Chapter Text
It was the fourth week of May at a District 9 apartment when Akaru Kirishima heard his door bell ringing.
Din-! Din-! Ding!
(Oh, she’s actually here…?) He got off his bed, climbed down the loft ladder installed to his repurposed attic-bedroom, opened the lights, arrived at the door after a few steps, and opened it but not without checking the door’s peephole first.
”Shokuhou…” He rubbed his eyes sleepily, eyes slowly focusing on her figure. “How’d you get my number and how’d did you find my apartMENT!?”
It was dark out, or more specifically, the clock was nearing 12 AM. In other words, he had finally fallen asleep after struggling to do so, but was woken up a minute later by a phone call from Shokuhou claiming she needed to stay at his apartment because some thugs were chasing her, and now she was here with bruises and small cuts dotting her body alongside her school’s winter uniform…
”NOPE!” He immediately tried closing the door, but the girl was faster and blocked it with her brand-named handbag.
”You!- They are gaining on us! Let me in!!-” (Huh?! She’s actually beating me!?) He had to put more strength to his sleep-addled body to actually pull the door closer. Then, he realized something.
(Wait…isn’t she...taller than before?)
And then, he made the mistake of actually being curious about it.
The door hit the wall with a bang, and he barely pulled his hand in time. Beaten in the contest of strength, he now laid eyes on the girl.
”WOAH!!?? WHO ARE YOU!?” he exclaimed, backing away from the death glare he got in return.
”What? Can’t recognize me after I had grown? That’s funny. I am almost as tall as you now so you don’t get to complain about it when you got genes backing you up since the beginning, you 12 year old boy .” Shokuhou finished her harsh spiel with a finger to his chest, and walked deeper into his expensive apartment like she owned it.
He gave an exhausted sigh, and took a peek outside. Sure enough, a group of ordinary-looking delinquents was coming this way with unrestrained rage on their faces, and he sweatdropped, ultimately deciding to lock the door, even though it meant being in the same cage as an unstable girl. (Doesn’t she have her own apartment outside of School Garden? Why did she came here? And what did she do to make those delinquents even mad…?)
He returned to the living room he had. A cooking space was located to the right-end of the rectangular room, and a set of a flat-screen tv, kotatsu, carpet, a fancy couch, and a table for four located to its front which approached the threshold of the front door. On his immediate left was a door to his bedroom, and right beside it was… a certain red room while on his front was a loft ladder connecting to the attic-bedroom a few feet above him, but not intruding on the living room, just besides it.
A nice apartment, he had to say, but expensive as hell. It was only thanks to his parents he was able to even afford saying here. A nice and cozy place to have a good sleep, but…
He looked to his feet.
There was a small blood stain on his floor.
He looked back up and to his right.
A blonde girl was pulling out bandages from her handbag, and fixing herself up with a stressed grimace on his chair. She was so oblivious to her faults that Shokuhou, without a doubt, didn’t give even the slightest care about his apartment.
He really didn’t want to deal with this, especially not right now…!
“Shokuhou…” He ran a hand through his hair, fixing his hair back to its slicked-back style. It was now an action that signaled he was putting on a plate of armor to his emotional and mental state. He couldn’t let himself fall to despair like last time.
The girl looked at him with a blank face before shrugging to herself, and continued putting band-aids on her face. (This girl…!) “Don’t you know whose home this is? I can open the door right now and let those thugs in so they take your defenseless ass away. But I am nice. I will only do that if you don’t clean the mess you made.”
A loud bang on the door filtered through the room and the girl winced.
However, she continued staying inside her little world she had created inside his home. Fanning herself with her hand, she took off her the torn white scarf around her neck, and placed it on the table as she spoke, “Is that door going to stand? And can you open the fan? I really need to cool off my sweat faster.”
That girl had broken through his armor in less than 30 seconds.
(There’s a kotatsu there…!) But instead of telling that, he yelled at the girl in a fit of rage, “YOU!!-” But he stopped. The girl had flinched hard to his shout and was now looking at him in horror with her mouth slightly parted.
A faint voice reached his ears. Shokuhou’s lips were frozen in place, but still, a faint voice reached his ears.
”Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry- ”
(Huh?) he thought, not getting why she was apologizing to him in a speed that made it barely coherent. It was so familiar to that time.
”H-hey, wh-what’s going on…?” Hands in the air, he took a step forward. The girl didn’t flinch, and kept her eyes on him, but what was reflected in those dull golden eyes were not him. It was someone that shouldn’t be here.
A name came out amidst the sorrys further confirmed his fears.
” Sorry Hokaze-san-”
As insensitive as it may sound ed , it was still the truth; Hokaze Junko was in a coma, and she wasn’t showing any signs of waking up or getting better. Shokuhou knew that and acknowledged it, so much so that she blamed only herself for all of it.
In Shokuhou’s view, she was guilty of murdering someone.
And then he realized it.
She kept ordering him and was ignorant to his protests. Moreover, she went to his house as a safe spot from the thugs so that meant Shokuhou, at some subconscious level, trusted him and felt safe with him around.
(Ah . ) Shokuhou was hyperventilating. She was having a panic attack, and he was the only person she had.
He threw all the doubts he had and did what he should’ve done long ago.
He hugged her.
Shokuhou stiffened , and only started to relax when he slowly rubbed her back in the most soothing manner he could think of. The girl’s mutterings slowly dissapeared and she whimpered. A bead of sweat pooled around his cheek, realizing he didn’t exactly know how to comfort someone.
So, he copied what she once did to her.
”There, there…” The girl started crying as soon as those words left his mouth. It was a faint and soft sob, but quiet didn’t mean she wasn’t breaking down on a fundamental level. It was the opposite.
