Chapter 4 – REBEL/-pt.1
Academy City sure has lots of skyscrapers. Even though it's a rotten city, it sure can be beautiful at this time of the day.
Takayama Akito was deep in thought as he looked at all the tall buildings beneath him. The sun painted the sky a deep orange as it began to set. A large blimp passed by from the right showing the current weather forecasts through the large monitor on its side.
From this height, the people from below looked like tiny ants frivolously moving about in random directions.
I haven't made much progress in all these esper business.… What's this city doing anyway?! How could they just give out random powers to damn children?!
Still, Academy City is the pioneer of science. Many of today's technological advances were because of its forward thinking, like that space elevator. Perhaps there is more to this city than poisonous experiments… Maybe I should change myself … If only I could…
It's just that….
"I HATE THESE GOD DAMN ESPEEEEEEEERSSSSSSSSSS!" He shouted his frustration at the wide open sky. Some people heard his cry from the streets down below but shrugged it off in less than a second as they continued with their daily routines.
Takayama Akito was stuck on a disc-shaped structure on top of an immense 90-story luxury building called "The Thorn" for some reason…
Earlier that morning,
Takayama Akito, a normal high school student at Academy City, was just about to leave his dorm room. He had wild blonde hair that was dyed and brown eyes. He wore a white hoodie under his high school uniform's navy blue blazer. He was an absolutely normal student who had no special powers whatsoever, a normal Level 0. To be frank, he was at the very bottom of the esper hierarchy of Academy City.
There were regular classes today, unlike yesterday where a special power scan took place. The subjects in his school's curriculum included the usual, Modern Japanese, Mathematics, Linguistics, Science and History. Of course, special subjects from the Power Development Curriculum were also heavily taught.
As the problem student he was, he often skipped classes, but for some reason, he felt like trying a bit harder today, perhaps thanks to a certain someone. That certain someone's voice might have moved him slightly into regaining a fragment of the motivation he once had, just as he was finally about to quit this tormenting endeavor of crossing the border between Level 0 and Level 1.
As Akito reached for his room's entrance, a loud voice resounded on the upper floor of the dorm.
"Oi! Index! Don't you dare eat all the stuff inside the refrigerator which Kamijou-san luckily got from that bargain sale you hear?!" A voice that seemed to belong to a teenager could be heard.
"Tch… Those annoying people from the floor above are noisy as always…" Annoyed, the boy scowled as he locked the door to his room. He then walked along the long, winding street and turned to the right corner of the next street, just as he had always done.
Nothing much goes on in his life which he could say was extraordinary or exciting in Academy City. His daily routine only revolved around going to school, and not going to school, the former being less than the latter as he was prone to skipping anyway. The very reason for this was that he hated every student at his school, even if they were a Level 0 just like him. To him, all they ever do was to follow Academy City's every whim, like mindless insects. They would obediently do what scientists tell them to do, they would increase their levels in the hope of getting attention from Academy City's higher ups, and they would always think that Academy City was right. Thus, he often skipped out, much like any other student who dislikes studying.
In short, his life was monotonous.
His walk was now leading him back into that world, however, he decided to attend today since he was feeling unusually motivated. Although he often played hookie, he had already memorized the long, winding route to his school, so much that he closes his eyes every so often, and listened to the music that was coming out of his earphones without a care in the world. He had already estimated each distance from the next turning point by the number of steps he took. He didn't need to look in order to know where he was going.
That stalker will be there again… The boy remembered the supposed class representative of his class, the one who wanted to stop Akito's juvenile behavior, and how he in return, brushed him off angrily. Should I apologize or just forget anything happened? Feeling slightly guilty from his carelessness and impulsive outburst, the boy contemplated.
Suddenly, with closed eyes, he collided into what felt like a solid object in the middle of a side walk.
"Ow!" He stumbled backwards. A painful sensation covered his nose which was the first to make contact with this object.
