A Certain After School Secret

by bitbitbit11

Side story for "A Certain Infinite Possibility". Touma is not the only harem collecting bastard in Academy City. Follow the rest of Delta Force members in their adventure as they create unlikely alliances and daring covert operations to keep the ones they cared about safe and sound. OC included.

75. Chapter 75 Setup: Kanade First Snow

The fight is here. It's finally here and I just want to say that I hope that you'll enjoy this dear readers.

Let's get into the comments before we proceed into the chapter shall we.

Awron: Yes, this current chapter I want to give a detailed look on how the clone fights after he learned a thing or two from the boys.

Visit this story's dedicated artpage 'bitbitbit11' at deviantart for illustrations and extra contents dear reader. I've uploaded the opening and ending video along with voiced short animations for the OCs in this story, search for 'A Certain After School Secret' on youtube dear reader, those videos were such treat to made, plus it will gave the original characters voice to flesh out their character even more.

I gotta sketch up the general look on how the IVORY boys look in their combat gears huh?

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PLAY MUSIC

Punishing Gray Raven OST – Narwhal.

A/N: Dear readers, if you're wondering how Nora's scabbard moves around just look for Lucia Alpha from Punishing Gray Raven.

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"Try to dodge this! I prepared this one especially for you!"

Lightning strikes around Yuu.

The boy dodged by flipping backward and sniping the openings in the plated armor but failed to do any significant damage, the flames being diffused by the swirling electrical current that turned into a vortex that flew towards him.

"Nora."

That single word triggered Nora to lunge forward and swung his scabbard in a 180 degree motion to defend Yuu from the approaching electromaster, the subarms of the scabbard also being swung in a defensive position to halt his advance. The makeshift barricade did it's job as the mad esper jumped back with an added static electricity to soften his land.

The two opposing sides stare at each other as the mechanical whirring and heavy machinery noises stop, the three boys positioned themselves on top of the mechanical giant while behind them a 5 meter tall mech stood in a menacing manner. It towered everything inside the storm drain, humanoid in form and plated from head to toe in a wedged tank armor complete with reactive armor and two turrets installed on its shoulders, belt fed grenade launcher on the right and heavy machine gun on the left. It holds an oversized shield on its right arm while a large enforced rod is held on the left. That hulking mass of a shield is equipped with a set of wheels to keep it standing and be reeled around by the armored mech.

Adding to the headache of the esper known as Full Burner, two arms that looked like excavator arms extended from the main body of the larger mech and carried the reinforced sidewalls as other tower shields that could be moved around.

About two out of third of the Behemoth are now transformed into two mechs that were geared into a supporting yet fatal role as it was unknown to Yuu or Nora how nimble or aggressive the mechs would move. At the back of his mind Yuu also realized there is a sizeable chance that the front part of the Behemoth mech that looked like an armed tank turret could move independently and joined the fight. A six against two fight is the last thing that he wanted in this situation, even the storm drain couldn't contain a fight between them because of the huge mechs that have been deployed by the opposing side.

Single huff could be heard from the silky haired esper, strategizing in such a situation will be a hassle but keeping the current approach will be too much risk for him and Nora.

Yuu doesn't know whether their firepower was decent enough to take on such an opponent or their reactions are sharp enough to prevent themselves from being overwhelmed.

The espers who stood on the opposite side, surely saving up their cards for a grand reveal and only using the least of their abilities for the opening attack, surely learned a thing or two from the previous fight.

So to highlight such a danger Yuu spoke to Nora to inform him about his brief analysis, "You know what to do in this kind of situation, keep the formation tight the two large supports will give a defensive wall for the espers to retreat while harassing us with firearm support."

"Understood, should I deal with the large ones first before reducing their numbers.''The very implication inside Nora's answer just made Yuu snapped his head to look at the white haired clone to ask, "Reducing their numbers? Wait you're thinking about eliminating them, aren't you?"

"It'll make it easier if I make sure that they won't come back for another attempt like this."

"And?"

"The plan will make sure that they won't return."

The boy replied and earned himself a wondering response from Yuu who said, "You're just really pissed…"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Whatever… Form up, they're coming." Yuu commented before he pressed his back against Nora and returned to their back to back formation.

"Square up! You dare to take your eyes off your enemy?!"

A human artillery known as Okina bolted his way to Yuu and Nora who dodged to the sides, each prepared for combat as Nora pulled one shortblade from one of his subarm scabbards while Yuu's flaming ribbons were blossoming around him. The silky haired esper did not forget to throw in a comment towards the incoming enemy, "You're the ones who retreated to have a villain reveal moment you bastards."

Then a blast of bright flames erupted around Yuu, giving a moment for him and Nora to reposition themself and press in for the offensive. It started by Nora who used his ability of limited vector manipulation to create a makeshift concrete spear and hurled it towards Okina who brushed it away with a punch from his armored gauntlet but not noticing the short blade being flung towards him right behind the concrete spear.

"Don't think that I don't have anything to deal with that shit!"

The bulky guy used his ability to motion his other hand at inhuman speed to smash the blade with his other hand. Yuu couldn't see it but he and Nora knew that the hulking guy was smiling underneath his armored mask.

"Snipe him."

A simple request coming from Nora was being sent to Yuu and the boy complied by sending a single spear made of flames towards Okina's back and knocking him away from the two espers. Their real goal was probably coming closer to the enemy's stronghold and attempting a rescue on Shinobu and the others.

But.

Another esper, no, two espers are already standing in wait to meet them head on, Ohara and Kazu are already manifesting their abilities and combining them to create a large sphere with whipping lighting sabers that looked as if Nora and Yuu just stepped inside a blender at full force.

Yuu motioned with his hand to summon more dancing flaming ribbons and swirled them to the ground to create a plume of flame that created an artificial updraft, The slender framed esper forcefully creating a wind that disperses the electrical storm and bringing the two opposing espers into view.

It was an obvious opening where Nora could choose whether he wanted to attack the two espers or the lone prone esper, the tempting option of downing two opponents is enough reason for him to swoop into the roof of the Behemoth mech and slashed with another two short blades. The two dodged by using each of their respective esper power and showing the side effects from being forcefully upgraded, Ohara's lightning spiked more erratically while Kazu's winds are more violent but less accurate.

Nora pressed on the assault by chasing the electromaster and forcing him into a duel while using his vector manipulation to create a makeshift concrete wall to keep Kazu away.

Isolate and eliminate.

It was something that he picked up from a certain backstabbing spy. The very thought process also propelled him forward like a missile that acquired a lock on, blades on each hand told Kazu he needed to put a solid guard against the esper as he surrounded himself with a wall of turbulent wind.

It was not enough.

The boy tried to put up his hands to defend himself but only noticing that his right hand could raise itself up, then he finally realized the short blade that had already lodged itself into his upper left arm. The wound was deep and he could see that the blade penetrated through his arm and through his bone. The lack of painful sensation disturbed him though as the wound would certainly be noticed, the boy thought to himself before he realized that the price that he paid for his upgrade was probably manipulating the parts of his brain that processes pain.

He traded his ability to feel for raising his esper ability and only now he realized the downsides of said trade-off.

He raised the limp and wounded arm to defend against Nora's long blade expecting that it would be a sensible sacrifice to let one of his arms if it meant that he could create an opening for a counterattack.

But the boy was being denied from said notion as a looming shadow fell down and turned everything to black.

BOOM!...

A wall of reinforced armor separated Kazu from Nora in a move similar to the white haired esper just did. along with a taunting yet robotic voice that filled the entire storm drain.

"Is this all you can do? Man… It was disappointing to say the least."

The resounding echo filled the wounded esper with rage as he replied with, "Zip it, a coward like you should go down and join the fight yourself!". A smirk could be heard as the echoing voice replied once more with, "But I'm helping by keeping you alive and I suggest you think quickly because he'll cut this armored wall like a hot knife through butter."

"Damn You… Okina, Ohara, I need some backup here." The infuriated boy roared.

From the other side Okina gave his reply with a snort.

"Even with the upgrades you still needed my help! Carry your own weight, crumb."

"Whatever, just get to work because the rest of them are going to be here shortly." Silvercross added with his robotic voice sounding as if he already gave up on the hastily upgraded espers, then he turned to change his communication line to call Umidori on the other line.

"We're ready and will be on air as soon as the Behemoth emerges on the expressway tunnel."

"Get going then, I'll be meeting you in around one minute."

"Copy." The boy replied before he turned to Kazu and the rest of them with, "Onboard everyone, we're getting the hell out of here!"

"Hell no! Not until I splatter that asshole's insides all over the place, damn bastard is playing around with me!"

"You get your chance later…" His voice has a tinge of exasperation and pointed out that someone on his team is struggling, "Look, it seems that your friend is struggling."

Kazu looked to the side and realized that Okina was being pushed ever so slightly to the corner, the pace was subtle but the combination attack being put to use by Nora consistently creating cracks and fissures on the hulking boy's armor. By reflex Okina dodged or tried to deflect Nora's attack and he responded by turning off his ability to cut through his armor like butter.

It gave a wrong picture for Kazu and Okina about his ability, painting a picture where his ability depends on his scabbard to release his devastating slice and giving Okina time to lower his guard because he will be lured to think that he already had Nora figured out.

A cunning tactic on the white haired esper's part.

Deception and misdirection, another standard that he picked up from the group.

Okina fell for it, he leaped and pulled his right hand back for a devastating attack after observing that Nora hadn't had the time to recharge his blade into the scabbard. He wanted to turn Nora into a fine red paste and he made his intention clear by shouting.

"THIS IS IT! DIE!"

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

A blast of pressured wind goes to the upper part of the storm drain and the floor in a diagonal line, the damp air was being pushed to move through the large reservoir space and into the exit tunnel violently and creating a loud noise in the process.

It trailed to a single point.

Okina's right arm.

The boy was in the process of taking things in when he lost all sensation on his right arm, just above the elbow to be exact. Moments later the fabric on his thick coat opens as a thin line of red penetrates through the skin of his arm.

It was obvious.

Nora had cut Okina's arm off cleanly, so much so that the cells in the large boy's body had to catch up that it already sustained major damage.

To make it worse, Okina didn't have the same condition as Kazu who lost all sense of pain and it meant that he would feel all the ensuing pain of losing a limb first hand.