(Wh-what am I supposed to do!!??) He didn’t know much of Shokuhou to begin with, and his knowledge was severely outdated since this was his first real meeting with her since the start of the year. His panicked eyes moved towards the one thing he found odd.
There was one thing he knew about her that changed after that day and that was a constant throughout their chance meetings…where they would pass each other without a word because she looked so unapproacheable he felt it physically.
(The scarf…) That long, white scarf belonged to Shokuhou Misaki, but it wasn’t always that way. It was a gift. A gift from Hokaze Junko to Shokuhou, just before the events that led to this happened.
In other words, it could be interpreted as a parting gift .
It was torn all over, but he didn’t have time to sew it up right now.
He grabbed the scarf from the table without a second thought and slowly faced the sobbing girl, mentally taking a short time to sort his emotions out with a gulp before he spoke, ”Hey,” He had some troubles in untanggling the long, torn scarf but he managed, and moved to her shoulder. “I might not be the right person to say this, but…” (Oh god, where am I going with this!?) Amidst his turmoil, he twisted around a bit, trying to get the right angle at looping the scarf around. “But even though I had always seen you alone, I think…you could stay at my house whenever you feel like,” After finding the spot, he carefully twirled the scarf around the girl’s neck, continuing his ad-lib all the while, “I could even give you the passcode so you can have a reprieve from all things school-related…and outside troubles,” He carefully parted some blonde strands away, the finishing touches coming next. “Those thugs might seem scary, but a punch to the nuts would make them cry like little babies. There! It’s now done…?”
The moment he pulled back, a finger gun was pointed to the side of his head. Tears covered her face, but her eyes didn’t water anymore.
”You weren’t supposed to see that.”
Unlike what most people would think, Shokuhou Misaki didn’t have—or even remember —a way to use her ability. With Akaru being the only person she could trust, she had asked him about it, but when she used a remote, her ability still refused to activate.
The title of level 5 didn’t belong to her anymore, nor did her ability allow her to reach even a minuscule of her former potential as a level 5. But her calculations were still those of a level 5.
She was defenseless, on paper at least. But the last time she ever trusted a paper, she thought it contained the answers to her problems, so she threw that away.
Nothing she did would change the fact that she needed a remote to use her ability. Her brain had all but taught her that. The decision of making use of her ability by using outside help was an undoubtedly dumb decision. She couldn’t blame the scientists for suggesting that since she had also agreed on it.
She had devoted herself to it, so much so that her brain thought a glorified button-pusher for a box was the source of her ability.
Nothing she did would change it.
Yes, nothing she did would change it.
She laughed, a cruel but bitter laugher seeped out of the small, half-open smile etched onto her face. It was a quiet, but unhinged laughter she didn't realize she could do. The laughter never truly exited her mouth so it sounded more like a half-hearted chuckle.
The blue-haired boy stared at him in alarm but otherwise didn't move as she made the threat clear enough in her words. (I wonder what my face looks like right now...)
Yes, all she had to do was a point a gun at someone.
Was it a miracle?
(No, that’s an insult to that hopeless existence.)
Even if hell froze over and earth was flipped upside down thrice, she wouldn’t see it as a blessing in disguise. The opportunities it unlocked doomed her to a struggle of patience and perseverance. The good and right choice would be to abandon Mental Out entirely, but she…
couldn’t.
Her moral compass had taken a turn for the worse, and she couldn’t... stop.
She could use her ability. Mental Out was in her grasp once again, but she made a vow to herself after knowing the extent of it. So, she needed to be careful in how she used it. She didn't want someone to unwillingly die just for her sake, after all.
(Well, off you go.) With a swipe of her fingers, stars appeared inside Akaru's navy-blue eyes, and he had gone completely rigid.
She sighed, feeling completely exhausted at everything. She wished she could just sleep in her dorm room right now, but she just had to be overconfident about her abilities and almost gotten herself in a real cold sleep in some random back alley.
(Speaking of which, why does its scarf feels...so much warmer right now?)
She tugged on the snug scarf and found it somehow more soothing than usual, as if someone had done it with love. The fact that it was torn in some parts made it even further unbelievable. (His hands are big, but how come they're so nimble?) She didn't pay any attention during her delusion then, and now that she thought about it, it felt like a practiced action, as if he had done a girl's scarf before and was simply doing the usual.
(Or it could have just been a boy with a feminine face... oh, it's Azumi.) The redhead's memories were in her head, but she had compartmentalized it in a different section so it wouldn't mess with her thinking, completely unlike all the other memories that were put in categories of usefulness.
She could tell that the boy's subconscious was bleeding into hers given how she had definitely overreacted earlier…
(Enough of that, it's time for answers.)
. . .
“Gah!?”
He yelped, the mop falling to the floor with a thud. Wait…
”Gah!?” The blood stain was gone, the fan was turned on, and the scarf was sewn up as good as new, but with off-white seams hidden, which only she only could see from her point of view. However, the most notable difference was that he felt very tired. ”W-wait, you found out how to use your ability!? And-and the first thing you did when I gave you kindness was use it on me!?”
The girl lounged on the his sofa like she owned it and took a sip of his cup. Mind you, the rich aroma that wafted into his nose indicated that was his morning coffee so she had also used him to brew her one. “You should be thanking me, you know. I helped you avoid the stress of needing to clean it up. Besides, I didn’t mean to reveal it this way.”
”T-That’s-!” (Wait…she’s right…? I would absolutely hate that…?) "Ugh, I am going to sleep." Feeling his thought turning sluggish, he turned around, aiming for the stairs. "The passcode is-"
"You don't feel guilty about it, don't you?"
