It was night.

Within the darkness in an alley was the laughter of a girl reverberating through the air.

"Please! Let me go!"

An Anti-Skill personnel was lying on the ground, pleading for his life. He was supposed to arrest this girl for murder, but it seems as though he was another name added to list of her victims. His amour was completely crushed by the girl's beam, leaving his upper body naked. This was done by the girl to show off her impressive control over her ability.

"Maybe I should just roast you in the same way I did to that group before!"

A green pulsating beam emerged from the girl's palm, and fired a few holes in his body. It was so clean that part of his internal organs, and the blood that was supposed to flow from the wounds had evaporated from the heat.

She was Mugino Shizuri.

The #4 known as the Meltdowner.

Shizuri spat as she left the alleyway, "I just killed one Skill-Out trash, and Anti-Skill had to go that far? Well, that's what you get for being so annoying."

This morning, she had stepped out of an experimental facility. In a dream-like state, Shizuri wandered into an alleyway.

Shizuri did not remember the details, but she remembered a Skill-Out thug approaching her. No matter how much the thug taunted her, Shizuri just stood there, ignoring his existence. The thug got irritated, so he hurled a fist at her. Shizuri lightly waved her hand, and a thin, green beam sliced the thug into two from the bottom up. However, an Anti-Skill personnel witnessed the scene, and they dispatched a few squad after Shizuri for the rest of the day.

"Meltdowner is still the fourth most vaulable ability in Academy City. I should be fine even though I've already killed five Anti-Skill squads."

In Academy City, there are ESPers ranked from Level 0 to Level 5. At the bottom was Level 0s who is considered as powerless, even though they may exhibit some tiny amount of power. While at the highest was Level 5s who is considered powerful enough to take on an entire army and win.

There are only seven Level 5s in Academy City, and Shizuri was one of them. The seven Level 5s are then further ranked according to how valuable their ability is. Her ability was ranked fourth.

I want to be the strongest.

This was the wish of that girl when she first entered Academy City.

Shizuri was not some sad character who wanted to be the strongest to become a hero that could protect everyone. No, this wasn't Mugino Shizuri at all.

I don't want to be looked down upon, so I want to be the strongest.

Initially, this girl was happy and proud of her ability. She was the #1 at some point. She was once the strongest in Academy City. Everybody was scared yet respectful towards her. She enjoyed fame and power, and it was a delicious feeling. Most importantly, nobody looked down on her.

But Accelerator took over that position as soon as he cleared his SYSTEM scan. It took only 24 hours for him to become the new #1.

Shizuri was devastated. But she never gave up.

I need a dangerous environment to improve my skills.

She wanted to reclaim her #1 so badly that she delved into the darkness of Academy City. Shizuri hoped that by being involved in many life and death situations, her skills might somehow surpass the new #1.

Vector Change? I'll train my Meltdowner into something so powerful that your Vector Change can't do shit!

Her Meltdowner was an ability that allowed her to convert electrons into unstable destructive matter said to be in a state between particles and waves. This means that she could create pure energy beams that can melt through anything in its path without any resistance.

Believing that she was ready, Shizuri barged into an experimental facility where Accelerator was at. The bored look that Accelerator had while Shizuri had her Meltdowner at charged at full power made her furious. However, even at full power, she found the beam being reflected back at her.

Just when she thought this was the end of her life, a dirty, blonde-haired boy stepped in and spread out a sleek, white barrier around her. It shook under the might of her Meltdowner, and it shattered into pieces, but Shizuri was safe.

"So long as it can move, it will be reflected back at you. No matter how powerful your beam is, if it moves, it will be reflected. Anyway, its fortunate that my Dark Matter can still save your sorry ass back there."

The boy was Kakine Teitoku. A boy who reached out his hand, and suggested that Shizuri could focus on other things than her ability.

But he replaced Shizuri as the new #2, and Teitoku became her new rival.

Everyday, she would be inside facilities after facilities to train her Meltdowner, and her martial arts skills. At night, she would do jobs for the darkness. Shizuri never gave up, but she found her confidence in her own ability fading after seeing how powerful Accelerator and Teitoku was.

"Have I reached my limit already?"

Since curfew has long past, the street was empty and devoid of any life. The cold night breeze brushed past Shizuri's face as she continued walking.

"No matter how I hard I work, why is it that somebody else will always be better than me?"

Her wish to become the strongest has never changed. But reality forced her to accept the fact that there will always be somebody stronger than her. Now, it's just like a naïve wish that she made as a little kid. She accepted her position as the #3, and trained furiously to defend her position.

"... I'm so pathetic."

Today, Shizuri received news while training as usual in an experimental facility that her position as the #3 has been taken over by the Railgun from Tokiwadai.

The reason was because her ability could do more things than her Meltdowner. Sure, Shizuri could easily slice a steel wall into two effortlessly, but the Railgun could do the same if she tried. Shizuri cannot hack into computers with her Meltdowner, but the Railgun could with her electricity. That was enough for the Railgun to become the #3.