The boy was sure there was nothing there a while ago when he took a brief glance at the side walk before closing his eyes to listen to his music.
"Huh?" Akito looked at his front where he made contact with something like a wall but there was nothing there, only an empty side walk. He was confused for a second before he silently stood up.
This time, he walked forward slowly.
*Thud*
His forehead bumped into something again, but there was still nothing in front of him.
"What… is this…?" he muttered as he touched the space where he bumped his head.
It was like an invisible wall was just standing in the middle of the side walk, preventing him from going any further.
The boy noticed that the invisible wall joined perpendicularly with the white wall of a building to his right. He tried kicking it but nothing happened. It was solid as a brick wall. He tried going around through the road to his left but another invisible wall stopped him.
"This is getting really annoying…"
He reached for the top of the wall, hoping to climb it but a third wall erupted itself….
The boy began to grow desperate. He then decided to retreat for now so he went back the way he came but a fourth invisible wall trapped him.
It was a sunny morning in Academy City, and several people were walking along a peaceful sidewalk when they saw a young boy across the street. The silly boy seems to be touching objects that do not exist like a mime.
"Grr… what the hell is happening?!" He turned around to hide his embarrassment after seeing several strangers smiling at him. "This is definitely an esper's doing but…" He looked around the area but didn't notice anyone suspicious, or rather, there was no one around except for those people who passed by him when suddenly, an idea occurred to him.
"Wa-wait could it be? No way…" The boy smiled for the first time in a while. "Did I just reach Level 1?! Is this my power?!"
An overwhelming feeling welled up within him.
"UWOOOOHHHHH!" He let out a big shout and raised his fist in triumph as if he just reached the end of a long battle.
The boy's favorite victory music from a certain RPG rang in the background to commemorate his leveling up (not really).
The dawn of a new era has occurred.
Yes, Takayama Akito, the blonde-haired badass delinquent, once known to be a genius has obtained the power to trap himself inside a bo—he slammed his fist on the imaginary wall.
In the end, the boy rejected the idea for if it were true, then he would be stranded in the middle of a sidewalk his entire life. He would gain weird nicknames like "Sidewalk Akito-kun~" and be treated like a hobo. His two seniors would come to the outside of the barrier and console him out of pity. Haruka would use her talent and gain some sort of influential position, like becoming the president of Japan, and propose a plan to destroy the invisible barrier.
The boy then considered other possibilities for the barrier's existence before noticing a small, odd-looking strip of paper stuck to the wall of a certain building to his right. He took it off and found a message that read, "Follow this maze if you don't want your Haruka-oneechan to be harmed." The message had a mocking tone he thought was most likely meant to agitate him. He scowled after reading the mysterious note before crumpling it into a ball and tossing it into a nearby trashcan.
Tsk... What has that girl gotten herself into this time? The boy made a disgruntled expression. What is this maze though? I'm completely trapped inside a box for crying out loud! He inspected the barriers again and noticed an opening appeared from where he had come from. That strip of paper must have been the trigger for the change.
Without another word, the Level 0 made his move, completely forgetting about school.
Inside a certain high school in District 7,
Freshmen students were casually talking to each other as they waited for their homeroom teacher to arrive. It was your average peaceful day.
"Uhmm… Tomoya-kun have you seen Haruka-san around?"
Aki, one of Haruka's friends, approached and asked the class rep while looking unusually nervous. Both of them were on the same class and their seats were far apart.
"Hm? No, I haven't seen her. Did you check her class?" Tomoya replied.
"Yes but she was nowhere to be found…" The meek, short-haird girl muttered.
The glasses-boy found it strange that Aki was searching for Haruka so early in the morning.
"You seem very close to Tatemiya-san, Aki-chan. Hm? What's wrong?" The class rep noticed Aki's nervousness.
Tomoya tilted his head wondering what was going on.
Takayama Akito ran through the streets of Academy City which were surrounded by invisible dividers like a maze. Only the boy could touch them. He ran his fingertips along the invisible boundary as he moved to identify any openings in the maze.
