"I can only hope that he doesn't do his routine checks."
Rikou and Touma were hiding in a corner, spying on the security guard at the entrance of the girl's dormitory. Somehow, they managed to grab a skirt and a mask from the trash can, and with some water to treat his hair, Touma now looked like a black, short-haired girl like Rikou.
"What's that?"
"To prove that we're really girls."
The security guard looked more like a model who should be on a runway than sitting at a desk.
"Does he check all the time?"
"Sometimes. If we're lucky, we should be able to enter without a problem."
"Just wondering, won't the mask make him suspicious? I mean, why would anyone wear a mask to enter? He would surely suspect something."
"You're not the first one to enter with a mask. How do you think I managed to find this discarded mask in the trash?"
The mask Touma wore was a Gekota mask, an apparently popular merchandise among young girls. A guy might have gotten this mask somehow from his trip outside the facility, and discarded it back here. Or that the girl didn't like Gekota.
"Anyway, so long as he doesn't do his checks, I'll be fine even if I wear a mask?"
Rikou nodded, "Let's go."
She held Touma's hand, and walked past the security guard.
"Stop there." The guard said.
Touma cursed himself mentally. He should have expected this. Luck will never be on his side.
The guard smiled, "Routine check."
Lust overflowed from his smile. Touma had a bad feeling about this check.
The guard grabbed the area between Rikou's legs, and rubbed it. She winced.
"So even you can show some emotions when it comes to this, you dirty girl."
Rage filled Touma.
Wh-What's this?! Is this the routine check Rikou was referring to?!
It is true that one can easily determine whether if the person is a boy or a girl through this method, but from the guard's smile, Touma felt it was sexual harassment in disguise.
Was Misaki violated by this guy as well?
Despite his handsome look, Touma didn't expect this guy to have a lecherous heart. He wanted to hurl his fist through that lecher's face, but he would end up exposing himself.
I'll deal with him later somehow.
The threat of an underground sex trade going on in this facility was more stronger than an underground experiment. Or maybe the both are related.
Rikou said, pointing to Touma. "I'll let you touch my chest as well, so will you spare her?"
The guard shook his head, "How touching. Or maybe you're starting to enjoy this?"
For a child, Rikou's chest was rather developed. He started fondling her chest, enjoyment all over his face.
"S-So can we go now?" Rikou said, her face red. She trembled, suppressing her anger at being toyed around like an object.
The guard sighed, "Well, if you really want me to spare her, how about you extract milk out from me? If you do a good job, I'll spare her."
"What do you mean by that?!"
The guard pointed to his crotch, "Hide under my desk while you extract milk out from here."
Rikou clenched her hands in fear, and pressed her lips. She knew what the guard meant. A few girls had fallen into a similar situation before. They said that the milk was sticky, and the taste horrible. Even the process of extracting milk out left a disgusting taste in their mouth. But they had no choice for the guard forced them.
"I had enough of you!"
Touma hurled his fist through the guard. He staggered a few steps backwards.
"You... you're a guy in disguise?!"
Touma took his mask off, seeing no need to hide anymore.
"Are you going to fucking rape the girls next, you disgusting lecher?!"
He took Rikou's hand and rushed inside. The guard slammed a button on his desk.
Alarms blared as red descended around them.
Touma would probably end up being expelled after all.
"Do you know that you're actually being violated by this guy?!"
Touma and Rikou ran through the corridor. Misaki's room was at the fourth level.
"Violated? We don't like having that area being touched, but what do you exactly mean by violated?"
It seems that Rikou didn't understand what Touma was getting at.
"Did other girls end up extracting milk from this guy?"
"Yes, but we can't do anything about it. Even if we cry, nobody would care. After all, we don't have parents."
Rikou emphasized the 'don't have parents' part. It was all Touma's fault that she lost her parents. Touma didn't notice this as he continued.
"What do you mean by that?! Tell your teachers then! You girls are being sexually abused by this guy?! Do something!"
"Sexually abused?"
"Do you girls even understand what sex means?"
