Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A certain boy sat in a school classroom, surrounded by noisy classmates and the teacher talking about something that that boy couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to. However, It’s not that he was simply just a rebellious delinquent who treated the typical lessons like they were meaningless solely because he couldn’t understand it. It was instead an issue of that he had no reason to be in this class at all, for nothing that the teachers here could teach him was anything of use to a boy of his level. He managed to get perfect scores while rarely paying attention to anything he was taught in his classes.

He flipped a pen around in his left hand, staring off out the window next to him. He thought that situation was somewhat funny. He was someone who, all things considered, was a league above most other students in his class, yet he was expected to sit here and listen as if he was anything like the others.

The world around him always continued as normal. His peers around him would act like he was just like them, but at the same time it was clear they would treat him differently solely because of his elite status. 

People liked to pretend that the power hierarchy didn’t mean anything; Like you wouldn’t be treated differently based on your level, how high you ranked or if you had nothing. But everyone knew that simply wasn’t true.

Most espers strived to be the best of the best, as strong as they could become. Sometimes, for some people. It was all anyone ever talked about. It was the focus of people’s lives, the thing that determined their self worth. And frankly, who could blame them, most students come to Academy City solely in chase of a cool power that made them special.
Some were gifted, some were not. If you had something, that made you worthwhile. If you had no power, then that’s just good luck trying to make yourself stand out. 

Everywhere you went you’d likely hear students talking about how they strived to reach a particular level: Level 5. 

Level 5 was the highest you could become, the best of the best. Most people seemed to think if you were at Level 5 you had everything, and the way esper development was treated in this city, you’d expect that to be the case. But was that really true? Has nobody ever stopped to wonder that it could be the opposite? Was being at the top of that chain truly worth striving for if it meant that nobody treated you like a person anymore? In reality, it seemed like quite the lonely existence.

All of these questions and thoughts were things that raced around in that boy’s head fairly often. He himself was at the top of that tree, or, at least, he almost was. But despite that, he always felt like he was missing something. Missing something that, at his power level, he simply couldn’t achieve. He continued his daily life like normal, attending school, making ‘friends’ with people that he wasn’t so sure even saw him for who he was and only cared about his status, getting good scores, keeping himself alive. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was all there was to life, seeing as, everywhere he goes, people strived to stand where he was, he was certain there was something more.

“...ine!”

A voice called out.

“..Kakine!”

That boy suddenly snapped back to reality upon hearing his name.

He was Academy City’s second ranked Level 5, Teitoku Kakine. At the time, he had been in his second year in highschool. 

He looked up from being lost in thought, and realized more time had passed than he realized, and half the class had left by now. 

“What’s got you so lost in thought? Something going on?” 

The voice belonged to a woman, wearing fairly nice formal attire that gave the impression of a teacher, who was standing by his desk with a concerned smile on her face. She tilted her head, and stared at the boy for a few seconds before she spoke up again,  

“Well anyway.. I’m glad to see you actually show up to class. It's nice to have you around, you know.”

He sighed, stood up from his chair, gathered his book bag and hung it over his shoulder, brushed past the woman and walked out of the room without uttering a word to her. 

That’s exactly what I mean. He thought. 

Any other ordinary student would have been told off for missing class so many times. But all they give me is a pat on the back going ‘Well I hope you decide to show up again!’ … Typical.

Teitoku was a peculiar student. To repeat it again, he wasn’t one of those delinquent students that caused trouble just because they wanted to rebel in their adolescence, but he wasn’t super strict about following stupid rules either.
He wasn’t a bully who picked on others just for the fun of it, but he certainly wasn’t someone who was overly nice to others just because that’s what was ‘right’.

He did what he wanted to, and since everyone in this world was such a kiss-ass to those with power, he got away with it. At least that’s how he saw it. And in his experience so far, he’s only been proven right. 

Life is fucking boring when you have power.

He made his way through the halls, which were now mostly empty save for a few students who stayed behind for extracurriculars and the like, and approached a vending machine. He inputted some coins, only for it to be broken once again. Out of frustration, he kicked the machine,
( Which probably did nothing to help fix it, and only contributed to it always being broken ) clicked his tongue, and made his way elsewhere. 

Guess I’ll just go to the store in town, what a pain.

Before he was able to reach the front doors to the school, he was approached by a group of two other students, one girl with short brown hair tied into small pigtails, and a boy who always wore a type of beanie. ( He really wondered just how many different hats this kid had )
“Heyy Kakine-kunn!~ Where ya headed?” asked the girl in a tone of voice that somewhat indicated she was teasing him.
“Why are you two still here? Everyone else left already.”
“The same could be said for you, you know.”
Kakine sighed. To tell the truth, he couldn’t even remember these two kids’ names. They were simply just some students who seemed to think they were his friends, even though he made no real effort to be friendly with them whatsoever.

“That piece-of-shit vending machine still isn’t working, so I'm going to the store. It’s nothing special, so there’s no use in following me.”

“Oh really? But you know, there’s only seven Level 5s in the city, and you’re ranked second! Your entire life is probably way more interesting than you make it out to be, I'm sure following you anywhere is bound to end up with some sort of adventure, straight out of a manga, right?”

“You can believe that.”

The girl with small pig tails whined, “You’re no fun, Kakine-kun.. If I had a power like you I’d definitely be making a ton of use out of it! I’d probably go out and make myself into a superhero, wearing a mask and everything so I make a name for myself on the internet but nobody knows who I really am! And y’know, since you have cool wings and stuff, that’s pretty memorable! …. H-Hey?! Where are you going? Oh.. He’s already halfway down the street.. He wasn’t listening to me at all…”

Completely fed up with whatever the two students from before were rambling about, he wandered by himself down to the nearest corner-store.

What have I been doing wrong that irritating pests like that think I’m friends with them? He thought to himself, when as he took a step into the door of the supermarket, his eye was caught by a peculiar looking girl in strange clothes.

She wore a pink dress that looked out of place at a cheap store like this for how expensive it looked, blonde hair that looked like it had been bleached tied up with fancy curls and plenty of jewelry.

Kakine couldn’t help but notice how much she stood out there. 

Nevertheless, he ignored her. It wasn’t too strange to see people who looked unusual in this city, and some might argue even he himself stood out a fair bit, too.

He made his way to the back where they kept the drinks in coolers, took his time picking one out, and then headed to the cashier. He noticed that other than him, that girl and the person working at the register were the only ones in the store.

“--sure Heart; you’ll—- –lp out a fri— won’t you?” 

Most of what she said was unclear, but based on what he could tell, he had a feeling she was up to something.

He approached the counter, interrupting the two and placing his drink down. 

“Sorry, I know you were here first, miss, but It doesn’t quite look like you’re buying anything, are you?” He glanced at the girl in the dress up and down, confirming the fact that she seemed empty handed.

The man at the counter looked somewhat shaken and confused, the girl, who looked to be much younger than Teitoku, looked at him with suspicious glances.

Don’t tell me he’s one of those boys who like to butt their heads into other people’s business and play hero. She scoffed to herself, reminiscing about a certain someone she had met not too long ago.

No… He has a dark look in his eyes, nothing at all like that spikey haired boy. 

The blonde girl sighed, and then spoke,

“I apologize if I’m in your way, but I have some business with him. I’d appreciate it if you could go, for now. You’ll listen to someone you trust, right?”

Kakine tilted his head in confusion. 

“Do I know you?"

“...” The girl in the dress paused, staring at Kakine with an expression that seemed like she hadn’t expected that response. 

Does he have some way of negating my ability? Or did I somehow not use it right? 

The girl clicked her tongue and pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.

“I won’t ask again, this is for your own safety.”

Kakine held his hands up and let out a surprised yet amused laugh.

“Whoa, miss. No need to get so serious, I’m not trying to get in your way. Honestly, though, you’re just making me more curious than anything. What’s so special about this guy that you’re willing to pull out weapons on other people?”

The blonde girl in the pink dress glared at him, then pointed her gun instead at her original target. She stayed quiet for a moment. She seemed much more on guard now that she was aware her ability’s effects didn’t seem to impact him.

“I’ll tell you, but only if you agree to help me.”

“Help you? What do I get out of that? I don’t even know if you’re the good guy or the bad guy in this scenario.” Kakine laughed.

“It’s not as black and white as that. As for what’s in it for you, well, it depends. Are you in need of some extra cash, bored, or some other reason? Everyone acts based on their own ideals.” 

Teitoku thought for a moment. He’d definitely figured out by now that this blonde girl worked for the city’s darkside in some way. He knew of the existence of the city’s underbelly, he’s even had his run-ins with them before. Sketchy scientists trying to use him for shady experiments, groups trying to run off with his data for whatever reason. There was always someone trying to get up to something in this city, and being almost at the top of the chain, he ended up being at the forefront of that more times than not.

He had never really thought about dabbling in it himself, though. He’d only really gone about his life doing the same thing everyday, only on the rare occasion he’d come across someone that pissed him off and he felt the need to destroy them himself. He truly had no idea as to why this young-looking girl was asking for help from a complete stranger, though. He would have thought that getting civilians wrapped up in their shady business would be on the top of the list of things to avoid. After all, the underworld was all about secrecy and making sure their dark inner-workings were kept a secret. Perhaps she was just someone who had resorted to desperation, and had nobody else to turn to anymore. In that case, he saw no real reason to turn her down. After all, he always wanted to be the type of idiot hero who couldn’t resist helping a girl in need. 

“What’s your name?” Asked a voice that sounded to have belonged to a young girl.

“...”

“Hey! I’m talking to you, don’t ignore me, that’s mean, you know!”

She received no answer once again. 

“I saw your wings earlier, they’re really pretty.”

“....”

“...What kind of ability is that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“They call it Dark Matter…”

“Dark matter? Like from outer space?”

The boy she was speaking to shook his head, his shaggy blonde hair waving around slightly.

“It’s a little different from that, It’s a unique kind. The researchers said that I created something entirely unique."

