Disclaimer: I do not own Your Lie in April or any anime characters consisted in the novel.

Chapter 6

"Are you all right?"

As Tsubaki frowned and looked anxiously at the blonde on the right, she slowly and carefully held out her right hand to the latter, her knuckles bent at right angles, trying to wipe tears from her face.

At that moment, two girls were sitting side by side on the ground in the shade of a tree in the corner of the playground.

Spring breeze was gently blowing beside them to the beat of a waltz, bringing intoxicating fragrance: breeze gathered her aroma literally everywhere, whether thick, vibrant green leaves overhead, the verdant grass yonder, wild flowers swaying along the roadside with the breeze, or kitchens of thousands of households with the smell of tasty food. What set off the fragrance was the appropriate temperature and humidity, warm and vibrant sunshine, an arc of football across the azure sky, as well as boys and girls full of lifeful laughter; whether they had triumphed or been defeated, smiles from ear to ear always appeared.

But Tsubaki didn't have even one second to think about the beauty of scenes: she was worried that her best friend, Miyazono Kaori, the blonde girl sitting next to her.

This guy came with a dull look in her eyes and drooping limbs; she looked like a zombie. What on earth befell her? Tsubaki wondered.

"Well, I say – instead of exercising or playing the violin, you're sitting here, staring at the front like a log – what's the matter with you?" Tsubaki slowly raised her head to the right, looked directly into Kaori's inert eyes, and spoke in an anxious tone.

"Go away." Kaori moved her pale lips a few times, made a buzzing sound, and sat as still as a mummy. By this time tears had died out from her face, and she was holding her right hand with her left hand absently.

"Do you feel sick?" Tsubaki leaned slightly to the right and put her warm right hand on Kaori's cold, pale left hand, her eyes tense and her brow furrowed, "Shall I help you to the infirmary?"

"No, I don't." Chilly words came from Kaori's pale lips. She looked at the football flying to and fro on the playground with dull eyes. Her left hand pushed away Tsubaki's hand stiffly, then squeezed her right hand more tightly, but her face did not twitch, as if it was only a picture in JPG format.

"What's the matter?" Tsubaki raised her eyebrows indignantly, then stood up and looked down at Kaori. "I remember you used to be fairly outgoing – even in illness. Tell me what's wrong with you?" Tsubaki's voice grew irritable, and her eyes were burning.

"Leave me alone." Kaori's wooden lips opened and closed, emitting a feeble sound, then mechanically stopped, half–open, half–closed, motionless; she now resembled a faded wax figure. The leaves above her stopped, too, and the rustle died away as if it were strangled.

Tsubaki's face took on an ugly expression and her eyes were shaded. She swallowed hard then turned and shuffled silently out of the shade toward the distant field harboring baseballs and laughter.

Kaori buried her head in her chest, tears pouring down like a rainstorm, but there was no crying. She felt as if she were the Kousei playing the piano, sinking into the dark sea, hearing nothing and seeing no one, until the last light had gone.

Kaori walked home alone with only the gusty wind.

To be honest, that was not the case. Sunset shone its brilliant light on the earth as always, like an artist painting on the ground; trees along the road had sprouted and were growing vigorously, as if in some contest; teenagers going home talked about all kinds of interesting things as usual, such as gossip among classmates, campus legends, and even international political situations.

Kaori, however, did not belong to them. For some reason, giggly teenagers dodged Kaori as soon as they saw her, leaving a vacuum on the crowded roads; roadside trees seemed to wither at the sight of Kaori; even the sun, famous for its evil as well as its good, hid from her, unwilling to grant her any sunshine.

The buzz was theirs, and I had nothing. She thought lonely.

Kaori's arms hung like dry branches at her sides, swinging slightly, as if they had lost contact with her brain. Her right hand inadvertently touched a hard, cold rectangle that appeared to vibrate slightly.

That was her cell phone.

Kaori suddenly froze, her pupils dilated, and a subtle, inconspicuous smile appeared on her face. Maybe Kousei wanted to make up and I could forgive him, she thought.

She hastily yanked the phone out of her pocket and hit the screen. Her smile then froze: there was no message from Kousei on the lit screen but just a tweet:

"Quasimodo: A Little Thought About Sun"

"I still expect too much from him. A headstrong man like him can't have surrendered so quick."

