Chapter 9: Defining Past

HEY I'M BAAAACK! Sorry about the long wait, I've been very busy with college apps and other things. Thankfully, I now have time to write and I hope this reaches you guys as soon as possible! Thanks to all the support from my readers and those who have stuck with me for so long. So, without further delay, END OF THE LINE CHAPTER 9!

[Note: I don't own this universe, period.]

5 years ago

"No ability Kiyomi, No ability Kiyomi..."

The children sang for what seemed like forever while kicking or dancing around a crying little girl. The girl was sitting on the ground, hugging her legs while burying her face in her knees. They were in the corner of the school playground, where the teachers never looked. Almost every recess was either like this or spent trying to hide from her tormentors.

She sat there and cried, hoping that someone would come help. But nobody came. The teachers never looked back here, and any other student that saw what was going on either ignored what was happening or joined in with the beating and teasing. She couldn't tell the teachers, because then the others would just beat her up even more, and she couldn't defend herself.

But even worse then that, they were right.

Kiyomi had no abilities. She had transferred into Academy City in the middle of her third grade year and, as a result of her good grades, was placed into a class filled with established espers. They all had gone through the Ability Development Program, and the only reason she was in that class was because of her educational merit. She hadn't gone through the program, so she had no power. She was lagging behind her classmates in that aspect, something that naturally became a subject of tease and bullying...

Nothing could change it; if she had no power, she had no power. Even if the rest of her class were mostly Level 1s (Level 2 at best), they still had ground over her status of barely being qualified as an esper in the first place.

Eventually, Kiyomi decided that if the teachers weren't going to help, she would defend herself. She took classes in martial arts, and practiced for days. She was determined to become strong and gain the strength to stand against the bullies that haunted her playground hours.

She remembered the day she first punched a student in the gut. He had tried to kick her and tease her, but ended up on the ground instead. Kiyomi was a fairly reasonable girl, and struck a deal with her would-have-been bully. Spread the word that the level zero was not to be messed with, and they would leave school with all their teeth inside their mouths. A few bullying attempts later, she was left alone for good. But the teasing continued.

Yomikawa bore the nickname of "No ability Kiyomi" for a long time. At first, she tried to ignore the teasing. Then it became annoying. After that, despair and fear that she would never develop an ability. Finally, it got to a point of becoming a near trigger for violent outbursts. There were days where Kiyomi would come home with bleeding palms because she would clench her fists in anger and her nails would draw blood.

She was smart. She saw that if she didn't put more effort into becoming an upper Level, she would continue falling down the spiral staircase of negativity. She became resolute in becoming strong, to become the strongest there was, so no one would bully her again...

It wasn't until her final year of primary school that she developed her ability.

In the Present

Kiyomi stared at the boy standing in front of her. The boy that somehow, despite being a Level 0, managed to be considered equal or better than the Railgun.

...

Impossible. There had to had to be some sort of explanation.

The Physical Amplify user looked over the boy again, trying to figure out what secret he was hiding.

His spiky hair and blue eyes were distinctive yes, they didn't indicate a hidden ability. He was muscular, yes, but that only suggested that he used his physical traits more and not his ability, if he had one. But other than that, he looked incredibly plain with no special traits.

But if that was the case, what on earth qualified him to be with the Railgun? Not that there was something wrong with that, but the fact that he hung out with her perplexed her. Was the Railgun just friendly? No. From what she had heard from her roommate, Mikoto Misaka was nice, but far from being a social bug. The way she and this Touma boy acted around each other indicated a well tried relationship, something that only came with extended knowledge of the other person. They possibly met each other while Mikoto was still in Tokiwadai. Why would the Number Three Esper in all of Academy city go out of her way from an all-girls school to be friends with a boy?

There was only one way Kiyomi could fully address her curiosity; with a duel.

She gabbed Touma's arm "Come with me!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Just come with me!"

Kiyomi practically dragged Touma from the hospital all the way to the riverbank. She turned to the her captive.

"Fight me"

"What?" Touma was confused. He was just dragged to the riverbank underneath the bridge in district seven by a middle school girl, and then told to fight. It couldn't be more disorientating than this.

Kiyomi glared at the teenage boy. "I said fight me"

"Why? I just met you! Did I do something to you before?"

"What? No, I want to know what makes you so special. You obviously have some special quality if you hang around with the Railgun"

"We're just classmates-"

"No, it can't be just that. There has to be something else. Now fight me!" Kiyomi launched a punch straight at Touma.

Touma dodged and back stepped. Was this girl serious?

Using her ability, Kiyomi rushed in and closed the gap. Twisting her body, she threw an uppercut to Touma's chin.

