Shokuhou Misaki trudged along a desolate uphill concrete path in District 7, sighing.
"My stationaries! My textbooks!"
It was around March, a month before her middle school days would officially begin, so the sakura trees along the path were in full bloom, coloring the streets in a brilliant pink against the orange sky backdrop.
Of all people, that spiky-haired boy had to crash into her.
Because of him, all her stationary, textbooks, and other miscellaneous items deemed necessary for middle school life flew out into the road to be mercilessly ran over by vehicles.
The cheap mobile phone he left behind by accident was not going to be enough to compensate her losses!
However, Shokuhou Misaki was an ojou-sama who cared little about such losses, and so she handed the mobile phone to the nearest Judgement branch later in the afternoon.
Buying back the items lost to the savage traffic felt like a real pain, so Misaki decided to buy them another day. There was still a month before school started anyway.
Come to think of it... isn't the street a little too desolate?
A few giggling high school girls came into view, yapping away in their annoying gal lingo.
Maybe it wasn't as desolate as she had thought.
Misaki soon found herself crossing into another district as she stepped onto a winding mountain path leading upwards. The grassy area around the path seemed to stretch on towards infinity.
District 21 was a mountainous region with a surprising amount of nature being preserved. This was also the only region where it was mostly free from urban influences such as the skyscrapers and asphalt roads.
She entered a forest trail after completing the winding mountain path and what greeted her at the end was a large field. A circular lake could be seen at the center with a metal tower rising above the water surface.
Misaki laid down on the soft grass, spreading her legs wide despite her short skirt. There was no one else here anyway. She closed her eyes as she let the cool breeze brush through her face.
Why do people have to hurt and lie to each other?
Why can't people get along like that giggling high school girls?
As an esper who could read people's minds, she had seen the worst of what people were always thinking in their minds.
Many, many isolated incidents taught her how people would always hurt and lie to each other just to have the upper hand over the other.
However, the incident regarding the Dolly project was the most memorable, and the most painful memories she ever had.
It would be so easy.
Misaki took out a remote from her handbag, and pressed it against her forehead.
All she had to do was to activate her Mental Out by pressing the button, and reset her memories.
Even if nothing changed in the end, she would no longer remember those painful memories that haunted her everyday.
Shokuhou Misaki would be reborn as an innocent middle schooler without a painful past dragging her down, ready to excel in life.
Wouldn't that be great?
Wouldn't that be the best thing ever?
Goodbye, memories.
Just when her thumb was about to touch that button, a young, male voice interrupted her.
"Hey, golden girl."
Misaki's eyes snapped open to see a spiky-haired boy carrying a plastic bag standing in front of her.
It was that same spiky-haired boy who knocked into her just this afternoon, causing all her items to fly and disappear into the merciless traffic.
She stood up, surprised.
"Wh-What are you doing in such a place like this?! And my name is not golden girl!"
This was District 21, and she had walked through a specific route just to reach this place, so it wasn't a place where anyone would be here by accident.
The spiky-haired boy put a hand to his chin, thoughtful. "Gyaru wannabe? All you lack is a tanned skin to complete your look."
Misaki clenched her fists. How dare he lump an elegant ojou-sama like her together with those vulgar, childish brats.
"My name is Shokuhou Misaki, you spiky-haired idiot!"
"Anyway," He casually passed Misaki the plastic bag he was holding, not at all bothered by her outburst. "That's for this afternoon's incident."
Inside the plastic bag were the items that got destroyed by the merciless traffic. All of them without a single item missing. How did he remember everything? Amazing.
"Did you come all the way here just to pass me this?" Misaki said, looking unimpressed.
It was impressive that he managed to remember everything, but his name-calling antics and his unremorseful expression about his actions left a bad impression to her, so she was not in the mood to be smiling and thankful at him.
"I... just happened to be in the vicinity when I spotted you lying over there."
Misaki sighed before shaking her head. "If this is you coming up with a lame excuse to your desperate attempt to hit on a beauty like me, you should try harder next time."