Kaori sneered a few times, then put the phone back in her pocket, only to be shocked when her right hand touched the edge of the pocket.

"A Little Thought About Sun"?!

She shuddered, then pulled the phone out again, gently lit the screen, forced herself to close her eyes, and slowly clicked on the notification.

She opened her eyes and saw the article.

At the top was the peculiar name "Quasimodo," and his self–introduction was only quoted as "Humanity Lives in Darkness." But most striking of all was his avatar: a white dot amid a sea of black.

Neither his self–introduction nor his profile bothered Kaori, so she decided to find out what the man had to say about the Sun – that is, her.

"I have seen Sun once."

Kaori's heart sank. Who is he?

"I will never forget the perfect composition I made with her that afternoon: I was standing on the railing at the bottom of the stairs, my dull eyes looking up, and she was standing there, her big blue, shining eyes looking down at me. Sunlight came through the window on the stairs and fell on her long, blond hair.

"Is he the boy I saved the other day? Kousei seems to have mentioned him..." Kaori tried to recall more information, but she couldn't. She shook her head helplessly and continued to slide her index finger mechanically across the screen.

"It was a perfect metaphor: we were all standing in the dark, looking up at that figure in the spotlight on the stage, screaming in ecstasy, or pointing at her with disdain. But no matter what, the light belongs to her; her every word and deed on the stage, especially her sunny eyes, overshadows us.

"Maybe we haven all forgotten that she lives on us."

Kaori nearly stumbled.

"If it were not for us who stand in the dark, there would be no one for her to save. What good does a lighthouse serve without ships on the sea? Without the audience, who would the idol sing to?"

"What!" Kaori gritted her lips, almost crushed her phone in her right hand, and her face turned white, unable to believe what she was reading. But she shook her head, repressed her anger, and decided to continue to see what the man was talking about.

"Recently, Sun's abrupt absence in public light has worried many. No more tall figure between innocent girls and brutal bandits, no more warm and powerful hands rescuing naive kids from the wheels of death, no more glittering eyes staring at the ashen faces of the misfortune. They feel the sunshine on their hearts has vanished, leaving leaden clouds only. So they begin to pray for the reappearance of the sun and the return of normality in everything, just as Jesus' followers think God will return upon their belief.

"These followers, however, fail to realize that the heaven is by no means acquired via mere waiting and prayer – but via efforts of the mass, which will help people build a heaven on earth. That applies to Sun's followers as well: it is better to seek and create light actively than to do nothing and wait Sun granting light from above."

"What is he saying..." Kaori froze, her mouth half agape. Her head was buzzing, with words on the screen thundering in her mind.

"Say no that you can't. There was no light in the world until darkness begot light. Sun used to be one of us standing in darkness, and it were individual struggles and the historical situation which pushed her unto the shining stage. She, like us, is a human being at all; she has her own life, her own emotion, and maybe even her boyfriend."

Kaori gave out a laugh dryly.

"There have been people who have been doing similar things ever since humans came down from trees. If we just passively accept the light, then what should we do when the sun goes out? The Book of Habakkuk teaches, 'Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?'

"Besides, this is not hard. I am not asking you to achieve world–shaking things; I just hope that you can carry more gentleness and kindness, and less indifference and hatred. Pick up a garbage on the ground as you see it; block someone cutting in line as encountering him or her; do not look on with folded arms when someone gets robbed, as your one police call may save lots of damage; do not have eyes yet see not while Internet trolls are rampant, your one report of abuse may work well.

"Yeah..." murmured Kaori with tears rolling down from her eyes.

"I remember that sunny afternoon and that pair of big, azure and slightly erratic eyes that were looking at me. Most people are just ordinary people who swim with the tide and hurt each other for their own good, I said. The owner of the eyes then angered and said, most men are good, and you see only a few. We did not come to a conclusion that day.

"I hereby make a bet with my readers and the whole city. I've always been pessimistic about human nature, and I still , who believe in the goodness of human race, it is time to prove me wrong. It is time to prove to Sun that her firm belief is right.

"For the first time in my life, I wish I could lose a bet, because the bet is on the survival of the city. If you win, the city will survive; if you lose, the city will perish."