The young girl smiled, seemingly happy that she finally got the boy to speak. 

“That’s really cool! Sounds like that means your power’s really strong, right?” She said, sitting next to him. The two of them currently stood in a large facility that functioned to help develop esper abilities. The laboratory was cold, seeing as it was hidden somewhat underground, and its harsh concrete interior contributed nothing to create a warmer atmosphere. 

“I think so.. Something like that, anyway,”

The blonde boy paused and stared down at his hand. 

“I think right now I’m stuck at Level 4, they said that I have the potential to reach level 5 but I’ve been having some trouble with my power… I haven’t fully grasped how to use it yet..”

“Level 5, huh? That’s really strong, but it makes sense! You must have to be really smart to be able to come up with something like that!” 

She giggled.

“I know I definitely couldn’t do something as amazing as creating something entirely new like that all by myself, especially not when it looks as pretty as that…”

The blonde boy fell silent, and the girl glanced over at him and then away again, then quickly continued speaking.

“My power isn’t anything amazing, I think I've only been stuck at like level 2 or something… I think I can manipulate kinetic energy or something like that, but only very, very slightly.” 

The girl laughed, brushing her long, soft blonde hair behind her ears. 

“Oh, by the way, my name is Yuna, but you can call me Yu-chan!” 

She stood up from beside him, and gently offered her hand for a handshake.

“....”

“Kakine..”

“Huh?”

“My name, It’s Kakine. Teitoku Kakine.”

She smiled, holding her hands softly behind her back as her attempts at a handshake were casually rejected.

 “Oh! It’s nice to meet you, Tei-kun!~”

Kakine’s face flushed red at the girl’s shameless jump to familiarity with him.

“H-Hey what’s with the nicknames already? I-I only just told you my name just now!!”

“Hmm, well everyone calls you Kakine-san, and it doesn’t seem like you have any friends, so I’m making it my job to be your friend! Try not to forget me, okay Tei-kun? I have to go now, I have a test scheduled in 10 minutes!” 

The girl supposedly named Yuna quickly ran off, leaving the young Kakine to grit his teeth in embarrassment. 

She already knew my name. He muttered, ( also somewhat butthurt over her comment about him seemingly having no friends. )

Teitoku Kakine spent a decent portion of his childhood developing his esper ability in an underground facility. Places like these were primarily where child errors would spend their time because they didn’t have any other extraordinary foundation to get them started in society, so their only hope was to pray that their ability made them stand out and they’d be worth something. Those who had no parents waiting for them outside the city walls had to build their lives up from scratch all by themselves. 

It was truly a lonely environment to live in, and Kakine had never bothered to make unnecessary connections with anyone. 

Develop your ability, make the researchers like you, and then you’re set. Sacrificing the weaker kids is what was necessary for survival. All that mattered was yourself and your own capabilities. 

At least, that’s what he wanted to think. The softness of the human heart truly was a terrible thing.

The next day arrived soon after. 

“Waaaahhh, it’s so tough, Tei-kunnnn~” Whined the girl as she leaned dramatically against a certain boy, making her discontent very evident.

“..Don’t call me that.”

“I’m really not making any progress in my ability results, I really do think I'm stuck being a weakling forever…” 

She made sniffling sounds to further dramatize her situation.

“If only I could be as cool as you…By the way,  have you at least been able to make any progress?”

Kakine shook his head.

“Awh, that’s a shame… If only there’s something I could do to help..”

She brought her finger to her mouth and thought for a moment.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, why does your esper ability manifest in wings like that? Did you choose it to be that way?” 

“...Is it stupid?”

“No! Not at all, I really am jealous… I wish I could make pretty wings like that, too! You look like an angel!” She giggled, putting her hands out and flapping them to imitate the idea of wings. 

“Angels are good people, Tei-kun~ They swoop down and help people, like heroes..” 

She looked down for a moment, and her smile now felt solemn. 

“It’s pretty unscientific to think about, huh? But y’know, sometimes I wish someone like that would swoop down and save us…”

Kakine glanced over at her. 

“Save us?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking aloud I guess, don’t mind me.” 

Teitoku still found himself perplexed by that comment.

“It’s just kind of rough, sometimes I can’t help but wonder what the world has for me out there.. Why am I stuck here trying to develop something that’s not showing any results?”

She sighed, placing both hands on her chin, slightly squishing her soft cheeks as a result. 

“But It’s okay, I’m friends with you, Tei-kun. That’s what’s most important to me right now.”

It was far too late by the time Teitoku had realized it. But when you don’t have power, or anything else to offer, the people in this city treat you with little kindness. 

Of course, he was the scientists’ star subject, he was on the path to obtain the status of level 5. They buttered him up and treated him like a trophy. 

However, countless others do not share the same fortune as him. Kids worth no value to the adults would get toyed with and tossed out like they were nothing more than trash. 

He had truly been too blind at the time to realize that, and he would hate himself for it for the rest of his life.

Kakine had begun to look forward to seeing her every day. 

His life was boring and repetitive, he told himself he had no reason to value the friendship of any of the other children in that facility, and yet, deep down, he looked forward to seeing her. 

He didn’t want to admit that to himself, but nevertheless, he’d wait at the same spot every single day so she would know exactly where he was. 

On that particular day, it had been nearly two weeks since they had first met. He had been waiting for her at his usual spot, however she had been late. After about 20 minutes had passed, Kakine decided to stand up and look for her, curious about the disturbance in the usual routine.

On his way to begin searching, though, he ran into her.

“A-Ah! There you are, I didn’t expect you to be here…” She stuttered out, her voice seeming to shake as she spoke.

Kakine blushed nervously,

“Well.. You took longer than usual to come see me so I thought maybe something happened.”

“Oh N-No! Nothing at all, I’m fine, really… the researchers just needed me for a bit longer today, t-that’s all…”

She waved her hand around, quickly dismissing his worries. However, her face seemed paler and more flushed. At the time, that was something Kakine failed to notice. 

He tilted his head. 

“If you say so, I-It’s not like I really missed you or anything.. It was just strange.. So I thought I might as well check, don’t get the wrong idea.” 

The girl forced a laugh. “Awwhh, Tei-kun you’re such a bad liar! I know you missed me~” 

She pulled the boy into a hug from the side, lightly teasing him. 

Teitoku scoffed, his face flushed red in embarrassment. 

“S-So what?! You said it yourself, we’re friends after all? Aren’t friends supposed to worry..?”

The girl named Yuna looked up at him, her eyes glittering in wonder at what he’d just said. 

“So you admit it! You finally admit it! Me and Tei-kun are friends!!” 

She excitedly attempted to do a spin in celebration, only to weakly stumble over and lightly bump into Kakine’s chest again. 

“Ah- Sorry! I got too excited at that I must’ve strained myself, ehehe~”

Teitoku let out an exasperated sigh and his expression formed into a gentle smile.

“You really are special, you know that?”

Special? Maybe.. But I could never compare to you, Tei-kun. Your wings are so pretty, and you’re so cool. If anyone’s special, it’s you.

Teitoku turned and began walking in the opposite direction, when suddenly he heard a loud noise. 

Thump.

In response to the sudden noise, he turned to look in the direction it had come from, only to realize she’d collapsed against the wall.

“H-Hey, are you alright?”

He stepped quickly towards her, shaking her shoulders in an attempt to get her attention.

“What’s wrong?! Are you sick?”

He received no response, and he continued shaking her, pulling her into his arms.

“Please w-wake up, Yuna! It’s okay!! If you’re sick I can help you!”

He frantically looked around to see if anyone was around, and it seemed that the amount of noise they had begun making caught the attention of some of the researchers. 

“I-I can help you, remember? I’m a hero– I can sweep down and protect you, remember? T-Thats what angels do!!”

His voice quivered and shook as he spoke, he clung to the girl tightly and continued trying to wake her up. 

A couple adults surrounded them. A woman with a messy bun and glasses bent down to examine the two more closely. 

“Ah, is that Yuna-chan you have with you?” 

“Yes– Yes it’s her!! What the fuck did you bastards do to her?! ” He shouted.

Another voice, belonging to a male this time, spoke up. 

“It seems the drugs from earlier were taking a toll on her body, she was doing relatively fine, though. Maybe she over exerted herself somehow.”

Drugs? For her? What would she possibly need anything like that for?

“W-What the hell are you talking about? Y-YOU PIECES OF SHIT, YOU  KILLED HER?!”

He clung to the girl, holding her against him like a possessive toddler refusing to share a playground toy. His eyes welled up with tears, and he could no longer feel her chest rising with oxygen anymore. He could only assume that the girl had swiftly died.

“Now, Kakine-kun, there’s no reason to get so upset. We’re fairly certain that we can still save her, you just need to let us take her in–”

Like hell you can.

Six, large wings burst from the small boy’s back. The sudden motion caused a gust of wind to blow most of the researchers surrounding them back, crashing into the walls. The six wings weren't anything like young Teitoku had demonstrated previously, the number and size leaving the scientists there utterly speechless at the amount of power the boy seemed to be exuding. 

“I-I’ll make you pay.. I'LL MAKE ALL OF YOU PAY!!!!”

In the end, Teitoku Kakine was subdued, and the girl who he had grown attached to was pronounced dead after the drugs that were used to help in her ability development process proved detrimental to her young and fragile body. 

Ever since that day, he would resent himself for being unable to save that girl.

 If he had been smarter, stronger, if it had been someone else, If.. If only…

If only there existed a world where innocent people wouldn’t be slaughtered, only to be swept under the rug and forgotten about because they didn’t matter? 

Teitoku Kakine wasn’t the type of brash person who called himself a hero and could sweep in and save an innocent girl just because she was in trouble, but he was most certainly the type of asshole who was willing to embrace the darkside and tear that world from the inside out. He found it much easier to accept the darkness if it meant he could one day change this broken world, and prevent others from turning out like he, or that girl, did. 

“Hm, looks like we’re recognized now as an official dark side group now. The voice on the phone said he found a third member for us, but we are lacking a fourth..”