He froze in his step, eyes widening and mouth slightly parted. He felt a cold stare deep into his back as if judging his every action. But he turned around, rubbed the back of his head, and spoke with a bashful smile, "Ah-hah, whatever do you me-"
"Oh~ you know exactly what I am talking about." The girl bristled, backing away from him as if he was a monster. "I bet you would kill me if it's to save your crush."
The moment that girl entered his apartment, he had unknowingly stepped on a landmine, and now his voluntary and involuntary actions here would depend if he would die or not. Mental Out had sealed his fate.
It could be easy to mistake the words "blame" and "guilt" as synonyms because those words were closely related, but they were actually opposites. In this context, the former was an action driven by responsibility while the latter was an emotion driven by your moral values.
The logical and illogical.
And when it came down to making illogical decisions, you would need to justify it with logic so you wouldn't break down, and allow yourself to go through with it. Sacrificing yourself and suicide were very similar in that regard.
She felt guilty about it so she must've blamed herself for it.
He blamed no one so he didn't feel any guilt for it, no matter how many times he had gaslighted himself to feel the opposite.
Would Shokuhou call him a disgrace to humanity, or would she accept it with a blank smile?
It wasn’t a requirement for your humanity to feel guilty about it, but what Shokuhou said was true. The mask he had put on had fallen after going through one death and one near-death events not even 24 hours apart.
(So, it's up to this.)
"Then," He looked down in shame, hand clenching at his side. "How could I make it up to you?"
The girl, who was seated on his sofa, stared, scrutinized and looked through him. After taking another sip, she finally spoke, “While I do appreciate the offer, I have to decline.” With a small sigh, she looked down, her eyebags becoming prominent than ever.
She looked so exhausted.
And so was he. They were so similar in that regard. He had lost the right to look into Azumi’s eyes ever again, and she had lost the right to look at Hokaze ever again.
Each of those were different circumstances, but even if the circumstances were the same, their individual reactions wouldn’t change.
She had hidden her eyebags behind a layer of makeup and so did he.
Their reasons might be a little different, but that still didn’t take away the fact that they both had stared at the ceiling until the sun rose up. Even though he didn’t feel guilty about Hokaze’s state, he still felt guilty for making Azumi do that to her.
He had hurt Azumi because of his own mistake, and he had selfishly brought Shokuhou into it.
It didn’t matter if Shokuhou would have done the same before he had intervened because he had still made a decisive mistake that sealed their fate before that.
(…right, we have our own problems, so it’s best to leave it at that.)
It had been done.
He had finally let out something that had been continuously eating him from the inside.
But he still felt like he owned her something.
With a sigh, Shokuhou stood up and made her way to the door.
All he could do was watch the girl’s back with his teeth clenched as she approached the exit. She didn’t want to stay at his apartment, nor did she want his help.
All he could do was let the broken girl go.
Because that was the least of what he could do for her.
So, he wordlessly followed the girl and unlocked the door after making sure its safe outside, but as he was doing that, she opened her mouth once again, “By they way, a word of warning; don’t get too close with Azumi.”
”Huh?” (I already know that.)
The door opened, and Shokuhou stood frozen, wide-eyed at whatever was outside. Confused, he took a look and also froze upon seeing the stranger outside.
There was a girl there, looking at Shokuhou with a tired but stressed look on her face. She seemed to be wearing the same clothes as Shokuhou; a buttoned blazer with a white buttoned-up white blouse tucked underneath, a dark plaided skirt, and a red ribbon in place of a tie—Tokiwadai Middle School’s winter uniform. Also, she had a Judgement armband on.
” pant… Found you.” said the twin pigtailed girl in a quiet voice.
And chaos ensued.
In an instant, Shokuhou pulled her fingers into a handgun and aimed at the girl’s head. But no stars appeared in the stranger’s eyes, nor did she look like she was under Mental Out’s control.
Shokuhou was shaking, her raised arms was very noticably trembling like she was refraining herself from doing something that she had to restrict it by using her other arm. The face she was making right now was one of hopelessness and desperation, and her jaw was clenched tightly.
”Why…” Tears were in the corner of her panicked eyes as she forced her quiet voice out in a tremble, slowly backing away. “Why are you here…?”
”H-Huh? I should be the one asking that,” The stranger looked at Shokuhou with alarm and worry evident in her face, but he could tell she still had her guard up. The pigtailed girl glanced up at him. “Is that your boyfriend or somethin-”
”WHY ARE YOU HERE!!??”
Both of them winced at the sheer desperation of that gut-wrenching scream. He tried reaching out to the girl, but Shokuhou immediately released the hold on her hand and aimed another gun at him with the same look in her eyes.
”Answer her question goddammit!” he whispered.
The girl looked taken aback at his reprimand and almost protested, but seemed to realize it was useless so she answered, “…The Dorm Manager sent me to search for you because you haven’t gone back to school or even School Garden for a week and she’s worried about you.”
(A week!?) He gaped at Shokuhou in disbelief.
”Oh.” If it wasn’t for the silence, he would’ve never picked up the sound that spewed out of her mouth. Shokuhou’s hands fell to her side limply and she hunched over. The girl stopped backing away, but all of a sudden, her trembling legs gave out, causing her to fall onto her butt, hanging her head.
No guns were being pointed at them but he felt no relieve whatsoever.
”Shokuhou!” He rushed over to the girl’s side, and when she didn’t respond, he shook her shoulder, but Shokuhou was… unresponsive. Her eyes didn’t blink and instead stared lifelessly into the distance. (Shit! Did the exhaustion finally catch up to her!?)
”H-hey, don’t stare at me like that! I did nothing wrong!”
He sighed dejectedly. (There goes my sleep… Sorry, Azumi.)
