You rounded the corner steadily with Kuon, Sniper leading the way. After hearing Mayuko shout out Yuri's name, you were able to pinpoint how far she had run pretty quickly. Sniper was focused, his rifle lifted up and ready to shoot in case any potential dangers made themselves present.

You waited for around thirty seconds before Mayuko finally made her way into your view. She was running across a bridge in a hurry, and you scanned the area for any Masks.

"See anything?" you whispered to Sniper, your eyes darting around rapidly. His dark eyes also shifted quickly, his body tensing up as they made contact with another Mask. He stepped forward, getting into a more comfortable position.

"Yeah." He slowly put his finger onto the trigger, looking into the scope before muttering out an annoyance. "Jeez, yet another high school girl that needs looking after."

You rolled your eyes, but smirked slightly at the tone of his voice. You put your hands up to your ears, Kuon doing the same as he shot out two rounds. They traveled through the air quickly, one of the bullets making contact with the thing shot out of the other Masks weapon.

A large explosion burst in mid-air, and your eyes opened wide at the sight as you gaped. "Woah..."

Kuon shut her eyes tightly, looking away from the explosion before speaking up. "What was that?"

"If that's what I'm thinking it is, then is it-"

Your sentence was abruptly interrupted by Sniper, reloading his gun as he spoke. "A grenade launcher, yes. I don't know where the hell they got it." He scoffed, putting the gun back up in shooting position before venting out a slight frustration. "If he starts firing rapidly, I don't have much of a chance."

You scoffed, placing a hand on your hip before raising a brow. "Are you doubting yourself?" You received no solid response, and continued your words calmly. "I've seen your skills, Sniper. You'll be fine."

Your words seemed to instill some confidence into him, and he shot out once more. Before the bullet could hit the Mask, it hit some type of metal, reflecting off of it.

"What?" Sniper choked out, his posture faltering.

"What the hell?" you muttered, squinting your eyes at an attempt to get a better look. You were positive that Sniper would never miss a shot unless it was intended. You had seen him shoot and you were well aware of what he could do, so what just happened?

"Jeez, what a drag," a loud voice projected from the top of the building Sniper had just shot at. "I heard a fool out here running their loud mouth off. Are you one of those God Candidates? If that's the case... What a drag. I need to kill Sniper Mask. All for that person."

"Wow, what a talkative man," you grumbled sarcastically. You rolled your eyes, staring up at him with disinterest. "And who is 'that person?'"

At his last few words, Sniper seemed to tense a little. You eyed him carefully before shifting your gaze back up to the loud-mouthed man.

"Oh, well. If that old rifle is all he's got, I can repel him just fine. Hey, Grenade Launcher Mask, fire at that high school girl again. If she's another God Candidate, we have to ask about the Railgun, but I'm too lazy, so just kill her. Fire that damn thing!"

You gritted your teeth, crossing your arms in frustration. Pouting a bit, you huffed out your irritation. "What an arrogant asshole." Looking back over at Sniper, you began to tap your foot restlessly. "Show them their place, Sniper."

He nodded towards you, lifting up his gun. "Damn, guess I'll have to try now. Not sure if I can hit all the shells."

"You can do it." After saying those words, you looked over your shoulder to check on Kuon. And the moment after looking into her eyes, you could tell she was mustering up the motivation to do something big. Her phone was held close to her chest, and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

The situation was nerve wracking to say the least, and as your breath hitched, you started to lift your thumb to your teeth. Before fully making the connection between the nail and tooth though, you thought back to the continuous times Sniper had reminded you to stop the bad habit, and you hesitantly brought your hand back down to your side. Despite how annoyed he appeared to be with you at first, as the time passed, he now gave the impression of genuinely caring for you.

And at that thought, your heart started to beat a bit faster. Why did it do that?