"Sex...? I heard that babies are made through sex, but I don't know the details."
Rikou was still a child, so such concepts were foreign to her, unlike Touma, who had reached adult-level maturity while still being a child.
"Your chest and the area between your legs are off-limits for strangers to touch, you understand?"
"It's not like I want people to touch them. Don't treat me like an idiot. We tried telling the teachers, but nothing is being done. He must have some kind of connection with the higher-ups in this facility."
"Then did you tell Hamazura about this?"
"I'll kill you if you tell him."
A freezing air wave swept past Touma as he looked at Rikou.
"... Why?"
"Don't get him into trouble."
"But we should do something about this."
"If he goes too far, then we'll do something about it. Just keep your mouth shut and don't tell Hamazura."
Touma felt a tingling sensation behind him. He pushed Rikou to the side, while tumbling onto the other side, dodging a lightning bolt from behind.
It was the security guard with a gun in hand.
"You're the first one who dodged my shot. You're... very interesting."
Touma said, "Lecher. Why are you taking advantage of the girls?! Some of them may be ignorant, so they don't understand what you're doing is wrong, but instead of teaching them what's right and wrong, you take advantage of their ignorance. Despicable."
"What's right, and wrong? If they're enjoying it, would you call that right, or wrong?"
Touma trembled, "You...!"
Child sex was illegal in Japan. Touma wasn't sure about Academy City, but if the city is in Japan's soil, it should follow the Japanese law. Also, it disgusted Touma that a guy could be that lecherous. Targeting children, and corrupting their innocent mindset was unforgivable.
The guard pointed the gun at Touma, "Prepare to die."
Rikou swept her feet under the guard, and he tumbled forward flat on his face. She took the gun, and fired it at the guard. After convulsing while bluish arcs raced through his body, he fell unconscious.
"Is he dead...?" Touma asked.
Rikou put a finger under his nose, "Alive."
Touma found himself misfortunate that this lecher was still alive.
"Hurry up. We don't have time."
As they reached the second floor, a group of girls were gathered at the corridor, as if to welcome them in a bad way.
"So you're the intruder who dares to step into our terrority."
A girl with red hair who was the leader of this group stepped forward.
"I need to stop a girl from committing suicide." Touma said.
"You mean Shokuhou?"
"Yes."
She smiled, "Then all the more I should stop you."
"What?!"
Shock ran through Touma's body as if lightning struck him without warning.
"If she dies, then there would be no star virus anymore. Idiot."
"There's no star virus at all! Don't cause somebody's death just because of a rumor!"
"Rumor?" The girl smirked, "It's the truth. Her ability is Telepathy right?"
"And?"
"Actually, her true ability is Mental Out. An ability that will turn other people's eyes into stars like her using telepathic waves."
"That's just one of the rumors." Rikou said. "You have no proof to back that up."
"But it makes perfect sense to me. What do we know about esper's abilities anyway? Can't an ability like that exist? Other than causing trouble to people, it's a shitty ability in my opinion."
Touma took a deep breath and sighed. "So you're not planning to let us through?"
"Of course."
In front of him was about 10 to 15 girls. Assuming that all of them are espers, it's impossible for Touma and Rikou to defeat all of them.
What should I do? I should at least know what they're capable of.
Touma said, "Then what is your ability?"
The red-haired girl pointed to herself, "Me? Can't you tell from my hair."
She created a fireball in her palm.
"Pyrokinesis. And as for the other girls..."
Most of them produced fire in their palm, except for two girls who emitted electricity from their body, and one bespectacled girl who stood there with a blank look like Rikou.
"We made an exception to allow other espers to join our fiery group filled with passion. Surprised?" The red-haired girl laughed.
Touma turned behind, hoping to see another staircase. No luck there.
There was a fire extinguisher beside Rikou.
I wonder if that could be considered fortunate?
Despite being only at Level 1 or 2, with their combined powers, one fire extinguisher wouldn't be enough to deal with them. Furthermore, the corridor was narrow, so there wasn't much space to move around. Even getting through them seemed impossible.