They ended up exchanging phone numbers after agreeing to monitor Shokuhou in case she decided to run around back alleys in the middle of the night again. Her name was Shirai Kuroko and also a Judgement member so that explained how she had tracked Shokuhou; by following the trails of the thugs she had enraged earlier and beating them up. Upon mutual agreement, Shokuhou ended up sleeping in his place as she was still unresponsive throughout their exchanges. And that she would come pick up Shokuhou tomorrow.
Shirai still thought he was Shokuhou’s boyfriend.
But his heart didn’t allow two, though.
Part 2: A Third Exit [“A_Sliver_of_Hope.”]
The ringing in Furutani Toshi’s ears never seemed to end and a numbing sensation enveloped his whole body. One eye refused to open (or was it gone?) as he stared at the clear blue sky. It looked so pretty and he realized that it might’ve been his last time to see such a mesmerizing sight.
He accepted that bleak future with a thin smile. (At least, Ryouta will be able to see them again…)
Suddenly, a young girl with tawny hair tied in two pigtails materialized in his vision. (Teleportation…?)
She had a Judgement armband tied on her forearm.
That girl’s mouth moved but he couldn’t hear a thing. She was horrified as she looked at him. Just like Ryouta. A picture of Ryouta bleeding out entered his mind. (Ah, Ryouta…)
”P…lea..se….” His dry, bloodied lips moved weakly. “My fr…iend is bleed…ing out… ins..ide… th…ere…” He told that natural enemy of his, his selfless wish.
Blood spurted out of his mouth as he coughed. At least, his vocal cords still worked.
He didn’t know if she heard him clearly or not. It was hard to tell with the ringing in his ears drowning out everything. An invisible pressure was hitting his body from all sides as if he was deep underwater.
If she was a teleporter, she could easily teleport Ryouta to the nearest hospital in a matter of minutes. That was what he wanted. That wish didn’t include himself. But he didn’t even realized that. Those words flowed out of his mouth without a second thought.
However, the teleporter girl moved her arms towards him and the next thing he knew, he was teleported away alongside Ryouta.
”Urghhh…” (God, why did this had to happen?)
He had managed to get out of that suicidal maniac’s grip at the last second and flung the bomb upwards into the air as he tried to run away. But just as he completed one single step, the bomb exploded, flinging him outside the bank as the shockwave and blast pressure hit his entire side.
Countless shrapnel pierced and grazed his body as he got ragdolled. His skin was bruised as he slid on the asphalt. He felt like he was stabbed by countless tiny needles. His Regeneration could regenerate broken bones with time, but organs were an exception.
The adrenaline was now dulling his sense of pain, so much so that he couldn’t even tell what part of him was stabbed. It all felt the same to him. Half of his shirt was completely torn away, revealing his burned skin, but it quickly regenerated, reverting back into silky, supple skin. But with his blood loss, it was deathly pale.
He had activated both Rampage Dress to the maximum during that explosion. Well, as much as maximum it was when he lacked close to a liter of blood in his body. Fainting right now was a very bad idea. He’d be arrested by Anti-Skill in an instant, and that wasn’t his plan since the beginning.
The ringing in his eardrums finally ended as he slowly looked around with blurry eyes. He was in the middle of an empty road. A cacophony of panicked steps and voices in the distance. But among those, there were two sets of footsteps that came closer to him.
He looked.
His black eyes met wide golden eyes and horrified navy blue eyes, and he froze like a deer in headlights. (Ah...)
(NO!!)
”Azumi!? Wh-what happened?!” Hadi was the first one to approach as Kirishima was suddenly frozen in place just watching him.
But his eyes had left out the entirety of the world in darkness except for one person. That Judgement officer he had befriended.
”GOD, WHY ARE YOU HERE!?”
”Huh!?” Hadi stopped, wincing from his scream.
”YOU-YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!! I PAINSTAKINGLY KILLED AN INNOCENT JUST FOR YOU TO COME BY AND WHAT!? ARREST ME!? SEND ME TO ANTI-SKILL!? ACTUALLY, FUCK THAT!”
”H-hey calm down..!!”
He stood up, shrapnels popping out of his unblemished skin and falling to the ground. And so, he raised a hand towards that stunned Judgement officer. “Get the fuck out of here.”
”!” “!”
Azumi’s slitted eyes turning glowing red. He raised his arm in a finger gun as blood seeped out and fired. That flowing blood changed its form mid-air and formed into a rectangle close to the width of his torso which swiftly hit his torso in an instant. His foot lifted off the ground, but the blood hadn’t stopped its advance, instead it pushed against his 60kg body.
His Sixth Sense had tried to warn him, but it was too late. But even that sentence didn’t make sense in his head. Sixth Sense was never late when it came to warning him about danger. No matter how fast the projectile was, or how fast the assailant’s resolve was made, he would have had at least one and a half second of warning before the attack.
It was just like when they had tested each other’s abilities. Sixth Sense had been delayed then. But this time was different. Sixth Sense hadn’t been delayed. He had just mistaken the speed of that knife that was supposed to be 30 meters per second and that had created a false calculation. Subconsciously. When had the speed went from 30 meters per second to a whopping 35 meters per second?
And…
Where was that black mist, and how was Azumi still conscious?
The rosy-haired boy then swiftly swiped his finger gun to the side and he was sent flying towards that exact direction—or more specifically, towards an occupied picnic table. And with a creaking crash, every passerby there went flying, debris and smoke obscuring his view.
Azumi wobbled backwards and his eyes became blurry as he stopped supressing his murderous intent and because of the immense blood loss he was currently experiencing.
(I’m sorry…) He apologized to his victim as he focused on Blood Manipulation to get his blood back, but his eyes widened. There was an AIM diffusion field forming directly behind him.