The spiky-haired boy looked at her confused.
Confused?! Misaki did not understand what was going on. What other reasons could there be other than hiding a desperate attempt to impress her?
He took out a mobile phone from his pocket with a smile.
It was the same, cheap mobile phone that she returned to a Judgement facility later in the afternoon.
"It must be you who returned this to Judgement, right? Thanks. Because of you, I managed to save a girl who attempted suicide around this area."
"So that's why you're here?"
"Definitely not to hit on you. You're still a child for god's sake. Anyone who hits on you must be some kind of a pedophile."
Misaki twitched in annoyance upon hearing such a comment. She could not deny it with her slender, undeveloped body.
"Anyway, why did she wanted to attempt suicide?"
As she was in a similar situation before that spiky-haired idiot interrupted her, she could not help but ask why.
"Oh. Apparently, there was something she regretted deeply. It was so painful that she wanted to end her misery by committing suicide, but I think it would be more meaningful to live on even though it may be painful. After all, that's how you grow as a stronger person."
Misaki stared at the spiky-haired boy in astonishment.
Was that an indirect attempt to convince her out of her suicide attempt? It somehow sounded like that, but maybe she was thinking too much into it?
"I gotta get going now. See ya."
Without turning back, the spiky-haired boy continued.
"By the way, kids shouldn't be wearing spider-laced panties. Does that panties even cover the important bits? Doesn't seem like it to me."
Misaki's face flashed crimson red as she frantically reached for her remote control inside her handbag.
A series of unnatural sounds similar to shattering glasses rang out, and the boy laughed.
"I don't know what exactly you're trying to do, but your ability doesn't work on me. That is definitely going on the urban rumors website, Mental Out."
Misaki could only quell her frustration by taking deep breath as she watched the pervert spiky-haired idiot who peeked inside her skirt slip away unaffected by her powers. What was that boy's ability anyway?! How did he manage to be unaffected her Mental Out?!
Without realizing it, this became a day that held the most significant meaning to her.
This was the day when they first met each other after all.
"I hate you."
Misaki said as she walked along an uphill path with the sakura trees at full bloom by the sides, littering the asphalt with pink petals beside the spiky-haired boy who introduced himself as Kamijou Touma later on.
"Found a way to bypass my negation ability yet?" Touma said.
"Shut up."
No matter what kind of methods Misaki employed, her Mental Out would never work on that spiky-haired idiot Kamijou Touma.
Perhaps his negation ability on his right hand only worked when he was conscious? His ability remained active despite being asleep by a drug she slipped into his drink.
Perhaps it was only able to negate one thing at a time? Her Mental Out still refused to work even though she activated her ability at the same time his right hand was negating a fireball.
Her failure to mind control Touma and get her well-deserved revenge has led to a new rumor spreading around the forums after the 'spider laced panties' incident which forced her to never wear such panties anymore.
'Failure in all kinds of athletic events.'
This all started when she bumped into Touma wearing a swim suit during an Academy City event where all the underground tunnels would be turned into swimming pools as part of a disaster event exercise.
As she was wearing a swim suit to hide her inability to swim, Misaki could not come up with an excuse not to cross the underground tunnels when Touma asked why wasn't she crossing the tunnels if she was wearing a swim suit.
In the end, as she crossed the underground tunnel pool with all the courage she could gather, she somehow almost drowned in a pool less than a meter deep, earning her the title 'Failure in all kinds of athletic events' from Touma.
At least he wasn't a complete jerk and offered to help her learn how to swim.
Today, she had just finished another session of swimming lessons from Touma.
"Isn't it great? To have a purpose in living." Touma said, admiring the sakura trees. "Our lives are just as transient as those cherry blossoms. It would be such a waste if we don't live life to the fullest."
Misaki flashed a thin smile. "Maybe."
For a while, she did lose her purpose of living.
Sick of people.
Sick of relationships.
Just sick of everything.