Touma whispered to Rikou, "Any ideas?"
The red-haired girl said, "Do you really think that the both of you can even survive 3 minutes against us? Just give up and go home."
Rikou turned her head toward the fire extinguisher, and then to a girl who emitted electricity before. "Understand?"
She grabbed the fire extinguisher, and hurled it towards that girl. Instinctively, she fired lightning, and it exploded.
White smoke enveloped the area. Touma and Rikou took the opportunity, and rushed through the group. However, a strong gust of wind blew the smoke away.
The red-haired girl said, "Naiv-"
Touma ignored the girl, tackling her. The other girls began producing fire and lightning, but Touma and Rikou punched whoever was in the way before they could release their attacks.
An esper's weakness was that they could be surprised easily. Minus their abilities, they were only girls with a small build. Knocking them out with a fist before they could react was easy.
The both ran in a zig-zag manner, dodging the fireballs and lightning bolts from behind.
A strong gust of wind knocked them down before Rikou and Touma could reach the staircase.
"Fuck." Rikou felt a sharp pain in her ankle.
"What's wrong?"
"I sprained my ankle."
The group of girls were approaching with a menacing aura.
"I'll carry yo-"
"Just go! I'll deal with them somehow."
"Bu-"
"If you carry me around, you'll never reach Shokuhou in time."
Fate must be on Rikou's side, giving her such a chance to gain Touma's trust.
"... I'll be back to save you."
Touma ran up the staircase. He heard footsteps behind him. The group must have spilt up. After reaching the third level, he turned behind and saw nobody, but the footsteps persisted.
I need to hide somewhere for a while.
Without thinking, Touma reached for the nearest door that happened to be open and shut it with a bang behind him.
A surprise awaited him.
"You are a girl...?"
Accelerator nodded, blushing. "I never said I was a guy anyway."
While changing clothes, Touma had barged in suddenly, and Accelerator was completely exposed in front of Touma.
For some time, Touma had thought of Accelerator as a male with an effeminate voice due to his boyish clothing. The data he had collected thus far contained no information regarding her gender, only his ability.
"But I don't like being a girl. I like being a guy somehow... am I weird?" Accelerator said.
"It's completely normal, you're not weird. Such things can't be helped after all."
Some people are born to be a girl with a man's soul, or vice versa. This is the reason gender change operations exist. Touma understood it as a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens, though rare.
Accelerator fiddled with her thumb, "Why are you here anyway?"
Ever since that incident when Touma touched her hand, she felt her heartbeat accelerate each time she saw Touma. Accelerator wanted to get closer to him, but she was too shy to do so, and there wasn't any opportunity anyway.
Today was a godsend from Heaven. However, his trademark spiky, black hair was gone, and he was wearing a skirt as well, completely shattering her heroic impression about Touma. Even so, her heartbeat kept increasing from being so close with him.
"I need to hide here for a while." Touma said.
"Why?"
Just then, Accelerator heard a knocking sound. Touma hid under Accelerator's bed as she opened the door.
"What is it?"
The red-haired girl from before said, "Have you seen a guy around here?"
Accelerator shook her head.
"Oh. Thanks."
After making sure that the red-haired girl had left, Touma appeared from under Accelerator's bed.
Touma sighed, "That was close."
"Can you tell me what's going on?"
"I need to get to Shokuhou's room as soon as I can. She's attempting suicide, and I need to stop her somehow."
Accelerator remembered Misaki, the starry-eyed girl who was always with Touma.
"Why?"
"Something about everyone will be happy if she dies. I don't really understand why myself, but with everyone bullying her because of her eyes, it's not surprising if she thinks of committing suicide."
"Th-Then... is there anything I can do to help?!"
Touma covered Accelerator's mouth with his right hand, and leaned close to her after making sure that his right hand was touching her body, whispering. "Not so loud."
"Sorry."
Touma didn't wish to involve her. Not because he didn't want her to get into trouble, but he wanted to ensure the safety of that group of girls just now. Her Reflection ability can easily kill one of them if she's not careful.
"I'll be fine on my own."