He was already late in reacting to it due to his dizziness and he wouldn’t be able to dodge if he didn’t use Rampage Dress. But using Rampage Dress meant he had to give up on the significant portion of blood he had expanded.
”Tsk.”
Activating Rampage Dress, he moved his head to the side as a kick threatened to knock him over and grabbed that tiny leg. “Huh!?” The girl who once had a feral grin on her face twisted her face in suprise as he threw the girl’s body into the air to where she came from.
As the girl was in mid-flight, he detected that same exact AIM diffusion field forming right besides him. (Persistent, isn’t she?) He prepared himself to backhand the girl’s head, but she disappeared; a centimeter before he could hit.
The pig-tailed girl seemed to retreat as she returned to the bleeding thieves.
Seeing this, Shiroki Azumi, with red electricity coating his body, sprinted away at the speed of a cheetah.
“How does he know where I am gonna teleport!!??” She yelled, frustrated..
Misaka, immediately upon seeing Kuroko teleport back, slapped the girl with vigor. ”WHAT ARE YOU DOING LEAVING THESE TWO TO DIE?!! SEND THEM TO A HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY!!!!”
She flinched. She had forgotten about them…
”O-okay, sorry Onee-sama…”
Not wanting to invoke the wrath of her beloved Onee-sama, she immediately teleported away with the two dying men.
”Tch.” Misaka Mikoto clicked her tongue in exasperation. Her friend was acting weird, and that red-haired mystery had ran away. That boy had Rampage Dress that the senior had.
She had never approached the senior as she had been stuck by Shokuhou’s side all the time, but she did hack into the school logs and read her file to confirm she hadn’t actually hallucinated the girl.
And that boy may very well be the answer to her disappearence, and by extension, Shokuhou which she desperately wanted to know.
So, she smirked as adrenaline began to pump in her veins and she cracked her knuckles, electricity radiating off her bangs.
”You aren’t going to get away.”
With red electricity crackling around him, Azumi abruptly stopped running as he recalled something a certain someone he loved told him.
”Azumi, if you are ever in danger, don’t hesitate to inform me. Even if the whole world wants you gone, and even if you feel like you are breaking apart, I will always be there to support you even if it costs me my life.”
It was somewhat cringy, but she truly meant it all.
There was that level 5 the moment he had exited the bank. And considering he had attacked her friend, the teleporter girl, he doubted she won’t chase him to the end of the earth. Level 5s were monsters of their own with abilities said to go toe to toe with an entire army and win.
That certain someone wasn’t an esper nor was she someone with authority. And he wasn’t asking her to fight a level 5.
He couldn’t win against one. Defeating a level 5 was an impossible and completely ridiculous daydream.
But, even so.
It was for insurance for what he was about to do.
He fished out his flip phone from his pocket and called that certain someone.
The phone ringed once before it connected.
”Mom… I messed up and now I am in trouble…” He said timidly like a child who got caught red-handed. Even Mental Out wasn’t able to suppress the fear he felt. Well, of course not because it was now fragmented.
The person on the other end was silent, but he could hear her breath through the phone. It made him absently start twirling the long bundle of red hair that dangled below his cheek and almost touching his chest, around.
The sound of someone (presumably her) taking a bite of something crunchy could be heard, alongside the distant sounds of people and the shuffling of clothes. The noise reminded him of a busy office.
After a bit, she finally spoke.
”…You didn’t just try stopping a group of criminals, got carried away, and ended up becoming one, did you?” Her voice was stern and controlled, but there was unmistakably worry hidden behind her tired voice.
But he didn’t focus on any of that.
The nervous smile on his face went stiff. His body went completely rigid. (Ah…) He had truly forgotten about his impending hypovolemia that was only prevented by Rampage Dress.
”H-how did you know!!??”
He could literally feel her smile from over the phone as the sound of something being placed on a table with a low thud resounded. Whatever the sound was, it definitely wasn’t a plastic bag or a wrapper.
”Well, I have been watching it from the crepe stand.”
Misaka watched on as the red-haired boy talked over the phone in the middle of the street not far away from the bank as if he couldn’t sense where she was. The boy was making unnecessary body gestures as if the person from over the phone could see him.
She shook hear head, a small chucking escaping out her mouth.
(But anyway…)
She couldn’t really hear what they were talking about, so she focused on analizing her opponent.
Rampage Dress was a power that focused on close combat rather than shooting out electricity, and that mysterious power she saw him use against the Judgement boy seemed like a range attack. Distance barely mattered in this fight, but she still had the speed advantage.
Her railgun could travel at 3 times the speed of sound and her lightning spear could travel, well, at the speed of lightning. But since her opponent was a human, she couldn’t recklessly fire her railgun.
Also, if he could really strike Kuroko, who could teleport, she doubted the boy couldn’t dodge literal lighting. She was the Railgun, and she wasn’t going to be surprised if he recognized her and also knew her power.
That left only one safe option in this one-sided battle of information…
Iron sand started twirling on the asphalt around her and slithered onto her hand. She manipulated the iron sand using her electromagnetism, shaping it into a sword and she gripped it. By vibrating the black sand at high speeds, she could cut virtually anything with it, similar to a chainsaw.
She could cut everything he threw at her and strike him if he was close. Since he had that “regeneration”, her worries had been reduced drastically.
Take back what she said earlier…
(Distance is everything in this fight.)
As if sensing her hostility, the boy finished up his call, dropped the phone and slammed it with his red-electricity covered foot. The actions are more or less not one of anger but one of careful consideration.
He had probably destroyed it so Anti-Skill and by extension, her, couldn’t look at it when he inevitably lost. That boy surprisingly knew better than she thought.