The girl with the light blonde hair and a flashy dress sighed, toying with her numerous amounts of jewelry adorning her neck and her wrists.

“The new girl is supposed to show up here soon, I believe. So it’ll be a nice time for introductions. We’ll be working together quite a bit, you know~”

“How are we supposed to magically find a fourth member ourselves? I don’t just go around making friends with people, and I really don’t plan on just going ‘Hey, Wanna commit crimes with me?’ to strangers either. How irritating.” Kakine groaned. 

“I find that second comparison quite insulting, honestly.”

In the middle of their conversation, they were abruptly interrupted by the entrance of another person. 

They were using a luxury hotel as their current hideout to host their introductory meeting, and the door to their current room gently swung open.

“H-Hello.. Is this the right room? Y-You’re–” 

“Wonderful timing, you’re the third member, correct? Rakko Yumiya?”

The girl with black hair that was tied into a half-down half-up style with pigtails, who was still wearing her school uniform that looked to belong to a fancy all girls school, waved her hands around with a flustered expression.

“Y-Yes! That’s me!!”

Kakine narrowed his eyes at the black haired girl, surveying her up and down before scratching the back of his neck and speaking,

“You said this girl is supposedly an expert assassin who’s been in the dark side scene for a while, right..?”

The girl in the dress nodded.

“Well, if that’s true, then her personality really doesn’t seem to fit that description..”

“I-I’m sorry if i disappointed you, s-sir… I’m really glad to make your acquaintance, u-um–”

The shy girl named Yumiya bent her head down in a bow, holding out her hand towards the boy for a handshake, making her best attempt at exchanging pleasantries.

“Yeah… uh, You can call me Kakine.”

He glanced at the girl, rolled his eyes and made no effort to return the girl’s hand. 

A-ah.. He’s looking down on me!! We’ve only just met and he’s already looking down on me! What kind of stuck-up, piece of shit guy is he?! 

The girl in the dress brushed her hair with her hand, and began speaking. 

“My name is Kaibi Gokusai, I'm a Level 4 esper who specializes in a form of telepathy. I can use my ability to measure the emotional distance between me and another person. It’s quite useful when you need to get information out of someone. Miss Yumiya here is only a Level 0, but really, her skill in taking down her targets effectively and efficiently is quite unmatched. And Kakine here is Level 5, Isn’t that impressive?”

Level 5?!! That explains it! That really does explain it! All those high ranked espers always act like they can belittle other people!! He’s probably treating me that way because I'm a Level 0, huh?! But just you wait, mister Level 5!! I’ll prove just how outstanding I can be! Oh, and if I'm teaming up with a Level 5 now, then maybe he can be my ticket to popularity! Oh yes, if everyone thinks I'm best buds with one of the top ranked espers, surely people will begin to see what I’m really worth! Here you go, Rakko, now’s your chance!!!!! 

“..Why is she making such a creepy face?”

“A-Ah!!?” Yumiya exclaimed, quickly being thrown out of the fantasy she was developing in her own head, completely oblivious to the fact she was displaying any of her inside thoughts to the people around her.

“Well, if the introductions are over, I’m going home. We’ll be meeting here for any further meetups. In the meantime, miss Gokusai will be helping out in finding us a fourth member. You can try your best to help out too, uh, Yumiya… But I don’t expect much.” 

The blonde boy promptly made his way through the hotel door and left without saying another word.

“ He doesn’t expect much?! W-What does that mean?! And why did he call you miss but not me?!!”

The girl in the dress sighed.

 “Don’t take it too personally.. Oh, and by the way, we’ll be starting to take some jobs here soon, too. So be prepared for that.”

Rakko Yumiya was a girl who had been affiliated with the city’s darkness for a long while. Despite what her personality may suggest, she truly was a deadly huntress who was quite skilled in the act of killing her designated targets. 

She lived a double life of a socially awkward high school girl desperate for the attention of her classmates, and a killer who hid in plain sight without anyone suspecting her of involvement. 

Her unfortunate talent of being incredibly forgettable and seemingly invisible to those around her became a great asset when it came down to it. 

Gokusai Kaibi could somewhat relate to the life that girl lived. She, too, was enveloped in the dark side for as long as she could remember. Before now, she worked as part of a group of mercenaries with her two sisters. 

She was just as familiar with the inner workings of the world, if not more, than Yumiya was.

“Well, since Kakine made off on his own, why don’t we head home together? We can get something to eat on the way, that sounds fun, don’t you think?” The blonde girl in a dress winked with a charming smile spread across her face.

“W-Waaa?!! You’re asking me??!!” The girl named Yumiya squealed out.

“Might as well, right? We’re coworkers now, might as well get to know one another~” 

Chapter Text

He had been planning this. 

He had been planning this for a long, long while.

To put it bluntly, the ranking system for espers was a fundamentally flawed system.
There was a ranking system put in place to determine the strength of one’s ability, to a level of 0 up to 5. Level 5 was the strongest ranking one could currently obtain. 

That being said, there were only 7 people in that entire city of 2.3 million who had obtained that ranking. 

That in of itself was a sincere, and honest flaw of that system. 

Or so that boy thought.

He was a fairly average highschool student, he had nothing particularly special that made him stand out. Due to his basic appearance, he was often overlooked and struggled to make any friends. And his grades weren’t anything to write home about, either. Although, he was a fairly good student academically. 

The only thing that made him particularly stand out was his esper ability.

It truly was all he had to make a name for himself. 

It was a fairly strong ability, being that of a Level 4 Psychokinesis. It wasn’t the most suited ability for combat, and mostly shined when it came to extracting data and information, but even so, it was truly a deadly weapon in a fight. 

Despite that, though, he still earnestly believed that his ranking of being a measly Level 4 was a mistake. He believed he deserved to be amongst Academy City’s seven Level 5s.

And he believed he had what it took to make that happen. Even if the regularly scheduled ability tests that the schools held overlooked him, he would prove himself.

And he had been planning, plotting, researching, and plotting, for a very long time. 

The boy named Banka Yobou with slightly spiky black hair shoved various items into his school bag. His hands were shaky, his breaths were uneven and nervous, and overall his mannerisms seemed frantic.

I can do this. It’s the city’s fault for overlooking me. I’ll show them I have what it takes.

He placed a mysterious metal ring around his head, and pulled his seemingly inconspicuous school bag over his shoulder, dressed properly in his school’s uniform. It was early in the morning, around the same time plenty of other students would be getting ready and heading out for school, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. Except that boy’s destination, first thing in the morning, would not be his own school.  

It was to track down and find the location of someone else. 

I’ve done my fair share of research about you, #2. I’ve studied your life, your schedule, your ability. I know you should be on your way to school right now, and I know precisely what route you should be taking.

This will be the perfect time for me to strike.

Teitoku Kakine groaned as he tossed around in his bed. He was abruptly awakened by the loud ringing of his alarm clock. He angrily slapped the clock to turn it off, and begrudgingly forced himself up and sat on the edge of his bed.
“This shit is so exhausting, why do I even bother…” He spit out, letting out a yawn and stretching out his arms.
He mustered up the energy to stand up, dragging his feet into the bathroom of his school dorm. 

Kakine groaned as he leaned against the bathroom sink, picking up his toothbrush and sloppily forcing some toothpaste on it and forcing it in his mouth. He moved it around, then spit it out and wiped his face with a towel.

After finishing up in the bathroom, he dragged himself back out into his bedroom, pulling off his t-shirt and sweatpants and pulling his school uniform pants on instead. He pulled on his buttoned up white his shirt, buttoned it up, pulled on his sweater and blazer, and neatly did his tie.

It was a uniform that looked like it belonged to a boy of a prestigious school, but the one he attended wasn’t all that fancy compared to that of the likes of the all girl’s school of Tokiwadai. It was simply just the energy that boy carried with him that gave that sort of impression. 

That blonde boy pulled his school bag over his shoulder and set out into the city on his way to school. 

It was quite early in the morning, the air was still chilly and the sun was still rising. Passing by him were several other students in various uniforms making their way to their own classes. It truly was just another ordinary day for Teitoku, and for everyone else. 

Except, there was one boy who was not on his usual route he took to school.

It was a black haired boy in a regular uniform that barely stood out at all. He looked like the average highschool student anyone would overlook. The kind of student that someone like Teitoku would never think twice about.

That was exactly why he completely overlooked the fact that someone had been following him.

As the #2 approached an area in which the usual traffic of students began to lessen and there were fewer people surrounding them, the black haired boy made his move.
Banka slipped his school bag from his shoulder, opening it to reveal several sharp weapons and objects he’d packed inside. Using his psychokinesis, he hurled several sharp objects in the direction of that blonde haired boy. 

In the blink of an eye, the #2’s six wings burst out behind him in response to block the attack.

Teitoku Kakine sighed, shifting his feet and turning around in the direction of the attacker. 

“Huh? What do you want?”

The black haired boy laughed, 

“You’re the #2, aren’t you?” 

Kakine tilted his head. 

“That’s me… What kind of bastard is trying to pick a fight with me so early in the morning? I’m too tired for this.” he responded, putting a hand to his face and yawning. 

“How arrogant… You Level 5s are all like that, aren’t you? You believe you’re above the rest of us just because of your rank, but that’s a mistake.. I’ll show you, I deserve to be ranked just as high as you are.”

The blonde boy stared at the other with a slightly confused expression, when suddenly Banka Yobou made his second move. Using his psychokinesis, he lifted a chunk of concrete out of the road and hurled it towards the second ranked. Just like before, Kakine’s six wings made of dark matter effortlessly blocked his attack.

Following that attack, the boy continued to throw everything he had at him, hurling steel beams from nearby buildings and roads, tearing up the very concrete that stood underneath them, slicing, crushing, etc. Everything that Level 4 boy had at his disposal.

The sheer amount of power those attacks held would be detrimental to anyone who was a mere civilian, or anyone who did not have the strength to match that power. 

