A gun being pointed at his face wasn't the greeting Taro had been expecting that afternoon.

     The loaded barrel stared at him like a lion daring it's prey to move, a hairline away from pouncing as the young businessman swallows a forming lump. "Say, pretty sure I had bodyguards, yeah?" He says through gritted teeth, his mouth in a tight forced smile as he spat each word with venom. "Thought they were supposed to be paid to protect me in situations like this, don't you think?—"

     "Shut up!" The gun dare to move closer, the one bead of sweat that managed to roll down his forehead hitting the weapon held straight against him. "You fucker," The man who had been closely working with Juan spat, his hands trembling as a finger twitched and hovered over the trigger. "Give me one good fucking reason not to kill you right now you sick bastard," The Yaoyorozu dared scoff, still seated in the comforts of his own car but making the mistake of rolling down the window enough for the gun to be held with a clear pathway to between his brows. "You seem to be forgetting that I paid you idiots—"

     "And we did what you asked!" He shoved the small handgun forward, pushing the rich man's head backwards with an audible sharp intake of breath, "Screw this fucking project of yours. If you're so rich and powerful, don't'cha think that killing a single woman would be easy enough? Huh?!"

     He sends a glaring side-eye to one of the supposedly armed guards that he had, the men in suits keeping quiet as though their entire purpose wasn't to protect Taro, as annoying as he was. "Drop your weapon," One stern voice announces with his own firearm pulled out and aimed, eyeing the man wearing rags from top to bottom. "Kill me, and I'll blow your boss' head to bits." He hissed, and as he continued to glare, the target sighs. "Look, what do you want? I'll, I'll give you anything! What, y-you want more money?" Upon hearing the smallest sign of a tremble from the arrogant man he worked under, he dared laugh, but kept his eyes on the guard still holding the gun with clear aim to his own head. "No. No I don't want your damn money. What I want, is your ass dead, and your dirty little secrets exploited to the entirety of New York. No—" He laughs louder, "The world! I'll tell the whole world of your little schemes, and everyone will see how much of a coward you are."

     Taro's eyes darkened, his usually unwavering confidence breaking little by little with each second passing. "As if," He scoffs, trying to save what little of his dignity remained, "They'd arrest you for killing me you dumb—"

     "Then so be it!" Yaoyorozu winces as the gun hits his forehead once more, clicking his tongue in annoyance at the very high chance of a bruise forming. "Let me finish you dumb fuck," Sending a passing glance to the guard outside, he ducks out of view at the sounds of two gunshots going off.

     The man who had been threatening him since earlier cried out in pain, more sounds of guns going off right outside the vehicle as he clicks his tongue at the one that had managed to crack his window. The bullet rolled on the floor of the limo, slowly moving out of the way of any areas where the gun outside might've posed a threat. Which was hard, seeing as the car was all windows and no escape hatch like in his house.

     Silence soon follows although, Taro not daring to look up from where he crouched with a sigh, "Get me the hell out of here," He sneered, giving it a few impatient minutes as the car drives away from the alley they had so discretely hidden themselves in. Finally sitting up, he sends an annoyed look back, finding the lying corpse with fresh blood spreading onto the concrete. "Not even an attempt at covering up, huh?" He scoffs, earning no response as, if anyone's ever learned anything about being his guard, was that most of his questions were just tricks and rigged against. "Damn incompetent." He mumbles, ignoring—or not noticing—the annoyed looks shared between the three stationed near him at all times. Still looking back, he catches sight of many figures starting to surround the body like a planned funeral, quiet—solemn?—looks being shared between the hardly readable faces of the group. 

     He only looks out the tinted window once more, scoffing at the early signs of falling snow like it had anything to do with his problems. This was going to be an annoying winter. 

● ● ●

     "And this is important, how?" Another glare, and an innocent raise of hands as a form of mock surrender. "Hey, I told ya, I don't speak chemicals."

     "We're in the same building," Layla sighs, taking a long, needed sip from her coffee that was cooling off every minute lost walking around trying to figure out as much as she could about the given sample of the pink drug. "Trust me, I don't even know how I survived high-school. Anyway you coming?" She shakes her head, leaning back on the bench outside, "You go ahead, I need the air."

     "Oh lucky you to have finished all your homework early," Her. . . one of her only friends really, sighed, waving off a hand as the brunette rolls her eyes. "Whatever. See ya later, Blue." She only lets out a sound that sounded like a vague mix between a grunt and a hum, taking a small bite out of the donut who's sprinkles hardly stayed on. It was. . . mediocre, but she couldn't complain much—she only ate lunch because her body needed it. She honestly thought of just making something that would render her needs of consuming sustenance a no-go so she could dedicate all her time into working, already making up some sort of formula in her head before getting sidetracked by a reasonable voice in her head telling her that that would take too much work and time, which was the exact opposite of why she would want to be doing it.  