"Really? I have a strong feeling that you need help somehow. Isn't there anything I can do?"
Touma thought about Rikou, who was probably captured by them. Only Accelerator can save her. Touma wasn't confident that his Imagine Breaker alone can save Rikou.
He sighed, "I need you to save Takitsubo Rikou? Do you know who is she?"
"Of course. Almost everyone here knows about her. But what happened?"
"She was captured by a group. Their leader is that red-haired girl just now. I'll explain the details later, just save her first."
Accelerator nodded, then smiled. "I can control my ability better now. I'm sure I'll be able to save her without hurting anybody."
Touma smiled back. "Then I should be heading off now."
"Wait!"
Accelerator took out a pair of pants from her closet, "Please wear this."
"Huh?"
"You look disgusting in a skirt."
"Eh?! I know that but is it really okay to wear your pants...?"
Accelerator nodded.
Touma took off the skirt and changed into that pair of pants. Due to the water evaporating from his hair, Touma's hair was gradually turning back to his normal spiky style.
"Thanks."
As he closed the door, Accelerator thought to herself.
I want to play with you someday.
Misaki sat inside her room, writing a letter to Touma. Beside her was a scissor. To die, all she had to do was to slice the blade through her neck.
The letter was so stained with tears that the words blurred, making it almost impossible to read.
Her hands trembled as she put her thoughts into this letter. When she finished writing, Misaki put the letter inside a pink envelope.
Despite being discriminated almost everyday, Misaki never once thought of killing herself. So long as she remain alive, a friend would appear and protect her.
A friend in the form of Kamijou Touma. Her first friend.
That friend was getting hurt from protecting her. Misaki didn't want Touma to get hurt, so she had to leave him.
There's no meaning in living if Touma wasn't in her life anymore.
Misaki pressed the cold scissor blade on her neck.
"I don't want to leave you."
But sometimes, to love means to let go.
Touma ran up the staircase towards the fourth floor. As expected, the group of girls had already given up searching the third floor for him.
Could they be waiting for me at the fourth floor?
It was a mistake to reveal that he was here for Misaki.
I only ended up getting myself into more trouble. Such misfortune.
Reaching the fourth floor, to Touma's surprise, only one girl was there.
It was the bespectacled girl from the group before.
"I alone will be enough to deal with you."
The girl shot forth like a rocket, surrounding herself with an air barrier. She planned to knock him unconscious with that move.
Touma's right fist penetrated the barrier, and she flipped her body backwards, dodging the fist.
"Aerokinesis?"
"How did you do that?!"
The bespectacled girl who was Keiko Fumi stared intently at Touma. She was probably one of the stronger esper equal to her leader within this facility.
"I don't have time to waste."
Misaki's room was just behind Fumi.
All I have to do is to get past her.
"Like I care."
The air expanded, knocking Touma backwards. He swung his fist towards an incoming Fumi, but she flipped over him, and kicked him from behind.
Now that their position are reversed, Touma ran full speed towards Misaki's room. However, Fumi grabbed his collar from behind, and threw him overhead.
Their position was back to square one, but with Touma suffering damage to his back during the process.
An intense pain spread through Touma's back. If this keeps up, he wouldn't be able to stand at the end of his fight with this bespectacled girl.
"Actually, this is no longer about preventing you from reaching Shokuhou." Fumi said.
"Huh? Then why? If I don't get to her soon, she might really die. If that's the case, then can we deal with that later?"
"I cannot forgive you for hurting my master."
"What master? I don't understand."
Was that so-called master one of the girls that Touma punched? Then again, referring to her as master seemed out of place.
"All you have to understand is that I'll capture you so that my master can punish you when he awakes."
"Like I said, who is this master that you're referring to?"
"You'll know after I've captured you."
Fumi floated in the air. Her movements were no longer restricted by gravity.
No matter what angle Fumi chose to strike, Touma could always react in time. However, Fumi's reaction wasn't slow as she retreated just before Touma could touch her.
Fuck this!