The boy screamed as his dismembered right arm fell into the ground below before a splurge of blood painted a sizable portion of floor around him.

"Ugh… AAAAAAGH!…"

Okina looked at his right arm in horror before turning his gaze at his upper arm.

Then he really starts to scream in agony, massive agony.

"FUUUUUCK! MY RIGHT ARM! THAT SON OF A BITCH CUT MY ARM!"

To defend his fallen comrade the mace and shield mech moved in while giving the boy covering fire, shell casings rang on the ground like turbulent wind chimes before thumping and shaking could be felt from the grenade rounds. Okina reeled himself back behind the mech's shield just before the other arm smashed the mace into the ground.

The brief thundering chaos was enough to fill the storm drain with dust and black smoke that turned up the really by a significant amount, and the opposing party hasn't realized this but the smoke gave the esper enough time to disengage and choose a new angle of attack.

That would be the case if a set of headlights notified both parties that someone else had come to join the fight.

It was not Umidori so Silvercross decided to fire up the hovercraft module on the behemoth as the 'Strider' mech carried the wounded Okina back on the rear end of the behemoth, the rear end of that massive caterpillar mech been transformed into a deck to compensate for the two mechanized mech that rose from it.

Yuu looked at his retreating opponent and knew that he was going to have another fight where vehicles would be heavily involved. He huffed and looked at the rest of his incoming group yet he could feel that something already went past him through the thick cloud of smoke and into the exit tunnel.

He wondered what it could be while jumping to Kurozuma's bike to chase after the Behemoth and to assist Nora who already forged his way ahead and planting his blade to the Shield Bearer's right tower shield that has sustained a certain of damage from being shaved by the very same white haired esper.

"Took you guys long enough."

"Still faster than your friends though, I assume that the girls are being held inside that huge Super Sentai mecha?"

"Yeah, and we need to catch Nora as soon as possible." The slender framed esper replied while pulling out his Universal Army Rifle that utilizes pistol caliber rounds. Wataru is glancing at the weapon that is obviously lacking in stopping power, he huffed slightly at the thought of using said weapon to deal with heavily armored mechs and equally armored espers and asked, "You really want to use that… Against that?"

"It will hassle them enough or I can do something to add more power to this… Hmm…"

The boy paused for a moment and thought to himself if he could use his ability to superheat and jettison the bullets right after it left the barrel, using the blast and heat and manipulating them to do so.

After calculating the adequate energy and force based on heat that was needed for the impromptu 'upgrade', a circle made of glowing hot orange circle with a single dot above it appeared right in front of the barrel as Yuu aimed his rifle through the single dot that hovers above the circle.

It seemed that the dot acts as a makeshift red dot sight.

"Duck, we're going to start the attack." Yuu called out to Wataru.

The ex-gang leader smirked and said.

"Don't worry about me, just do what you're doing."

That simple reply was the sign that Yuu needed to open fire on the 'Strider' that was preparing itself to aim its turrets at Nora. The bullets went through a superheat state and started to melt which turned them into a terrifyingly effective way to disarm another firearm by melting its barrel and against armors in general.

If he doesn't manage to penetrate the armor it'll burn through it like Yuu's trusty penetrating shells.

But the ability to use his ability at an almost instant pace is indeed reliable. It was as if he switched the ability of homing projectiles to rapid fire with less damage, and the very idea was indeed fascinating for the budding pyrokinetic ballistics researcher inside of Yuu.

"Seemed to be working, keep on firing."

"Bring the bike to the sides, you need to enter their blind spots." "Or just ride closer to those spots, I'll jump and meet them head on."

"I'll hang around, call me if you need some vehicular based backup."

Moments later another voice joined the collective airwaves, a familiar voice that belonged to a certain pervert with an overly active imagination, "Getting chummy with each other real quick huh, princess? Keep this any longer and I might tell your fanclub about this."

"Finally… But, do I have to remind you that we're in the middle of a live combat situation?!" The silky haired boy replied in a deflated tone.

"That doesn't mean that I can't call you out though."

"You're insufferable."

"And I took it as a compliment."

Etzali had to step in after he heard the downright childish exchange, "I agree that you're being insufferable, but please give your orders first Aogami-san."

"Yo! That hurt."

The blue haired boy genuinely sounds distraught by the sudden comment.

Yuu however just changed his tone and elaborated on his next moves, "I'm going to get onboard and assist Nora, Aogami, can you do something to deal with that armed mech with the shields?"

"Now after I look at it… Isn't this the…"

"Yeah, it was the one that we encountered during Chisa's rescue mission."

"And it got some upgrades to make it even harder… Ugh, I want to say that we should melt the joints and halt its movement… What the hell is that noise?" Pierce asked as he heard several muffled engine roars coming from outside the vented tunnels. Etzali thought for a moment before he returned to Pierce with his brief assessment, "We're going to emerge from the city's outer skirt tunnel… They're most likely going to take this fight on the city's expressway tunnels, what's your call."

"Well we just blew past an opening and the noise from the other side was disheartening to say the least." Pierce added.

Etzali then had to voice his concern with a question.

"May I ask why?"

"Because it sounds like their backup." Pierce paused to swallow his spit before he continued, "We came to a conclusion that these assholes are mostly rich kids with too much money right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Those sounds really reminded me of those car sounds from driving sim games… the super exotic car category."

"Ah…" Etzali instinctively let out a noise to acknowledge the information being shared.

"Get it?"

Etzali also paused before he turned to the blue haired boy and shared his two cents, "It seems like Asami-san's ex has many friends, each and every one of them seemed to be pissed at you."

"You know Asami-san?"

"I read through her files, it was incomplete with too much emphasis on her physical looks… But it was understandable since it was being written by you, Aogami-san."

"..."

Once again he felt that one.

So he decided to change his target and asked the silky haired boy, "You're not saying anything, princess? Yuu-kun?!"

"Nope, Let's just move on to the tactics and worry about how Etzali could read one of your reports without hurling himself out of the window later."

The boy made a rough estimate and shared it, "Ten seconds max before the Behemoth goes through the opening and out in the expressway."

"First things first, is the road ahead of it cleared from any bystanders?" Pierce asked.

"The road was cleared because of the festival, Aogami-san. If you have any place to take down that Behemoth it would be in the expressway."

"Thank you, Etzali. Now we got to… Wait, where is Atsu-kun?"

"He just disappeared right after he turned off his lights." Wataru joined the conversation as he reeled back his bike to rejoin the group's formation.

"I'll check his location from the tracking beacon… Eh?! He's already in front of the Behemoth?!"

Pierce was shocked while Yuu finally caught on what or who just blew past him in the tunnel earlier with a resounding, "Then the object from earlier was!..."

"That's right." An abrupt reply could be heard coming from Atsumu who finally broke his silence, "I need some time to concentrate, overtake this thing and do some things that are in line with my habit."

"And what is your habit?" Pierce asked with a smirk, knowing that his answer will suit someone who worked in the dark for so long that it came as a second nature for the assassin to share something inherently dark.

"Deprive the enemy from any sensory advantages, and in this tank's case… It was the front camera and communication antenna."

His answer did not disappoint Pierce who replied in between of his muffled chuckles with, "I for one… didn't think of said plan, but how will you pull that off?"

"I took the moment to take your incendiary bombs, let's hope that I can nail the 'throwing' part."

"We're moving on your call then."

"Eight seconds, wait for that long before doing any further combat maneuvers."

"Got it." Pierce acknowledged Atsumu's preemptive strike and waited for several seconds before a flaming inferno erupted from the front part of the Behemoth, burning the antennae and the front main camera of said gargantuan mech. It disrupted the plan where Umidori tried to broadcast the whole thing as it unfolds because there were no sounds being shared and there was only live footage of the upcoming battle.

Unknown to both parties however the footage that will be aired will be somewhat mixed with footage with a wholly different nature.

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PLAY MUSIC

Psycho Pass OST – Paradise.

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"It was such a pleasure to have you here so soon, Victoria, Fei and Yona from Siren Si9n, with us today at Eiri High's special interview during the peak of the Golden Week's city festival."

"Shine for you~ Hello, we are Siren Si9n, nice to meet you." The three jovially introduced themselves with their 'idol' smile and bowed down to greet the audience politely.

Their greetings earned them a response where the entire crowd shouted their group name or their names in utter joy, the interviewer also added his own spirited command ashe motioned his open hand to once again present the three idols, "OOOooh It's their group greeting everyone, I'm so happy that we all here could see it live."

Victoria threw another smile at the audience and added, "Thank you for the genuine enthusiasm, once again I would like to thank you for having us here."

With a slight fluster the interviewer tried to reply to the drop dead gorgeous idol and tried really hard to not lose himself in her eyes as he said, "It was me and along with the school who should thank you Victoria-san, for accepting the school's request."

And to add the relentless assault to his heart Victoria replied to him with, "The pleasure was mine, it was a chance for Fei and Yona to see the city as well."

"For sure, and congratulations on your debut with that collaboration model photoshoot, I'm willing to bet that everyone was surprised by that and the subsequent reveal of Siren's new single."

"I'm glad you liked it and you should thank Chisa for that since it was her idea."

That was when she motioned with her hand to subtly guide the interviewer to move the focus towards Fei and Yona who are also there, In which the boy nodded and turned to look at the blue and purple haired idol and say, "There's so much that I want to ask but I should welcome the Fairy and the Mermaid who just arrived last night and already made a splash with the reveal event for her drama."

"Fei? Do you want to elaborate on that?" Yona nudged Fei who slightly flustered for some reason before she added further by saying, "I think Fei already had a tour of the city last night right?"

The girl in question giggled as she snapped out from her own little world and gave her answer, "It was for a different purpose, last night was an event to give a dramatic look for the upcoming drama series."

"Do you have fun though? Or are you scared from the shocking experience, flying with an esper must be a thrilling experience."

The interviewer asked as the question must have latched itself on every member of the audience.

"Thrilling is a fitting word but I want to say that…" The beautiful girl stopped herself to think to herself before giving the answer, she huffed in a breath and said, "And it was a colorful encounter, yes, one that feels like one straight out of those dramas."