Touma dodged again, spinning to his right. She was serious, and that last movement suggested a speed ability. Touma narrowed his eyes. If he didn't want another doctor's bill, he needed to get serious too.

Kiyomi feinted a face punch, then sped around Touma and then tried to punch the back of his head. Touma ducked and dodged again. This guy had experience, no doubt about it. Only well seasoned fighters could anticipate her speed as quickly as he had.

Kiyomi went for a spinning crecent-to-back kick enchanced with speed, followed by a quick snake strike. Touma dodged both kicks and batted the hand strike away with his left hand. Kiyomi mad more mental notes. Fast reflexes, but not formally trained...

The girl stepped back a few paces and then jumped a full eight feet into the air towards Touma. This surprised most fighters if they didn't know her ability set, and she sure didn't tell him hers.

The boy jumped to the side and away from her landing spot. Kiyomi looked at the boy, expecting a face of shock. Instead she saw a hard face, completely unfazed. This Touma guy had either seen something similar or was ready for anything from the start. She got the eerie feeling that he was a lot more dangerous than he looked. Shaking her head, the girl continued to throw punches and kicks, and Touma dodged and evaded each one. Eventually it became clear to her that he wasn't just dodging, he was reading her like an open book.

Move for move, he managed to step out of the way and dodge the hands and and feet that came flying at him at speeds far beyond what a normal person could manage. What skill did he have? Telepathy? No, she had fought those kinds of people before and they had a delay in reading her mind and then moving, something her speed had always dealt with. But then, if not that, how was he reading her movements? Gritting her teeth in frustration, she decided to go for a finishing blow. She jumped back and then planted her feet. First curling her legs then pushing forward in an AIM fueled leap, Kiyomi pulled back her arm into a position that could only be preparation for a fully powered blow.

Touma narrowed his eyes, and straightened up from his semi-crouching position.
As the punch came in, he simply put up his right hand in an open palm.

The second Kiyomi's fist was caught by Touma, everything just... stopped. All the strength that her ability gave her simply evaporated, no, more like disintegrated, upon contact. Her punch should have broken his wrist and sent him flying across the bank, but instead he was right here in front of her, holding her fist in his hand.

A thought suddenly drifted across her mind. There was an urban legend a few years ago, one that she had dismissed because of its sheer absurdity. But if the rumors and says that circulated the gossip of students and online forums were to be believed, there was a certain Level 0. A Level 0 that, somehow, beat both the city's first and third greatest Espers. The Accelerator and the Railgun, handily defeated by a person that couldn't even use an ability. Could this guy...?

She was suddenly reminded that a high school boy was holding her hand and just standing in front of her.

"..."

Touma looked down. His expression suddenly changed into panic and he let go of her hand, backing away.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry, please forgive me! I'm not a pervert or anything!"

Kiyomi raised an eyebrow in disbelief. There was no way a wimp like him could be the legendary Level 0.

Saten Ruiko stood at the entrance to a certain hospital, with a box of Chocolates in one hand and a gift basket in the other.

"Uiharu, if you're going to make me carry everything, you can at least help me with the doors."

"Sorry!" the girl replied. She was desperately trying to keep the her skirt from flying up in the sudden breeze. She awkwardly shuffled up the stairs to were Saten was and walked in front of her to open the large glass doors to the hospital.

The pair stepped inside, and Uiharu took the gift basket from Saten. The long haired girl smirked.

"So... white with strawberries today, huh?"

The Cyber Goalie blushed a bright red. "Saten!"

"What? It's not like I did anything, you were the one who walked in front of me. I didn't even use my ability"

The short haired girl pouted, then cry punched Saten in the shoulder. Saten just laughed. It was all in good fun and they both knew it, but there were times that the little girl seemed a bit melodramatic.

"So you're saying that something strange happened, but none of you can explain it? Sounds like what I'm dealing with here."

"'Yes' confirms Misa-"

Saten and Uiharu whipped their heads to see a pair of... Railguns?
Both girls exclaimed at the same time.

"WHAAAAT?!"

YES! DONE! FINISHED! NEW CHAPTAH! AHAHAHAHAH! Whew, that took awhile. I originally planned to release this on Christmas, but some issues came up and I had to bump the finish date. I want to take some time to thank you all for sticking with me through this, and I hope that this chapter was satisfactory. Big shout to BeePhenominal/IvoryFang who supported me through all of my struggles and helped with development of the OC character Kiyomi Yamakawa. This is probably gonna be the last chapter for this year, and hopefully, I can get the next chapter out by early/mid January. Anyways, Merry belated Christmas and a Happy NEW YEAR!

As always, please leave a very much appreciated review and PM me if you have any questions
-ShadowShuriken