”Heh, already gave up? Know you couldn’t win against the great level 5?” She chuckled, amused. Normally, her opponents (which mere just mere street thugs- Oh, shut up.) would have been fried by her superior strength before they could have done anything to even remotely harm her.
”…Nah,” He looked over his shoulder at her, gave a smile which showed his fangs, and he declared with conviction, “I’d win.”
”WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT!” She raised her iron sand sword and it elongated, shooting the razor-sharp tip forward and crossed the gap in an instant. It threatened to pierce the boy’s back but, as she expected, the boy swiftly dashed to the side as the red electricity coating his body increased in intensity.
She swung the iron sand sword to the side, following the redhead’s dash, but he was faster.
(Who said I couldn’t use two at the same time?)
Electricity flickered from her bangs and she launched it to impede his trajectory, but he jumped above it with surprising grace and continued his sprint.
But he wasn’t even running at her.
”See you later, Miss Level 5~” The redhead said slyly as he waved at her while running.
He was running away…?
(No-He’s running towards the bank!! )
The Railgun’s AIM diffusion field was literally just an electromagnetic field. But if it was in a fantasy where you could see the electric discharges it emitted. He literally couldn’t detect anything that might connect to her personality, almost like she was hiding it behind her veil of electricity that roared inside an unending flood.
But one thing was sure was that she wasn’t trying to kill him. Or else, that raging AIM field would have probably swallowed him whole before the fight even started. Instead, she was trying to incapacitate him.
Were all electric espers like this?
(But why did she have to use that very dangerous black sword if she was trying to incapacitate him!!??)
Anyway, he wouldn’t pass up on this opportunity.
But he really didn’t want to do this, except he had no other choice. It was a risky gamble, but if he could pull it off, he’d be set. He trusted her to follow whatever advice she gave and he wasn’t going to break that trust.
(I need Arata’s blood.)
Rampage Dress wasn’t a complete ability. The only way to steal an ability completely was to kill them and steal their unanchored AIM diffusion field from their corpse. The power was around level 2 to 3, but it still wasn’t able to match the original Rampage Dress.
Rampage Dress had multiple applications to it such as physical enhancement via manipulation of electrical signals in the cells to draw out further strength from the body and, a different regeneration than his own. But there was also one other application of the ability as an aftereffect of physical enhancement via electrical signals in the cells which was enhanced senses.
Enhanced senses, as the name suggested, was able to increase all the body’s senses. For example, Shiroki Azumi could enhance his auditory system like the hair cells to hear softer sounds or sounds at greater distances and Shiroki Azumi could also enhance the retinal cells, neural pathways, and so on to reduce dizziness and confusion.
That was what he had done every time Rampage Dress was activated.
Except for Mental Out and one other ability, he couldn’t activate two esper abilities at the same time since she and, somehow, Kirishima had told him not to. She had told him doing that would literally be equivalent to suicide, but she also told him to do that as a last resort.
Blood loss was his worst enemy for someone with a power to control blood. It was basic knowledge for him. Losing 15%-30% of blood had a high chance of causing a condition called hypovolemia. For his case, he had lost 25% of his blood which was around 1250 milliliters from the excessive usage of Blood Manipulation.
In short, he was just a shock away from passing out.
Ignoring the onlookers and Kirishima who looked like he had just seen a ghost, Azumi stopped right beside the bank. From the destroyed entrance, he could see the corpse of that fat man in that dim place. The fire-sprinklers had stopped and all the bank staff were nowhere to be seen even though he hadn’t noticed any of them outside.
It would take Misaka Mikoto at least 3 minutes to reach him again.
He took a deep breath and did what many would call stupid considering his situation.
He stopped the calculations for Rampage Dress in favor of Blood Manipulation to get the corpse and do a quick blood transfusion so he could continue the “fight”.
A fat and big corpse flew, but lost its flight and slid on the ground in front of him as his Blood Manipulation calculations abruptly stopped.
”Azumi!!”
The dizziness taking over him and the knowledge of who the voice belonged to caused him to freeze and his slitted black eyes widened. His subconscious Mental Out calculations stopped for a split second, but that was enough for the nausea to take effect.
He stumbled backwards and his legs shook. His vision was darkening around the edges and his head was spinning. Panting, he clenched his fist and dug his fingertips into his palm but, he had no strenght to even apply force into them. It was ultimately a useless venture as he doubted he would even feel pain from that.
Under the weight of his small body, his legs failed him as he lost his sense of balance and fell.
But not before big hands hold his small body from behind.
In his semi-drunken haze due to blood loss, Azumi looked up with blurry round eyes. It was a 172 cm (5’8) bigger-than-average 13 year old boy with unnatural navy blue hair and matching eyes. With how unnatural his appearance was, he doubted anyone would even believe the boy wasn’t a delinquent and that was his actual hair and eye colour. Except his own school, of course.
Under those comforting arms, he felt a wave of relief flood his entire body. His cold body was blessed with warmth that far surpassed any kotatsu during winter. His muscles truly relaxed and he happily welcomed the dark haze and sleep right then and there.
Well, not until Kirishima raised his arm and proceeded to slap him harshly.
Azumi's vision returned to him tenfold.
“Why!?” Something fell. “Why-why did you have to do this!!??” Still, something warm continued to fall. “Answer me goddammit!!”
Tears streamed down his face as Akaru Kirishima tried to very desperately wipe them away. But it was a futile effort as that one-year-old dam had been broken by none other than the person he loved dearly in his arms.
Kirishima was looking at him like he had broken and made fun of of all the hard work he had done.
(…Which is true.) Azumi’s heart ached at the sudden thought. But that ache didn’t even begin to compare the new hole in his heart as he watched Kirishima crying his eyes out again, but this time it wasn’t because his own regrets; it was because of him.