That was definitely an answer that gave everyone shock, even Yona and Victoria tensed for a moment when they heard Fei's remark.

You make it sound like you have some sort of feelings for a certain someone in a needlessly roundabout way.

The two idols thought in unison.

"Oho! So… That colorful encounter must have meant something for you then?" The interviewer noticed the underlying message from Fei's remark and inquired for more juicy details.

"Yes? I pretty much loved the experience" Fei answered as she clasped her hand together and smiled in earnest.

But the blush that adorned her pale face did her nothing good though.

It only sent mixed signals to everyone as the room grew silent.

Yona was the first one who broke the slightly awkward silence by calling her out.

"Ahem, Fei…"

"I know, I know…" The girl reeled back but was still smiling nonetheless, in which the interviewer had to ask about the obvious thing, "Is something the matter? Or do you want to say something related to last night's event."

Yona raised her mic and replied with, "A colorful encounter huh? I wonder what you mean by that?"

The red haired idol just subtly told her junior that she shouldn't elaborate further, but Fei who aloof as ever didn't pick Yona's message just kept on giving details.

Clueless on one half and unaware on the other half.

"I mean colorful, it was thrilling but scary at first because I thought the safety belts weren't enough and I have to sing on top of that."

"About that… If you don't mind me asking, you were really holding on to that esper who flew with you, weren't you?"

"I have to fix myself in place and circling my arm around his neck. It was the best way to do it, and don't worry… I asked for his consent first."

The interviewer probably just wanted to spice things up a bit because of her recent skinship with the unknown esper within her debut in Academy City, but now he very much regretted it as he took a slight glance at Fei's face.

He could feel a part of his soul die as he looked at the flushed maiden expression that Fei wore, but the show must go on as a simple question left his lips.

"F-Fei-san… I think you should check your expression for a bit."

He tried to desperately deny it, but he had to admit that he was the one who started to dig a grave for his poor heart.

The blush on Fei's face was apparent, yet she giggled and playfully fanned her face with her free hand to play along. Yona's face palmed and disguised it as her trying to tidy her long hair while thinking as to how she could divert the collective attention towards Fei and her flushed maiden expression.

Nothing good could surface from gossip flying around that the Fairy of Siren Si9n has been turned into a blushing mess because of a simple interaction with an esper and in mere hours from her arrival inside the city no less. The reality was much more harrowing but Yona also has to focus on protecting the group's image as well, so the naivety that Fei has and constantly showed has been a source of headache for her.

Yona has to come up with something to save Fei from needless scandals because the last few lines being said by Fei was enough to cause a major meltdown, Yona swore she could hear the countless hearts being broken because of her innocent response.

She darted her eyes around and saw a group of girls looking at her and the others in hopes that she would give them a small performance or something more than just an interview as her debut appearance in Academy City.

It gave her an idea as she motioned with her fingers and asked by simply moving her lips whether she could have a little performance while Victoria swooped in and backed Fei up from creating further misunderstandings, The two are the most experienced members on dealing with such blunders along with another member who hasn't arrived yet.

Much to Yona's relief one stagehand motioned a circle with his arms and silently voiced an 'OK' for her to have a go in which she could huff out a relaxed breath.

She even looked at the group of audience who talked to each other from earlier, they noticed the idol's gaze. They looked at her in anticipation before Yona quickly flashed them a smile and an 'OK' before she turned to ask something to the interviewer.

She could briefly see the glee in their eyes as she asked, "Well I think everyone has heard Chisa, Victoria and Fei's debut, I think I should sing a song or two yes?"

"R-Really?"

"Yes, I already noticed the look." The red haired idol replied as she winked at the group who were eager to see her performance.

"This will be something special, do you remember this song?" She asked the audience as she started to humm a tune that sounded familiar to each and everyone present.

"Your song in the idol survival show…"

The interviewer had a slip of tongue but Yona replied with, "Bingo!"

And with that the venue roared as Yona rose and took several steps closer to the audience as the song started to play. It started with somber sounding violins that gave the song a brooding feeling before electronic instruments started to fill in the soundscape alongside pounding drums and bass.

The girl earned her nickname of Mermaid through this song.

A song of siren that entranced the listeners in a daze.

Even Victoria and Fei just smiled in awe as they laid their eyes on their leader as she transformed the simple stage into something that meant for her and her alone.

Yes.

This is Yona who prided herself as an ideal Idol.

---

PLAY MUSIC

Macross Delta OST – AXIA Daisuki Daikirai.

---

The moment she stood and changed her expression everyone could feel a certain allure that gently guided them to be mesmerized by the red haired siren, whoever locked eyes with her froze in silence and could feel heat creeping up to their faces.

Those eyes gently lured them to be captivated by her, then her voice lulls them to be captured by her.

If Chisa's performance was perceived as alluring then the same thing couldn't be said for Yona who captured the audience in a hypnotic like state and enamored by her voice.

It'll be a surprise for the ones who watched the interview from various giant screen around the commercial area of Academy City, they laid their eyes on the interview and the following performance was baffled because of several random screen that just went dark before switching to found footage style live show that follows a fight between espers who fought on top of something that could be only described as giant caterpillar looking mech.

The commandeered cameras seemed to be a mix of security cameras and onboard cameras that switched every now and then, giving the whole fight a low budget cinema feel. While many believed said footage was real, they also thought that it was just another show that the group liked to pull lately. The suspension of disbelief was also being held by the timing of the footage being shown alongside with Yona's performance.

One thing is for sure.

Umidori is getting her show but it won't be the one that she had hoped to convey, she would never expect her show to have an idol song as an actual background soundtrack.

Inside the Tokiwadai Middle High Dormitory many of the young ojou-samas are watching the interview and even though they're watching it through a television they could tell that those idols are something else, these girls are looking at the idols as if they were a different entity.

The living room and the connected common area inside the dormitory somehow has been transformed into an impromptu slumber party where they watched the show together with bed covers and blankets laid on the floor and the girls laying down in their pajamas.

Some of them couldn't hold their feelings inside and slipped out a comment towards the three members of Siren Si9n.

"So that's the idols who just arrived, how pretty."

"She's so pretty… who's her name again."

"Fei."

The Comments however felt prickly for a certain girl living inside the dormitory and the very mention of the name Fei made it worse. Kinuho was watching the show from inside her room and felt horrible after hearing those words coming out from Fei's lips about Yuu.

The young girl once felt something similar to this, several times in fact and all of it connected to the boy who increasingly became closer and closer to her.

The closer they get the worse the prickly feeling gets. She couldn't put her fingers on it but she felt like each time that feeling returned, she felt a part of her being gnawed away and leaving a void behind.

Some of the dorm residents noticed the lone girl who's still wearing her uniform. Two girls approached her and asked, "Hey. Hey… Wannai-san, join us in the common area, the interview being shown is amazing."

Then she noticed the uniform and looked at the cloudy weather before she asked again, "You're not going out, aren't you?"

Her friend however noticed the subtle yet telling saddened eyes before she pinched the sides of her friends while saying. "Don't say that, it's obvious that she's waiting for someone."

"I-I'm sorry."

Kinuho however tilted her head away from the window and looked at the two girls before she gave her reply.

"No, I'll be joining in a moment, please go on first."

"You're going to change your clothes?"

"Yes…" The girl replied politely while taking a glance at the TV, her eyes noticed the blue and purple haired idol with discomfort and a suffocating feeling in her chest that she hid underneath her usual expression.

But after they left she muttered to herself.

"I don't like it… It feels wrong…"

The fluffy haired girl hissed in a deep breath, the only sign that Maaya picked up that the sinking feeling was too much for Kinuho to handle. Maaya walked bristly to her side and comforted Kinuho by telling her that she should join the others and it was better for her to get together than waiting all on her own by the side of the window inside her room.

The girl knew that her friend was looking to the distance and waiting for a certain silky haired boy to appear. Maaya couldn't say it but even she could feel a tightening sensation inside her chest when she saw the melancholic look on her face.

She saw it as well and knew right away who was being mentioned by Fei when she said that she had a colorful encounter before a look of endearment found its way to her face.

She is known for being Kinuho's best friend, shared the same dorm room and usually sticks to her side. That was probably why she knew when Kinuho was trying to keep something to herself the more she tried to act calm, convincing everyone that she was fine and showing a side of her that befits a young noble lady until she could solve the problem in a calm and collected manner.

Demure might be the word to describe the air that she has around her, so the melancholic eyes that she wore now told Maaya about the feeling of worry that Kinuho kept inside.

Even if she knew what was up Maaya couldn't just ask about it.

She just didn't know what she should ask because Maaya is still in the middle of dealing with her own feelings as well. One glance at Kinuho and Maaya could feel the same heavy feelings of guilt and helplessness weighing on her shoulders again.

The two of them huffed as they walked towards the exit and were wearing their smile as if they were just fine.

---

PLAY MUSIC

Macross Delta OST – AXIA Daisuki Daikirai.

---

That smile of yours I just saw... may be the last I ever see,

Even watching you talk with someone else would be a cherished second.

In this world where our lives hold less weight than a feather,

We managed to meet... because you were the meaning of my life!

"Nora, get down from that shield and ready to put up an offensive." Yuu called out to the white haired esper while peppering the humanoid mech with suppressing fire that started to melt the outer armor surfaces.

The boy nodded and let himself go from the Strider's massive shield and turned to his blade as the boy prepared to deal with the opposing espers, two out of three are wounded but they will possess a worrying amount of threat mainly because of their upgrade's wild side effects.

But when the convoy broke out on the expressway a surprise was placed in store for them, they went through a small opening before the expressway cuts through the mountainous region of District 21 and this will be the location where a young esper will join the fight.

Umidori believed by using the other espers as fodder will reduce the fighting strength of the group significantly that she would only need to stroll in and steal the kill from the fatigued espers.

She didn't care at all about friendly fire, her next move proves it as the dark stormy clouds swirl together around her while hundreds of swirling javelins take form.

Then Umidori dropped herself on top of the mechanical monstrosity with a hail of javelins that exploded indiscriminately,the explosion was violent to say the least because it the surrounding area looked as if it was just being carpet bombed by a squadron of heavy bomber planes.

But didn't reduce the Shield Bearer or the Strider because of their reactive armor that explodes upon impact and negates the explosion force from Umidori's spear.