Kaori crushed her teeth again, sweats oozing on her forehead.

"Go then. Don't merely think about what you'll do, but do something. Don't merely praise Sun on Twitter, but be the sun in your and others' lives. After all, 'Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.'"

"Finally, if Sun herself happens to be reading this article, I hope you can come and have a talk with me. I'll be looking forward to it."

Kaori's left hand, which was wiping away tears, suddenly froze in mid–air. The phone in her right hand almost fell off to the ground. Why did him invite me?

"I live – as my readers know – in the flat of pure black in the northwest corner of the city. I am sure you will find me.

"Good–bye, then."

"Humanity lives in Darkness"

Kaori's right hand stopped in mid–air. She stood there for a long time as a sculpture, her eyes still fixed on the end of the article before she came to herself.

Now the sun had disappeared, the moon and the stars were missing for some unknown reason, and all she saw were the soft orange street lamps and the dark blue, sea–like sky. The road was empty, with the occasional whistling wind.

"Shall... I... go?"

Kaori automatically put her phone back in pocket, her dry lips spitting out a few words.

She shook her head emphatically, trying to clear her mind, but grew more and more perplexed. After standing there for a long time, she went on thinking:

"What the man said was strange, but perhaps he had a point... Shall I accept his invitation?" Kaori subconsciously cradled her chin in her left hand, her right hand swinging back and forth beside her body, like a marionette, and her eyes staring straight at the floor

"The truth... Do I really want to know the truth?" Her low voice had lost its confidence and was thin as a thread.

There are no other options.

Her own voice suddenly came back to her. Kaori retreated a few paces in alarm, and her right hand touched the black lamp post accidentally, which she then held.

Don't be will be born again.

"What does that mean?" Kaori asked tensely.

The voice made no reply. One, two... A minute passed, and the voice fell silent. Kaori could only hear the wind whistling again.

It was that voice that led me to the power of the sun, Kaori thought. Can I trust it again?

Maybe I can, maybe I can't, maybe...

"That's enough! Stop this mess!" Kaori said crossly, "I'd better go and have a look. It's no big deal."

She looked up, but there was still no light in the sky. Nevertheless it did not deter her.

Once more, the dry vocal chords vibrated powerfully and uttered strange words:

"Awaken, Sun!"

A faint light shone again, like a candle against the wind.

Kaori bowed her head a little woefully and asked herself one last question before leaving:

"Will this be the last time?"

A black apartment building squat in the northwest corner of the city.

The walls of the building were ebony, its shape standard cuboid. It looked like a vertical coffin and Satan's nest, which, against the backdrop of the dark night, seemed particularly redoubtable. The uniform, lifeless white light from the surrounding windows was like the eyes of secret police, watching the city warily under the cover of night. Some young people who have read books have argued about which name is better for it, the Ministry of Truth or the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, yet they agreed that no name could accurately describe the atmosphere of the building. Some even noticed that the temperature around the building was several degrees Celsius cooler than the rest of the neighborhood.

A single window on the thirteenth floor stood alone. Looking in, a pale boy in a black pajama suit sat on a black computer chair, his left hand hanging casually behind the back of the chair, his right hand tampering with a withered gel pen. The white walls were terribly clean, and on the gray table stood a pale lamp, the only light in the room. On one side of the bed were neat gray sheets, and the light blue quilts, neatly folded, seemed incoherent with the rest of the room.

Three white stories of shelves on the left were for books. The first story was a collection of textbooks, most of them were classical literature and history books, only a few of them were math which belonged to several grades lower than their neighbors; the second story was the extracurricular books for teenagers, both in Japanese and English: Natsume Soseki, Dazai Osamu, Fitzgerald and Stephen Crane were all on the shelf. The third story was strangely empty, with only a shadow hanging over it, like the memory hole Winston had on hand to dispose of waste paper, only not so convenient.

The boy was staring blankly at the black computer screen. He slowly bent over the table, raised his left arm, laid his elbow languidly on the table, and began to cradle his chin with his left hand. The gel pen in his right hand stopped and slipped away, landing on the table with a thud and breaking the deadly silence.

He was startled by the sudden thud and looked up, only to catch a glimpse of a faint yellow light in the dark sky. Instantly realizing that it was the visitor he had been waiting for, the boy rose to his feet, carefully grasped the cold handle, and opened the two windows in front of him.