Touma's insane reaction time may have removed the unpredictability in Fumi's attacks, but he was wasting time blocking.
Touma remembered that he sealed Misaki's power away by maintaining contact with her using his right hand. Accelerator's invincible barrier wasn't an exception to this rule.
Then why would this girl be an exception as well?
Touma charged forward, ignoring everything in the way.
Fumi created a strong gust of wind, attempting to knock Touma backwards.
He raised his right hand horizontally. An unnatural sound of glass shattering reverberated, and the wind dispersed.
Touma hurled his fist towards a shocked Fumi who could not understand how he managed to negate her ability.
He reached the last second room from the end of the corridor. Rikou said that this should be Misaki's room.
He turned the knob. It was locked.
"Misaki?"
Touma knocked the door.
"Are you there? Answer me."
The knocking grew more urgent.
"Misaki!"
Touma heard a faint sobbing sound inside the room.
He threw his body towards the door, but it wasn't enough to knock it down.
Touma grabbed a fire extinguisher and hurled it towards the door.
The door flew open. Misaki sat on the floor. Beside her was a pair of scissor.
"Misaki...?"
She turned behind, her eyes filled with tears.
Misaki let out a small chuckle, and wiped the tears from her face.
"I'm too weak as expected. Committing suicide is so scary. I can't do it."
Everyone would be happy if Misaki dies. No more star virus threatening them. What a joyous occasion.
Even the group of girls from before wanted Misaki dead, stopping anyone that would stop her committing suicide.
But...
"If you die, I won't be happy." Touma said.
"I only bring you trouble. It's better if I disappear."
Touma now understood why Misaki changed suddenly. She must have felt that the fight with Ando and her classmate throwing chili liquid and other things at him was all her fault.
Misaki continued, "I thought of leaving this facility, but that's impossible. I'm just a weak Level 1 esper. Then I thought that if I were to die, would all the rumors of the star virus disappear with my death? You would be free from the curse of sharing food with me after some time. Everyone would be hap-"
"Like I said, I won't be happy. I'm sure that's also the case for Hamazura."
"When everyone else starts being your friend, I'm sure the both of you will be happy."
"How can we be happy if we lose a friend like you."
Touma hugged Misaki. "As for me, I can't lose you as a friend."
Touma never had a friend when he was being discriminated like, or even worse than Misaki because of his misfortune back in Academy City. Even if he had friends, all of them were cursed by his misfortune, and died.
Misaki was his first friend after his misfortune no longer affected others. Touma felt a strong emotional connection towards her, so he hugged her.
"I can't be so selfish... I don't want to die, but if I die, you'll be happy..." Misaki said.
"I'll be happy if you live and continue to be my friend."
"Even if everyone else hates you...?"
"So long as you're with me, I'm happy. I don't care about the rest."
Misaki wanted time to stop forever so that she could eternally remain in his arms.
Touma let go of her, "So can you promise me that you won't do anything silly like committing suicide again?"
Misaki nodded, "Promise."
If its for Touma, she would keep living on no matter how painful her life would be. There was meaning in staying alive once again.
Touma said, "One more thing. Did that lecher security guard touch you?"
"You mean that security guard in this dormitory?"
'Yeah. Did he touch you?"
"The routine check?"
Touma nodded.
Misaki said, "I think it's because of my eyes, but I somehow never got checked before."
Touma heaved a sigh of relief, "That's great. Listen up, you can't let anybody touch your chest and that area between your legs so easily, especially guys and that security guard. That routine check is just an excuse to take advantage of you girls."
"Take advantage? I don't understand. What advantage will he get from touching those two parts?"
Touma sighed, "You're even worse than Takitsubo! Won't you feel uncomfortable if somebody were to touch it?"
"I overheard some girls saying that it felt weird and painful at first, but it got really enjoyable over time. Sometimes, they even request the guard to do more checks to them. Since nobody did that to me before, I really don't know... but the thought would definitely make me uncomfortable!"
Misaki added that last part because it seemed like something that Touma wanted to hear. Actually, Misaki had no idea how would she feel.