Looking back into her life, Shizuri had killed so many people in her quest for power. She had degenerated into a monster in the darkness.

Shizuri mocked herself for feeling no guilt from killing so many Anti-Skill squads. This was the result of being the darkness for too long. Killing was as frequent as eating breakfast, lunch and dinner.

All for the sake of gaining power.

Where did the real Mugino Shizuri go to? Why is Mugino Shizuri now a monster known as the Meltdowner?

A monster that would not hesistate to kill just because she was upset.

Deep inside, Shizuri hated this part of her. It was like a stain that bothered her.

Shizuri was just a perfectionist who wanted to be the best in whatever she do.

However, circumstances had turned her into a monster.

"Yeah, a monster like me should just disappear from this world. I don't give a fuck anymore."

With legs that lost almost all its strength, Shizuri turned to her right towards a river.

And there was nobody here to stop her.

"Dead by drowing? Cheh."

Shizuri stood at the edge of the river.

The currents were fast, but steadily moving in a single direction. Because of yesterday's rain, the water level were also higher than usual. For a river, it was rather large in width.

"Even God also thinks that I'm better off dying."

Higher water levels meant that it would be easier for her to die by drowning. Shizuri let out a small smile at the thought of that.

"Really. What am I doing? I'm smiling?"

Shizuri hated herself for being a monster, but that was only part of the reason why she decided to commit suicide.

She was more disgusted with her existence.

An existence that was continually proven to be worthless by others.

No matter how hard she worked to prove herself, somebody stronger than her would just pop out of nowhere. It was like a random person appearing out of nowhere and outshined everybody else without trying. To Shizuri, this was exactly the case, but she was blind to the fact that other than Accelerator, all the other Level 5s did put in as much effort as Shizuri did.

Most importantly, Shizuri was disgusted with her Meltdowner.

A long, long time ago. It was the most valuable ability because she was the only one who had this ability, and her hard work made sure that it was deserving of its #1 position.

But came Vector Change and Dark Matter, and her ability was demoted into something worthless compared to those two. Today, the Railgun had further demoted her Meltdowner.

This was the breaking point for Shizuri after putting in so much effort to try to reach the pinnacle of her ability. No matter how much she improved her ability, there is an eternal wall between her and the rest above her.

I want to overcome this wall. But I'm tired. I'm sick of this. I keep on trying and trying, but I can't. I'm a worthless existence that should just die.

Shizuri felt the cold water further rising up her body. It was particularly cold for summer, or perhaps it was because of the night air.

"Goodbye, shitty world. You won't be missed."

The curtain of her life should have closed, signifying the end of it. But when the water had reached her waist, Shizuri felt a hand stopping her from progressing.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Hah?"

Shizuri had been too caught up in her own thoughts that she never noticed the boy approaching her.

"It's too early to die, you know?"

Due to a lack of lighting near the river, Shizuri could barely make out his face. However, he had distinctive black, spiky hair.

"Shut the fuck up. This has nothing to do with you, so beat it."

"This may be your own life, but at least think a little more about it."

"Why... do I have to listen to your bullcrap? It's my fucking life, so I do whatever I fucking like with it, you fucking piece of sh-"

Shizuri felt a hot sensation on her cheek as a loud sound rang in the air.

The boy had just slapped her.

"What do you mean by 'I do whatever I fucking like with it'?! A life is not some object that you discard away if you don't like it."

"Yo-you motherfucker!"

A large, green energy orb had appeared on Shizuri's palm held out towards the boy.

She could see the boy's face clearly now with the light from her Meltdowner. Doesn't matter anyway if he's going to die by her Meltdowner.

Somehow, Shizuri did not have the urge to blast him right after he slapped her. Perhaps it was because the kind side of Shizuri had surfaced onto her personality just for that boy. This Shizuri agreed wholeheartedly with what the boy said, so she decided to give him a chance.

"This is a warning. If you don't get out of the way, I'll fire this beam right through your body."

Instead of being scared, the boy looked at her with determination in his eyes as he clenched his right fist.

"If you have any problems, you can confide in a stranger like me."

"Last chance. Leave."

"If it's about hitting a wall in advancing your Level, then maybe I kind of understand why. But so long as you work hard, I'm sure you can overcome your difficulties."

In Academy City, it was all about advancing your level towards that elusive Level 5. The lower level you are, the less opportunites you get in this city. People usually discriminate against other people who are of a lower level than them. Maybe this girl was one of those people who was constantly discriminated because of her level.

"Ha."

Shizuri began to tremble with laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Let you ask you something. How can I advance beyond Level 5?"

"Eh?"

"I'm saying, I'm a fucking Level 5."

"You are?"

"Mugino Shizuri."

The boy who was Kamijou Touma seemed to have understood the situation.