Nothing that the boy threw at the second ranked had any impact, however. 

Teitoku sighed once again, using his brightly shining wings to levitate himself in the air. 

“What was that about deserving to be a Level 5? Listen, my wings could withstand even a blast from the #3’s Railgun, and most likely anything the #4 has to offer, so how about you try picking a fight with one of them before getting so cocky as to think you can really kill me ?” 

The black haired boy coughed and gasped, wiping a drop of blood from his nose with his sleeve that was most likely a result of him exerting a large amount of his power.

“There’s no need for that, I can defeat the second ranked, I’m strong enough. I know it. I deserve to be amongst the Level 5s more than anyone.”

Kakine laughed, spreading his hands out on both sides of him.

 “Really? Then please, show me everything you have. Kill me right here like you say you will.”

Banka Yobou quivered, he had already used up quite a bit of energy on his attacks beforehand, and he wasn’t quite confident he had much left. Despite that, he genuinely and truly did throw everything he had at that boy. Just like before, he hurled metal, concrete, debris from nearby buildings caught up in his destruction, he sliced, crushed, etc.

…Except it was still of no use. The #2 known as Teitoku Kakine had not a single cut left on him. 

The blonde boy cracked his neck.

 “Looks like you aren’t as strong as you thought. But that’s fine, idiots like you tend to believe idiotic crap like that all the time.”

Banka Yobou fell to his knees, panting.

 He’d been planning this for weeks, months even. So why? Why was he failing so terribly? Why was this esper shrugging off his attacks so effortlessly? 

“Usually in a situation like this, I'd just leave you here to reconsider your pathetic waste of a life, or if you insisted on dying, I'd kill you. But I was in a bad mood today already, and you pissed me off, so I think I'll play with you a little.” 

Teitoku Kakine descended from the air, placing his feet back on the ground and slowly stepped towards Banka, each step he took growing closer to the black haired boy, shaking him to his core.

“I’ll show you what the power of a true Level 5 looks like.”

The pure white wings stretched out from Kakine’s back glowed a bright white, and an invisible force sliced at Banka, causing him to jump out from where he was in an attempt to evade. 

“Gh?!” He grunted. 

Regaining his energy, he used his psychokinesis to pick up some of the debris surrounding them from the attacks earlier, launching them at the boy with the wings. 

Once they met those six wings, the debris melted almost as if the dark matter was made of an insanely hot substance, like lava.

“You know, my Dark Matter is something that doesn’t exist in this world. And by that I mean, it truly does not, and should not exist. The moment you factor in my Dark matter, the physics of the world behave entirely differently. Regular common sense does not apply here, I can reshape the world as I see fit. ”

Banka had studied that boy’s ability in great detail, he knew everything there was to offer about it. He’d thought that he had been as prepared as he could possibly be, and yet, seeing that great display of strength in action, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. The amount of sheer power emitting from that other boy was truly nothing he had seen before. 

As he continued running in an attempt to dodge Kakine’s attacks, a pillar he hid behind began to wobble, wave, and begin behaving almost like a liquid. It melted and nearly covered the black haired boy underneath it as it collapsed in a manner entirely unexpected of the material it was composed of. 

“Still not convinced?” He scoffed, eerily trailing behind Banka like a predator chasing its prey.

And a predator that was playing with its food like it was a toy.

Banka Yobou attempted to use his ability to make himself invisible to the human eye, hiding behind yet another nearby building that had not yet been touched by the two’s rampant destruction caused by their battle. 

That Dark Matter shit is insane, but he hasn’t hurt me yet, I just need to fend him off and get out of here.

“Huh? Where’d you go?” The blonde boy tilted his head, resting his arm on the nape of his neck.

He paused, and then laughed,

 “I guess it doesn’t matter. I’ll just make the entire building crumble along with you.”

Huh??! Is this guy fucking insane??!!!!

Just as Banka began to panic and make his escape, multiple unexplainable explosions burst out from supposedly random spots surrounding the support of the building, causing a large amount of concrete to come crumbling down over Banka. 

The black haired boy desperately used his psychokinesis to use some of the falling debris to protect himself from the rest of the crumbling building, when suddenly a figure appeared behind him. 

“Found you~”

Before he could properly react, he was kicked in the middle of his back and launched against a wall of concrete and the debris he had been controlling came hurling down with him. 

Due to the impact, part of the wall continued to break apart and crushed his leg beneath it.

He groaned out in pain, scratching at the ground, attempting to crawl out from underneath the pile of rubble.

Teitoku casually walked over to where Banka lay, kneeling and looking down at him. 

“You look like you’re struggling there, you need some help?” he smirked.

Banka desperately continued to grasp at the concrete beneath him, a pool of blood forming under him as the broken remains of the building continued crushing his body. 

The blonde boy harshly crushed his left hand under the soles of his feet, laughing cruelly as he mocked him. 

“You deserve to be Level 5, huh? Don’t make me fucking laugh. Weaklings like you really have some nerve.” 

Banka Yobou cried out in pain, clenching his teeth. 

“ It’s just not fucking fair– I deserve to be recognized too–” He hissed.

“I-I wanted to challenge the first ranked, but I thought you’d be a little easier a target—”

Teitoku’s eyes seemingly lost all light in them.

“ Oh really? You thought it'd be easier, huh?”

Banka felt the pressure on his hand ( which was now most likely broken ) release, but before he could fully appreciate that fact, a sharp pain shot throughout his entire head. 

And before he could process the source of that pain, it happened again.

And again.

And again.

and again.

“Gggh–!”

He had continued to be repeatedly struck at full force by the soles of Teitoku Kakine’s shoes. 

His ears rang, he quickly began to taste iron in his mouth and it truly felt like the insides of his brain were going to begin spilling out from his nose. 

He continued to groan and cry in pain, coughing up blood onto the pavement. 

With his broken wrist, he tried grasping at the legs of the one who stood before him, but his hand was kicked once again and he could feel his fingers bend backwards. 

“S-St-stop–”

And again. 

And again.

And again. 

And again.

The second ranked continued hacking at the black haired boy’s head with as much force as he could muster in each kick. 

“Ha..Hahaaha..!! You worthless piece of shit, getting me wrapped up in your pathetic bullshit solely because you thought I'd be an easier target than him? Don’t make me fucking laugh.”

 The blonde haired boy spit out.

“Flaws in the ranking system, tch, maybe you got that part right. But surely not in the way you fucking think.”

He dug his foot into the black haired boy’s face, pressing and crushing until he could hear a soft, fleshy, wet sticky sound with each press. 

After making a mess of Banka’s face, leaving him nearly unrecognizable, and covered in his own blood, Teitoku scoffed and clicked his tongue. 

“What a fucking waste of time.. And you made a mess of my shoes. Such a pain.” 

He turned around and searched the area for his school bag he’d left, retrieved it and hung it over his shoulder again. 

“Well, I probably don’t want to head to school covered in some piece of shit’s blood, so I guess I'll just skip and go back home today. Tch, all that work to wake up early just to be rewarded with this bullshit.” 

He trudged his way back home, sighing and leaving his bag on the couch. He looked in the mirror in the bathroom and quickly realized he’d gotten more blood splatter on him than he’d realized. 

He groaned once again at the inconvenience of only having gotten ready about an hour ago, and already having to change into something else completely.

He shrugged off his school blazer, sweater, and everything else. 

I’ll deal with getting the blood out later. I’m so tired. He thought, dragging himself into his bedroom and falling dramatically back into bed.

Shortly after Teitoku left, a group of middle school girls came across the wreckage that was caused on their way to school themselves, and discovered the bloody ( but somehow still alive ) body of Banka Yobou.
“H-Holy shit?! Is he dead?”
“No, I think he’s somehow still breathing..”
“Someone call the ambulance!”
“What even happened here..?”

Paramedics quickly arrived on the scene after the girls had called, and secured Banka. 

Anti-skill was also called to investigate the cause behind the destruction. Luckily, Banka seemed to be the only one around to have gotten seriously injured. 

Banka couldn’t help but wonder if that second ranked boy had perfectly calculated his destruction to only involve the two of them. The brain of a Level 5 truly seemed to be on an entirely different level from that of someone like himself. 

After he was brought to the hospital, despite being on the brink of death due to blood loss, head trauma, and other severe injuries, he was somehow able to recover due to the help of a certain doctor that Banka couldn’t help but feel like resembled a frog. 

Although, once Banka Yobou was able to regain consciousness, a couple days had passed.
He woke up in your typical hospital room, his head still pounding from the pain he withstood days prior. 

As he tried to process the environment around him, and the situation he was in, he groaned in pain and held out his left hand in front of his face. His vision felt hazy, but it was certainly better than not being able to see or understand anything at all.

His hand was left in a cast, his wrist and plenty of his fingers were surely broken. He tried to move them, but had no luck in doing so.

He sighed, leaning his head back against the pillows and dropping his arm beside him. 

Honestly, I almost wish that nobody had found me. This just feels awfully pathetic. He thought.
His eyes trailed around the room again, and then found their way towards the window next to his bed. The world continued on as usual, students continued attending school, teachers made their ways to work. Everyone seemed to have somewhere to be, and a goal in their life.

But what was Banka’s?

He truly felt like he had no purpose in this life. 

He was your average highschool boy, no, some might say he was even worse than average. He was the type of person that had no friends, didn’t contribute to any after school extracurriculars, had no notable hobbies, and didn’t stand out in any meaningful way. He was painfully invisible to the point where most people in his school didn’t even bother to remember his name.

And yet, he had a strong ability. It was the type of ability that was decently suited for combat, but using some extra electronic aid, could shine to become useful for even more. 

And yet, he felt worthless. 

Despite having a power like this, why did he feel so painfully worthless?

Everything in this city is about power, isn’t it? The stronger you are, the better a chance you have at being successful. And yet, he was someone who felt he had no purpose. 

And so, that boy thought that perhaps he simply isn’t being recognized enough for his potential.

But alas, it seemed that he was so, very, very , painfully mistaken.