Touma kept his anger in check. Those girls have been completely corrupted by that lecher. Fortunately, Misaki was safe.
"Just don't let any guys touch those two parts, you understand? No matter what. You can make an exception to other girls depending on the situation."
"Why is it wrong to let guys touch it?"
"That's because... because... its just wrong. I don't really know how to explain it to you, but those parts are reserved for the person you love the most. You can't let anybody touch them that easily."
"If you put it that way, I completely understand why."
Surely Touma would be disappointed if she those parts wasn't reserved in perfect condition for him because other people had touched it. That's why it is wrong to let other people touch it.
Meanwhile, Touma was more worried about the girls becoming sex slaves to that security guard than a potential underground experiment.
I'll think of something...somehow.
Inside a storeroom, an unconscious Rikou was being chained up while being blindfolded.
The red-haired girl who was Kazue Asami touched Rikou's chest and sighed.
"If only mine was as big as hers."
"Don't worry Captain, I'm sure yours will get bigger over time."
Their master was the security guard at the girl's dormitory.
A clairvoyant girl who just joined the group today raised her hand, "Umm... I heard that the ritual can be really painful."
Asami patted that girl's shoulder, "It'll hurt at first, but you'll feel really good after that."
In order to be accepted by the group, new members had to go through a ritual.
"Could you explain more about this ritual? I still don't quite understand it." Another girl said.
Asami said, "Alright, I'll explain one more time. In order to be blessed by our master, we have to allow him to penetrate our pee hole so that he can inject his holy energy inside. Our esper abilities will supposedly be improved after that... somehow the process feels so good after a while that I think this is the true purpose of the ritual... to inject happiness into us. Yeah, if we're happy, naturally our esper abilities will be improved."
Both girls nodded in understanding. Asami continued.
"But at the same time, this ritual can be used as a punishment to our enemies. Because they're unwilling people who didn't choose to join our group, it'll have a devastating effect on them if they go through the ritual. That's why we've chained this Takitsubo up so that our master can punish her later."
"What exactly would happen then?" A girl asked.
Asami chuckled, "It depends. If our enemy goes through the ritual enough times, she can be converted into a part of our group. However, the humiliation could end up being so much that she'll commit suicide. I really don't know. Humans can really be complicated at times."
"I see..."
Just then, the storeroom door burst open.
The group of girls went into their battle stance, preparing themselves against the fool who dared enter.
"I've found you."
But against the Accelerator, they trembled. With her unusual pale skin and red eyes, there was no doubt that the Accelerator stood in front of them.
"Wh-What the hell?!"
She was the strongest esper within this facility. Nobody could even touch her without getting hurt, not to mention stopping her using their abilities. Her Reflection barrier will reflect every single attack directed at her. No exceptions have been observed thus far.
"St-Stop right there and leave!" Asami said.
However, Accelerator kept moving forward. The fear of accidentally killing them overwhelmed her.
Nobody will get hurt. All I have to do is to keep walking, remove the chains, and carry her out of here.
Praying for an exception, a girl hurled a lightning bolt towards Accelerator. She deflected the bolt, striking the concrete beside the girl.
I have not practised for nothing!
Accelerator cheered at her success.
The girl misinterpreted Accelerator's smile as demonic. Smiling to show off her overwhelming power.
Asami attempted to use her fire. Accelerator deflected the fire, but it landed on Rikou's chains, and her hands caught fire.
Damm it!
She leaped over the girls, and grabbed the burning chains with her bare hands, tearing it apart like paper. Using her Reflection ability, or more accurately, her Vector Manipulation ability, she dispersed the fire on Rikou's hand by manipulating the vectors involved in a fire.
Carrying Rikou, Accelerator left the group of dazed girls in her wake.
In an office, a blonde woman sat at her chair, observing the situation that happened thus far.
She was a Kihara.
Therestina Kihara Lifeline.
"The Imagine Breaker and the Accelerator is so interesting... I wonder what will happen if I put them together?"
She then sighed at the security guard who should be a model rather than a guard.
