The concerns voiced by Fumine at least made Yuzu realise that she should be more cautious so that she did not put herself in danger. Therefore, instead of facing the ‘villains’ one-on-one, Yuzu decided to investigate them on her own. By doing so, she noticed that the people who went berserk drank some fluid from a vial before committing violent activities.

 ‘The dangerous unknown liquid must have been the source of it.’  Yuzu thought to herself as she proceeded to investigate further, having found out a lead on her own. Knowing what the vials looked like helped her detective works as she spent days to see where and how did the bad guys get the dangerous liquid.  Eventually, she managed to observe that the one who distributed those vials was the same person wearing a black coat. Finding the perpetrator fueled her heroic spirit as she, without giving any thought, decided to follow him up. The tailings brought her to an abandoned warehouse in the city suburbs. Just before Yuzu could see what was inside the building, she was attacked from behind and lost consciousness.

 “Is it the police?” The guy with the coat asked. in which the assailant observed, “No, just a normal high school girl, as seen by her uniform. I wonder how much she had known or seen. Should we get rid of her?” He asked while staring at the unconscious girl. “That will be unnecessary. Doing so would cause a missing person report, and it would just raise the alert level of the city and attract too much attention for us. Just leave her be, she would not be able to find anything, after all.”, the black coat just called his subordinate to follow him, and proceeded to enter the building as if nothing happened. 

A while after, the redhead’s consciousness returned as she found herself laying on the ground, in front of the abandoned building. The fact that she was attacked means her lead was on the right track, and since she had gone this far she figured that she should check the warehouse. As she trespassed Yuzu realised that the warehouse’s security was pretty light, no guard in sight even when it was supposed to be a secret hideout. Although, as the warehouse was not that big, in no time did she realise that the warehouse was… empty? 

They could not have knocked me out for no reason. The redhead thought to herself as she explored the empty warehouse further, searching for any nook or cranny. Nothing, not even a single mouse, as if the warehouse seemed abandoned. Just as she reached the centre of the warehouse, the girl tripped down. Unable to get up, as if her legs are, giving in. Being on the ground made her feel helpless, a mixture of fatigue as well as … fear? She recalled that she was knocked out a while ago, as well, and she did not see it coming. The realisation that she was lucky to be spared crept up as she got on all fours, still shaking.

‘The neighbours and Fumine are right all along. This is dangerous, after all. Maybe it is too big for someone like me. So much for being a hero.’

‘Maybe I should just give up.’

Masayuki Yuzu was in a state of despair as she looked down when suddenly she realised that she was tripped by an uneven surface of the floor. It seemed like a … hatch?  

    The hatch was not a wide one, only enough for one grown-up and so it was not that heavy as Yuzu lifted it. As she opened the hatch, she was surprised to find a set of stairs into the underground. Following them led her to a small bright room with a lot of wiring and unfamiliar machinery. She had expected it to be a factory but it seemed like there was no production line. More like a…  laboratory?

    “Who’s there?” An unfamiliar voice surprised Yuzu as she immediately went on guard. It was so silly of her to think that the place will remain unguarded… It was only when she realised the sound coming from an old man who was in a shackle that she calmed down a bit; he seemed to be a prisoner given how he was happy to see her. “Masayuki Yuzu, the hero of Konomihara.” She introduced herself proudly (even when her heart was still beating fast from being surprised earlier). 

    The old man just stared at her for a while. Probably could not fathom that he would meet someone other than from the organisation and that she was a … normal high school girl? This was his biggest chance to be rescued though as he questioned nothing, introducing himself to be Professor Ishitaro. He explained that he was a scientist who was kidnapped to make the chemical named Berzenium. Although this place was just a research laboratory, the factory and storage were somewhere else.  He then explained how the chemical made people stronger and yet unable to control themselves. It was certainly the vial that Yuzu had seen used in the city. It seemed that the professor had been successful in developing the chemical seeing how it was already circulating in the market. So why is the research laboratory still needed?  She thought for herself as the professor seemed to catch on to it, explaining further. “The laboratory is now developing a new system. Right now the chemical is still causing the berserk state, and so we are developing a device to control it. In simple terms, imagine that you can have the power, but not the side effect.”  He pointed to a device beside him, as Yuzu can spot the same vial with the red liquid inside. 

    “You said that it makes the user stronger with the side effect? With this, we can defeat the organisation, right? How far has it been tested?” The redhead’s eyes gleamed with anticipation, her heroic sense is in full throttle with the new power in her hands.

 “Theoretically, yes. You will be stronger than grown-up men in a berserk state, plus you can control your actions better without the side effects. As for the testing, I’ll say that it is on 90%, only lacking the physical user for it; everything else is perfect on simulation. “, Ishitaro explained, further telling that the device was meant for the leader of the organisation.