He had essentially thrown away all of Kirishima’s blood and tears for his own selfish pleasures.
And during all of that, he pretended to not know anything about it and even convinced himself he could delete the memories of everyone there, which he hadn’t even once tried out. He had placed that unbelievably important thing at the back of his mind like an idiot. He had ignored that gnawing sensation by distracting himself.
He had even held back so he could have a proper "fun time".
It was ugly and truly disgusting.
And most of all, he was disgusted at himself.
That was the reason he had came back here; to fix that.
If he had continued running, he would never be able to face his own mistakes and ended up collapsing in an alley where no one would find him. And he didn’t want that bad ending; he had even called Mom to reject that future.
He had to be the one to do it.
Here and now.
For the good ending that they wanted.
He brought his arm up and swiped that tear-stricken eye with a thumb.
They were 13 year old boys, but during that exchange, he truly saw Kirishima as someone on the same level as him.
That red-haired boy with black eyes beamed a smile, finally resolving his feelings.
“Don’t cry, it doesn’t suit you.”
Another slap came at his face, but he took it unflinchingly and gazed at Kirishima with gentle eyes and a genuine, warm, comforting smile.
”Don’t get sentimental here!! Anti-Skill’s already coming this way and you are gonna get arrested-!” More whimpers came out of his mouth before he was able to finish.
”I will fix it.” He said firmly as he stood up on his own two legs. He didn’t wobble, instead his slender legs felt light as if the weight bringing him down had flown away.
Kirishima’s sobbing stopped, but the tears continued to fall. “…What?”
”I will fix it, but you just need to trust me,” It was a stupid request considering they always trusted each other, but he felt the need to say it once more, just for that emotional insurance.
”A-alright, but how…?” Akaru Kirishima asked weakly. Trusting a murderer that easily might have been the dumbest thing he did, but it wasn’t the first time he had done that.
To put it frankly, he was desperate at any change of hope. If he had left Azumi alone last year, this exact scenario would have played.
Fate even told him he should have died long ago.
However, that fate was entirely silent this time. (Maybe Azumi truly has a way to fix this mess after all…?) He thought as he felt hope stirring in his heart, threatening to make his way to his face.
Shiroki Azumi’s black slitted eyes turned back into bright red slits and he stared at Kirishima with an equally hopeful smile, a trail of light red blood leaving the corpse and slowly entered his slender wrist. They were red blood cells separated from the blood of that pale corpse, but he didn’t use any fancy techniques such as centrifugation. His Blood Manipulation control was extended towards individual cells of blood, allowing him to separate them easily.
With his AB+ blood type, he really didn’t have to worry about ABO and Rh factor incompatibility. The only downside was he could only donate his red blood cells to other AB blood types. Which…was the least popular blood type.
As Azumi slowly regained his strength, he spoke towards that best friend of his in a forlorn voice, ”Just…stay put in that park, okay? This is very long overdue, but…I am very sorry for everything that happened back then. I know a sorry isn’t enough so… as a way to repay you, let me handle the burden this time. And I know how; you just have to trust the words I said yesterday about a surprise attack.”
With his mouth agape, a weight left his shoulders in response to those words, the ones he wanted to hear since a year ago.
”I am very sorry for everything that happened back then. I know a sorry isn’t enough so…as a way to repay you, let me handle the burden this time.”
Akaru Kirishima felt more tears climb down his face just from replaying those words.
That long dark red hair that fell slightly past his neck. Thin vertical bangs, reaching his upper chest, covering his left forehead and eyebrow. Red hair that partially covered his left eye and extended to his left cheek, with a thin V-shaped strand reaching near his nose and ending at his left cheek…
That pristine, luscious, and smooth skin which resembled silk, each touch sending anyone touching it an irrepressible desire to glide their hands across that exquisite texture which seemed to defy imperfection…
That 160 cm (5’3) small, yet balanced figure which featured a gentle, but not overly taper at the waist, and creating curves that gracefully extend to slightly broader hips…
That petite and perfectly shaped face which had a gentle, soft, rounded chin, and subtle graceful contours…
That unguarded, natural, and careless smile which seemed to shine even during complete pitch black darkness…
And that soft, alluring voice which flowed like a gentle breeze…
Made his heart skip a beat.
Those characteristics were clearly feminine, yet it felt like God had accidentally pressed the wrong button in the character creation screen and realized too late. He had never asked Azumi if he felt awkward in his own skin so he didn’t know what he thought of it, but from what he knew about him…
Azumi simply didn’t care about his own gender, or at least, that was the conclusion he had came up with. Ever since that day, Azumi decided to grow his hair out, and when he asked, Azumi explicitly said that it was better this way.
It made him think of the time he had first met Azumi…
”Okay, just…don’t hurt yourself irreparably, or else I will lecture you for hours on end.” Azumi paling considerably at his threat made him chuckle a little.
As soon as that happened, the big corpse behind Azumi shot upwards like a puppet on its strings. In an instant, an electric shock instantly sent the corpse twitching and its pale skin turned black, smoke coming out.
”Ah-aha…” He laughed nervously. “Is that so…then you know me, I will give away everything to not let that happen.” With that said, he redirected his attention to the famous Railgun.
Wiping away his tears, Kirishima nodded and promptly ran across the street towards the park’s bench area. He knew what Azumi was about to do and he really wasn’t looking forward to it…
No.
That was a pointless lie.
He would sacrifice a life just for the sake of those happy days never ending.
Uiharu and Saten were too busy helping Hadi get out of that table, chair and people wreckage to care about the situation happening between Azumi and Misaka. Or perhaps they were trying to busy their minds from that floating pale corpse.
Shirai would probably come back soon, but he doubted she would be of any threat.
