CHAPTER ONE - DELUDED MIND
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A figure runs across the rooftops. They jump with great force between them, but each jump seems to be one that pays no mind to the laws of physics. They near the end of the block, pursuers still hot on their trail, and the figure looks up, noticing a much taller building across the road ahead of them. The figure bends down and pushes off the ground with a large splash of water and a cyclone of golden fire from each hand sending them rocketing towards the top of the larger building. They continue this chase until they near the outside of the city. The figure pulls out a tube and pulls something out, revealing what appears to be some sort of communications device. They quickly punch a few numbers in and put it to their ear.
"Tank! Is it ready yet?" yelled the figure with a very young male voice.
"Almost got it Tsuki! There was a hiccup with an ESPer almost finding me, but the spell is just about... it's done! Get to my location quickly! Try to lose the Anti-Skill on your tail!" replied an older boy now identified as Tank.
"Alright! I'm coming your way!" replied the young boy now identified as Tsuki.
Tsuki jumps down from the rooftop and flies down the street above the passing vehicles picking up speed. He begins pulling away from the Anti-Skill vehicles chasing after him that must weave around the traffic. He turns around to see a helicopter following him as well.
"Stop moving, turn around and put your hands behind you! You are under arrest for destruction of city property!" yelled a male voice from the helicopter.
"Damn Six-Wings! I'm going to have to duck early into an alley to make it!" thought Tsuki.
"We're getting pretty stressed here, Tsuki-senpai! Finish this pronto!" thought another voice, this time a voice similar in pitch to Tsuki but even younger sounding.
"I know Asahi-kun, but we have to lose Anti-Skill first!" Tsuki thought back.
Tsuki ducks into an alleyway to avoid the Six-Wings by slowing down at an impossible rate before turning and accelerating viciously down it. Sweat begins to drip off his face.
"He went down the alley!" yelled a female Anti-Skill with blueish hair.
Tsuki lands on his feet and begins to run at an unnaturally fast rate for a young boy. He also brings his phone-like device out to call Tank again.
"Tank! Can you start the process and have me arrive at the last moment? You may want to start it now, these Anti-Skill are pretty fast on foot, too!" requested Tsuki.
"Okay, I'm starting it now!" came the reply.
Tsuki put the phone away and turned another corner to run down another alley, taking him to a clearing where a glowing circle was placed in the center with Tank standing in the middle chanting something. Tsuki quickly steps into the circle and notices a throbbing in his head.
"Oh yeah, I forgot the spell needs my Move Point to work." Tsuki recalled.
"This might hurt Tsuki, but I'll make sure we're safe outside the city! Just remember the location!" Tank consoled.
"Okay Tank, it's all up to you." replied Tsuki as Tank began chanting in English.
"You can all sleep now, I'll be following you soon, okay?" Tsuki spoke to his mind.
"Okay, Tsuki-senpai." came the collective reply from four different young voices, including a female one.
Tsuki's eyes began to get heavy and he fell to his knees. The young blue haired Anti-Skill officer just rounded the corner with a clear riot shield and a look of sadness, regret and guilt seeing the scene in front of her as she charged forward.
"Sorry, Aiho-oneesan." Tsuki said quietly looking at the young officer with a weak smile, whose eyes went wide reading what Tsuki said.
"...use this life to save it! Spatial Recall!" Tank yelled in English into the air before both he and Tsuki vanished in a fading pillar of purple and white light, leaving nothing but a burnt shadow of what used to be a magic circle and scorched ground.
"Tsuki-kun!" the young officer named Aiho who was reaching out and calling out to Tsuki just as he vanished. She looked up and collapsed to her knees, silently beginning to cry with a guilt-stricken expression on her face.
"He only ran because I turned my gun towards him! We're supposed to be the defenders of these children, and I almost shot my own brother out of fear! Never again. Never will I turn a gun on a child ever again, I promise you Tsuki-kun!" the officer named Aiho thought and vowed to herself and her younger brother with her right hand clenched over her heart.
"It's going to be fine, we'll find him, Yomikawa-san." said a male Anti-Skill putting a comforting hand on Aiho's shoulder.
"Thanks, Saigou-san." replied Aiho putting her hand over his.
"I swear to you, Tsuki-kun, I will protect this city and do the best within my authority to cleanse it of the scum who would seek to hurt those like you." Aiho vowed to her brother.
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Sixteen years have passed up to now. On July 19th nearing civil dusk, a small female figure attaches herself to the outside walls of Academy City. Sparks crackle from her hands and feet arcing across the wall surface.
"Onii-sama! How am I doing?" the female figure asks.
"Hotaru-chan, inside voices please?" a male voice replies inside the female's head.
"Sorry, onii-sama." apologises the female figure now identified as Hotaru.
"It's fine Hotaru-chan, this is our first try getting into the city. Stop being so strict, Tsuki-senpai." consoles an older female voice inside Hotaru's head.
"Sorry Akua-chan, I'm a little nervous since it's been sixteen years. Not good memories before leaving." replies the male voice now identified as Tsuki inside Hotaru's head.
"What do we do when we get inside the city again?" asks Hotaru.
"Ugh" came a collective groan from five different voices inside Hotaru's head.
"Hotaru-chan, you are supposed to find a place to hide and give me control." replied a younger monotone male voice.
"Why is that, Haruka-senpai?" asks Hotaru.
"Hotaru-chan, did ya listen to anything we discussed?" asks a third young male voice.
"Nope! Please tell me, Asahi-senpai!" replies Hotaru.
"Help me guys..." mutters the voice now identified as Asahi.
"Hotaru-chan, it is because Haruka-senpai is older than you and has Psychokinesis. You possess Radio Noise which isn't in the Bank, and you are thirteen. Wouldn't it be strange for a little girl with an unknown ability to be wandering around in the twilight before nightfall?" replies a fourth younger male voice.