Chilly wind then came in screeching, the boy could not help but shivered. He looked eagerly out of the window at the light coming in his direction, and, with a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his brow, said to himself, somewhat mockingly:

"I thought she couldn't make it."

A few seconds later, the blonde appeared out the window. Her little figure floated in the air, seeming much weaker than before: her long golden hair had faded, her eyes behind the mask were no longer as unswerving as before, but she was moving around, drifting, and her body no longer seemed so strong. Against the dark sky dome, she resembled a lonely wandering comet in the universe.

Her voice broke:

"May I come in?"

The boy was familiar with the voice that had argued with him that afternoon, but it was also strange to him: the crisp voice had become very shriveled, and the joyful emotion had disappeared; now she was a deflated balloon.

He chuckled, then leaned out of the window and called out to the girl, "Come in, please! It's very cold out here. Don't catch a cold."

The blonde, frightened by his eagerness, stopped midair for a moment, then nodded and flew through the window into the boy's room. She landed on the ground slowly, and the golden boots made a muffled noise. She looked around, her big blue eyes rolling, as if looking for a place to sit.

The boy noticed that and gave a funny laugh, waved his hand and said, "Sit down on this bed, please."

The blonde girl nodded stiffly, heled the edge of the bed and sat down softly, as if walking on a precipice. Her legs hung over the edge of the bed, her hands clutching the gray sheets, and her face seemed twisted as she looked around at the strange room, which was mostly black and white. The boy was even sure that he could hear the sound of the girl's rapid heart beating clearly.

"I thought you could arrive through the gate, Miss Sun."

Sun's face did not seem to have any expression, but the boy apt at reading countenances had been aware that she was merely repressing her frayed nerves. Her whole body did not match the room, and even the light blue quilt did not welcome her.

The boy looked at Sun's tight hands, almost laughed, but still restrained it. He leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind it as easily as he could, and smiled at his only visitor in this evening. "Okay, take it easy, that's just a jest. You see, I don't look so evil..."

At this point, the boy suddenly laughed coldly, and hit his leg with his fist. It startled Sun, who looked at the moody boy with incredulous sights. Sun, however, seeing that the boy was so wild, could not help but feel that he and herself had something in common, thus feeling not so bad.

The boy quickly regained his senses and smiled at the sun from his computer chair. "I'm sorry," he said, "Well, those were episodes," he said. Leaning back in his chair, and clearing his throat, he suddenly took on a serious face – as he had done that afternoon, when he was arguing. "We must get down to business."

"Business?" The sun shivered unconsciously, but pretended to be sober while she was confounded. "What do you want?"

Instead of answering her question, the boy threw out another question, "What kind of existence do you think the sun is?"

The sun instantly excited up, eyes emitting a ray of light and smiling. After all, having claimed the sun as her title for so long, she felt she had a deep understanding of her namesake.

"The sun is a huge, unceasing luminous body that gives all life on earth light and warmth they need. Hmm... Without it, things would be unimaginable." Her eyes twinkled at the boy, and her voice rose higher and higher, as if she were not talking about that celestial object, but boasting about how powerful she was.

The teenager nodded his head expressionless, pinched his nose with his left hand and made a gesture allowing her to continue.

"In my opinion, the sun is not just a celestial body, but a living has its own emotions, it has its own thoughts, and it can even see what's going on here on voice of the sun began to dream, as if it could no longer tell the truth of what it was saying, but only its own wishful thinking. She thus concluded her story, looking with twinkling eyes at the boy in front of her, who was still staring at her with his poker face and his dead fish eyes.

The boy's cold voice was suddenly heard:

"Are you sure?"

Sun's heartbeat nearly stopped, but she still pretended to be excited expression, hoping that her emotional fluctuation would not be noticed by him. After all, doing so is tantamount to throwing in the towel.

"Well said," said the boy with admiration, but his words seemed to mean something else. He paused, then looked straight into her large, bright blue eyes, and said slowly, "and what is the end of the sun?"

Sun opened her lips a little, and answered, with feigned casualness, "Well, it will disappear in the universe." Sun sensed something was wrong, so she glanced at the boy and asked, "Why do you ask that question?"