He was nowhere near the likes of the second ranked Level 5.
He could try his chances with one of the lower ranked, like the #7, but he reckoned that there was no point. 

Maybe I’m better off just dying. It’s not like anyone would remember me. 

Just as he began to think that, someone entered his hospital room. He heard the door open, and he glanced over to the source of the noise to find a girl.
She was a girl who appeared to only be around 13 years old or so, she wore a frilly dress that gave her the impression of someone wealthy and fashionable, accompanied by pearl jewelry and fancy necklaces. She had bleach blonde hair that was tied up neatly with curled ends. 

Banka did not recognize this girl, and he wondered who she was, and he could not fathom why a beautiful girl such as herself would want to visit him, but he did not have the energy to muster up a word to her. 

The blonde girl closed the door behind her, ran her hand through her nicely done up hair, and began to speak. 

“You’re Banka Yobou, correct?”

The boy simply stared at her. 

“Not much of a talker, huh? Or maybe Kakine just roughed up your poor head too much and you lost the ability to speak?” She teased, bringing her hand to her chin.

The mere mention of that name made the empty insides of Banka’s stomach churn as the events that transpired a few days prior began flashing in his mind once again. 

She giggled a little.

“Well regardless, I know who you are. My name is Kaibi Gokusai, I work with mister Kakine, actually. He told me all about your little encounter with him. It sounds like he really did a number on you, so it’s nice to see that you’re recovering nicely.”

The unfamiliar blonde girl made her way throughout the room, dragging her neatly kept hands that were topped off with pretty pink nail polish against the hospital furniture, before making herself comfortable in the chair in the corner of the room.
“Your ability certainly is no match for a Level 5, but honestly, It sounds quite powerful. You seem quite skilled at what you do, I think you’re worth more than you believe.”

The words that girl spoke certainly sparked the black haired boy's interest. His dark eyes stared through her, and he gathered all the energy he could to speak.

“...What do you mean?”

“Ah, so you can speak. That’s helpful.”

She rested her cheek on her hand. “What I’m saying is, we’d be very glad to have you as an ally. You don’t believe that your power is being appreciated for what it is, no? In that case, we’d benefit greatly from having someone like you.”
Banka simply stared at that girl once again. He was truly trying to process everything that she had said. 

Works with Kakine? An ally? What exactly does she mean by that? He thought to himself.

Despite all the questions running through his mind, he couldn’t deny that the idea that someone had come to him of all people, seeking his help, did feel quite nice.
He had never been able to imagine a scenario in which someone would deliberately want to choose him. He was someone who seemed invisible to others, and was often overlooked.
He had just begun questioning whether he had any significant purpose to being alive.

And yet, this mysterious girl stood in front of him claiming that she wants him, of all people.
Honestly, who was he to say no to that? He truly had no other options.

This was probably the last good opportunity he had in his life.

His last opportunity to prove that his life was worth something.

His last opportunity to be useful to someone.

His last chance to be recognized.

“...I’ll help you.” He mumbled.
“I don’t know what kind of work you’re entailing, but… I’ll do anything you want me to.”

Kaibi Gokusai smiled kindly at that response. “I’m glad to hear that.”

That was much easier than I was expecting. She thought to herself.

She stood up from the chair she was occupying, walking towards the bed that the boy laid on.

She pulled out a notebook, wrote down a string of numbers, and then ripped out the page and left it on the table next to him.

“Once you’re discharged from here, call this number. It’s mine. I’ll be able to give you instructions on what to do next, okay?” She smiled at him once again, giving her the look of a soft and kind girl. 

After about a week or two had passed, Banka Yobou had been discharged from the hospital. His injuries still weren’t entirely healed, and his arm was still broken, but nevertheless, he was in much better condition than before.
Following the advice the girl had given him, he made his way to a hotel she had instructed him to meet at. It was a fairly nice looking hotel that gave Banka the kind of impression that only the wealthy could afford to stay at.

He made his way inside, having the feeling that his clearly not-so-fancy look drew in some weird stares from the staff there. He made his way to the elevator, clicked some buttons, and went up to the floor that the girl in the dress had told him.

Then he went to the door of the room he was given, and let himself inside.
Once he entered, he was greeted by three other people, a blonde girl with fancy jewelry and a fancy dress, a taller blonde haired boy who wore an expensive looking suit, and a black haired girl who had half her hair tied in pigtails and wore a long sleeve shirt and a pouch belt that gave her the appearance of someone who might be an assassin.


“Ah, speak of the devil. There he is.” The girl in the fancy dress spoke up. 

Banka glanced around the room, staring at each individual person. The girl with the pigtails being the only one he hadn’t recognized. 

The moment his eyes met with Teitoku Kakine’s, he fell to his knees with his hand over his mouth. A sudden wave of nausea unlike anything he’s experienced before fell over him. Chills ran down his entire body, and his knees shook and became weak. The fear that he felt the last time he’d met that boy all came crashing back to him in that very moment. 

“I-Is he alright…?” The shy girl named Rakko Yumiya asked, looking down at the new boy with a hint of concern. 

“Oh dear, what did you do to this poor boy, Kakine?” Kaibi sighed, walking over to Banka who was still doubled over on the floor. 

“It’s not my fault, he’s the one who thought it was a bright idea to piss me off in the first place.” Kakine groaned.

Kaibi gently rubbed the black haired boy’s back, using her ability in an attempt to comfort him.
“It’s okay, you’d feel better if you had someone like a girlfriend, maybe, to console you?” 

Kakine smirked and laughed. “Be careful with that, he seems like the type to take that to heart, fall deeply in love with you, and then start stalking you.”

“H-Hey, don’t start making poor assumptions on p-people you don’t know just based on how they look!” Stuttered out the girl named Rakko.

Kaibi sighed, helping Banka up from his feet as he seemed to be doing slightly better.
“Oh, please. It’s really not like that.”

Banka swallowed what he could only assume was his last meal trying to escape his throat, and slowly stood up from the floor with his shaky knees. He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with the second ranked at all costs.


“A-ah.. I’m sorry… My name is Banka… Y-Yobou..” he muttered.

Kaibi smiled, holding her hands gently behind her back as she moved away from the black haired boy. “As a newer dark side group, we’ve mostly been doing individual jobs by ourselves up until now. Miss Yumiya and I both already have experience in this field, so that hasn’t been much of an issue…” She spoke in a very casual, monotone tone of voice.

“But now that we have four members, I think we’re capable of taking in some more difficult jobs.. We were able to register Yobou as a proper member already, and our liaison informed us that they already have some jobs lined up for us, so all we’re waiting on is for him to recover properly.”

Chapter Text

It was around 3:00pm in the afternoon, the bright sky filled with sunlight filled the city overhead and the sound of people speaking with each other and walking to wherever their next destination overflowed the area. It was a fairly popular shopping district, and due to the time it was, and how nice the weather seemed to be, it was bustling with people. The two girls who had just arrived there hadn’t stood out in the slightest. However, they were there for much different reasons than most of the other people there. 

Due to the abundance of people around, and the overly mundane nature of the place, it was hard to believe that this was where they were meant to be.

A girl with black hair half-tied into pigtails surveyed the area with her eyes, analyzing and studying each individual person passing by.

The other girl with blonde hair nicely tied up with fancy curls spoke directly into a phone held up into her ear.

“Yes. We’ve just arrived at the specified location, however, are you sure this is the correct place? There’s a lot of traffic, and lots of different buildings. It'd take a long time for us to find it manually with just the two of us here.” she said. 

She listened to the other voice on the phone speak for a couple seconds longer, nodded, and then closed her flip phone shut and snuck it away again.

“Well, It doesn’t look like this will be easy, but that’s no matter.” She said, before continuing to walk down the sidewalk. 

The black haired girl followed beside her.

The two were Rakko Yumiya and Kaibi Gokusai, and they were in the process of completing their first job as a full team of SCHOOL.

However, despite it being technically the same job, the two girls were alone at this location, and the rest of their team was at another.

The specifics of the job given to these two girls specifically was to track down a box containing a certain device pertaining to some researchers. 

It was hidden in one of the buildings in this shopping district, and they were not yet sure of which one, but their job would be to figure that out, and then retrieve it.

It sounded easy enough, just a simple search, retrieve, and deliver job. Fitting for the likes of a new dark side organization.

At least, that’s what it was meant to be.

The two girls continued down the street, the black haired girl with the pigtails continuing to stare around at the surrounding people. She peeked at the other girl, then looked away, and then stared at her once again, her hands held neatly behind her back.

“I-It’s funny that it’s just us, huh?” she stuttered out, her voice quiet and nervous.

“Usually I work by myself, so I'm not really used to being with someone else..”

“Is that so?” Replied the blonde girl in a monotone tone of voice that made her sound disinterested.

Rakko nodded, humming in agreement. 

“But you know, I don’t mind! Even though this is an important mission, m-maybe we can use this opportunity to deepen our friendships with one another!” 

Kaibi glanced at the other girl behind her and then looked back ahead. 

“Keep your voice down, we don’t need other people knowing we’re doing anything.”

“O-Oh right! I’m sorry..” she exclaimed, looking down at her feet and sulking a little.

“I just thought since.. We’re at a shopping district and everything, while we’re searching, w-we could get some stuff too.. I mean I've never gone shopping with a friend before..”

Kaibi sighed. She found it a bit difficult to believe this girl was versed in the ways of the dark side much like she was, but she had yet to see her in action so she reckoned she shouldn’t be quick to judge just yet.

Ignoring Rakko’s blabbering, she made her way into one of the nearby shops. 

It was a small store that contained some clothes, and various other items like jewelry and the like. It seemed to be advertised towards student girls like herself, as the signs outside and the decor inside would suggest. 

As Kaibi stepped inside, she looked around and nothing stood out to her as anything out of the ordinary. At the register there was a normal looking woman, the only thing that stood out about her was just how exhausted she looked, and there were some girls who seemed to be students in their uniforms looking at the various clothes adorned on the clothing racks around the store.

