaming with a deformed head and a freakishly wide mouth that was once human, Kanji-Man felt disturbed. "Poor girl... Why did this have to happen to her?"
The host of this alternate was a girl named Kondo Himari and she was living with her boyfriend whom she was planning to soon marry.
As Kanji-Man's battle was going on, Rento noticed something next to the couch. It was a picture frame of Himari and her boyfriend kissing each other. Rento picked it up and began staring at it, Yuko noticed. She asked, "What is it, Takahashi-kun?"
"Its just... Its sad, isn't it? I think we've grown too desensitized to it but this alternate was a human with her own dreams, hopes and people she loved just a little while ago and here we are, slaying it as a monster."
Yuko gently grabbed one of Rento's hands and said, "Its how it is. Killing them so they don't live on as these monsters is the best we can do. Remember what I told you when we first met? Its easier to just accept it and not think about the underlying sadness."
"I know... Its just tha-"
Kanji-Man fell onto his knees with tears on his face. "What is this...?" The alternate was still healing its injuries. Since it was a 3rd Class Low, its regenerative abilities were slow. It also wasn't using its unique ability since it was completely useless.
Rento and Yuko stood up in worry and rushed to him. Yuko asked, "What's wrong, Kanji-Man-kun?"
"Its just... This monster or alternate or whatever... this was a human moments ago with their life, with their own goals and with their own love... I've only faced against 2 of them before and when I did, I couldn't process it properly, the fact that they were humans who tragically lost their lives and I was there just having fun living out my fantasy of being a hero being an absolute moron! I was using them to live out my stupid fantasy... How could I be such an insensitive idiot!? Just now, when we were informed of the awakening, I got excited... Excited that someone lost their life so I could go be a hero and defeat the monster they turned into..."
Yuko gained a saddened look on her face. "Kanji-Man-kun..."
"Looking around this apartment, seeing all the pictures and the personal belongings that she must have valued... She was a person... like any other... and now, she's... she's a monst-"
Yuko put both her hands on Kanji-Man's cheeks snapping him back into reality out of his thoughts.
The alternate was healed up and was rushing towards them. "Go deal with it, kohai.", Yuko said in a firm voice. Rento nodded.
Yuko took a deep breath. "Listen here, Louis-kun. I understand everything you're saying. Awakenings are a tragedy, all of us SOMA agents know and get that. The thing is, there's nothing we can do about at least not yet. The only thing we can do, the only way we can help is by making sure that the vile monster that took over that person is punished and eliminated and doing that, we make it so that the image of the victim who got taken over is not disrespected by being used to go around looking like a disgusting creature eating and killing other humans. That's all we can do... to provide peace and justice to the victims, that's all we can do."
"Senpai, I know that but... I... I was using them to live out my own fantasy... using their tragedy for my own sake, for the life that I dreamed of living since I was a kid..."
"So? There's nothing wrong with that. We're just humans too, did you already forget? We're victims as well, our lives were taken away from us and we're forced to carry on this battle against the alternates unbeknownst to the world. All of our connections we had before, they're gone... We around this city unseen by everyone else, our work will never be appreciated and we'll never get the glory. So... If living out your fantasy and being a flashy hero is what keeps you going, keeps you from falling into depression, keeps you distracted from your own tragedy, then do it all you like."
At that moment, Kanji-Man's eyes were filled with nothing but admiration towards Yuko. He nodded. "Understood, senpai!"
"Good.", Yuko replied with a gentle smile.
Rento was almost done with the alternate. It stretched out its neck and sent its deformed head towards Rento ready to bite down on his body.
Using his unique ability, Skin Hardening, Rento hardened the skin on his right arm giving it a crystal-like blue color. Just as the head was about to reach him, Rento punched the alternate directly into its face almost completely crushing it.
"Just accept your fate and die already, you filthy monster. You're too damn weak to go against me.", Rento said with a pissed off look.
The alternate was now rolling around on the ground screaming from the pain and covering its face in fear. Rento bent down and he raised his hardened right arm in order to punch the alternate's brains in. Just when he was about to,
"Wait, comrade!"
"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that!?"
"Sorry but that is my nature."
"Whatever, why do want me to stop? I'm almost done with it."
Kanji-Man walked towards Rento and bent down as well. He put one of his hands on the ground and slid out a piece of paper from it.
Kanji-Man's unique ability, Scriptomancy, allowed him to slide out a piece of paper from literally anywhere. He could then write down a Kanji on that paper and transform the paper into whatever thing that Kanji represents or apply whatever concept that Kanji represents to something else.
He proceeded to write down the kanji for sleep, 眠, on that paper and put it on the alternate. The paper disappeared and the alternate had gone unconscious.
"Pretty, Kanji-Man-kun.", Yuko said quietly in the background.
"Why the hell did you do that? Trying to show the alternate mercy?"
"No, I'm not. Its just that I think the last time she gets looked at, she should look peaceful. We're freeing her, aren't we?"
Rento sighed. "I'll allow this stupid stuff just this once, don't do this next time." Rento then grew out his right hand's nails and stabbed them into the brain, finishing the job.
"Alright, Let's go, you two! Honestly, I wanna go Yanaka Ginza for a bit just to pet some more cats."
"Me too, senpai!", Rento said with a cheerful look. Yuko and Rento both exited through the door. Kanji-Man hadn't moved. Rento looked back and asked, "You coming?"
"Of course I am! Like I said, I like cats too, comrade.", Kanji-Man said with a goofy smile on his face.
Rento chuckled. "Whatever..."