Ignoring Sun's question, the boy glared at her with a pair of dull eyes, then bent forward and asked in a cold, mechanical voice, "Do you want to know the real end?"

Sun's hands froze.

"Towards her denouement, the sun will gradually shrink in size, eventually being compressed to its Schwarzschild radius, forming a..." said the boy as he made a baleful smile, "black hole."

"A black hole? What..." whispered Sun. She was like a child who just solved a math problem, only to be pointed out by his teacher that the answer was wrong.

"This black hole at the center of our solar system has such a strong gravitational pull that it sucks in everything and even light can't escape – that's why it's called a black hole. Nearby planets will be swallowed up, including the earth."

Sun was speechless.

The boy sneered and said in a strange voice, "What an irony! The being which gave out light and warmth finally swallows up her own creation and becomes the source of despair and destruction. Fascinating, isn't it? Hahaha..."

"What are you going to say?" asked Sun, blinking nervously.

"Look at yourself." The boy snorted, "Is the ultimate destiny of that celestial body also yours? Turning into a bottomless black hole, devour ing all light and destroying everything... Will you do the same?"

There exploded a clap of thunder in Sun's head. She opened her mouth in horror, trying to say something, but could not find the right words.

The boy looked at Sun quietly, with a cruel smile on his face. He continued, "I see you are shocked and do not believe what I have just said. Come on, let me tell you the truth behind the light."

Sun's whole body froze, looking back and forth.

"On the west bank of our western sea, there is a country that has existed for four or five thousand years. Since the dawn of civilization, people there have enjoyed recording their history and passing it on to future generations in the hope that they will learn from it. Here's one of my favorite stories:

"Once upon a time, the last king of a dynasty ruled his kingdom. He was a tyrant through and through: a wanton man who massacred his people, killed his faithful subjects. He was overthrown by a popular uprising, and died in exile. Right?

"But you know what he compares himself to? The , the sun in the sky. When a sage offered him advice, he not only did not accept it, but also said to the man with complacency that he was the sun. The people of the tyrant heard this and shouted in anger that they would perish with 'the sun'!"

"..."

"History is always strikingly similar. More than three thousand years later, a similar person showed up. At first, he was not as devilish as the first person; in fact, he was one of those who rescued the people of this country from tyranny and poverty. Under his rule, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and all walks of life developed greatly. In the eyes of the people, he was the savior, the sun on the earth.

"But unfortunately he made mistakes, as anyone does. He was ambitious, yet he ignored the reality of the country, made mistakes and didn't want to admit them – he didn't have to, because he was already seen as a god. His series of mistakes combined to plunge the country into a bottomless pit of darkness, and soil was soaked with the blood of innocents. Less than a year after his death, the bane was over, and though people were saved from the disaster, they were left in a long period of confusion, hatred and mutual suspicion – the scars of that disaster have not fully healed to this day."

"..."

Sun stared at the boy, speechless. Although the height difference between them was not huge, she felt that the boy in front of her was as big and scary as Goliath, and she was only a frail insect which would be trampled to death at any moment. The pale lamp flickered a few times, then returned to normal.

"Let's change the subject."

It was still the voice of the heartless youth, as if sentencing her to death.

"Your birthday... what day is it?"

It took Sun a few seconds to react, breathing a sigh of relief; she thought the boy would go on interrogating her. "July 4th." she said in a weak, firm voice.

The boy froze for a moment, then smiled and murmured to himself, "July 4th. The fourth of July... Do you know what the fourth of July is?"

Sun finally heard the topic she was familiar with, breathedheavily, and began to answer with growing confidence, "Of course I know! The fourth of July is the Independence day of the United States. On that very day, a group of great men announced to the whole world the birth of a nation – and not only that, they also laid the foundation for the later struggles for liberty and equality." Sun laughed as she spoke and sat back, "I feel that it was providence that I was born on this day, otherwise how could I be called 'the woman symbolizing liberty'?"

The boy calmly looked at Sun and joked, "That's a funny nickname. I want one too." He smiled, then suddenly altered his tone and asked sternly, "But do you really know what the Declaration of Independence says?"

Sun's smile froze. I thought he would give me a break, she thought.