Rakko followed her inside, looking around just like Kaibi had.

“Notice anything?” she asked, tilting her head in a curious gesture.

“Nothing. However, I could use my Measure Heart to question the cashier.”

Rakko sighed, hanging her head and crossing her arms across her chest. 

“Going to every store and probing every cashier for answers sounds like a lot of work, don’t you think there’s an easier way?”

Kaibi shrugged, and continued inside. 

She looked around at some of the clothes hanging up on racks, in which she noticed a cute white dress with fancy frills. 

She must’ve lingered for longer than she realized, because the black haired girl came up behind her, startling her like a pesky animal that made no sound when it moved. 

“Do you like that one? It’s pretty cute, I think!”

Kaibi jumped a little, quickly shaking her head. 

“No, It’s alright. We aren’t here to go shopping.”

Rakko pouted, and then glanced back at the dress hanging on the rack. 

“T-They won’t notice, I’m sure, we can just tell them it took extra long to find what we were looking for, and then we went shopping a little bit as we went!” She proposed the idea eagerly.

She imagined that conversation taking place, the voice of her leader scolding her ringing out in her head. The mere idea of that boy when he’s angry sent a shiver down her spine, and caused her face to shift slightly in fear.
Kaibi’s shoulders slumped, and she let out an exasperated sigh.

“I suppose a girl should be allowed to treat herself once in a while, besides, the money we make from this job should be well enough to pay back the expenses from shopping here.” She said aloud, although she wasn’t really speaking to anyone in particular, and just trying to reason to herself and explain her own irresponsible decisions. 

She held her hands behind her back and browsed around the store once more, spotting some pearl necklaces and rings on display that peaked her fancy.
The black haired girl’s eyes gleamed with pure joy, and she quickly picked up the dress Kaibi had been looking at and followed behind her. 

It’s working! It’s working, I’m finally going shopping with a friend! With a friend!! She rambled enthusiastically in her own head.

The two girls ended up walking out of the store with a few bags containing a wide variety of clothing items. It’d seemed that once Kaibi Gokusai got in the rhythm of spending on pretty clothes, she simply couldn’t contain herself. Despite being a girl doused in the darkness, she couldn’t get rid of her nature as an excitable thirteen year old girl. 

“W-Wow, we spent a lot, didn’t we?” Rakko smiled earnestly.
“It seems that way, It’s going to be a hassle walking around with so many shopping bags…” The blonde haired girl looked down at her arms that were adorned elegantly with shopping bags, and sighed at the consequences of her own actions. 

Just as she began to walk away from the store and down the street, a small figure seemed to bump into her, quickly dashing away before she could even process what happened or who it was, causing Kaibi to stumble over and drop some of the bags she held in her arms, the contents spilling out slightly.

“Ouf–”

She managed to regain her balance, brushing off her dress and adjusting her jewelry.

“Who was that?” she scoffed, annoyance visible in her tone. 

“A-Ah, I’m not sure..” Rakko’s voice quivered as she kneeled down to collect the bags off the floor. Kaibi knelt down to assist as well.
The girls stood up, having successfully collected their belongings off the ground, and then..

Shlingg! 

A sharp noise ran out, a gush of blood came pouring out from Kaibi’s lower back.

It had happened so suddenly and quickly that neither of them had been able to understand  what had even happened. 

The girl in the dress quickly fell back to her knees, clutching at her body to locate the injury with her hands.

“H-Huh?! What just happened? Where did the blood come from?” Rakko shouted out in a panicked voice.

It seemed they’d already begun to attract some unwanted attention, and some of the people around them stopped to stare at the two girls.

Just as Rakko bent over to assist her comrade, it happened again.

Shling! Shlink, Shraang!! 

Various other cuts appeared across the blonde girl’s body, this time, appearing in the form of slashes across her arms.

She clenched her teeth and hissed at the pain.

What the hell?!! She thought. 

Without hesitating a second more, she reached underneath her fancy dress for her gun. 

Rakko Yumiya scanned the surrounding area and the crowd around them once more.

She wasn’t unfamiliar with attackers who could hunt down their prey quickly and efficiently. In fact, the methods of this enemy seemed to be not unlike her own.

She snuck quick glances around at the worried faces of the onlookers, quickly grabbed onto Kaibi’s arm and dashed around into a dark alleyway.
The alley was fairly secluded and empty, only containing some bikes or random litter here and there. It was a stark contrast to the bright overpopulated street outside. 

She gently helped the other girl lean against the wall, and then assessed the injuries she’d sustained.

Her brows furrowed, and she paused for a moment, lost in thought.

“This doesn’t look like the work of a sniper, the cuts seem to have been done by some sort of blade, but how? ” she spoke aloud to herself.

“I hadn’t noticed anyone, no matter how fast a person could be, I would have noticed them.”

Kaibi nodded slightly. “I didn’t feel anyone either, usually I can use my esper ability to vaguely detect the presence of another person and their general location, but i didn’t feel anything unusual.”

“Could it be the work of an esper? But then again, who would want to be targeting us, enough for it to be so perfect..”

The black haired girl’s demeanor seemed to change entirely, so much so that it surprised Kaibi quite a bit. The shy, awkward girl from before now seemed like a cold, calculating individual who didn’t hesitate to get right to the core of the situation.

Rakko stood up from where she’d been kneeling to assist Kaibi, and then spoke.

“You should stay here, okay? I’ll go back out there to see if I can find whoever was attacking us. I have a feeling it may be related to our mission.” 

She looked back at the blonde girl with a confident smile on her face.

“You don’t worry about me, okay? If anyone comes and finds you here, you know how to take care of yourself!” She said.
Kaibi clutched the hand gun she held in her right hand. She was by no means a fighter, she was an esper whose power did not specialize in any sort of combat ability at all. However, she still knew the basics on how to defend herself. That’s all she really needed to get by in that city’s underbelly.
And then Rakko ran off into the street again all on her own.

Hehehee, I always wanted to say something like that! Miss Gokusai is going to think I’m so reliable and cool now! She’s going to want to be my friend for sure!! The girl thought excitedly to herself, smiling ear to ear as she came out from the alley and into the bustling street. 

She immediately brushed those thoughts aside, and quickly focused her mind on the task at hand.

She surveyed the area once more, this time with the eyes of a hunter searching for her prey.

She had the idea that the person responsible for this was among them.

I have a feeling there’s no coincidence that someone just so happened to bump into Kaibi, and then she suddenly gets attacked out of seemingly nowhere.

Just as she began to finish that train of thought, it happened.

A small figure that seemed even shorter than Yumiya herself quickly bumped into her.

However, just before it got away..

Got you!--

She quickly grabbed hold of the small figure and slammed them down, locking them in position with her knee and grabbing hold of their arm tightly.  

“Graggh—?!” exclaimed a high-pitched voice in sheer surprise.

Rakko stared at the person she’d just pinned to the floor, and noticed that it appeared to be a young child of a gender she couldn’t quite discern, who looked no older than twelve.

She thought, for just a moment, that she may have jumped to conclusions and tackled the wrong person, but then,

Wham!

The small figure spun around and smacked her in the neck with their tiny foot. Just before making their escape, they seemed to grab onto a piece of the girl’s hair and then dashed away.

“You–!” Rakko growled, stabling her feet and regaining her standing position, and then chased after the young child.

Just as she anticipated, Rakko began bleeding from mysterious cuts being spread throughout her whole body. 

It was truly unexplainable as to how they were getting there, as she couldn’t feel anything actually hitting her at all, and the supposed culprit was running from her at that very moment. 

Despite that, she grit her teeth, holding out her forearm in the direction of the small individual. 

A small clicking sound could be heard, and then she successfully shot.

The young child collapsed to the ground, and Rakko trudged her way over to their body once again. 

She continued bleeding, the injuries becoming more and more severe by the second.

Large gash wounds appeared in her arms, legs, and lower body. The amount of blood she seemed to be losing started to make her feel somewhat lightheaded, but she kept herself together regardless.

The crowd of people quickly made their distance away from the collapsed child, and people seemed to escape with even more urgency after spotting Yumiya and her bloodied attire.

She thought she had made sure to hit the attacker in somewhere non-lethal, specifically targeting their legs, but as she analyzed them further she noticed cuts spread throughout their entire body not dissimilar to the ones inflicted on Rakko herself and Kaibi from earlier–In fact, the injuries sustained on this child seemed to match exactly the same locations as the ones on herself with near perfect accuracy.

Was this kid not the one attacking us, then? Was it someone else..? She thought to herself, looking around at the environment around her, although there wasn’t nearly anyone close by anymore.

She glanced back at the child, noticing that they’d been holding something.

In one hand, a decently sized stuffed bunny ( that Rakko thought looked quite eerie )  that looked torn apart in some places. Upon further inspection, she’d noticed that it had various different hair strands stabbed into it, even ones that looked like what they’d taken from Yumiya herself.

Perplexed, she glanced at the other hand, noticing that they’d been holding, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

She reached to grab it and reveal what they had clenched in their fist, but then,

“No!!” A small voice cried out, pulling their hand away from her and using all their strength to muster a kick towards her abdominal region. 

“Wha–?!” She shouted out in surprise, the force from the kick knocking the wind out of her and causing her to stumble backwards. 

Before she could recover her breath and stabilize herself, the child hid what they had in their hand in one of their pockets, exchanging it with a small switchblade. Then, they launched at her at impressive speeds.
“Die, Assassin!!! Die!! Die!!!! ” they screamed, plunging the knife deep into her thigh.
The black haired girl grit her teeth in pain, but took advantage of the small distance put between them, and launched the leg that had just been stabbed straight up into the small attacker’s jaw.
The young child staggered backwards, and Rakko took that opportunity to remove the blade from her flesh. 

She held out her arm to take aim, and shot at her attacker once more.
The small child dashed out of view, just managing to dodge the girl’s bullets. 