Today, the annoying girl Misaka Mikoto who has been chasing him for a fight ever since she was a Level 4 had become a Level 5 today. As if to celebrate her advancement, she had fired multiple Railguns towards him, which was meant to intentionally miss him by inches.

This was why he had ended up wandering into an area near the river and met Shizuri who was about to commit suicide by drowning.

She was the previous #3 until today. This change in position must have dealt a severe blow to her.

"But... are you giving up that easily? If you worked hard enough, I'm sure you can regain your #3 position, that's why it's still too early to die."

Touma had said it in an attempt to dissuade Shizuri from killing herself. It was a sincere encouragement to this girl who had suffered a temporary setback in her life.

But Touma did not understand how many times she had believed this to be true, only to see herself being utterly proven wrong.

From #1 to #2, and from #2 to #3. Today, from #3 to #4.

She worked even harder ever since she dropped to #2. But did that hard work help her regain her #1? Did that hard work also help her regain at least her #2?

Then why would hard work help her regain her #3?

"You've just pissed me off."

Shizuri fired a beam from her outstretched palm towards Touma.

It should have blasted a hole through his face. He should have been lying on the river as a corpse.

So why was he still standing with his right hand outstretched as if nothing happened? It was like her beam was an illusion that the boy had erased with his body.

"W-What the fuck? Are you an ESPer as well?"

Her Meltdowner is a power that can pierce through anything without much resistance, so what was this boy's ability? An anti-electron ESPer? But Shizuri had never heard of such a strange ability user.

"My right hand can negate any ESPer ability. That's all to it. But if it makes you feel better, I'm a Level 0, not some high level ESPer."

Once again, Shizuri felt her existence being proven as worthless. She had put in so much effort in her ability, and this random boy who she never met before could negate her Meltdowner like it was nothing. Not to mention that this boy is a fucking Level 0.

"Level 0 you say?"

Touma could feel the atmosphere changing into something hostile. He was here to dissuade a girl out of suicide, now it seems as though he was the suicidal one for approaching the girl. Perhaps it was misfortune on Touma's part, but if he had not revealed his level, Shizuri would not have reacted like that.

"IF I CAN'T BEAT A FUCKING ZERO LIKE YOU, YOU MIGHT AS WELL SPIT AT MY MELTDOWNER!"

Touma did not understand her strange outburst. But this was the pain accumulated from being surpassed by so many people despite giving it her all.

Shizuri placed her palm behind her and used her Meltdowner like a rocket booster to charge forth, knocking Touma out of the river into the soft, sandy shore. Instead of getting up, Touma rolled to the side to dodge the incoming beams travelling in a straight line towards him.

"WHAT? USE YOUR RIGHT HAND TO NEGATE MY BEAMS? WHY ARE YOU DODGING?"

Touma could tell that Shizuri had completely lost it. Energy spheres had gathered around her, firing beams in random direction. While this made her difficult to approach, it was easy to keep a safe distance away from her.

"What's wrong? Was there anything I said that offended you?!" Touma said. With his misfortune, he was sure that this was probably true.

"I PUT IN SO MUCH EFFORT IN MY MELTDOWNER, BUT YET A RANDOM STRANGER LIKE YOU... FUCK YOU! FUCK THIS WORLD!"

The intensity of her beams grew stronger as she refocused her aim onto this boy who negated a few incoming beam with his right hand and dodged the rest.

But a sudden headache took over Shizuri.

Her world was spinning. The fatigue from eliminating Anti-Skill squads the whole day had caught up to her. What was up and down? She could not tell anymore.

Shizuri staggered towards the boy as she manifested a few more energy blobs which dissipated within seconds.

I can't... I can't be so weak. We've barely started... I still can go...

Shizuri's last moments before she fell unconscious was the blurry face of that boy who looked worried.

Author's note: You might be interested to know that this is actually the original first concept chapter of my fic, A Mirage To Keep You Safe. I digged it out from my computer and polished it while taking a break from studying.

I just thought that it would be nice to have a few more choices for those Mugino readers, so I'm posting this story.

It seems as though people are bored with the same old Kamikoto fics, and there's like only one Mugino fic in existence, so that's another reason why.

This story is kinda what A Mirage To Keep You Safe would be like if I decided on Mugino instead of Mikoto. Well, now that I have better writing skills when I first started, I can finally do this story justice. (hopefully?)

But Mugino is really much more challenging to write than Mikoto, you know?

Do tell me what you think about this chapter, its my first proper attempt in writing Mugino more in depth. I think she's kinda OOC here, but I'm not so sure. If she is, then maybe you could kindly point it out, and help me learn something more about her :D

I guess that's all.

Ah, that reminds me that I haven't updated Beyond Friendship for ages... sorry :(

P.S I wonder if you happen to be reading this, but ToughPreacher, your Japanese is much much better than me. I was blown away when I saw your level of Japanese, haha. You should have a proper account, makes replying much easier!