She tapped the roof with the grace of a swan and without stopping, walked over to the edge of the familiar building. With each step. the cool wind slipped through her hair, caressed her face, and brushed her lips. Her brown eyes glistened with crimson colored diamonds. The world around her aglow in reddish moonlight. Something small inside her, buried deep swelled like dry seed taking in water. an emotion that said I want it all…all of it…twisted, turned, the seed darken, split and….

It hadn't occurred to her until she stood and looked down at the area below. Staring down into the pool of glistening water, shimmered in the red moonlight, the gentle sound of it lapped against the edges. Putting her hands on her hips. She closed her eyes, fretted her brow, Why? She exhaled and listened to the night.

It was the school she had taken her ranking test. Level Five as always. But it felt different, not like the other times. The power flowed freely, powerful and addictive. She remembered firing blast after blast. Easily exceeding her previous scores. If she only knew how much. It felt wonderful. The water raining down on her and the teachers like a summer rainstorm. The loud splashing across concrete and rooftop, drenching everyone. And the look on the tester's expressions. Like children on Christmas morning.

The image of the building remained in her mind, she searched, quietly listening. She focused, like Anastasia had taught her. over and over. The wolves taught her, listen. Hear the prey. Hear its heartbeat, its breath, listen for it to make its move. As it thinks about and finally sets its tiny paw on the ground, even listen to it lifting it up from the dirt.


During her time in the other realm, she watched the wolves lying on the ground, sitting in their wolf form, ears pricked tight, head down with eyes closed, listening. Then they slowly opened their eyes and explode, chasing their prey. Patience is everything. She watch young ones mimicking the elder wolves and failing miserably. Rabbits, mice even snakes escaped. But it impressed her that they could hear them. so, she practiced. Becoming wilder than a Queen. a tomboy maybe.

Her ears rose and fell, she silenced her heartbeat, slowed her breath, her blood flow even the sounds of the city at night disappeared. she, as the wolves would say with a toothy smile, became one with the night…. of course, they ended it with an odd villainous laughter…but whose to say. Wolves are wolves. Moments past, then another, she pushed her hair away from her ear.

It was subtle. Sounding less than a breath. a dull heavy thump…then another….it grew louder as she focused. Forgetting her training, her heart slammed against her chest, her blood rushed through her veins. louder, the more she focused the louder it got. Magnetic pulses bouncing like echoes building another map inside her mind. Deeper they went. Her face twisted, an underground section just underneath the basement. Why….

Acidic heat burned inside her chest, crawled up her throat. Beads of sweat pilled across her forehead, as she drilled down underneath the school. There….! In a hallway just underneath the main floor.

Vibrations rushed toward her, vibrations turning to sound, turning to unrecognizable words, then she heard them. knew the voices. She clenched her hands into fist, and blood seeped through her fingers. Her mouth itched, her fangs cut into her lower gums. She knew…. in this school being remodel, her house was under attack. And she would join them.

An explosion filled the crimson colored night with sound and smoke, spreading out and over the edges of the rooftop. The building and the pool disappeared into the fog of dust., glisten reddish hues, swirling, rising, falling and disappeared, drawn into the school as Mikoto Misaka dropped to the floor.