Brushing the thought aside, you settled for biting your lip nervously instead, flipping your head back to look at Sniper. He moved his finger to the trigger, but before he could fully pull it down, the sound of quick gunshots entered the air. Grenade Launcher Mask was shot down, and your eyes widened at the turn of events. Your interest was piqued by the new person entering the situation, and you quickly moved your gaze over to where the noise originated from.

A relieved smile crossed your lips as you took a look at the cause. Yuri was standing next to Mayuko, giving her a confident thumbs up. The air you had trapped in your lungs finally heaved it's way out of your body after what felt like forever, and you allowed yourself to relax for a bit. This feeling didn't last long though, as the sounds of the loud man shouting entered your ears once again.

"Hey, Grenade, how long are you going to nap, you worthless heap? If you're alive, get the hell up, or I'll kill you! Fire before you get shot this time. Kill them! Kill them all!" He degraded his companion, a certain flare in his voice. You looked up, clenching your teeth as the Grenade Mask stood up shakily. He pointed his gun towards Yuri and Mayuko.

"Damn, this sucks! Only sucky things ever happen to me! But that person said if we kill all the noisy ones, nothing would suck anymore!" the loud Mask shouted once more, annoyance clear in his tone.

You found his words a bit ironic, but stayed quiet as you noticed Sniper and Kuon focusing on the situation as much as you were.

"Everything... as that person wishes it to be!" the Grenade Mask exclaimed, steadying his hand. You gasped as he shot out five grenades, all of them heading directly towards the two girls.

You balled up your fists, frustration building up inside of you. You couldn't do anything to help them. Sniper clicked his tongue, running out towards the middle of the bridge and holding up his rifle. Before the familiar shot of his rifle could ring out, multiple shots from Yuri's gun took the spotlight instead. The five grenades exploded in the air, and Sniper's eyes widened. His disposition floundered, and his gun was briefly brought down to his side.

Your optics also enlarged, mouth agape at Yuri's ability. She had always had good aim, but since when had her dexterity been so polished? Was shooting like that even possible?

"What is this crap?" the loud man roared. "W-What was that? She-" The yell was cut off by the well-known gunshot of Sniper's weapon going off, the bullet entering through Grenade Mask's skull.

It seemed he had brought up his weapon again without you noticing it, as you had been focused on Yuri's newfound abilities. You turned to look at Yuri, noticing her face pale and eyes wide at your presence. You gave her a light-hearted smile and a hesitant wave, turning back to look at Sniper not long after.

"The other one is lying down?" he questioned, looking through his scope. "What should I do now?"

You walked up to him, nudging his arm and pointing upwards with a smirk. He looked back at you, and you could practically feel the curiousness in his stare.

"When in doubt, outsmart the enemy," you said smugly, resulting in him looking back up. After a few seconds of making the decision, he finally looked back at you.

"Good suggestion," he affirmed, turning over to Kuon to relay a final message. "Kuon, you should go meet up with those two high school girls. Tell them to vacate immediately and also... If Yuri Honjo hasn't activated the ability to not be attacked by Masks, it's best if I keep a certain degree of distance. For now, you should go to their side and stay there."

He looked at the both of you, and Kuon frowned at his words. You were feeling a bit sullen as well, but allowed him to continue.

"Don't make that face." He took a cigarette out, lighting it conspicuously. "I won't run off while we're apart."

You watched as he rushed to get closer to the top of the building, your frown deepening. You sighed out, carefully saying your next words. "I think... I'm going to go make sure he gets through this okay." You prepared yourself to run into the building and up the stairs quickly, but were stopped precipitously by Kuon.

"Are you worried, Y/N?" Kuon asked. And when you looked down at her, you were surprised to come face to face with a playful grin.

You automatically knew what she meant, a light tint of pink dusting your cheeks. You rubbed your nose and began to kick at the ground. "I-I don't know what you're talking about..."

She let out a small giggle, deciding to stop teasing you and continue looking out at the situation ahead of you. "I'm going to go meet those girls like Mr. Mask asked. I believe one of them may be a God Candidate."