What was the point of living if she was sick of everything around her?
However, that seemed to have changed a little when that spiky-haired boy named Kamijou Touma entered her life.
Everyday, her mind would be occupied thinking about ways to bypass the negation ability in his right hand.
The recent rumors of the Level 5 ojou-sama Shokuhou Misaki being a 'failure in all kinds of athletic events' forced her to uphold the reputation that ojou-samas are good in everything, even sports.
Running exercises and swimming lessons left her so exhausted that she hardly had the energy to think about those depressing things anymore.
"I don't really know what happened to you back there lying on the field with a remote to your head, but you seemed really depressed and suicidal."
Misaki stopped walking as a sudden realization struck her intensely. "Was that your purpose all along? To give me a purpose to live through posting embarrassing rumors about me at the urban forums?"
"It's a fact, not a rumor." Touma smirked, "But yeah. A person seeking revenge wouldn't think of committing suicide after all, and a person too tired from exercising probably wouldn't think of committing suicide as well."
He knew.
Misaki stared at Touma in disbelief.
He knew all along. That she was committing suicide through her powers.
Touma placed a hand on Misaki's shoulder with a comforting smile.
"We only have one life, cherish it."
At that moment on a uphill path with sakura trees in full bloom, Misaki fell in love with that smile.
Confessions were supposed to be easy, right?
All she had to do was to pass a love letter to Touma, say how much she liked him, and how she wants him to be her boyfriend.
But the truth was far from that.
Misaki hemmed and hawed with both hands behind her back, face blushing red.
After a few dinner dates with Touma before this dinner date, she finally had the courage to bring him here on this bridge to confess her love.
Now that the time has arrived, Misaki found it impossible to pass the letter hidden behind her back, and say the words she wanted to say.
"What are you hiding behind your back anyway? A confession letter?"
Misaki crushed the letter before stuffing it inside her skirt pocket.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!"
Touma looked at her skeptically, "Really?"
Misaki chuckled nervously, hoping it would be enough for him to be convinced. "I brought you here to look at the ocean view. Doesn't it look beautiful sparkling under the stars?"
Touma nodded, "You're right. It does look really beautiful."
It seemed that he was convinced by her awful acting skills. Or maybe he knew that she was confessing all along, but decided to hide it out of politeness? Without the ability to use her Mental Out on him, this would always remain as a mystery.
Misaki did not mind at all.
So long as she was with him, nothing else really mattered.
A figure in a red riding suit with small inline skate wheels attached all over, and a full-face helmet charging towards them with the aid of two mini jet boosters behind its back at an incredible speed put an end to their peaceful night by the bridge.
Deadlock.
It was an organization comprising of espers whose power development had reached a standstill, no longer able to advance further.
The red riding suit figure that put an end to their peaceful night was one of the many members belonging to that group.
Their goal was to kill all the Level 5s because they believed the reason behind their inability to advance further was because of their AIM field dispersion affecting them.
Misaki's athletic ability may not be on par with Touma's own athletic ability, but it was enough for her to survive the pursuit of several riding suits together with Touma who got involved into this as an innocent party.
However, more and more riding suits appeared as they kept running and jumping from building to building, rooftop to rooftop. Eventually, they were forced into a corner by Deadlock.
More than thirty riding suits surrounded Misaki and Touma on a rooftop. Each of them held a bazooka-like weapon with a blade sticking out at the front end. They were pile bunkers powered by explosives.
The helmets were also specifically made to protect against her Mental Out ability to an unknown extent, so Misaki could not take out her remotes and turn this hopeless situation around.
They would either by torn apart by pile bunkers, or be blown apart by jet fuel explosions caused by the thirty over riding suits colliding against their fragile human body. There was also no way of escaping now that they were surrounded by so many riding suits.
A boy in a red riding suit said to Touma.
"Are you sure you want to keep this up?"
It was a hint that they would spare him as long as he backed off away from their goal to kill Misaki.
"Why not?"