     She sighs, once again pulling up the tablet that was more or less given to the people who worked in the company. She was one of the lucky few, staring at her scribbled notes and various pictures of the drug saved on it. The idea of it. . . was so simple, yet. . . yet it left the girl absolutely stumped. Not the various works and assignments given, not even when she was asked to manufacture an entire line of samples for a purpose she hardly even listened to the explanation for—but apparently, this was what stressed her out so much to the point of turning back to an old, personally frowned upon habit of hers. 

     Just one stick, She thought to herself as she disappeared near the side of the large modern building, the nicotine in her hand so awfully nostalgic in her slowly shaking fingers. "Just. . . just gotta. . ."

     Taking the first huff was all that she needed to sigh and lean back, not minding the smell of the bins beside her. Or more-so the lack thereof, seeing as their trash here was either relatively clean, or downright a Purge movie massacre, and they were well-kept enough to not let the nasty ones linger too long. She was lucky enough to have been next to one of the more innocent discards, another frown settling on her face as the thoughts of her new assignment crossed her mind again. She leaves the cigarette held between her lips, swiping aimlessly at the tablet trying to decide and figure out what she was missing. 

     "Simple drug with a simple source," The words hardly sounded like how it was supposed to with her mouth hardly opening, still managing to click her tongue as she gazes at the photograph she took of the vialed pink, "But a complicated process." 

     All she knew about this thing was that it was somehow able to alter and rewrite human DNA to make itself. . . inhuman, she guessed, the main component was from a part of anatomy that closely resembled a human's, but not enough for her to recognize and name it. The closest match that she could compare it was a component she think would only be possible made in the pituitary gland—which was the main reason why she was stressing in the first place, because this would need a source, and she feared and worried for whoever these experiments (though faceless to her, were undoubtedly still people with lives) might be—and although it wasn't at all the same, it was similar enough for her to start drawing out theories. From the small sample it was clear enough that this thing was heavily modified, even for just the small vial, and even smaller amount she currently had in her hold. From the talk of it turning humans into something not human and the sorts, she could at least theorize logically that it had something to do with bodily functions. 

     The geeky side of her was telling her that this might've been used in an attempt to make superhumans or powered-up versions of the Creatures, that some unique hormone was made in a Creature's pituitary gland that was different from a human's. And it was fascinating enough for some group of people to want to extract it and experiment with it to make a drug that was capable of getting rid of a person's humanity. She couldn't blame them really, that would pique her interest too, she just she didn't like the idea of taking it from an unsuspecting folk who had it. 

     She knew that there was a possibility of being able to live without a pituitary gland, but that would take so much therapy and so much work that it would just get rid of the whole purpose of living in the first place. To Layla, that was enough of a death that she didn't wish on anyone. 

     "Goddammit," She drops the cigarette and stomps it out, no doubt having to change or clean out her heels before she stepped back inside the building (They made a point to emphasize the need for extreme cleanliness). Well this attempt at a break had been proven completely useless, she might as well have been back at her lab dealing with it. So with a good stretch, she tucks away the tablet and leaves. 

     . . .Was the original plan, but there was the undeniable sounds of a crash and the sounds of cursing.

     She froze, reaching over to where her pocket might've been had she actually been wearing her lab coat. Cursing, she doesn't risk it and starts running. 

     "Hey lady wait!" She, of course, like a normal person, completely ignores it, suddenly glad that she spent the first few years of her life learning how to run in shoes made by the devil himself. "I help you! I'm one of 'em!" Snow had already started to gather in small heaps around the area, completely ignoring his calls with a scoff. "Fuck off!" Was her only response, so close to seeing security and calling out to it. "They're taking pituitary gland, yes, you are right! But they're doing something else too!" She scoffs again, not exactly trusting his words because how would he have been able to know what she was stressing about? Unless he could read minds, she sure fucking doubted that!

     . . .then again, how—

     "Gotcha! Please please please listen to me!" She tries to scream, but gets shown his hand that had. . . a camera lens? Sticking out of it? "I can show you pictures, I-I can show you proof! Just please help me!" She glares at him, an art she had practiced to perfection being in an environment usually surrounded by students of science like herself. Which of course meant she came across her fair share of idiots, so she no doubted the authenticity of that flinch. "Get your hands off of me!" He released her, but she didn't miss his wary glances ready to pounce on her if she ever got to running again. She would've left it at that, maybe give him a verbal beating and walk off. But he started to lift his shirt, and that's all it took for her to lose it. "SECURITY!!"

     "No, look!" She regretfully looks, horrified, as he pulls out a photo from a slot in his chest. She takes off, but looks in disbelief as, fuck, it was lunch! But why were there no guards at all?! Weren't they supposed to work in shifts?!