"In the second half of the Declaration of Independence, the framers of the United States enumerated a number of crimes against the King of England. Actually, they were neck by neck with him when taking white atrocities against Native Americans into account: Indians were first killed by white men for their land, then they were driven to the so–called reservations along the Trail of Tears in the early 19th century, then they were forcibly assimilated by white men in the following decades. The white people regard Native American culture as barbarism and their own culture as civilization!"

"..."

"More than that. The Declaration of Independence," said the boy word by word, "is not a blessing to all: it is no more than nothing to a people. The black people of distant Africa were driven from their homes by slave traders, forced to work in strange lands, bought and sold at will, tortured to death, and denied justice. Not even the Founding Fathers of the United States were able to give them the liberty they deserved! That's why they betrayed their country and joined the army of the so–called tyrants – because they didn't have a country!

"Later a war broke out between the slave–holding states and the free states, and the barbaric slavery died out. But the black people's humiliation was far from over; they were discriminated against, they were segregated, and even though they contributed in two world wars, they were selectively ignored. Even today, in the United States, which has experienced the civil rights movement, racial discrimination against black people are still rampant.

The boy's trembling voice grew excited. He stretched out his arms and looked up to the heaven, as if to invoke justice from Him or to condemn Him for acquiescing in the violence. The blonde girl in front of him remained motionless, as if she had been turned to stone by the gaze of Medusa.

"There is another group making up almost half of the population whose justice has been delayed – women. They did their bit for the revolutionary war, fought for the freedom of slaves in the abolitionist movement, and made great contributions when men went to the front in World War II. They deserve equal did they actually get? Very few."

"At first, they didn't have the right to vote; they had very little financial independence and could even attend the abolitionist convention from a secluded finally gained their right to vote in 1920, but they had no other freedoms: they were generally paid less than men, could be harassed by bosses or colleagues in the workplace, and had no control over reproduction. Today, American women are better off than before, but by no means perfect."

The pale light flickered a few times, then suddenly went out. There was no light outside the window. In the darkness, Sun could no longer see the boy's face, and he was still telling the appalling history, as if speaking to himself.

"See? This is the brutal truth, these are the blood and tears, pain and hatred of countless victims hidden behind the grand words." The boy pounded the table with his left hand, making a loud thud like thunder in a storm.

"Why did you... tell me... these..." Sun asked in a feeble, broken voice, not so much to the boy as to herself, "These... I know... I've learned..."

"Yes, that's right." The boy snorted so contemptuously that Sun could even see his mocking smile. "I'm sure you already know just don't want to recognize them."

Sun suddenly fell off the boy's bed and fell to her knees on the frigid floor, her head hanging low as if she lost her consciousness. She felt as if she were floating alone in a malign universe which enveloped her in the endless darkness, and felt the boy walk up to her, pacing heavily back and forth with his hands behind his back, as if he was O'Brien interrogating Winston.

"You don't want to recognize them, because they will shake your confidence and make you doubt – you know they will make you doubt whether it is worth it to carry out justice in your own way and save others, so you put them in a shady corner of your memory."

His words were like a thousand sharp knives that cut into her breast.

"However, the world is not just made of light. Many blackness lurks in every corner, few people notice their existence, but they are everywhere: brutal disputes on buses, shocking bullying and violence on campus, tortured to death in prison... One thing after another shows that darkness lurks in the deepest recesses of the human heart." With a regretful sigh, the boy resumed his cold voice, "As the Christian doctrine states, we have all sinned; when we stand before light, shadow is behind us."

Sun was still kneeling on the ground, like a lost traveler in the abyss.

"But that's not all. There is hope." The boy's voice rose suddenly, and desperate Sun heard the incredible news.

Sun's pupils dilated and her trembling lips uttered the anguished words, "Hope? What is that?"

"Let me ask you a question first." Instead of answering her question, the boy walked back to his desk and sat down again. "have you heard of Misaka Mikoto?"

"Of course I do." Sun's voice was still faint. "She's the third most powerful esper at Academy City, apt at manipulating electricity, so she's called 'the Railgun'." Sun's eyes sparkled. "She's one of my idols, too: one of the few modern vigilantes who has stepped up for so many times when Academy City is in danger." She looked up as if waiting for the boy's affirmation.

"Mostly right. But do you know why she could do such a great thing? In other words, why can she protect the city dear to her?"