Damnit!! I have no idea what this kid’s ability is, but seeing as they seem to be injured as well, I can only assume that it harms their own body in some way. That would explain why they’ve resorted to using regular weapons against me.

She chased after them. It seemed the child had no intention of giving up running, but quickly realized that Rakko also had no intention of dropping pursuit.
They pulled something out of their pocket once again, which seemed to Rakko now that it was a case of some kind. But before she could fully complete that deduction, she began bleeding from random cuts throughout her body again.

What?! Why are they resorting to their esper ability again now? I thought they’ve used up all their fuel! She growled irritably, the excruciating pain becoming unbearable as it stung across her entire body. 

“Die… Why won’t you die??!!” They cried out, tears seemingly welling up in their eyes from either pain or frustration, either option wasn’t exactly clear. The attacker began to turn around, appearing to prepare to lunge at Yumiya again, but before that could happen, the sound of a loud gunshot rang out, and the small figure dropped to the ground.

Rakko blankly stared at her opponent somewhat puzzled, and then looked behind her from where the sound had come from. There, she saw her comrade. Kaibi Gokusai had emerged from around the corner, holding out the handgun she came equipped with at all times, the steam from the bullet still emitting from the barrel of the gun.

Her eyes shimmered, a ridiculous smile appearing across her face.
“M-Miss Gokusai.. You helped me… Y-You saved me!! Ahh!!” She squealed. 

What a wonderful display of companionship! This is what true teamwork is!! This is how it feels to have amazing comrades you can rely on!!!!

Kaibi smiled softly at the other girl. “I just wanted to get back at the little brat, too.”
She returned her gun to the holster she wore on her thigh beneath her dress.
“What’s this kid’s deal anyway?” She said, despite the person who’d attacked them being only a little younger than Kaibi herself. 

Rakko knelt down to take a good look at the individual again, only now was she able to get a proper look at their appearance.
The young kid had brown hair that was dyed partly white underneath. They wore a button up shirt, adorned with a fancy bow that looked like it had to have been fairly expensive. The overall impression they gave off was one of a creepy doll almost. 

Rakko sighed, pulling out her phone and dialing a number. It rang for a moment, and then the person on the other line picked up. She quickly began explaining the situation.

“I secured a child. I’m not yet sure if they’re related to the mission, but they attacked us out of nowhere, so it might be worth looking into.” she said.

“A child? Attacking you? Are they an esper?” 

“I’m not yet certain of that, but the methods of the attack seemed like something only possible with some sort of ability.”

The voice on the other line, which belonged to Rakko Yumiya’s boss, Teitoku Kakine,  paused. 

“Bring the kid back to our hideout, Getting something out of them will probably prove more efficient than blindly checking that general area.”

“I see, understood.” She nodded, hanging up the phone and returning it to her skirt pocket.

She let out an irritated groan.

Why did this little brat have to come and ruin my perfect opportunity to go shopping with a friend!!??

On the other end of the situation, the two boys of the group made their way to a suspicious laboratory. 

The other half of their job was also related to the mysterious device kept in the box, however this time they were tasked with gathering info related to the researchers who created it.

Their newest member, Banka Yobou, had the ability to extract data with impressive accuracy and efficiency, so they reckoned this would be the perfect first task for him. Although, due to the fact he was still recovering, they agreed on Teitoku Kakine accompanying him.

They approached the facility from the back, making sure to take the route that was the most discreet. 

It truly didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, Academy City was littered with countless research labs for various purposes that it would be painstakingly easy to lose count. 

It was Banka’s first time ever doing anything like this, so he stared at the building looming in front of him with growing unease. 

Apparently he wasn’t adept at hiding his emotions and it was much too clear on his face, because the boy beside him leaned over, staring at the nerve-struck boy. 

“Hey, you gonna be alright? Or are you going to look at my face and get sick to your stomach again? Which–for the record, Is pretty damn insulting when you do that.” Teitoku gawked at the black haired boy.

Banka could feel his heart, body and soul shrivel up and he felt like his knees were going to give in and collapse right where he stood.

“I-It’s not like that..” He stuttered, trying to swallow the buildup in his throat.

The blonde haired boy slapped his back in a somewhat playful gesture and continued forward, 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Mister Banka Youba.”

Banka squealed out in fear at the sudden physical gesture, and then composed himself, holding his hand to his chest and following behind the taller boy. Then a puzzled look replaced his previously frightened face.

Does he really think so little of me that he can’t even get my name right? Or did he just earnestly mispronounce it? 

Knowing the nature of that second ranked, he wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if it were the former. He shook his head slightly and forced away that thought, mustering up as much courage as he had left in him to break into that large building.

Making sure not to be spotted, they snuck their way inside through an entrance in the roof, and dropped down into the cold interior of the laboratory. 

They weren’t sure what exactly the facility was used for, when being briefed on the details of the job all they were told was that the building was used to develop some sort of android technology.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day, the facility seemed to be surprisingly empty. Whether or not that was a blessing, or proved to be a curse, they would soon find out.

Teitoku Kakine seemingly abandoned all idea of stealthiness and made his way through the halls of that concrete maze as if he knew every inch, nook and cranny of the place. 

The amount of over-confidence that he seemed to have in himself made Banka Yobou feel unbearably anxious and humiliated. I mean, who just barges into some seemingly dangerous science laboratory and then strides around like he owns the place? In what world could someone get away with that?

Banka unfortunately knew all too well the answer to that question, however.

As they made their way throughout the building, Banka held his arm nervously and avoided eye contact with the second ranked as much as possible. 

Kakine glanced back at the black haired boy following behind him.

“No reason to be so scared of me, you know? I’m acting as your bodyguard this time, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything, I don’t bite unless provoked.” He chuckled to himself, sincerely thinking what he’d just said was the pinnacle of comedy. 

“Y-Yeah, I know…” Banka quivered.
As they continued walking down the halal together, the silence proved to be almost excruciating. It hadn’t been a long time, but to Banka, it felt like hours. Despite the second ranked’s words, he felt as if the boy before him could turn around and snap at any moment. Understandably, he truly had a very hard time trusting him as an ally after everything he’d been through. 

They searched around the facility, entering different rooms they’d come across. Eventually they found the room in which a bunch of research data seemed to be held, and then Banka begrudgingly went inside. 

“T-this looks like the place.. I’ll connect to the devices in here and extract what I can, y-you can wait outside and make sure nobody comes in..”  The black haired boy stuttered.

“Sounds great.” He replied, leaning against the cold wall outside the room.

 He adjusted his expensive suit jacket, resting his hands neatly in the pockets of his just as fancy pants.

As Banka went inside the room, the metal automatic door closed behind him, indicating that him and the second ranked were fully separated from one another. Whether or not he felt relieved by this, he wasn’t sure. On one hand, the presence of that boy caused severe unease and frightened him. On the other, if he were to get ambushed in here, he’d have to deal with it on his own.
Nevertheless, he glanced around the room, trying to get a grasp of everything he was dealing with.

He sighed, twisting the metal headpiece he wore, connecting the wires to the machines that were laid out around the room, and then his work began.

About 20 minutes passed without any intervention.

Kakine, who’d still been leaning against the wall outside, impatiently tapped his fingers against his own arm as he crossed them against his chest.

The second ranked was far from a patient person, despite what he wanted to believe. He could feel himself growing more and more intolerably bored by the second. The fact that things had been going along without any trouble was a good thing, but at the same time to Teitoku, it meant that there was nothing to entertain him and he was simply left with the noise of his own thoughts in that painful silence. He was certain there was nothing in the world he hated more than that.

He’d decided to rest his eyes for a bit, but just as he began to calm his own nerves, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from further down the hallway.

At first, he assumed they were the footsteps of a person. 

But as he listened more, he realized they seemed much more robotic than that.

He quickly stood up from where he’d been leaning, clicking his tongue in slight irritation. 

As the source of the noise came into view, the figures revealed themselves to be two strange looking puppet-like machines.

They had the heads of a toy bunny, and ball joints connecting their bodies together like a doll, giving the impression of something you would find in a sort of amusement park meant to entertain young children. 

“Heh, what kind of Alice in Wonderland kind of shit are they doing here?” he smirked to himself, somewhat ecstatic that something of interest was finally happening to entertain him. 

The machines shook and creaked unnaturally, an irritating sound ringing out every time their limbs moved from their rusty ball joints. 

Their button eyes stared blankly into the second ranked’s. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of them, he was never unnerved by things resembling dolls like others were, but these creations sparked a unique kind of unsettling feeling within him. Their cold, emotionless gaze nearly sent a shiver down his spine. He really wondered what kind of sick bastard came up with the designs for these things. 

Then, the toy-like bunny machines acted. 

They lunged at the blonde haired boy, their movements messy and sloppy, almost resembling a zombie that had no care for its decomposing body anymore and simply acted without much thought. 

But as they carelessly lunged themselves towards that boy, they were cut to shreds, their forms shattering and breaking apart as shimmering white particles emitted from where they’d been sliced from. 

Six pure white wings burst out from the boy’s back at speeds the human eye itself might not even be able to catch up with. 

It was over before he’d even known it, as he’d expected, these frail machines didn’t prove to put up much of a challenge. 

He let his wings disappear from his back, dispersing into small glowing particles, almost resembling small feathers.

His face warped into that of a disappointed pout, and then Kakine bent down to analyze the remains of the machinery.

“Real creepy shit…” He mumbled to himself, picking up one of the bunny-like heads.

He set it down, standing up from his kneeling position and placing his hands back in his pockets.

He kicked the round head and sent it rolling down the hallway with a loud clanking sound as its metal rolled against the floor. 

“Do these bunny things not have some sort of built in alarm for when they sense an intruder or something? They definitely weren’t strong enough to stop me, if that’s what their purpose was..” He spoke aloud, speaking once again only to himself, his voice being the sole disturbance against that silence, ringing out and echoing against the laboratory walls. 

Almost as if his words had jinxed it, the sound of new footsteps that sounded just like the ones from those same machines filled the silence of that hallway. This time, Kakine could tell that this group seemed to be much more abundant in numbers.