     She was ready to turn around and start threatening him, that she'd straight-up call the cops, but she couldn't held but stop and stare at the photo he held up. It was. . . it was more of the pink stuff but. . . in early stages of creation. "What. . . how did you get this?" She grabs the picture straight out of his hands, completely forgetting of how he got the photos in the first place, or how he even knew she was stressing about this one particular thing, but her breathing quickened at the idea of actually having more leads. "Where even. . . you've been in the lab where it's from. . ?" He nods quickly, now having a good look at him she actually realizes how much of a mess he looked. He didn't look like he belonged here, not only from the broken—although undeniably still decent—English, but also from the obvious scraps of clothing he must've just thrown on from encountering them by chance. 

     "It's from lab, they put things into us. They take things from the, the," He points to his nose, Layla nodding as if to tell him she got it. "And. . . and, and then they. . . they put it into things. They add more things, and make it. . . pinku, yes, that. And—" She shakes her head, seeing how much of a struggle it took for him to form sentences coherently. "Is English not your first language?" He shakes his head truthfully, eyes darting around in a panic as the chemist bites her lip in thought, "Well uhh, what language are you comfortable with?" She was expecting him to just say what the language was called, or to speak in more broken English that she would've at least been able to somehow decipher. But what she wasn't expecting, was the man speaking straight Japanese so quickly that even if she was familiar with the language, she probably wouldn't have been able to get it either way. 

     . . And another problem was that she wasn't familiar with the language. 

     "Uhh," He looks at her sympathetically, before shaking his head and gesturing to the building. "Inside, it's cold. I'll explain. Please help me," She nods, making a mental note to ask Melissa to translate for her later on. She was the only person she knew that had a semblance of understanding of Japanese, clutching onto the newly-acquired picture like her life depended on it. "Okay, uhh, what's your name?" She points to herself, feeling bad that she was unconsciously treating him like a caveman when he was probably perfectly capable of understanding her, "I'm Layla."

     "Tokuda Taneo," He nods, holding out a shaking hand in greeting. "My name is Tokuda Taneo."

● ● ●

     The way back from Downtown wasn't much of a journey for you to really remember, arriving back at the subway station you and Dabi were cornered in around an hour and a half late from when you were supposed to be back at your job. 

     "I'm so tired," You had announced upon exiting the underground, earning a stifled chuckle from the phoenix beside you. "Tell me about it. Want me to take you home?" You sigh, staring at your phone's clock in defeat, "No, no not yet. Still. . ." You sigh, "Have work. Plus, it'd be unfair to just leave all the searching to Freddie, so I'm planning to do my own research, remember?" He shrugs, "Fair enough."

     "Oh speaking of," You unlocked your phone, turning to him with an expecting look, "Do you have Freddie's number? Or just like, any means of contacting her? Or something? I want to be able to update her or for her to update me." He raises a brow, taking out his own phone with a hesitant look. "I want to say yes, but I feel like admitting to having a fifteen year old girl's number isn't really a good look for me, so I'll just say that I know it by chance." You laughed in disbelief, taking it with humor as you got typing it when he actually recited it to you. "So, ready to go?"

     "Don't really have a choice," You mumbled as you two got to walking, no doubt a lot farther than from when you two had started out, and definitely a lot more paranoid at the idea of 'the Juan who had powers now' popping out of nowhere ready for a second round. But Dabi's laid-back posture and attitude had somehow managed to calm you as you two got to heading back to your beloved Aphrodite's Touch, once again making a mental note—one that you'd no doubt just forget about—to get a car of your own so you didn't have to always rely on either Jirou or one of your coworkers or Dabi to escort you, whether by foot or vehicle. 

     The rest of the way back was silent, nobody paying mind to Dabi's. . . differences even when his gloves were off and the purple skin on full display, much to the both of your delights. He had taken them off earlier from the heat, and, despite all better judgement, he ripped off the facemask. You panicked of course, looking around in a hurry as you suddenly got awfully self-aware of how much people were around you. 

     . . .But of course, it seems you have simply forgotten which city you lived in, staring in disbelief as many simply passed by as usual. Huh, thanks New York.

     "Well fucking finally," Dabi had whispered upon arrival and notice of how nobody paid his scars mind, easily grabbing you by the waist and lip-locking right in the middle of a busy sidewalk. You stared with eyes growing wide, not exactly used to PDA while the man easily did it like it was second nature. 

     . . .

     You kissed back of course I know how this works, you just did it with hesitance as you saw the inaudible gasping of your employees from behind the glass inside your shop. They looked happy, but you didn't exactly know how to explain this one. "See you tonight," And with that, he walks off, like he hadn't just completely left you there speechless and unable to walk that Sims had to come out and drag you back inside with a giddy look on her face.

note ; hehehe like the science part of this?? thanks it was my dad's doing LMFAODOAIDAO
I suck at science, had to recruit my father and he suggested some...plot. So here I am just bullshitting it lmao

HOPE Y'ALL ENJOYED IG EHE SEE Y'ALL NEXT TIME