You cleared your throat stiffly, forcing back your blush and looking over at the two.

One of them is a God Candidate? After seeing what Yuri could do, it can only be her... but how?

Glancing back at Kuon, you gave her a nod. "Alright, I'll go let Sniper know that you're getting there safely. Good luck."

She gave you a wave after those words were said, and you were relieved to finally be able to run up and meet with Sniper. Once you got to the floor he was at, you were slightly afraid to see him hanging from such an intense height. With one hand, he aimed his gun, pulling the trigger and successfully hitting his target.

You internally cheered, giving him a large smile as a stamp of approval when he jumped back in through the window. Though, after the initial excitement wore off, you looked at him more carefully, only to notice him shaking slightly. You were slightly troubled at the sight, furrowing your brows with concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I think..." He breathed out heavily, looking up to you. "I think I have a fear of heights."

The flustered tone of his voice was much more noticeable than he would have liked it to be. You let out a small snicker at his tone, but quickly walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You did amazing. Going against that fear for the greater good was really honorable."

He looked at you, his gaze getting greeted by your soft smile. He quickly averted his eyes, standing up and turning around. Putting his hand up to his hat nonchalantly, he coughed out an answer ungracefully. "Thanks."

He began to walk away, and you grinned at the response, jogging up to him and matching your pace. You were beginning to consciously become aware of the way your heart began to race when you were around him. It was... a familiar feeling, one that you had only felt once, but you didn't hate it. It was quite exciting, if you were being completely honest.

"Sniper-"

"Y/N-"

The two of you spoke at the same time, quickly stopping each of your sentences at the sound of the other's voice. You blushed, laughing a bit and looking away.

"S-Sorry... you can go first." Your finger made its way to the tip of your nose, rubbing against it softly as you smiled. Sniper sighed, stopping near the entry point the two of you had made your way to. He leaned against the doorway, looking down on the ground.

"I think it's best that you go with Kuon and Yuri Honjo," he announced, though there was a hint of contrition in his voice. Your smile dropped gradually as you processed the words, and all that could come to your mind was a single phrase.

"Oh..."

"I have some of my self control, but not all of it. You aren't a God Candidate like Kuon. The Command could order me to kill you at any time."

You bit your lip, forcing out a wistful laugh. "That would be a shame, wouldn't it..." Although you intended it to come out as a humorous question, it presented itself as a weak statement.

"I don't want to kill you, Y/N." His voice was solid, and the strength of his tone was unmistakable. Though, you barely caught the fear underlying it, and because of the small ounce of worry in his voice, you mustered yourself back up.

"I guess this is where we say goodbye, right?" you muttered, finally bringing yourself to look back up at him.

"No need. Like I said to Kuon, I'm not going to run off." He was looking straight at you too, and in that moment, all of your worries washed away. You couldn't help but feel a bit giddy as butterflies fluttered around in your stomach and your palms got slightly sweaty.

You walked towards the bridge connected to the entryway, punching his arm lightly without breaking eye contact. A small smile came over your face before you looked away, the meager breeze flowing through your hair.

"I'll take your word for it."

chapter factoids:
-Yuri was very shocked to see you alive and well, and she can't wait to catch up with you. She's also proud of herself for believing in you and proving Mayuko wrong.
-When you heard Sniper confirm that he would come back you, you got a bit emotional.
-You're starting to recognize the feelings in your chest around him, but you're not sure just yet.

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a/n:

when i tell you guys that i have never had such a hard time spelling words in my life before this chapter, i mean it! i could not spell for the life of me and i was constantly going back and rewriting words out haha. because of this, please feel free to tell me if you see any major spelling or grammar mistakes! i looked over this chapter a couple of times, but there's a chance i may have missed something

anywho, i hope you enjoyed this chapter :) i know i certainly enjoyed writing it<3

-aly