The other espers however have something to say after a close brush with death, it caused the three opposing espers to roar with anger towards her.

"Damn bitch! What the hell was that for!" Okina yelled with an audible hate towards Umidori.

Umidori in return just smirked in a sickly manner and said.

"You survived, didn't you?"

It doesn't have any ounce of pity in it, only cold recognition that they survived and could provide support in fighting the so called Kami's gang.

Okina did not take said treatment well.

"I'll crush your head wench! Come down here."

"From what I see from here you're just a crippled oaf with too much bark and no bite." Umidori decided to return the anger tinged remark with a venomous snarl.

"Screw you!"

"Yeah… Yap yap and woof woof, go on and deal with those two first before yapping to me."

Yuu looked to his allies and had to ask a question after he looked at the ridiculous and toxic scene that unfolds before his eyes.

"What the hell are we looking at here?"

Much to his surprise it was Nora who gave a response to his question by giving his brief analysis on the opposing side.

"Prepare to fight, my early assessment predicts that she also shared the same enhancement as the other three."

"Can you take her on?" Yuu asked Nora with a low tone in which the white haired clone gave an answer with his usual flat sounding tone, "The chance of being overwhelmed is high, although two combatants have been wounded the nature of their esper powers are still troubling."

"You're saying that we should deal with them first?"

"And the mechs that supported them."

"Okay then, we'll split the target then, half for you and the other half for me?"

"Denied, a combined direct attack is much more preferable." Nora replied and Yuu slightly grinned upon hearing that Nora could give suggestions about fighting in a team and not just doing things alone, it shows that he actually grew from the initial Testament programming.

Further behind however, Pierce, Etzali and Wataru are dealing with a different kind of problem.

"We're entering the expressway… Shit! Behind us!" Pierce voiced his apparent worry and prompted the other two to look back at their pursuers.

"What?" Etzali replied as he checked his rear view mirror and huffed, "This will be a pain, no one said about the exotic car show coming for a brawl."

"I wonder what kind of cars they have there, holy shit is that a Bolton Martin, Belseys, Festarri?"

"Eyes on the road Aogami-san." Etzali tried to prevent a horrible accident because of neglectful driving on Pierce's part.

"You can't deny those cars are cool though."

"Not when they're here to start something."

"If we take them down, the cars will be brought to the scrapyard right next to the switchtrack, won't they?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Aogami-san, Those cars will fetch a high price even for the wreckage alone."

"And I thought we could get some new whips out of this." The blue haired boy was visibly sulking, until he heard a reply coming from Etzali who said, "...A backup car would help us a lot though."

"Which one do you fancy?"Pierce changed his tone into a jovial one in an instant.

"something with ample muscle and space for reinforcement."

"Supercar with a little bit of American muscle should do then, what about that Fort GT right there?"

"The frame is sturdy enough, I read that it was converted into an endurance race variant without tweaking the chassis too much."

The blue haired boy however is paying his attention to other details of said vehicle like the curves of the car that was inspired from a certain classic racing car from the sixties, the British racing green color that invoke subdued yet classy feel and the all black colored leather interior.

It certainly fits a private investigator car from a stereotypical American cop drama from the seventies and the very idea of playing said part intrigued him, so he made up his mind and decided to move in for the kill.

The group is going to take this car as their payment for this job.

"Deal!" He shouted out in joy and called out to the other boy who rode his own bike, "Kurozuma, we got something to spice up the chase here."

"I heard ya, You want to pull another heist on top of this rescue mission eh?"

"Be as greedy as possible." Pierce shared the group's wisdom and added further, "... Plus, I have to do something to pay Unabara back after I blew his ride up…"

"How generous of you." Etzali replied with a hint of slight joy in his voice.

"I hate to intrude but notice the armored cars that trailed off behind them… All of them seemed to act like a rear guard." Wataru looked to Pierce's car side window while telling his point.

"No, those are the babysitters for these high end cars." Pierce replied, "Eight Antiskill vans with souped up engines, where did they find that kind of budget."

"Human… No, information trafficking." Wataru gave his reply with an underlying disgust.

"And I take it these high end cars are their frequent customers who want a piece of the action, just like things within that club last night…"

The last sentence being uttered by Wataru hits home but Pierce had another thought and decided to share it first with Etzali.

"Hey, Etzali… This is just a hunch, a stupid hunch but could you che…"

But before he could share it a flash of light from the front just activated his sense of danger as he turned his steering wheel to the left while shouting, "Break right!"

It was meant to ensure that Wataru and Etzali could dodge the incoming danger.

CRRRRRRAAAAAAACKLE!

A lightning just flew past them and landed on the aforementioned car, the merciless light fried the occupants in mere seconds while the sudden voltage turned off all the car's electronics. In a petty move Pierce just has to move his car behind the GT and hold it from behind.

Then he could see Yuu landed on the hood of his car in a controlled manner but a steady stream of white smoke could be seen rising from his body.

It seems the fight on the Behemoth's deck was a tough one after all and Pierce gained a new level of understanding after hearing what Yuu have to say.

"They're just attacking indiscriminately… Aogami, have any idea on how to deal with him?"

"I don't know, I got both hands and legs occupied… I'm definitely busy here…" The blue haired operative replied.

"!"

But once again his senses kicked in as he shouted on top of his lungs.

"Yuu-kun! Heat shield! Just fry the air until it has wide electrical charges!" Pierce's voice tone changed as he became dead serious, Yuu instantly complied to his request and radiated a shield like circle in front of him, "Here goes! What the…"

And the silky haired boy knew why Pierce requested such action.

This pain is the AXIA of my heart!

You soar through a one-way sky, with a slight fever,

Becoming a merciless rainbow that fades instantly.

Seeing you so far off, I love... and hate you.

It was an improvised electricity deflecting shield, Ohara's lightning gets deflected by the heat shield that superheated the air and by doing so also charges it to throw the similar electricity charged lance off its course.

The very act irritated Ohara who shot back by saying, "Learned something new?! You're a pain, girly!"

"Screw you!" Yuu replied as he quickly pulled his rifle and pepper sprayed him with pistol caliber rounds, in response Ohara stared at Yuu and Aogami in the driver's seat with a condescending look as an invisible shield made of electrical current that surrounds him in a sphere.

"You done?" The esper asked in a low growl, "It was disappointing to see such a meager performance from your end."

"Princess!" Pierce changed the way he addresses Yuu and continued, "It's fine to go all out! Just get away from my car dammit."

"Heh."

A dark sounding chuckle could be heard from Yuu's lips, the boy contemplating whether he should go all out or not but a simple push from Pierce was all that he needed. He took a deep breath as his mind called forth the very thing that plagued his heart with fear.

A power that turned him into an artificial Level 5 esper, one that removed his human heart and replaced it with the logic of a cold blooded killer.

But now it seemed different as he believed that he could control it given enough exercise.

The Full Burner is going to make it clear why Ohara should keep the smug attitude all to himself as different looking ribbons of flames erupted around the slender framed esper in laser like beams that looked as if they were alive.

The flames looked different but it was definitely much hotter.

It was not a matter of psychological attack anymore.

It was a matter of efficiency.

Those flames are superheated until it transforms into a plasma like state, the ribbons are numerous and each are engineered to kill. No more guns or shells, his own esper power will now serve Yuu as the ultimate weapon which was a message that completely flew by Ohara's head as the two left Pierce's car and fought in mid-air.

Each used their own powers to match and mirror each other.

Afterburner boosted strikes are matched by static charge that is sent to the esper's muscle, the armor that wrapped his legs made him grow confident in his strikes.

Lances made of fire are matched by lances made of electricity, the two sides meet each other in head on collision and explode around the expressway tunnel.

Shells of compacted armor penetrating tungsten rounds being fired and detonated by Yuu but once again Ohara's shield swatted them away by redirecting them via electrical charges that surrounded him. The silky haired boy then threw a large fireball towards Ohara and dived in for the attack, creating a large diversion before he took on the electrical esper in close range combat.

This time Yuu's program told him to use his hand instead to catch the enemy by the head and taunt him by palm striking him on the face.

In hopes that Ohara will make a fatal mistake through hasty action if he was irritated enough.

And it will be the fact that he focused way too much on Yuu and the boy's obvious disadvantage of lacking the proper supply of oxygen to keep the fire burning.

He had forgotten that he didn't fight alone.

It was a perfect opportunity for a cunning strike from one of Yuu's allies, one who professed that he had a nasty habit of exploiting any opening that his enemy had.

A moment and a swift move to catch that moment was the very essence of the aforementioned boy's fighting style.

Yuu is about to have a first row seat as to how a true assassin strikes.

ZIIIIIIIIIP!

Suddenly wires made of steel circled around Ohara's neck before it tightened like a constraining snake that was going in for the kill, angered by the sudden attack he looked behind and noticed two of his enemies are on a motorcycle and talking through their hand signs thus completely throwing the flames esper out of the loop.

In a way Atsumu was using the quirk of Yuu's ability that forces him to focus solely on battle.

He took it as the crutch of his attack plan and executed by carefully listening into the airwaves.

Ohara tried to attack but he knew it was too late when he saw the two boys ride in different directions and planted a blade on the right side wall and the left side wall, each end of the blades connected to the steel wires that strangled him.

This means he had to stop by any means possible to prevent his head from getting chopped off by the wires around his neck.

Ingenious plan on the assassin's part indeed, it was as if he indirectly said that the electromaster should stop his foolish fight if he valued his life.

Ohara stopped himself as he was forced to stop and landed on the ground while taking a major spit to his pride.

"The fuck?! I thought that they couldn't strategize… Tch, I give them points for actual usage of brains…"

That sentence left Ohara's lips as the support convoy of fast cars stopped and picked him up.

"Bring me to the front! I still have some unfinished business with that punk!"

Yuu immediately turned off his artificial Level 5 program and instinctively dived into the GT car after cleanly blowing off its windshield, then he took control of the steering wheel before he gave a harrowing news to Pierce about the car's condition, "Blue, I got the wheels, but the electrics are beyond saving."

"Fried huh?" Pierce said in an exasperated tone.

"Well done. It only needs a steak sauce and a mash to top it off."

"..."

It was fine from the start because he would ditch the original system and install a custom one down the line.