Touma replied without a single moment of hesitation.
"Don't you find it odd?" The boy said.
"Find what odd?"
"From the very fact that you've decided to fight for Shokuhou Misaki despite being in such a hopeless situation like now, doesn't it seem like she's already controlling you with her Mental Out?"
Touma let out a quiet laugh, "Her powers doesn't work on me, but so what if her powers somehow was controlling me? If it leads me to stand here and protect a girl with tears in her eyes, I wouldn't mind at all because that's what I would have done in the first place anyway, mind controlled or not."
Misaki only realized that tears were falling from her cheeks when Touma mentioned it.
"Take the hint and leave!"
It was her final attempt to convince him that she wasn't worth it.
She was just an ordinary friend to Touma. Even though Misaki wanted their relationship to be something more than that, but she knew the truth deep down inside her heart.
Touma smiled at Misaki comfortingly. It was the same comforting smile that she fell in love with at the uphill path with pink cherry blossom petals littered on the ground.
"Everything's going to be alright, trust me."
He fished out a remote from Misaki's handbag and turned to face Deadlock.
"You're going to take us all on with just a single remote?" The boy sneered.
"It's going to be really embarrassing if you lose, so be prepared to put your life on the line and just come at me with all you got!"
Misaki was not sure if her feelings for Touma were just mere infatuation or something else more complicated, but at that instant, she was sure of her feelings for him.
A comforting warmth gently wrapped itself around her cold, broken heart traumatized by the darkness of Academy City
For this spiky-haired boy who faced his back against her to protect her, she would devote everything to him.
When everything was over, she would confess her love to him this time without any more doubts and hesitation.
Misaki walked along the same uphill path where she would always pass through on the way back to her dormitory after swimming lessons beside Touma. As the sakura season was already over, there were no pink petals scattered around the asphalt, and the street returned to its ordinary, familiar scene.
As she was still alive, naturally Touma won the fight against Deadlock despite how the situation seemed so hopeless back then.
But he did promise me that everything would be alright.
Misaki smiled. She took out a letter from her skirt pocket.
"Hey, there's something I want to tell you."
There was no more hemming and hawing, nor there was any visible tinge of red on her face.
This time, she would say it. No more hesitations. No more doubts.
"Yes?"
Misaki stretched out both her hands holding a love letter towards Touma, with her head hung low. There was still some amount of nervousness and embarrassment she could not shake off, but that would not get in her way.
"I..."
She took a deep breath.
"I love you! It's okay if you don't feel the same way, but I just wanted to tell you that!"
Misaki raised her head and dropped her outstretched arms to see Touma gone.
He was never there in the beginning.
There was no one except Misaki who was walking along this uphill path that they both used to pass by after swimming lessons with him. It was all just a reflection of her delusions.
Other than an ability negation power in his right hand, Kamijou Touma was just an ordinary high school student, a mere Level 0 with a fragile human body.
He succeeded in protecting her, but he did not emerge unharmed against the thirty over riding suits equipped with jet boosters and pile bunkers.
Misaki crushed the love letter into a wrinkled ball, "At least I finally said it..."
To save Touma from dying after the battle, Misaki used her ability as a form of anesthetic so that the paramedics could give him enough further treatment to keep him alive until he reached the hospital.
However, that resulted in the pathways of Touma's memories for a specific individual named Shokuhou Misaki to be completely destroyed.
He would never be able to remember her.
Even if she tried to build new relationships with him, he would just forget all about her soon after.
"But so what?"
Misaki trembled, her teary face twisted in anguish as she gripped the crushed letter even tighter.
It was over.
Her memories with Touma came to an end on that day when she was finally sure of her feelings for him.
Goodbye.
Author's Note:
So... I'm back I guess?
Although today is Valentine's Day, but I swear it was just a coincidence!
This is just a one-shot inspired by supercell's Sayanora Memories, hence the title. It's a little AU, but otherwise it mostly follows canon.
Hope you liked it :)