"Brainwashing girls to satisfy your lust. Even for a Kihara, that's really disgusting... but if it's for experimental purposes, I'm fine with it."
Therestina then switched a screen where Touma and Misaki was in the same room.
"So this Shokuhou is someone so precious to you that you're willing to risk being expelled just to stop her from committing suicide. I see, I see. Takitsubo seems rather close to you as well... or rather she wants to become close to you for her own purposes."
Therestina knew about how Touma's misfortune before entering Academy City caused the death of both Rikou's parents.
"I know what to do now."
"So how was yesterday?" Shiage asked.
It was morning, and classes were about to begin.
"We did get into some trouble, but at least I managed to stop Misaki from killing herself."
"Oh. That's great."
Touma promised that he wouldn't tell Shiage about Rikou being sexually harassed by that guard yesterday. It seemed that the some of the boys was aware of a rumored routine check, but dismissed it as tough security, or fake stuffs that the girls made up.
Regarding yesterday's incident, nobody pursed the issue. It was like they didn't care at all.
The more I think about it, the more suspicious this facility becomes.
Is this really a Child Error facility?
Why wasn't Touma being punished for entering the girl's dormitory despite it being against the rules? No adults summoned him to the principal's office or even knocked on his room and spoke to him. It might have something to do with that security guard who corrupted the girls, turning them into his personal toys.
I think I really have to get to the bottom of this after a few days when this incident dies down.
"Rikou is okay right?" Shiage asked.
"Yeah."
Touma confirmed Rikou's safety when Accelerator brought her to him, thought Rikou needed to visit the nurse room to treat her burns in her hands. Apparently, Accelerator failed to control his Reflection properly, so the fire ended up burning the chains on her hands.
The teacher entered the classroom with three new students.
"From today onwards, those three students will be our new classmates. Let's welcome them."
Touma stared at the three people, jaws dropping in amazement.
Why is Misaki, Takitsubo, and... Accelerator in the same class as me all of a sudden?!
Misaki stepped forward, putting both hands in front of her, with an awkward smile. An introduction was unnecessary. Everyone could tell who she was from her eyes.
"My name is Shokuhou Misaki, nice to meet you."
She made a quick bow before moving back. Even though everyone's gaze was either fearful or disgusted, and it made Misaki uncomfortable, but she would ignore them, and keep on living for Touma, who was seated in the third row in front of Shiage.
It was Rikou's turn. Her cold stare instilled fear into everyone.
"Takitsubo Rikou, nice to meet you."
Shiage blinked.
Am I dreaming? Is this really Takitsubo?!
She was finally in the same class as him.
Lastly, it was Accelerator's turn.
She scratched her head. "Err... I don't really have a name, but you can call me Accel or Yuuki, whatever you like. Nice to meet you."
Yuuki was a name that Accelerator decided to give herself ever since her parents disappeared when she was only a baby, and that she never knew her name given by her parents.
Misaki was given the seat beside Touma, so Rikou ended up on the fifth row, much to Shiage's dismay. Accelerator was seated one seat behind Rikou, at the last table of the row.
And so, the morning classes began.
Author's Note: When it comes to writing more mature theme like in this chapter, I think it's either you'll hate it and drop this fic, or that you don't really mind, though I think the former is more likely. But I think it's still T-rated if I'm not so detailed.
For me, I decided that I just wanted to write something different. People might not like my kind of different, but hey, at least I didn't live my life with regrets just because I was afraid. Even if I were to lose all my followers, and receive zero or flame reviews from now onwards because of this, I regret nothing.
Such things can happen. It's not unrealistic at all, considering that they're all orphans and children lacking in sexual education.
By the way, I turned Accelerator into a girl because it's more interesting than the alternative.
And as for this chapter... I don't know. Let's just say I have no confidence in this chapter because I'm doing something different after all.
If you appreciated it, thanks. If you hated it, I understand.
Of course, please do tell me where I can improve on when it comes to writing such things! I'm sure everyone make mistakes when it comes to trying something new.
See you.
To Han-ko: My writing speed is not that fast, but I'll do my best :)