But the feeling of hurt was real.

so the blue haired boy kept silent for a few seconds.

The esper couldn't hear any reply as the blue haired boy really tried to find a way for them to finish their mission and get the car that he deemed suitable as their payment.

Unfortunately, moments later a horrible noise of metals clashing with each other caused a sadistic grin to appear on Pierce's face, that visage lingered on for a good while as a scene straight out of a fantasy manga expands before him and gave him a clear picture that they could walk away from this fight with everything that they want.

They could rescue the girls who were in captivity.

They could leave with the GT car in their possession.

And more importantly that they could leave the scene and give the attackers a lesson that they were messing with the wrong group, they were dead wrong if upgrading themselves would mean that they could easily catch up to Pierce and his team.

It should have been apparent from their first meeting after all.

These boys could easily go berserk yet still coordinate each other for an attack, power that was being used indiscriminately and without a clear sense of control was useless.

At least that was what Pierce thought to himself as he reeled in his teammates by saying, "You see that, finally Nora-kun showed the tiniest bit of trace that he was created from Accel-kun's DNA huh?"

The rest of the group looked forward and let out several kinds of reactions, but all of them have something in common.

All of them are indeed impressed by Nora.

Because they saw a field of twisted thorns that blossomed on the Behemoth's deck like an actual vines of roses, the fatal looking spikes actually looked like javelins that have been twisted and resembling some sort of a drill. In its path both of the mechs are being impaled in various locations and severely hindered their ability to move around, even Okina who had strapped himself to the Strider couldn't move and voiced his anguish in angered shouts.

But what caused said attack, and why did Nora turn to such extremes.

The following exchange between the white haired clone and the punk fashioned girl could give an answer, everyone thought in unison as they tuned in to the airwaves and got themselves closer to the wounded Behemoth.

"All I said that I was glad that I skewered the bitch if that means I can see a hint of the number one himself in you!"

The very words prompted Nora to jump in a flash step and reappeared in front of her with a wide horizontal slice, his expressionless feature hiding the simmering anger beneath.

Umidori however took this as a chance to talk to the white haired esper with a tone that implies that she was assured of her victory while dodging each of Nora's slash and using her ability to deflect the slashes like a reactive armor.

"I have to ask, don't you feel burdened by staying with those who stood beneath you… Really we're just stomping on insects if we truly think about the ability that has been granted to us."

A sadistic grin painted itself on that young girl's face.

"But don't get my words twisted, I am standing at the pinnacle while you're still beneath me."

It was Umidori and she was sounding sadistic to say the least, it was as if she found some kind of enjoyment from doing this to others.

Everyone shot a nasty expression as they heard the line coming from the aggressive esper, and one of them let out a similar sounding comment to voice his displeasure.

"Take a look in the mirror yourself… You're the insufferable bitch."

"A-Atsu-kun?!" Pierce gawked at the priest's decision to swear at the esper.

"I kind of feel bad that I left him to fight all of them, especially that esper… She's bad news." Yuu added as he prepared himself to support Nora by taking on the remaining espers, but he hung back for a moment to conjure up an actual plan while Pierce shared his thoughts by saying, "A sadist definitely and the type who likes to get under your skin too, if only Shu-kun was here."

"Where is he anyway?"

"Oh don't worry he'll be here and strip the claws of that behemoth."

"So what do I have to do, summon flame lances and hassle them?"

"Yeah, you're the least armored vehicle so stay behind me and Etzali." Pierce said, telling Yuu that he should stay as an artillery support for Nora instead, then he added more by saying, "Let's give Nora-san a time to shine shall we."

Yuu swore that Pierce was showing a rare show of caring act until he opened his mouth again to say.

"It'll benefit the bigger plan as well."

"For the love of…"

Yuu wanted to hang his head but snapped his glance to look at the blue haired idiot who pulled out a gun from the passenger seat and started firing.

"But I have to get some shots as well."

"What?! A gang style drive by?!"

The silky haired boy gawked because of the SMG being fired in a 'gangsta' style.

"Those idiots are…" Okina muttered as he shielded himself from the sudden gang style hit, "Guh! If only I could break free from this shit."

Silvercross took the time to reply by saying, "I can directly hand over the controls to you, but can you handle it? You'll burn up for sure, brawn for brains."

"Just do it asshole."

"Your choice." The robotic boy spoke as he handed the entire load of Strider's operating system on Okina's brain, the boy winched in pain for a good few seconds before the mech obeyed and started to move in a more fluid manner.

The direct nerve control is proven dangerous indeed.

Much of it is because of the unpredictable human-like movement.

"I got the control… I can feel my right arm again! Which means that you're dead! You little shits!"

"Uh oh!…"

I'm in danger!

A/N: You know the meme.

A blue haired boy thought to himself before he shouts.

"Yuu-kun! Brake! Hit all the brakes! Etzali, break to the sides!"

The utter panic is self-explanatory as the arm of the Shield Bearer moves in horizontal swoop as the hulking boy's voice thunders through the messed up deck of the Behemoth, "Use that damn tower shield as a platform for me to walk around."

"Oh… You actually started to use your head." Silvercross giggled.

"Shut it!" Okina replied as an improvised second deck expanded itself on the Monstrosity's right side.

"Yuu-kun, fire everything!" Pierce shouted. "Etzali, you too!"

It was a negative development except for a certain boy who saw the shield as an opportunity.

"An opening." Atsumu muttered before he made his bike jump to the shield and ride his bike to the tattered deck, with an automatic pistol in one hand he made his approach and opened fire.

"!"

The girl with a punk styled outfit dodged by bending her back into a bridge pose and flopped downwards with a small thud that sounded really light.

Okina and Kazu looked at the assassin with a certain perplexed look on their face.

They believed it was suicide on the boy's part.

Umidori looked to the side and was surprised by the audacity of the assassin who had the time to land and sat his bike upright before battle, by all means she believed that Atsumu is a fool and a cocky one for doing so in front of her.

So she just brushed her hair and called out to Kazu to take care of him, in which the boy tightened the wraps on his wounded left arm and proceeded to bolt towards the lone dark clothed assassin.

"You underestimated the situation, haven't you? I will prove your thoughts dead wrong." Kazu was entertained by the boy's plan of taking them head on, with conventional weapons no less.

"No it was a calculated decision, so let's skip the formalities and fight shall we."

Atsumu flatly replied with a dark look that appeared in his eyes.

"Pretentious punk!"

"Check yourself once in a while."

The assassin replied as he lowered his body into a battle stance and ran towards the storm controlling esper.

On the other side of the fight however Pierce was in a tight spot because Okina is about launch his remaining grenades towards his car, in a pinch he shouted out a cry for help towards the obvious friend who has enough firepower to help him.

"PRINCESS?! HELP?!"

Yuu gritted his teeth and decided to use all of his AIM energy to form several spears that has been compressed to the extremes, so much so that he believed it shared the similar property to a small sized bunker buster bombs.

The keyword being bunker buster.

Maximum penetrating and artificial shape charge created from esper power.

"Meathead, looky here!" Yuu called out to the hulking boy strapped to a battle mech.

"Huh?..."

"Pick someone your own size." Yuu said moments before he launched four missiles directed towards Okina's mech, the boy was just barely able to defend himself by moving his oversized shield.

"Fuck…"

Hail of burning lances embedded into the mech's shield before exploding and resulted in the shield being crumbled into a small targe that was no longer usable. Yuu got to thank the shaped charges and the very concept of directing explosive power to one direction to turn it into a force that could cut through reinforced buildings.

It probably gave Pierce enough time to disengage as the smoke was thick enough to obstruct Okina's ability to scan the battlefield.

His friend is also having a hard time hitting the assassin who decided to fight him head on.

---

PLAY MUSIC

Owari no Seraph OST – Super Nova.

---

"How can you keep on dodging?! Stay still!" Kazu roared as he used his ability in bursts and lure the assassin closer into a trap of his own making. The boy could only wonder why he took such a reckless approach, but if he could eliminate them one by one then it would be worth it.

Blow after blow the esper who specialized in tactical approach started to try to figure the assassin out, there's got to be something or a reason why he picked him for a fight.

Kazu believed that he had something, esper power or a device that he could use to get the better of him.

It has to be something in that nature.

That's how espers fight, that's how the residents of Academy City fight.

But the boy didn't know that he was fighting someone who fights with an entirely different principle.

"You left yourself open." Atsumu said as he darted from a lower angle and aimed for Kazu's neck.

"You're just the same, Ohara, he's yours." The boy whispered in glee as he could see his friend flying in closer on the edges of his eyes and much to his pleasure he looked at Atsumu who solely focused his gaze on him.

On his part Kazu had turned off his ability so he could buy some time so he could catch the assassin off guard and deal a fatal blow.

But the fatal mistake seemed to fall on him as he dodged a knife strike to the left and to the right by reflex until he realized that in a split second the silhouette had changed into a slightly thicker one.

It was too late for him.

It was not a knife.

BANG!

Suddenly he couldn't process anything as a loud ringing noise assaulted his right ear to a point that he couldn't get a clear bearing.

Then to make it worse...

BANG!

Another gunshot rang right beside his left ear which resulted in his head being messed up by the loud concussive noise, now it was impossible for Kazu to do any proper calculation to strike Atsumu as the boy pulled out a grenade that he flung to the air coyly. The boy looks completely indifferent as he looped a metal wire on Kazu's neck just before the explosion of blinding white light assaulted Kazu and Ohara, and it just felt wrong on Kazu's part.

Did I fall for his trap? Did he manage to plan the whole encounter, he just believed that he got Ohara right?

Kazu thought to himself in which he couldn't hide the look of rising worry on his face.

But Atsumu has to hit the last nail for Kazu by saying, "The difference between me and you was simply the gross difference in experience."

Then Kazu widened his eyes.

"You want to play a villain? I will show you what I have in store for them…" "Have a taste and enjoy your trip to hell."

The flashbang detonated when Atsumu finished his line, blinding both Kazu and Ohara simultaneously. The former tried to remove the steel wire loop on his neck in panic but realized that the wires already held his neck in an iron grip.

One look to the side and the boy felt horror.