That vision hadn’t came back.
The situation was controlled and clear.
…!?
(Using a human shield is really cruel, isn’t it?)
She was…to put it lightly, tired.
Firstly, the redhead had run away as far as 400 meters. Secondly, he immediately back tracked after she caught up. Thirdly, once she did caught up again by repeatedly swinging herself from buildings to buildings by electrifying herself once again, the redhead had managed to get back his bearings.
And lastly, she had seen Anti-Skill on her slight detour.
(When I catch him, he’s going to tell me all about that bothersome electric ability…)
They were going to reach here in about a minute.
She was exhausted mentally and just wanted the fight to be over with…
And so.
Keeping a good distance of 50 meters from her assailant, Misaka Mikoto raised her open palm towards the blue sky, sparks of electricity flickering from her bangs.
(Found it.)
She smiled.
”Checkmate.”
It was a simple statement followed by another simpler action.
”!!!!” A look of alarm flashed across the redhead’s face, and the corpse dropped back to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
An unnerving silence of 1 second enveloped the area before-
A flash of soft blue light engulfed her entire vision. The blinding light came from the sky. A great roar came soon after. It wasn’t her famous Railgun or a lightning spear.
200 million volts of lightning struck the redhead like lightning from the clouds as if the heavens themselves decided to intervene.
The lightning had struck both the redhead and that corpse, and now they were spasming with their legs sprawled on the ground under the electrified air. Smoke came out of their twitching bodies and their hair was spiked up.
The redhead was unconscious. And she doubted that weird self-healing ability that she saw would be able to be calculated while under that much shock either way. Even if he did self-heal, it would take some time for that to happen which was enough for Anti-Skill to arrive.
”Phew…”
(Now, that’s dealt with.) She turned around and saw red and blue lights coming far over the horizon, signaling the arrival of Anti-Skill-
”Ugh!”
Her electromagnetic barrier was hit by a mental attack but was repelled instantly. Tracing it back to the source, she realized it had came from the redhead which also meant that the redhead was still conscious.
Akaru Kirishima ran, jumping over the bench and over the 1.5-meter-high fence onto the asphalt below. He did not momentarily stop to catch himself, instead, he miraculously pushed himself off the road, not losing his momentum.
He didn’t know what he was doing or accomplishing by doing this. His legs were moving on their own will.
He had promised Azumi to stay still, even if that meant that the #3 was going to die.
But even so.
That stupid, and sometimes useful talking thingy was screaming at him to stop it right this instant!!!!!!
He needed to stop being a damsel in distress, and face reality head-on. He needed to stop being a coward, and move forward even if he had to crawl. He needed to do everything in his power to reach a certain someone; a certain someone he held close.
”AZUMI!! STOPPP!!!!!”
Adrenaline coursed through his veins and propelled him forward. His big and long legs made big leaps at every chance they got, but it wasn’t enough.
”Hey, level 5. Look who’s back.” That familiar voice that resounded in his head made his heart sink, fear overtaking his face.
(DON’T DO IT AZUMI OR ELSE YOU’D DIE!!!)
Time came to a crawl.
A thin, razor-sharp red, slightly grey-ish substance seeped out of the redhead's small and twitching hand (from the excess electricity) pointed directly at Misaka Mikoto's left chest—no, it was aiming for her heart.
It was going to slice it in two.
He was so close.
The knife cut through the air at 35 meters per second. A sizzling sound could be heard. In a swift flash of light, flames, and red electricity engulfed the knife whole, creating a miasma of dark red flames and electricity. It was propelled forward, reaching a staggering 42 meters per second.
He didn’t care if Misaka died, he just didn’t want Azumi to end up the same. Stopping that knife was his top priority, even if that meant he would be going against Azumi and risk him getting arrested afterwards.
(If I have to stop Azumi using the shock of hurting me, then so be it!!)
He jumped with his right hand outstretched.
The blade stabbed into his palm and he screamed, feeling like his hand was put in a blender. It ended up cutting through his bones like butter, creating a thin horizontal hole in his palm which almost tore it off in two.
But.
It did not stop, nor did Azumi intend to stop it.
Reacting fast, the Academy City’s #3 pulled her hand together, focused her lightning on a single line, and shot it forward.
Wide-eyed, she watched as the knife swerved around literal lightning, but not fully as half of it got hit. Now, it managed to gather its last remnants and shaped into a thin, vibrating crescent slash.
It was currently a few meters in front of her heart.
But she had a trick up her sleeve for this exact scenario.
She was an Electromaster, and in addition to being one of the only level 5s in Academy City, her power was the strongest in controlling all things lightning related. So this was basic knowledge to her.
Blood contained iron, which was ferromagnetic, meaning it could be attracted by a magnet.
But even if you knew that, you couldn’t suddenly pull someone with a giant magnet as iron comprised a very small fraction of blood, but with her level 5 ability, it was simply a walk in the park. Also, it seemed like the blood had an unnaturally high amount of iron in it.
It might be a trap, but she doubted it since he knew her power was electromagnetism. Instead, that was probably there to allow the red lighting to mix in with the blood.
And even if that boy had control over magnetism too, hers simply dwarfed it.
So, all she had to do was exercise her power on all that lightning and iron, and pull it downwar-
(Huh?)
It was dispelled. Her Railgun was nullified-no, It was getting sucked in!!!
Realizing that even if she tried to cover her immediate surroundings with electricity, the voltage would simply not be high fast enough to burn the blood due to the iron comprising it, she finally tried flinging herself into the store beside her.
(Ah.) A realization set in.
(I…I really should’ve listened to Kuroko-!)
And the result of her arrogance?
The blood sliced her heart in two and shot out of her back.