“Speak of the devil, huh?” He sighed, but in no way did he seem particularly annoyed by this anymore. 

He almost seemed somewhat excited.

As the bunny-rabbit machines pulled around the corner, they behaved identically to the ones before. However, this time, they seemed much less hesitant in their movements. Instead of pausing to take a good look at Teitoku Kakine, they lunged at him almost immediately upon spotting him. Despite having much more in numbers this time, they still stood little to no chance. The disposable machinery were destroyed with ease.

They kept coming once again, and were destroyed. 

They attacked, and were destroyed.

They attacked, and were destroyed.

Over,

and over, 

and over again.

Any other normal person would have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of robots swarming them, but that boy was not the ordinary person. 

He laughed to himself. And, this time, despite how he’d usually laughed before, it wasn’t fake. It wasn’t out of pity, or anything like that. It was genuine. He seemed to be having fun. 

If any ordinary person stumbled across this sight, they may have assumed he was some sort of maniac. And in this case, that might not have been entirely inaccurate.

He used his bright six white wings emitting from his back to break the machines, testing out new and different ways each time. He burned them, melted them, twisted them, slashed them, exploded them, froze them, solidified them, liquified them. The possibilities of Dark Matter were nothing to laugh at, it was truly a limitless power.

Teitoku Kakine was once a child who struggled to comprehend the possibilities of that power. He failed to understand the uses it had, and the strength it gave him. But he was nothing like that naive version of himself. He was constantly evolving, growing, and desperately chasing after new ways to improve upon his strength.

It was a rare occurrence for Teitoku to face any sort of opponent that proved to be an exciting challenge for him. He was the second ranked, after all. Logically, there was only one person in the entire world in which he could not beat. 

The power that he held would be a blessing to many, but to him, it was more of a curse than anything.

His feelings on his ability were mixed, however. He truly wished to master that power, and felt as if he was forever far from comprehending the true possibilities of it. He was obsessed with the idea of growing ever stronger, but at the same time,

What was the point of that?

It was boring. 

Being as strong as he was was frustratingly boring, 

when nothing in the world could challenge him. 

And eventually this, just like everything else he’d crushed beneath the soles of his foot without a care in the world, grew insufferably dull as well. 

“Breaking these things isn’t fun anymore.” He clicked his tongue.

Then his phone rang.

He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up to his ear.

“I secured a child. I’m not yet sure if they’re related to the mission, but they attacked us out of nowhere, so it might be worth looking into.” she said.

Kakine tilted his head. 

“A child? Attacking you? Are they an esper?” 

“I’m not yet sure of that, but the methods of the attack seemed like something only possible with some sort of ability.”

“Bring the kid back to our hideout, Getting something out of them will probably prove more efficient than blindly checking that general area.”

“I see, understood.”

Then the other person hung up the phone.

He closed his flip-phone, putting it back in his pocket. 

That sounds somewhat interesting. He thought to himself.

Then, the door behind him opened and Banka stepped out. 

“How’d it go, find anything?” Asked Teitoku, turning around to face in the direction he’d come from. 

“Surprisingly, I was able to secure quite a bit of data. I’ll be able to analyze it all properly once we make it back to our hideout..”

Kakine smirked. “Sounds good to me. Looks like things are going along smoothly here.”

The black haired boy nodded, glancing around the hall behind the taller boy. 

“Yeah… uh, by the way. What the hell happened out here..?” he asked, followed by a nervous chuckle.

Once everyone managed to meet up at their usual spot again, they went over everything they’d gathered.

Rakko and Kaibi were able to bring the kid back with them, and they laid them on one of the couches in the hotel room.

Banka set himself up on a computer in the room, and began extracting and analyzing the research data he’d gotten.

“I don’t know anything more than what i’ve told you already, but maybe you’ll be able to make more sense of the situation than we were.” Kaibi said. The girl had her arms covered in bandages, and since she thought it made her look unsightly as a  beautiful young girl, she began wearing a light jacket over it.

Kakine walked over to where the young child had been laying. They were unconscious now, and were still covered head to toe in cuts, but they’d since treated their injuries.

“You said the kid somehow had the ability to hurt others without directly touching them, yes?”

The black haired girl named Rakko, who had also been covered in various bandages around her body due to the injuries she’d sustained, nodded. 

He stared and thought for a second, analyzing the frail body of the child they’d been attacked by, then picked up the stuffed bunny that the kid had been carrying around with them. 

“What a creepy piece of shit..” He muttered to himself. “Looks like the same design as the robots in the laboratory.”

He sighed, reaching his hand up to his own head and tearing out a strand of his own hair, then sticking it in the toy the exact same way the child had done earlier.

Kakine placed the bunny back next to the sleeping kid, then pulled the knife out from his pocket that they’d confiscated from them, held up their wrist, and drew blood from it. 

“H-Hey! W-What are you doing?!” Rakko shouted out in disbelief.

Just as he’d thought, the young esper’s power seemed to work in the exact way as before, as Kakine himself began to bleed in the exact same spot as he’d just cut on the kid’s hand.

Due to the sudden pain, the kid jumped up from their seemingly peaceful slumber and pushed themselves away from Kakine.

“I was just testing something, that’s all. So it is some esper power, huh?” He inquired. 

“Although, the injuries you two sustained seem much stronger than this. You said you reckoned they were a Level 4 at least, right? The power they’re demonstrating currently could only be chalked up as maybe a level 3 at most.”

He stared blankly at his own bleeding hand, which had only been bleeding equally to that of a paper cut.

“W-Who are you?! A-Ah, wait, you’re a criminal! C-Criminal..! Get away from me!” The child cried out in a shaky voice, clinging desperately to their stuffed bunny toy.

Kakine’s face twisted in annoyance. 

“What gives you the impression that I’m a criminal? You’d only just met me, brat.”  

“They called me something like that too, I-I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it is unusual..” Rakko spoke up.

The blonde girl named Kaibi quietly walked up from behind the startled child, placing her hand gently on their shoulder, and began using her power.

“Shhh, it’s okay, don’t be scared. Big sister is with you now.” 

And just like that, they began to relax, their tense body softening. 

“Big… Sister..” they mumbled to themselves.

The blonde girl nodded. “It’s alright, I've got you. Do you mind telling me why you assume the people you see right now are bad people–Criminals, as you call them?” 

The brown haired child who had white haired streaks, held tightly onto the hand Kaibi had placed around their shoulder, their voice quivering and shaking as they spoke.

“....B-Because I know them. Father showed me their faces.. A-and said they were bad people.. Bad people that I have to kill so they don’t hurt him..” 

Kaibi’s face shifted to confusion.

“Father?” she asked.

The kid nodded. “I-I have to.. They have to die, p-please help me…. Big Sister… They have to die…”

Tears welled up in their eyes. It seemed the idea of this “father” they spoke of brought forth negative memories and emotions.

Kaibi gently ran her fingers through their hair in an attempt to console them.

“Tch..” Kakine scoffed, turning away from Kaibi and the kid and moving towards where Banka had been analyzing the data they found.

“Have you found anything yet?” He asked, leaning over to see what was displayed on the screen.

“Sort of… Actually, a lot of the stuff here is about that kid…” 

“Huh?”

He glanced over at Kaibi and the young child once again. 

“So they were connected after all.. Well, I suppose that isn’t much of a surprise.”  

“Yeah, and it says here that they’re only a level 2, and the ability description more or less matches what you’ve figured out.” Banka continued.

“Only a level 2? Then how the hell were they able to injure Yumiya and Gokusai as extremely as they did?” Kakine scowled.

“No clue, some sort of ability enhancer, maybe? Have Gokusai check their pockets for anything like that.” 

Kakine walked back over towards where Kaibi had been sitting with the kid, and as he grew closer, the kid glared at him and hid under Kaibi’s arms.
The blonde girl sighed, laughing timidly at Kakine’s face which had been growing more irritated by the second.
He shifted his facial expression into a very-obviously-fake gentle smile, bending down and speaking to the kid in a just-as-fake gentle voice. “Is it okay if I just have a look in your pockets to see what you’ve got? I won’t hurt you.”

The kid, who was still clinging to Kaibi, stared for a second.
“...No. I don’t like you. You’re creepy.”
“....”
Kaibi thought for just a moment that she saw veins popping out of her leader’s face. 

“Well.. Is it okay if I do it? I won’t hurt you, you know that.” Kaibi said, her gentle face exuding a more genuine smile that was much more convincing.

She truly did have the kind, loving big-sister act down to a T. Kakine thought back to how Kaibi had mentioned that she had sisters, so he reckoned this wasn’t too far off from how she’d treated them before.

The kid looked up at Kaibi, their gaze softening as they changed to look at her rather than Kakine. They quickly nodded. Then, Kaibi gently dug through the pockets they had that they hadn’t checked, and swiftly found an unusual box that seemed small enough to hold pills of some sort.
“...?” She tilted her head. “What is this for?”
The kid’s face shifted into one that expressed a sort of guilt.
“They’re the crystals that Father told me to use. T-They make my ability stronger when I take them.” 

Ability crystals…? That explains it, but who would make such a young kid take something like this? Kakine thought to himself.
“Why does your.. Uh, Father.. Make you take these?” Kaibi asked, her voice showing concern.
“Because my ability wasn’t strong enough. I need to kill the bad guys.” They responded, this time their voice seeming less uncertain, like they’d practiced this line a thousand times. 

“I see… What’s your name?” She asked, handing the case over to Kakine, who stuffed them in his coat pocket with a sour look on his face. 

“Wouldn’t you know it already, Big sister?” They looked up at her, their brows furrowing in confusion.
Kaibi looked almost shocked at that answer. “W-Well,” She stuttered out. “The others here don’t know it. It’d be nice to introduce yourself.”
They glanced down at their stuffed toy again, their eyes holding a sort of solemnness in them, and squeezed it tightly.
“..It’s Stitcher.”