Before ducked away from the electromaster he had looped another line to his leg, which means that if Ohara rocketed away too far the loop around his neck will actually become a noose that hanged him in a twisted reimagining of the witch hunt's 'death by hanging'.

The blinded Ohara doesn't have any time to process all of it and worse he didn't even realize the steel wires looped on his leg, which means Kazu has to do something to save himself quickly but much to his doom he couldn't calculate properly in the moments where he needed his powers the most.

The tightening steel wires around his neck told him that he had to do something.

Anything.

SNAP!

RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP!

"Eh?!"

Kazu's vision suddenly became clear and he could feel that he's flying.

The boy tried to compensate for the violent takeoff by moving the air by waving his right hand but he couldn't move it, then he tried to move his left hand with the same result. Moments later he realized that he lost all sensation in his body while realizing that in the middle of his flight he could see his body standing underneath him as he flew further away from it.

The head could operate for about four seconds to thirty seconds after decapitation, now Kazu realized that he did not manage to get his ability to activate in time but only living his last moments as his consciousness fades away.

It was only the matter of how long he remained awake.

But he just closed his eyes as he had enough of this pointless existence. He couldn't hear anything after all so it felt rather peaceful for the esper who had literal storms under his command.

His comrades however have something to say about that as they regained their footing.

"KAZUUUUUU!" Okina cried before the muscle bound guy went utterly berserk, "I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"

Even with only the ced mace remaining in his mech's right hand he still possesses a high threat level, the wild flailing really told the group that they should get as far as away from the hulking gorilla.

"Tch! Princess, hit the brakes and turn off the engines, we'll retrieve the car later." Pierce snapped back into his operative mode and handed out orders.

"And what should I do now?"

Yuu heard the change in tone and obliged immediately, waiting for further direction from the blue haired operative.

"Fall back and deal with the exotic convoy first, Atsu-kun and Nora-kun can handle the esper fight club." Now he turned his attention to Yuu and used his eyes to glance to the back and direct Yuu's eyes to look at the convoy of sports car and souped up vans, "You know the tendencies of those onlookers inside those cars right, make sure you check for any unfortunate victims in those cars before deciding to blow any of them up."

"Lucky that this GT car was only occupied by a lonely prick huh?"

Yuu asked with a small chuckle only to hear a dark sounding reply.

"He has nice taste in cars though, btw can you push him out of the car, Princess?" Pierce replied with a flat tone, "Seriously, It'll be easier for us if you dump his body in the opening between mountains, the tunnel is cutting through District 21 you know."

"Uh huh…"

Yuu agreed but couldn't shake the feeling that the contrast in Pierce's attitude was way too scary.

"Alright… Let's do this then, Etzali, single file, we're going to follow the Princess as he tries to breach through the convoy's line."

"Go!"

Etzali said as he joined in the single line, prompting Yuu to jump into action.

Yuu cut the engines and turned to use his ability to create counter flowing jetflow as brakes to slow the car gently. They came closer to the rear convoy of an all exotic car, they were surprised that no one opened fire on them as if they were only here as an audience.

If the sinking feeling was true then someone used this plight as a source of entertainment in the same manner of how the savage brutality of gladiator shows was perceived by the Romans as entertainment.

Then the silky haired esper heard a voice from Pierce who called out to him, "If I'm getting this right then we have to disable these cars, but… Hinote-kun, make sure you check for any unwilling participant first…"

Then he used his chin to motion at the several exotic cars that had been tailing them.

Pierce shared the thought about the possibility of 'civilians' being involved. By civilian he meant those girls who somehow entangled themselves with IVORY and their associates, either lied to or being coerced.

The underlying steel in his tone caused Yuu to leap out from the GT car and once again landing on Pierce's car.

"You're serious huh…" Yuu bent his body down to look at Pierce who's in the middle of arranging and reloading the guns in his car.

"Even I shared the same sentiment Yuu-san." Etzali added as he drove to the side of Pierce's car.

So Yuu just jumped from the car with an afterburner burst with a huff of breath, the way he let the air out told Etzali and Pierce that he was up for the plan.

They can even hear a low tone whisper coming from him.

"Here goes nothing."

That was the words coming from a feminine looking esper before all hell broke loose.

---

PLAY MUSIC

Psycho Pass OST – Dominator.

---

Bump.

One of the van drivers on the leftmost side noticed that something just landed on the frontside of the van and he responded by leaning down to check who or what crashed into his van. It was a van that was once used by the Antiskill after all, it had the armor and performance despite its large size.

It can plow many ordinary vehicles.

But he didn't expect a boy to stand in a ninety degree angle on the van's flat nose front, to his horror the boy was not struggling at all and he even in the process of reloading a bullpup rifle and aiming it at the other seven vans.

He heard stories about an encounter where a group of espers attacked his group a couple days ago, then the presumed same group attacked them again the very next day in which he wondered why it was so hard for the group to deal with another group of espers.

Now he will discover the reason why.

Yuu doesn't waste time in launching his attacks, spears of flames, shells of armor penetrating cores, his bullpup rifle are being fired until it needs time to cool down or exhausted its limit. From the driver's point of view he witnessed his surroundings erupting in flames that devoured his allies in one fell swoop. To say he felt terror was an understatement because he immediately stomped on his brake to get away from the boy and dropped him from his car, but the boy didn't budge at all as he pointed to his feet and grinned.

It was mischievous on Yuu's part but the driver felt as if it was the confirmation of his death sentence.

Then the silky haired boy signaled with his fingers, he motioned for the driver to look to the side for another surprise that had been waiting for him and in genuine fear he looked to the side and saw that a white colored car was already cruising beside his van. One boy can be seen sitting on the driver's seat and he's holding an SMG aimed solely at his van.

The rattling voice of rapid fire could be heard before a screech follows right after.

Pierce came to the van's side after he finished dealing with the sports car convoy, leaving one with hostages inside in which he told Yuu to check the car out and deal with the driver however he saw fit. A sigh of relief could be heard from the silky haired boy before he leaped with his afterburner ability and landed on the aforementioned car's hood.

It was a luxurious car, something that looked like a car from those British spy movies but much more modern and cutting edge looking from a design perspective. Carbon fiber panels, front splitters, rear diffusers, active control surfaces, This car has it all even the glossy baby oil paintjob.

"Bolton Martin huh? Someone watched too many casanova spy movies." Yuu muttered while looking through the Limo tinted windshield. The driver inside must feel anxious and sensing the danger that Yuu possessed after witnessing the fight on the Behemoth and the ruined convoy right behind him, the car started to lower its roof, it seemed the car also had convertible roofs and it even folded down during high speed cruise.

Top notch features indeed.

When the roof finally folded completely and was out of sight Yuu looked at the three occupants inside, one genuinely terrified boy in a suit and two slightly younger looking girls on the passenger seat and on the backseat, the dresses that they wore told Yuu that the bastard definitely pushing his own taste on them as both of those girls are trying to hold down their cocktail dress from riding up and exposing their legs.

The esper took his eyes off the girls and glared at the boy in suit instead.

"W-What?! I didn't pay for this." He responded and was clearly panicking from the esper's aggressive look.

"Yeah… I bet you're not paying for this either." Yuu growled in a low tone as he tried as hard as he could to copy Shujin's tone.

"Heheh… I saw what you did… Please spare my car, I can pay you lots and lots of money, or something else…"

That was an attempt from the boy in a suit to bargain with the esper, but Yuu moved his gaze and looked at the two girls on the passenger seat and rear seat. He also made sure to make some mental notes related to their physical appearance.

The girl who sat on the rear seat has dark colored eyes and hair, she fashioned her hair in long twintails that reached her knees that goes along with her slender athletic frame. She looked sporty but Yuu couldn't put it into words but the girl really gave off a cat-like aura, a high class cat-like aura.

The boy moved his glance to the other girl and noted her features, brown eyes and hair styled in a relaxed wave that reached her hips, her bangs parted in the middle and gave her an elegant look, her frame resembles the first girl but her chest was slightly more endowed.

The boy came to a conclusion as to why the boy in a suit put her in the passenger seat, he is just something who is easier in the eyes or someone who fits into his lecherous fantasy better.

Brown wavy hair.

The boy in said suit was lucky that the girl with brown hair didn't have a short bob hairstyle, any further similarity to Kinuho and he will surely be turned into charcoal.

"And what about these two?" Yuu continued to ask with a dark tone creeping in ever so slightly.

"You liked them, well I can do something about that…" The boy continued to bargain not noticing the irritated ticks appearing on the flame controlling esper.

So he had to be blunt and gave his verdict.

"You, out…"

.

..

…

Yuu said in a cold tone as he coldly looked at the boy.

"Eh? We can talk about this." He tried to bargain and clasping his hand together, begging that Yuu would reconsider.

"No, have a nice time flying."

Moments later the boy is about to learn about the laws of aerodynamics, the hard way.

"AAAAAAA!"

Yuu ripped him out from his seat, held him by the collar then threw him out without a bat of an eye..

He found that the human body was not that aerodynamic as he crashed on a tree branch within the region of District 21.

"What was that for?" Suddenly Yuu could hear Pierce calling out to him, but not surprised at all when he heard the silky haired boy replied with an exasperated tone, "You're right there are hostages here, what should I do, It's your call, Blue."

Noticing the anger in his voice, Pierce just went along and said his response in a calmer tone, "Stay behind and keep the hostages calm as we wrap this up."

"So… We have two cars now?" Etzali asked.

"Guh…"

"How do we haul them back?" The new operative continues to ask.

"One of them is filled with hostages, so don't come up with any funny ideas! Especially you, Blue." Yuu added while looking at the strangely Ojou-sama-ish looking girls, but Pierce took it as a chance to tease the boy by asking, "What's wrong with picking up girls on a mission?"

"Your head has some screws loose." Yuu commented before looking at the two distraught girls and whispered to his communication line, "Btw, how do I calm the unwilling participants down…"

Finally the two of them couldn't keep their silence and voiced their worry before Yuu could get any reply.

"We're sorry! We're being forced to be here!" The brown haired girl voiced her concern and motioned with her hand to her friend, telling Yuu that the two of them were innocent. The twintails girl also joined in by saying, "She's right, we have nothing to do with this…"

"Oooookay… This will be a pain."

It was only now that he heard a reply coming from Pierce.