In order to get a clue for the reason behind the maze, he established the sidewalk where he got the strip of paper, which was around only one block in distance away from his school, as a starting point.
How the hell is this possible?
From his inspection earlier at the starting point, Akito determined that the maze had a height of 7 feet relative to the ground which remained consistent wherever he went. However, the width varied with each portion but was usually a meter long. He was now several dozens of meters from the starting point where he had took the strip of paper.
Every person, object, cleaning robot he encountered phased through the wall as if it didn't exist.
So I am really the only one being affected huh? Guess I'll just play along for now.
He did not expect to be in such a weird situation first thing in the morning but he remained calm in order to know the nature of the enemy. He reached for his pocket to get his phone and dialed Tatemiya Haruka's number which she insistently gave to him despite all his retorts.
The phone rang for a while but there was no answer.
He tried again but with the same result.
"I should've expected that." The boy muttered. He then retracted the phone back into his pocket. He didn't bother contacting Anti-Skill or Judgment because he feared that the enemy might be watching him. Truly, he did not expect to be in such a curious, and possibly dangerous situation first thing in the morning.
He slowed down each time he came close to a corner of a street because he anticipated that the walls might make him turn at a specific direction.
He crossed through an underpass, several alleys and parks all around District 7. Not minding all the stares he was receiving.
The passage made up of invisible walls did not seem to follow a particular direction or pattern, and it felt like it will continue on endlessly however, it finally seemed like it has reached an end when it made a straight path towards an unknown building.
"What the hell?"
He did not proceed any further. Confusion covered his entire face.
The building was a traditional Japanese bathhouse. In front of it was a small road where the boy was standing in the middle of.
The boy tried to feel around the invisible walls on his left and right sides, and sure enough, there were no openings, which meant he had to enter the public bathhouse.
He carefully slid the door open, peeking inside. There was nobody around the lobby area including the person who was supposed to tend to the counter.
Akito hesitatingly went inside. It was his first time in a bathhouse. The interior was more spacious than he had originally thought. There were traditional Japanese decorations all around. There was a resting area to his left and a vending machine some distance away. He continued to follow the invisible walls until he reached the middle of the lobby area in front of the counter which was in between the entrances to the male and female changing rooms. Further inside would be the gender-specific baths themselves.
There was an opening to his left side which led to the female baths.
"H-hey!… this isn't funny anymore. Seriously, whoever did this must be one sick bastard!" Akito said disdainfully.
Looking left and right, making sure there was nobody around, he slowly walked forward with every bit of caution before peaking underneath the cloth which hang from above the entrance and had a character that meant 'women'.
The changing room was unusually covered in steam but he could see several rows of lockers nearby. He heard the clanking sound of one open from far away followed by a sound of footsteps which slowly faded, most likely heading towards the bath area.
The delinquent was well aware that if he were to be seen doing such suspicious things, someone will report him to the authorities and be labelled as an extreme super pervert his entire life. Sweat ran down his face after realizing that fact.
"Arghhhh! Whatever!"
After turning the situation over and over in his head in hope that he must have misunderstood something at some point, Takayama Akito had reached his limit. That girl was in trouble and, no matter how much he found her annoying, he had to save her but it required him to enter a steamy bath which was filled with women and was absolutely forbidden for men. He doesn't know why a public bath was related to all this, but he was lead here by the 'enemy' so he had to comply in order to save that girl. He considered all the women who might be changing or had just gone out of the bath and only had towels on.
In the end, there was only one option left for him.
He then took a deep breath and…
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"
The young delinquent charged forwards into the land where no man has gone before. He closed his eyes and stretched his arms to the sides, using the invisible walls as his guide.
END AN:
This ridiculous idea came into my mind recently. It was too difficult to turn into a story though but in the end it was too weird to pass up.
Here's hoping for more feedback.
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