"But Fuuga-sama! I'm not a little girl! I'm an adult! I drink milk!" counters Hotaru.
"Okay, you're not little, but you're still finding a hiding spot to let Haruka-senpai take control." relents the voice now identified as Fuuga.
"No! I want to have fun!" complains Hotaru.
"Hotaru-chan, remember, no pancakes for you in the morning if you don't follow the plan." warns Tsuki.
"Fine..." surrenders Hotaru.
The young girl now identified as Hotaru climbs the wall. As she reaches the top of the wall the air begins to distort around her as Asahi and Fuuga begin manipulating the air to make her mostly invisible. She floats down the other side of the wall using her electricity like a motor to gently guide her down. She begins to run down the street to find an alley as Haruka helps her move faster than normal. She finds an alley and comes to a stop when she is sure nobody is around.
"You should probably go into the building behind you Hotaru-chan, there are satellites that can still see us." informs Tsuki.
Hotaru puts her hand up to a card reader on the wall beside a door and takes a few seconds to unlock it, making a gesture as if she is swiping a card.
"Alright, you know what to do now." says Tsuki.
Hotaru puts her left hand out in front of her and begins to speak aloud.
"Morph, Haruka!" yells Hotaru as her body and voice fade into Haruka.
"Alright, feels good to be back." chuckles Haruka uncharacteristically to himself.
Haruka then styles his hair using some water created by Akua to get a nice gelled look. Haruka then leaves the building himself, pulls a hood over his head, and walks out into the street as the sun rises over the eastern wall of Academy City.
"Hey Tsuki-senpai, I wonder if Aiho-oneesan even remembers you. She will likely not, it has been sixteen years." Haruka says quietly to Tsuki aloud, being uncharacteristically intrepid.
"Shut up Haruka-kun, she will remember me." retorts Tsuki.
"She was clueless and wet behind the ears, nothing is set in stone at this point in time." insinuates Haruka, still unnaturally intrepid.
"I swear Haruka-kun, if I could come out there right now, I would back-hand you so hard that-" yells Tsuki before getting cut off by someone else.
"No fighting you two! Hotaru-chan is still listening!" scolds Akua.
"Sorry, Akua-sama." apologises both arguing boys.
"Huh?" mumbles Hotaru in a confused manner.
"Do you have a sister complex, Tsuki-kun?" Haruka asks Tsuki silently with an uncharacteristically sly grin on his otherwise stoic face.
"N-no I don't! I just love my family!" Tsuki stutters back silently as the other four older siblings chuckle to themselves, leaving Hotaru clueless.
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"Achoo!" a blue haired gym teacher sneezes in her apartment.
"Are you getting sick, Aiho-san?" asks a brown-haired scientist.
"No Kikyou-san, I don't know what that was. Maybe I'm developing allergies or something." replies the teacher now identified as Aiho while wiping her nose with a tissue.
"Maybe someone was bad mouthing you?" ponders the scientist now identified as Kikyou.
"You, the scientist, believe that of all things? It's probably just dust." asks Aiho.
"Well, it has been really calm so far, maybe you haven't been cleaning so much due to the low stress?" asks Kikyou with a smirk on her face, causing Aiho to become slightly flustered.
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Haruka gets out a scroll-like device from his pocket and presses a contact named Adrian Morrison.
"Hey Haruka, you lot in the city yet?" asked the man named Adrian.
"Yes Tank, we got in a little while ago. How is school working out for you? Is the incognito work successful?" asked Haruka.
"Nobody suspects a thing, they just think I'm a regular teacher." affirmed Adrian, also known as Tank.
"That is good. Let us meet up sometime. And remember to keep rumors about us out of the public eye. " requested Haruka.
"I'd never forget that Haruka, that was my idea, remember?" replied Adrian with a chuckle at the end.
"That is indeed true. Farewell Adrian." replied Haruka.
"Adieu, and good luck out there." responds Adrian.
Haruka hangs up the phone and puts it away.
"I cannot seem to shake the feeling that there will never be a dull moment in this city." said Haruka in quiet monotone whilst looking up at the sunset.
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"This could get very interesting, Adelaide. My oldest friends coming back to the city that abandoned them, prepared to start anew and join in the adventures of others. You want to meet him, pumpkin?" asks Adrian while sitting on a couch watching the sunset out the window.
"That will be nice, Adrian honey. I'd love to see who you grew up with." responded a woman named Adelaide who is currently snuggled up with Adrian on the same couch.
"The sun sets over an eventful day, I wonder what manner of chaos the city will find itself in tomorrow." states Adrian regretfully.
"As long as someone stands up to fix it, I'm sure the city will find it's way back to peace once more." consoles Adelaide.
"True, there's always someone out there who manages just that." responds Adrian.
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Somewhere asleep in a dorm room, a young spikey black-haired boy sneezes himself awake just as he was falling asleep.
"Such misfortune..."
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NEXT TIME ON A CERTAIN MULTIPLE CONSCIOUSNESSES:
"How does our arrival in Academy City look to the rest of the world?" asked a monotone grey-haired Japanese boy.
"There is a reason I didn't send Hotaru to Tokewadai. Can you guess the reason?" asked a boisterous young man.
"Hello Hotaru-san! I'm Ruiko Saten, and this is Uiharu Kazari." introduced a tall black-haired girl.
"Tsuki-kun, its been a while. Why don't we start over?" pleaded a tall blue haired teacher.
"Sorry, but more time is needed before we can do that." relented a black-haired boy as he walks away.
CHAPTER TWO - OLD CONNECTIONS, NEW BEGINNINGS.