"Dude, just turn on the charm the same way you did with Fei."

"I'll light your ass on fire, Blue…"

Yuu hung his head in defeat as he plopped down to the driver's seat and took control of the wheel.

---

PLAY MUSIC

Punishing Gray Raven OST – Narwhal.

---

"Argh! You're! You're! What are you!" Umidori shouted, it was her turn to be infuriated by the white haired esper's pesky power that could deflect any kind of attack that she can dish to him.

Rains of arrows like nitrogen projectiles?

Deflected.

Explosive javelins?

The boy used his blade to prematurely blew it up and sent the resulting force upward or to the sides, he even could use a small amount of it to flew himself back to dodge any follow up attack from Umidori.

Combining all of her javelins into one huge missile?

Denied, like all of the above.

Furthermore the lack of any kind of answer coming from Nora kept on building up the burning anger inside her.

"..."

Even her question moments earlier just fell on deaf ears.

"I better get used to that silent treatment huh…" She muttered before she shook her head and glared at Nora to say, "No matter once I use this there will be nothing left of you…"

The tone was still dripping with confidence as she also took her time to analyze Nora's library of abilities and all of his equipment.

"You're not the only one with mechanical upgrades, I know those sub-arms are a part of a faux limbs research." The girl snarled, then she proceeded to share her thoughts about Nora, "Ability wise you and I are not that very different."

"We're different." He gave his answer in a flat sounding tone.

"Huh? Say that again punk?"

Apparent irritation could be heard inside her tone and she could feel the anger boils even further when she heard.

"You and I are inherently different…"

"How? I bet you came out as a failure from the Dark May project while I was one of their milestones! A freaking upgraded esper with Accelerator's thought patterns." Umidori gave her response while kept on assaulting Nora with her explosive abilities, but the boy didn't change his answer.

"Still different."

"Well deny it all you want, I won." The punk looking girl grinned as she fires her bomber lance that knocked Nora back, it took him quite a moment to stop the momentum by applying his ability and came to a conclusion that she has tweaked the calculations in her attack.

His eyes fell on the several mechanical ports that opened on the sides of her body, shortly later countless appendages jolted out from inside her body and clicked into place to reveal hundreds of mechanical arms with ejection ports on each end of its fingers and palm. The purpose was clear, she tried to overwhelm Nora by using her killer move with the end goal of killing him and showed it to the city to cement her reputation as the city's underworld top dog.

Then the fingers of said hands ejected a steady stream of small nitrogen lances that stuck to the fingers, forming claws that could shred everything in its path and with hundreds of hands at her disposal she could reduce the deck of the Behemoth into a crumbling mess in mere seconds.

She even gave a show of force by destroying the blooming spikes of steel that littered the deck and sending them flying towards Nora along with countless spears that she conjured from the palms of her arms.

A scene of utter destruction unfolds as explosions after explosions clashed on the deck, turning the spikes into shrapnels that flies wildly around Nora.

Her goal was to overwhelm her enemy's ability to calculate the vectors of the incoming attack.

Even her ability that has been enhanced by Accelerator's thought pattern couldn't keep up with the attack.

If she couldn't beat that attack, then who could?

At least that was what she believed as she proudly said, "I tell you… We're different."

Each and every subject of Dark May project is an esper enhanced with a certain amount of the strongest esper's thought pattern, but the base and the nature of the subject's ability will be inherently different from the original who was believed to hold the power of god.

Vector manipulation.

But as the smoke subsided she was shocked when she saw Nora still standing with several broken blades around him and scratches all over his hands, but he's still standing and could continue the fight.

Which meant only one thing in her mind, the nature of the white haired boy's power was similar to the first ranked himself.

She thought the way Nora looked was only a cheap way to sell himself as the actual Accelerator.

The realization caused Umidori to take a few steps back shakily.

"Vector manipulation…" The girl gawked, "No… No way… This has to be a lie! A damn funny one!"

Now Nora's answer held a certain weight behind it when she heard the next line spoken by him.

"It's the truth."

"Tch! Get off me freak!"

Umidori stepped forward and started to fight again with the a presence that she put on the same pedestal as the actual Accelerator, The battle has turned into a martial arts fight between the hundred arms girl and the boy who dipped his toe into god's territory.

Fight.

Fight.

Fight.

Nora thought to himself as the recesses of his mind instinctively called out to the combat program ingrained into it, because battle was the sole reason why he was created. his mind, body esper ability are all geared towards being the best and the most lethal clone possible, he solely exists as a tool of destruction.

He is the closest being that fits the title of stray god, malevolent beings who bring destruction.

Nora.

A stray.

Shirogane Nora, A stray god wrapped in pure white steel.

And now he is bringing his malevolent justice to the girl who inked herself to be as dark as the night.

A/N: A wordplay using the name Nora and Umidori… Never thought I could write something like that… Nothing to see here, carry on.

Each clawed hand tried to gnaw on his flesh but a swift flash of a blade being illuminated by the light denied every single one of them,whether they missed or being deflected by the white haired esper it did not matter.

Kuroyoru Umidori feels her blood boil to a flashpoint. A dangerous flash of red appeared in her eyes as she engaged into overdrive in an attempt to overwhelm Nora yet once again her attempt did not bear any result, it even opened her up for an attack as she reached the point of overheating the joints in her mechanical arms and the nitrogen nozzle on the fingertips.

The jammed arms opened her up for a deadly attack on Nora's part as he just simply swung a blade to her right side and left side consecutively to cleanly cut through her overheated arms that have locked in place and unable to make any defensive move which leaving her with the remaining two mechanical arms that were connected to her shoulders.

The white haired boy coldly stares at his prey and raises his right hand with blade in hand to finish the job.

Umidori, who thought that she was standing on the pinnacle of Academy City, got it wrong. She got it horribly wrong. She stood on a hill where the ones standing on top of the shrouded mountains kept silent.

They just kept a silent watch fitting an entity that shouldn't be trifled with.

Now she realized that she had stepped on a sleeping beast's tail.

And her life would be a fitting price to pay for such a mistake.

Or so she thought as she closed her eyes.

Stab!

Stab!

This is it, this is how I meet my end.

Umidori thought to herself, but then she could feel her breathing as she slowly realized that her consciousness didn't left her body and moments later she could even the air coming out from her breath brushed against her skin.

Eh?!

Only then she realized one thing.

I'm still alive?!

The rude girl thought to herself while still refusing to open her eyes, but then slowly she opened them only to realize that the boy only destroyed her remaining nozzles that she used to fire her lance and left to fight the berserk Ohara and the heavily damaged Okina.

So she just slumped her body down and closed her eyes again.

Somehow the experience put the fear of god inside her and she didn't even believe in them.

So now he moved on to the esper who was still distraught from killing his own friend, but it quickly subsided and turned into unstoppable anger as pillars of lighting rose from around him before he leaped forward to meet Nora head on.

Nora stored his short blades and sheathed the remaining long sword from the ground, shortly after he did so he stepped so quickly that Ohara couldn't trace him with his eye that has been enhanced with augmented view.

The only thing that saved him earlier was the natural electrical current that a living being emitted by every living being was being caught by him, and he felt that Nora moved in unreal speed in order to get a hit on him.

Such tenacity only means one thing.

His move was aimed to incapacitate or kill.

Ohara believed the latter as the two turned the fight into a fist fight with a dizzying pace where each tries to get the better of the other, striking and deflecting each other's blows and upping the pace with each passing moment. The sole purpose was to see who would trip and make a mistake first in which the victor could get the upper hand and strike.

That would be the case if this was a fair fight.

All the white haired esper needed to do was to analyze the pattern on his attack and move in for the attack, again he was going along with his innate programming that was geared towards fighting and combat situations that allows him to read someone else's combat pattern like a book.

It told him to strike at the opponent at a certain interval in which he obliged and struck right into Ohara's head, it was a clawing move that was reinforced by his limited vector manipulating ability that turned his bare strike into something that has similar power to an industrial jackhammer.

The said electromaster tried to lean back but was too late as the clawing finger reached to his mask and ripped it away from his face and exposed his unhinged wild eyes.

"What's that look for?! You're pitying me punk?"

"Pity? It requires one to feel regret, right? I feel no such feelings towards someone who threw something that made them human."

The insult felt too real for the unhinged esper.

"Dammit! What did you say?! GUHAGH!..." Ohara felt a sudden pain as Nora moved in from low angle and punched him on his armored vest, the sheer blunt force however could still be felt by the boy and it sent him flying.

"You left yourself open."

Then the white haired boy sent another strike, step by step he built his way to a big finisher.

A blow was being sent towards the left side of Ohara's head, a palm strike towards his left ear that messed up his senses before another strike met his right ear to increase the concussive effect of said strike. Before the electromaster could do anything to retaliate he could feel both of Nora's hands reaching the back of his head before his face was being jammed down towards his knee.

Call it dirty but Nora learned it from Pierce and Shujin who will fight as dirty as they can be if it means that they could traumatize their opponent. The force from the last strike definitely caused some brain damage because the restless spike of electricity just stopped as Ohara's lifeless body fell on the Behemoth's rear deck.

Probably because the white haired esper was taking no chances and redirected the electricity to mess with Ohara's own bioelectricity and fry the support computers.

In short, he got a taste of his own medicine.

Which leaves only one more opponent left along with the pilot of this mech who surely won't go down without a fight.

"The next part of the opening will be a long one, it won't be long until we finish this."

"Shujin! You're up!" Pierce said as he pulled a laser marker and pointed it to the Behemoth as they approached the tunnel exit, much to his pleasure he immediately hear a response coming from the aforementioned boy who said, "One serving of 'fuck you' anti ship missile coming up!"

Once the group heard that they just bolted out from the Behemoth and confused Okina as to why they decided to run away from the battlefield. Nora even dragged Umidori and Ohara along and dropped them on the edge of the tunnel, a feat that confused him further.

Were they afraid of me?

The hulking boy thought to himself. but the very moment the Behemoth exited the tunnel Okina was in for a surprise.

An explosive surprise as his eyes laid themselves on a large firework like object that crashed on the main body of the Behemoth and exploded violently.

The boy tried to process it, but he could only feel one thing.