    ‘I can be a proper hero with this. Not only I am getting the power to fight back, but I will also be stripping the Organisation of its potential.’ There seem to be no hesitation on Yuzu as she grabbed the device beside the professor. “So how did I use this? Is this a weapon, or something like that?” The device seemed to be like a small gadget, with the red crystal in the middle in a round glass cover. One small button on the side of the glass cover, as she figured it to be the power button. “Place the gadget on your waist so that the power flows evenly all over your body.” Yuzu was about to do as instructed but she remembered that her martial arts teacher had always praised her right kicks and that the most important thing in a fight is the focus. To Ishitaro’s surprise, the girl placed the device on her right thigh, in which the strap from the sides expanded like a thigh belt. 

Pressing the power button caused the glass cover to light up, bright red beam surrounded the room as they were focused on … her body? 

    The light surrounded her arms and legs, starting from her thighs since the device was installed there. Her shoes turned into boots with red lines, and a matching set of gloves wrapped around her hands. Her body was clad on a reinforced suit, in which an outer chest piece, as well as skirt armour, were formed above the bodysuits. The same aesthetics reinforced her knees, elbows and shoulders. The light even went on top of her head as Yuzu found herself wearing a helmet, almost like a mask with a semi-transparent visor on it. She did not expect it to be a form of the full-body suit like this, but it did remind her of the tokusatsu series she watched every weekend. The Professor explained something along how Berzenium reacted to the content of the device and formed a protective layer around the user’s body. Yuzu might not understand some of the explanations, but she knew that power was surging on her body. Certainly, the strength she needed, the professor did not exaggerate when he said she could take down those berserker mobs with this. 

And as he said, there were no side effects on her transformation. She could still think and move as she wished. The first thing she applied her strength on was the shackle that binds the doctor as she managed to remove such heavy metal shackles with minimal effort. The alarm did blare as soon as she broke the chains, and both of them knew that they had no time to waste as they ran out of the lab, attempting to escape.

    As they were right outside the warehouse, however, somebody else was waiting for them. It was the assailant from before, the one that knocked Yuzu unconscious, coming in to check on the professor because of the alarm trigger. He was surprised to see the one that set the professor free. 

‘The physique and the hair colour… It is definitely the girl from before. I really should have finished her off.’ he thought to himself, putting in a fighting stance. Not to mention she seemed to have used the professor’s new creation which was meant for his superior. He dashed towards her to launch the first attack. This time, Yuzu was aware of it coming and with her enhanced reaction time, she managed to dodge the starting blow. Not only that, she even had the chance to deliver a counterattack to him. 

Surprised by the difference in strength, the assailant backed down for a bit. Realising that he could not win the fight as it is, he had no choice but to drink the berzenium. He could match her with the chemical, after all. The device and the professor should not take another step out of the warehouse, so he would do anything to defeat her and take them back. The next second, his thoughts were all empty as he launched flurries of attack towards her. The increase in speed and strength was really notable, as Yuzu could just defend at best. Even dodging his attacks was risky since his attacks were unpredictable. It was like fighting a huge beast. 

Seeing that the hero was in a pinch, the professor instructed Yuzu further. “Place your palm on the glass cover! It’s a sensor.” That was all she can hear from him in the middle of the battle. Pretty sure he was explaining further with more scientific terms but all she got was that it was to activate a new function that would turn the tides.  As she tapped the glass panel, the red lines on her boots and knee glowed brightly, as she could feel the strength focusing on them. At the exact moment, the enemy grabbed a metal pipe and swung towards her with all his might. The redhead jumped to avoid his strike, and as she landed she launched herself towards him, landing a kick onto him directly.

The impact caused him to fall on the ground, knocking him unconscious. Particles of red light moved from his body into the red crystal in her belt. The professor saw that the battle has ended as he approached her, explaining how the light was the berzenium energy the crystal absorbed from his body upon direct contact. Since the device was powered by berzenium, Yuzu needed to make sure to use it only to fight enemies who were affected by them.

Since he used berzenium, the member of the organisation that they had just defeated would not remember what had happened in the past 24 hours, at least. Which would include her identity, fortunately. The two of them were safe for the moment, at least as they needed to move out to safety before they realised what happened to the guard. 

Yuzu piggybacked the professor as they arrived at a public park near Yuzu’s house, kilometres away from the warehouse. With the increased speed and strength, they reached the distance in no time. Both of them should have been safe for now as Yuzu put the professor down, before asking, “How do I turn back? I can’t go home wearing this. Plus, as you explained earlier, the device  will run out of berzenium if I keep wearing it.”

“It’s simple. Just press the button beside the sensor, like before, and then tug the strap away.” The professor explained as by doing so, the strap retracted and returned inside the device. The suit immediately disappeared in a (literal) flash as Yuzu returned to normal. Professor Ishitaro just chuckled as he excused himself. “I have somewhere to go, so take good care of the Berzedriver. Until we meet again, the Hero of Konomihara.”. The professor entrusted the device to the girl who saved his life, as he disappeared into the night. Masayuki Yuzu returned home with determination in both her eyes, her fight with the Organisation that threatened the city had just begun.