"She is powerful..." Sun replied. Her voice was mildly hopeful and frustrated, seemingly angry at her own inability to do so, "she can send out powerful electric currents that can pierce the air, launch a coin into a railgun, manipulate magnetic forces, and even strike formidable lightnings from the sky. Isn't she strong?"

The boy smiled mysteriously and said: "Indeed. But you're missing the point:

"Misaka Mikoto is not fighting alone, but with the whole city."

Sun froze.

"What does that mean?"

"Literally. She and her friends helped each other in first battles. For example, when dealing with the Upper Level incident, her friend Uiharu rewrote the program, which suppressed the monster's movements and allowed Mikoto to give full play. In the Gravitron bombing incident, her friend Kamijou Touma protected and saved a little girl from an unexpected explosion.

"The 'Revolution' initiated by 'STUDY' is also a perfect example of Mikoto working with others to achieve her dream: her partners initiated Judgment operatives of the entire Academy City and delayed the process of 20,000 powered suits to occupy the Academy City, so that Mikoto had enough time to find the mastermind behind it.

"To be honest, she was once lonely and faced the dark truth of Academy City, strongly feeling her powerlessness. However, she will never let darkness stop her pursuit of justice, because she knows that she is with everyone in this city."

The boy held the armrest of the chair with his left hand, got up from the chair, ignored the Sun kneeling on the ground, and wald to the light switch of the door step by step. He opened his upper arms trembled with excitement, and his voice rose again.

"I heard these stories from the mouth of the horse. Absolutely true."

The dark room was silent again, like the void before the big bang.

"When I think of you, I often think of the girl from Academy City. She's just so much like you: gallant, full of energy, reassuring, a little arrogant... The parallels are striking. Yet the difference is," the boy paused, "she is more mature than you and realizes something you don't: she has to rely on ordinary people to dispel the darkness and pursue the light."

"I can do it alone..." Sun's defiant voice sounded like a protest.

"Haven't you seen it clearly?" The boy suddenly raised his voice, and Sun trembled a little. "They have come to realize that the gods are only imaginary beings, and that they are the ones who can really make a difference in the world."

"Certainly Mikoto has known this, which is why she possesses such an affinity and charisma: anyone who has been up close to Mikoto – even me – has to admit that she is the kind of common folks you meet on the street who can also be heroic at a crucial moment. She is a hero of the people."

"Look at you again. You call yourself the 'Sun' of light," the boy's voice was heavy as lead, "However, they will only take you as an idol worship; To them, you are the one who flies through the air, the savior, the redeemer, the idol, but not a human.

"Remember all the history I narrated? They were the agents of social progress until they went to the altar, became inviolable idols, and grew arrogant. They forgot that they were a member of society, ignored the people crying, only occasionally gave symbolic alms, and eventually destroyed themselves. I saw that fate in you."

A tear fell silently on the floor, and it can not be said whether it was due to sorrow or fear.

"You still have a chance."

The tone was still cold, but Sun felt the words warm.

"Remember my bet with the city? Now, I'll make you a bet too." The boy turned his back on the tearful girl. "Now, they need someone – someone in them – to guide them out of this temporary the one who guides them," He emphasized the words, "will be born again."

"That's... me?" Sun's voice was still muted, but it was more hopeful.

"Yes." The teenager smacked his head against the bed as the judge delivered his verdict. "I bet you can't solve this huge puzzle. The stakes – the same as before."

"..."

"But if you don't even call on people to do it, there's no need to make that bet." The boy slowly put his right hand on the light switch, and turned on the lamp. The white light was very dazzling that Sun could not close her eyes full of tears.

"To try to defeat the darkness and lead the people to save the city," said the boy. He pressed the switch again with his knuckles, letting darkness dwell in the room again, "Or to give up, to die and to sleep,"

"Choose for yourself."

The boy left the room. The door creaked sharply and closed behind him.

In the dark room, Sun was alone on her knees.

It was as if everything had disappeared, only the darkness before time.


P.S. Hakigaya Hachiman made a mistake in this chapter: the sun is too small to form a black hole. The author wrote so on purpose; After all, Hachiman is bad at science, and it is unreasonable to expect him to have a thorough knowledge of this kind of knowledge.