Immense heat that felt as if he was being cooked alive, sizzling noise could be heard along with the smell of meat being roasted in which he did not realize that it was the sound and smell of his own flesh being burned and seared together with his heavy plated armor. It was genuinely the worst position for Okina who strapped himself to the mech and now was basically turned into a chicken skewers currently being grilled by the missile's high explosive charge that was designed to take down ships about four times larger than the Behemoth mech.

Anyone who should have heard his last words was unable to hear anything because of the intense burning sound coming from the heavily damaged behemoth.

Yet according to the calculations that have been collectively made by the group it would take more than one missile to destroy the mech.

It was a mobile nuclear bunker after all.

One experimental missile won't be enough to reduce it to ashes but it will be enough to render it immobile. by melting the outer skirt of its hover module along with any conventional outer armament.

There has to be an irony somewhere as Okina prided himself from being the ironclad tank in his group and being reduced to ashes by a missile that was specifically designed to deal with heavily armored targets.

At least Shujin thought so as he landed and opened the bottom cockpit hatch while holding his pistol. He couldn't carry much inside the cockpit of the drone fighter after all but the reassuring watch of the drone will have to do for now, it is a heavily armed fighter plane after all so he only has to think about it and the drone will move in to strike.

They had to wait until the fire fizzled out before they could do anything though.

Lucky for them the city forecasted that there will be rain tonight around their location.

The sounds of rain droplets that hit the ground was faint at first but it grew moments later as it turned from a light shower into an actual rain, they were eager to reach the compartment where the girls are being kept and much to their horror they could hear another mechanical whirring coming from the front part of the Behemoth.

But soon enough it was obvious that the pilot of said mech decided to ditch his comrades and ran for dear life, he also detaches the rear compartment just to make sure that he doesn't want to continue the fight any longer. Most of his allies are gone, captured or turned into a human barbeque so it was understandable as to why he wanted to get away, even his prized mechs were turned into scrap metal to add insult to his injury.

"Don't you want to finish that last bastard off? I still have another anti-ship missile…"

The ruffly haired boy said flatly.

"No, we already got what we came here for…" Pierce replied then he turned to the silky haired boy to say, "Princess, could you check the door, we probably need to…"

---

PLAY MUSIC

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T OST – Little By Little.

---

Before even he finished his sentence Nora walked by in a beeline towards the wreckage and the untouched section of the Behemoth, even though he knew that the ones that he wanted to save are most likely being held inside the nuke proof bunker.

"I think we should let Nora have the moment…" Yuu voiced his thoughts to Aogami who looked to the side, the silky haired boy gave a hair of a smile and continued, "He was the one who chased them as if there were no tomorrow after all."

"We broke through the doors but I think they welded this one shut…" Shinobu said after she connected the wires inside the mobile bunker in an attempt to open the last door that kept them from going out, but at the end of the day all of them were also worried by the loud sounds coming from outside.

But they have to escape, as each passing moment will result in them getting dragged into the darkness and the horrid fate that lies within it.

"We just have to wait huh? And what's with the horrible noises it sounds like a war out there." Kagami commented and noticed the dust that got knocked off from all the tremors.

Eri looked to her with an understanding look and said

"Believe me when I say this… They can raise one."

"Eh?"

The cool eyed idol honestly lost her cool after hearing the comment from the gray haired girl who looked confident in her answer.

"Sister, I think someone is trying to get through…" Kanade said as she rushed to the door and went straight between her sister and the rest of the captured girls.

"Kanade?! Kanade!…" Kagami called out to her sister and tried to stop her from approaching the obvious danger who could be waiting on the other side.

"Kanade, don't go… Wah!..." Febrie also tried to stop her but Janie pulled her back, "Febrie, don't suddenly run like that."

"But she…"

They heard noises of metal clashing against one another faintly, it was obvious that something was trying to get through from the other side. Each of the girls hoped that it was help coming for them, but the light pink haired girl believed that she knew who it was…

That was why she ran towards the sealed door without any hesitation.

Because she believed salvation is on the other side of that cold steel door as someone who could lend a hand to her and her sister stood behind it.

Because even though it was her own little fantasy she wanted to believe that boy could overcome the impossible and turn the odds.

To destroy her own expectation and stand beside her to give her strength to carry on.

To rescue her from the dark crevasse of her own making.

It was the hero's job to do so right?

She asked herself as small pangs of doubt started to cloud her heart.

But she will believe in her small flicker of hope, believing it gave her strength to move her foot in front of the other even in this hopeless situation.

And that was what she needed to keep her spirit up and then share the comforting warm feeling with others, just like how her sister stood up for her and just like how her 'sisters' in Siren protected her and treated her with love and care.

So she softly puts her hands on the door until it opens slowly.

Then her eyes widened.

Her mouth agape.

She tried to contain herself because the tears would be if she just accepted the ending of this nightmare of hers, this plight that managed to pull out the very fears that she kept to herself.

---

PLAY MUSIC

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S OST – Stand Still (Episode 14 ending).

---

The darkness that surrounded her when she was being dragged out from the Behemoth the first time was a damp storm drain that felt suffocating for her has been exchanged by the vast expanse of the night city view that was being drenched by the rain being viewed from the mountainside in District 21.

It felt like a fairy tale welcome for her, the change in view is drastic and almost impossible to believe but the presence of the white haired esper reassured her.

He reassured her that the nightmare was over.

A soft expression that slowly rose to Kanade's face as a comforting feeling filled up inside her

But the clone looked at the pink haired girl and looked baffled as his mind really tried to form up words and sentences to ask towards the adorable looking idol. Kanade looked at the esper's slightly twisted eyes and thought to herself about the reason why he became so silent suddenly, only to remember the scene where he walked out from the darkness and simply ask whether she was okay or not.

The girl believed that he tried to ask the same question again as a hair of a smile formed on her face while the bangs of her hair concealed her eyes.

There were a few moments of silence in which Nora believed that it was way easier for him to take on several esper opponents than dealing with the intricacies of social interaction.

And he swore it took all strength within him to glance down to look at the idol's expression.

She hid her eyes but Nora could see that she was biting her lower lip.

Without any data available to expand on her expression a creeping feeling rose inside him, much to his demise he didn't know it was called worry.

But then he heard a slight chuckle coming from her.

Then a soft huff as she collected herself.

Kanade looked up and he noticed her damp eyes with tears that were visible on the edges of her eyes. She couldn't believe the boy who had such wild eyes actually had such a naive soul.

So she could only whisper out the very thing that she associated the white haired boy to.

"First Snow…"

"...?"

Nora heard her but could only respond by tilting his head slightly to the side, the very word sounds foreign to him, alien even.

So the girl has to speak softly, telling him again what he meant for her.

"You heard me, you're just like the first snow…"

Now a warm tone could be heard in her voice, she tried to give a small smile and that smile seemed like nothing that Nora had seen before.

The very word 'demure' could be used to describe her whole demeanor.

But the very next action the boy took just shocked everyone present.

Nora couldn't process all the emotional cues Kanade gave in the past few moments but he could see that stepped out from the wreck and into the rain, he responded by covering the idol's head with his white and slightly tattered coat.

Kanade's cheeks burned instantaneously upon receiving such a gesture, she held her hands over her heart to check the furious beating that she could feel throughout her body.

The idol could only wonder what she is feeling now?

Pierce's mouth hit the floor and just stayed open as he turned rigidly to Etzali and ask.

"You heard her right?..."

The boy's tone somehow feels robotic, perhaps it was a response to the utter shock that he is currently feeling.

"You see that right?"

The blue haired boy asked again before he added.

"Wait, what was the meaning of first snow again?"

Etzali looked at the esper and the idol duo before turning to the shocked boy and answered, "Purity, innocence, royalty and…"

"And?" Pierce asked, eager to know the answer.

He had his suspicions but he couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that another idol just fell for…

Not for a clone of the…

First ranked neet…

Pierce didn't even finish his train of thought when Etzali gave his final answer.

"First love…"

Thus Pierce felt as if his soul left his body for the second time that day. The ruffly haired esper however have different ideas as he walked between them, following Nora towards the wreckage while saying, "You're fucking kidding me?! Whatever, I'm getting Nunotaba and the twins out of here."

"..."

Pierce fell silent and thought hard to himself.

"You're worried about them, Aogami-san?" Etzali asked.

"You wish… I'm very worried about the older twin who just had her soul sucked out of her body…" He huffed out a breath while looking at the equally shocked Kagami before he continued with, "But… Heh… I didn't see this coming, not at all…"

Pierce saw Kagami coming over to Kanade and in response Nora also extended his white coat to cover both of them.

All of the boys present could swear that the blue haired boy is theorizing whether Nora is already being infected by the Kami-disease while at the same time contemplating on how he will deal with this.

Murder is on the table by all things considered.

But then he paused and muttered random things to himself before turning to Wataru to say, "Kurozuma, this is rather sudden but could you take Eriri to the hospital, preferably the one located in District 7 that Kami usually frequents."

"With what though?" The boy was puzzled by the sudden change in attitude.

It became more apparent when he gave his next line of sentence.

"That sweet whip right there." He looked at the Bolton martin and the boy who's currently struggling with a way to tell those two girls that they didn't mean any harm and he won't 'take them as his trophy', Pierce shook his head and continued, "Unfortunately Yuu-kun can't drive and we still have to drive those girls home."

"You want me to back him up?"

"Yeah."

"Have your way then, but I don't promise you anything." The boy shrugged his shoulders and made his way towards the silky haired boy.

"I know, just don't crash that car okay…" Pierce looked at the ruined road in front of him, then at the long winding road behind him, "Now about the GT car that we left inside the tunnel…"

---

Author: SING IT!

The whole male cast: I am the storm that is approaching.

The whole male cast: Provoking black clouds in isolation.

The whole male cast: I am reclaimer of my name.

The whole male cast: Born in flames, I have been blessed.

The whole male cast: My family crest is the demon of death.

Mikoto: W-What's even happening here?

Saiai: Somebody super said 'holy damn, that looked like a void cut' when Nora fought and that's how it all began.

Mikoto: … I don't know how their minds work… Honestly

Saiai: Same here.

Ruiko: I am probably the only one who cares about another idol who just fell for one of them, another one taken off from the list… Gotta write that down.