You call this a projection?

Was it just a coincidence that they were heading the same way? If so, that would be a bit of a nuisance. It wasn’t that Yoshikage Kira was afraid of these delinquent youths. This was a man who had awakened his Stand early on, and even before that awakening, had dared to kill. He was a psychopathic serial killer who, upon seeing the hands of Reimi Sugimoto, let his primal urges override his reason to commit a brutal mass murder.

If anyone should be afraid, it was those delinquents who should be fearing him. Relying on the ability of his Stand, [Killer Queen], he could make these boys disappear without a trace, and without anyone being the wiser.

But doing that would be too conspicuous. Whether he walked the same path as them—making it look like he was one of their associates—or pointedly avoided them, potentially provoking them to pick a fight, both would increase his ”presence” in the eyes of others. What a rotten day.

Kira lowered his head slightly, trying his best to look unremarkable. Just as he was calculating whether he would be late for work if he turned around at the next intersection and took a slight detour, the two high schoolers walking toward him had—unbeknownst to him—flanked him on both sides, surrounding him!

This was definitely not just passing by!

”Hey, pops! We’re a little short on cash lately. Mind lending us some to spend?”

Sure enough, just as Kira suspected, Shirou Emiya—who was standing beside him—put on a familiar, cocky tone reminiscent of Shinji Matou. He slapped a hand onto Kira’s shoulder and said, ”Don’t worry, we’ll pay you back real soon.”

As he said this, Shirou’s other hand began to reach toward the inner pocket of Kira’s suit jacket on its own accord.

’Don’t get angry. At least, not here.’

Kira stole a quick glance at the surrounding crowd. Since it was currently the morning rush for work and school, the streets were still full of pedestrians. The moment he did anything to these two, even if the bystanders couldn’t see the Stand or know that he had used [Killer Queen] to blow Shirou’s filthy hand to bits, they would still be witnesses. They would testify to the police later about his encounter with these delinquents today.

Of course, as someone who dared to kill at age 17 and left the police unable to link him to that original mass murder—and who had continued to commit crimes for years without the police being able to do anything—Kira wasn’t worried about them finding actual evidence.

But no matter how useless the Japanese police were, there would be a mandatory investigation. With their sluggish efficiency, by the time they tracked him down, they might go directly to the Kame Yu Department Store to question him at his workplace.

If that happened, Kira could already guess what his reputation at the company would become. The quiet life he craved would vanish forever.

So, he had to endure for now. At least until they reached an alleyway. Once they were out of sight, he would deal with these two troublesome brats once and for all.

Thinking of this, Kira intentionally put on a weak, submissive act. ”Please... can you let me go? It’s my first day on the job. If my boss sees me show up all bruised and battered, he’ll definitely fire me. If you just let me go, I’ll give you the cash in my wallet, and I even have some savings in my bank account. I can give you the PIN...”

”Not bad, you’re pretty quick on the uptake, pops.” Seeing Kira being so ”cooperative,” Shirou Emiya tried his best to channel how Shinji Matou would act, patting Kira’s shoulder. ”But how do I know if you’re telling the truth or lying?

See, all these people around us don’t know what’s going on; they look like they want to call the police. If you give us a bunch of money right here, we won’t be able to explain it to the cops later. So...”

At that, Shirou’s hand on Kira’s shoulder gave a sharp pull. Coordinating with Jotaro Kujo, they dragged Kira into a nearby alley.

”If we’re gonna make a deal, let’s change locations.”

’There’s such a thing as a free lunch?!’

Kira had originally been thinking of how to use the bank account money to lure them toward a bank, intending to use their greed to bait them into taking ”shortcuts” through deserted alleys. He didn’t expect that before he could even open his mouth, Shirou and the other boy had brought him right into an alley themselves.

Since that was the case, he could stop pretending.

”Hey, brat! Get your filthy hand off me!”

The moment he was certain they were deep enough in the alley, Kira’s eyes instantly changed. He moved to swat away Shirou’s hand which was still resting on his shoulder.

Simultaneous with his movement, the silhouette of [Killer Queen] manifested, moving its hand to touch Shirou.

—One more person.

Kira, already categorizing Shirou as a dead man, silently calculated the distance between himself and Jotaro. At this range, could he finish him off as well before he had a chance to scream?

The answer was...

—Absolutely no problem... Wh-what!?

”Hey, don’t look down on me, pops.”

Beside Shirou, [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] had shed its armor at some unknown point. Using a speed that the Speed-B [Killer Queen] couldn’t possibly hope to match, it used its rapier to accurately pierce [Killer Queen’s] right thumb, pinning it firmly to the wall!

[Killer Queen: First Bomb] only requires the Stand’s hand to touch something. Then, when its right thumb makes a pressing motion like a detonator, the touched object explodes instantly. In a way, it is an invincible assassination Stand.

However, its weakness is also glaring. Once its information is exposed, [Killer Queen]—with a speed stat of only B—will find any Speed-A Stand to be its most stern disciplinarian.

And wouldn’t you know it? Whether it was Shirou Emiya or Jotaro Kujo, both of their Stands were Speed-A. Even if the projected [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] dropped a rank in speed, it still had the ”Armor-Off” method to boost its velocity.

So...

”This sword that appeared out of nowhere? And this invisible ghost?! Don’t tell me... don’t tell me you came looking for me on purpose!?”

Read ahead (100 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting