AN: Hello readers! I have returned with the next chapter for the 2nd part of the last day of the Graviton Bombings. My goal is to finish this day in the next chapter, meaning it's a 3 parter and it wont go on farther than that.
One day I'll finish a day in a chapter, but that day is sadly not today for the amount of writing I love to do with an action packed event such as this one.
Other than that, I hope you enjoy this chapter and take heed for the small AN at the end of it as it may help in some form or fashion after reading the chapter and that's all I'm going to say about that;)
As always, please leave a review on anything you liked, think I should work on, or just any questions in general! I enjoy reading them and I will answer them at the end of the next chapter:)
Disclaimer: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun/Magical Index or any of its characters...the only things I own are:
1. My characters and
2. my ideas
Chapter 18: Graviton Bombings
July 18th, 4:45PM
Tokiwadai Dormitory
"What all can you tell me on your knowledge involving gravitons?"
Asher closed her eyes as she let out a sigh from hearing that, reopening them as she looked up at the ceiling.
"I guess it makes logical sense for you to come to me for this, but…is there anything specific you need to know about them? Or rather the reason why you need to know about them period?" Asher asked. "Other than saying the obvious in that they're elementary particles for gravity, I could probably go on and on and on about them and bore you to death if I don't have an idea of why you need to know about them specifically."
Shirai looked over at her in confusion, before remembering just as quickly that Asher hadn't heard about the bombings happening within the city yet since she had been recovering these last couple of days inside of her room when they had became more of a prominent issue.
"Well throughout this entire week, there have been multiple Graviton related bombings reoccurring throughout the city with each of them increasing in both scale and power each time a successful attack occurs, leaving casualties in the process of those events. Judgment has been given the task to help Anti-Skill to figure out who is doing it but as of right now, we don't have any leads since the times and locations don't really give any insight on the motive…." Shirai explained, seeing Asher's eyes narrow as she nodded her head for her to continue.
"The only things we know is that it has to be an esper that is a Level 4 or higher. There is also a sharp increase in gravitons during said bombings, using aluminum as a base to accelerate them explosively and scatter them into the surrounding area. They stuff the aluminum into stuffed animals to make it less suspicious until they're ready to begin the explosive reaction."
"If those are the parameters, then it has to be a Level 4, meaning you could look into the database for the ability to find the esper in question, right? It should be fairly easy, since they're aren't a lot of espers who have gravity related abilities or at least not at that scale." Asher remarked. "I'm quite certain that it can't be any of the level 5's, since I'm the only one I know of out of the 8 who specializes in this field."
"We also came to that conclusion and found the ability to be called "Synchrotron" and only one Level 4 esper is known to have that ability in the database. But as it turns out, she has a solid alibi from being in the hospital during the times of the attacks." Shirai stated as Asher sent her a sideways glance, confusion held in her gaze.
"Now that doesn't make any sense. That honestly shouldn't be possible from what you're telling me." Asher said as she sat up on her bed, beginning to analyze the situation. "That would mean either someone under a Level 4 has the power to do something like this or it's another ability entirely. The latter isn't very probable though as "Synchrotron" makes sense in this situation for what is being used for this to happen. Compressing aluminum by accelerating gravitons within it would theoretically lead to an increase in its combustibility for an explosion to occur from the dramatic release of energy. Even if I never use aluminum or technically accelerate graviton particles in such a manner, if I condensed my gravity drastically enough, I could even do something like that…."
Since I nearly did…with myself as its epicenter, Asher thought to herself as she continued on with her analysis of the situation.
"But even with that being the case, a Level 3, 2, or 1 for that matter shouldn't be able to create a reaction of a caliber that people get injured in the process, which would raise more questions as to why an esper with this ability isn't documented in the database to be at the level where this is even possible. It would logically mean that someone has had a dramatic increase in power over the short time span of the attacks which correlates with the fact that the power is increasing after each one, but still…that isn't….Dang it, I'm either missing something or…something is off with this situation as a whole because it's honestly just a mashup of logical and illogical nonsense that just keeps bringing up more questions without many answers as of now."
After she finished, she looked over at Shirai and saw a look of disbelief on her face, making her slightly confused on why it was there in the first place.
"Did I speculate something wrong or was my reasoning hard to understand, Kuroko? I can go over something again in simpler terms if I need to." She asked, seeing Shirai snap out of her stupor and shake her head.
"No, you don't. I'm honestly somewhat shocked at how quickly you came to that conclusion with only a 15-20 second explanation from me. It's taken at least a couple days or up to a week for Judgment to come up with most of that stuff. But, I guess I shouldn't be surprised though." Shirai remarked with a smile on her face.
"What do you mean by that? I bet you and MK could or did arrive to the same conclusion as I did. My analysis is just a small addition to the matter at hand here, which still needs something more to find an actual answer." Asher said matter of factly. "With enough time, a lot of people could have done the same, making my help not as valuable as you say it to be to warrant such a reaction as that one."
"I think that's a pretty big miscalculation on your part since most people wouldn't have been able to do it as easily or as fast as you did. Sissy and I could have what it takes, sure, but I still think you're still quicker in comparison when you actually use all of your effort to try like you just did for once." Shirai stated confidently. "I just don't get why you downplay that like you always do with that genius level intellect that you have. I've been informed by Sissy that you were even a child prodigy when the both of you were in grade school together."
"She did, did she? I'm not surprised as she tends to say that at times." Asher sighed, restraining her face from heating up due to Shirai's compliment. "A lot of people have always told me that, with MK always trying to get me to apply myself more…since from what she says I enjoy doing it. I guess I haven't noticed that all too much, but at the same time I've never seen myself as the genius people say me to be. Just someone who can usually understand and connect information better than most. So, if that's what a genius or prodigy is then I guess I can't logically refute that claim. Though, at the same time I can't find the significance in it to show it off unless I have to…"
"It's something I've heard that my father and…mother had to some degree, so I must have inherited that trait of intelligence from them one way or another."
["You're worthless and deserve no one…to think you thought of anything other than that is ignorant and foolish as smart as some people claim you to be…all I see is a stupid girl wanting more than she deserves."
"You killed your father….you were too late to save your mother…meaning you're nowhere close to controlling that dangerous ability of yours. We must run this experiment more and more often until that chance is diminished to a safe level."]
Asher instinctively clenched the back of her neck from thinking that, trying her best to not give off any of what she was thinking or feeling to the teleporter next to her as her own face fell slightly.
["If your own mother doesn't love you, then why should I or anyone else?"]
I've never thought too much into that but… she thought to herself, remembering the smiling face of her mother from the earlier years in her life, forgetting the conversation she was having at this moment with Shirai entirely.
Was that all an act? Did…she never really value me as much as I did towards her, even before Silas even came into our lives?
Did she…
Did she really not…
If I had gotten home quicker that day or saw through Silas's deception beforehand...could…she have…would she have been…tch.
Shirai looked over at Asher in surprise when she just abruptly stopped talking, seeing now that she was just looking down towards the ground after her head dipped lower slightly, covering her face in a small shadow. She was clenching on the back of her neck in a white-knuckled grip to the point where she didn't even seem to realize it herself.
What just? Shirai thought before her eyes widened to a sight that she hadn't expected to see as one lone tear trailed down from the shadows of her face as it dropped down to the hardwood floor below her.
She found herself walking over to sit next to her on the bed, bringing up a hesitant hand to land on her shoulder and feeling her stiffen slightly as she didn't turn towards her.
"Zierdan, is there something bothering you?" Shirai asked with an amount of concern in her voice that Asher herself had never heard in it before.
She kept her gaze away from her as she released a sigh, using her arm to wipe the wetness that she hadn't noticed was there until now.
Yes…
Yes there is…
"No…I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." Asher said stoically with an unreadable emotion within her tone. "I just zoned out for a second there and got off track on what I was supposed to be thinking about, so I'm sorry about that. I just had a small lapse in judgement on what I was going to provide about myself. I don't know what got me to bring them up before but…my parents aren't really around anymore, which has unfortunately been that way for around 2 years now…ever since my mother died about a month into my 1st year at Tokiwadai."
Shirai's eyes widened at that as she looked off to the side, hearing the girl next to her let out another sigh.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Shirai replied as she felt Asher get up from the bed from next to her, looking up and seeing a small smile on her lips, not fully hiding the sadness in her gaze.
"Don't be. I guess…my intelligence is one of the last things I have to hang on to them, so some part of me may hold back on using it to make sure I don't get that taken from me as well." Asher admitted as she shrugged her shoulders. "Or I'm just being illogical and lazy about it all around, which wouldn't surprise me if that's the case as I can admit that I am at times. Naps are one of my favorite pass times to make the day go by faster. Something you and MK seem to try and prevent me from doing 24/7."
"Probably because you do it to the extent that it's unhealthy." Shirai groaned. "If me and Sissy weren't around, you would probably sleep the entire week without realizing it."
Asher didn't try to refute that, knowing that would most likely be the case and didn't want to use her energy in trying to change the teleporter's mind.
After a couple minutes of chatting back and forth, Shirai received a text from Konori, reminding her of the fact that she needed her help in the Judgment office today for the matter that she had just brought to Asher's attention.
Using this as her opportunity to get the esper in question out of her room…
"You need me to come to the Judgment office with you?" Asher asked as she saw Shirai nod her head. "Is there a specific reason as to why?"
"Well taking in account from what you explained about the situation on the Graviton Bombings, maybe it would be a good idea to put all of the evidence out in front of you to see if we can somehow come up with an answer as to what's happening and who's doing it." Shirai stated as Asher contemplated on that for a while before she released a sigh.
"Even with the evidence put out in front of me, it might not change anything on what we know or think we know right now. We might also start running each other in circles if we keep theorizing on who it is and where this esper is going to attack next. That would waste more time and energy than I'm willing to spare for the risk of another explosion going off somewhere with other people around, so it isn't logical to do so in my eyes," Asher remarked as she went towards her window and opened it before she looked over her shoulder at Shirai. "But I may have a better idea that could work."
Shirai did her best to hide the smile that was creeping on her face, seeing she was able to motivate the esper in front of her to actually leave her room to help her out.
"Care to explain?" Shirai asked as she walked over to Asher, seeing her sitting on her windowsill as she looked up at the clouds above.
"I'll explain on the way. Just tell me where the last bomb site was, so you can go ahead and go back to the Judgment office while I talk to you using my Amps." Asher replied.
"The last one was at the Green Mart you and Sissy sometimes go to." Shirai stated.
"Alright, it shouldn't take me long to get there then. Before you leave, please close the window for me. Last time I didn't, the Head Resident decided to make an appearance in my room." Asher remarked before casually jumping from the window, landing and propelling herself in the air from hopping off barrier to barrier at a high rate of speed.
Shirai finally allowed her smile to come across her face, doing what was requested of her as she closed her window.
She didn't spare another second and teleported out of the room, making her way over to the Judgement office as Asher made her way towards her own destination within the 7th district.
Seventh Mist
Misaka found herself sitting in the restroom, washing her hands in the sink after trying to find some way of calming down her already worn nerves.
She had been walking around with Uiharu and Saten throughout the floors and aisles of the mall, trying to figure out what or if they were going to buy anything from here. At some point (where the decrease in her nerves began), they came across some pajamas that Misaka herself thought were very much worth buying, trying to show them to both of the girls who were with her to see if they thought the same thing.
To her surprise they…didn't. Before she could even ask, they indirectly gave her their opinions on what they saw as something to be considered underage for their age, which did hit some type of way since she was currently the oldest of the group right now, excluding Asher who was technically the oldest among all of them.
When they had left, she took it as her opportunity to see how it would look, coming in contact with another thing that took another chunk of her nerves away as Kamijou stood in the mirror behind her without her realizing it.
They had their usual squabble, finding herself annoyed with his presence entirely like she normally was, especially when he had asked why Asher wasn't here supervising her. She nearly stomped away from hearing that, until she saw a little girl who she had helped the other day come up to her to drag him away instead, leaving her to sit there to calm her own frustration to some extent.
As she had been in here, she had received a text from Shirai about Asher saying that she was successful in getting her out of her dorm to help her with the Graviton investigation, which filled her chest with some relief from knowing the teleporter had been able to cheer her up to the extent of not wasting away in her room like she was.
Even if she wouldn't admit it herself, she knew that Asher was a caring person deep down behind the stoicness and laziness she tried to portray when she was helping someone out or being asked for said help. So, she knew that if Shirai had proposed something like that to her, even her depressed mood wouldn't hold her back in helping out someone she knew to be her friend.
After a couple minutes, she sighed to herself, again finding herself being stressed out about her friend with Kamijou's antics not doing much to help after stating the obvious fact of her not being there.
"Ughh, I don't understand why that guy always seems to get me to lose my temper." She said aloud as she walked out of the restroom. "I honestly don't understand why he does that to me."
As she went in the direction of her friends, her eye caught the sight of a familiar looking green frog, feeling giddiness rise in her chest from seeing one of her favorite things in the world as she turned around.
GEKOTA! She screamed in joy in her head before the look on her face fell from seeing that the frog placed in the hands of the teen boy in front of her was sadly not the toy she loved deeply in her heart.
She slumped down in defeat at that fact, walking towards the direction of where Uiharu and Saten were in a dejected manner.
Not knowing of the danger that had just made himself known right in front of her as he ascended up the stairs…
Green Mart
"You're going to do what? Shirai asked on the other end of Asher's Amps as she casually sat on the flat roof of the Green Mart.
"Exactly as I said, Kuroko." She remarked as she looked up at the clouds above her. "I know it may not seem like the most logical thing to do but-"
"This is honestly borderline crazy for you to do this, Zierdan. For someone who hangs to her logic as much as you do, I'm surprised that you're even saying that you're not fully using it within this situation." Shirai said, interrupting Asher entirely as she sighed.
"I never admitted that." Asher interjected before she could continue. "All I said is that you would probably find this plan of mine illogical, while I honestly don't see the harm in it whatsoever. Since I should have the capacity to do it."
"Should? 'Should' could lead to both you can or you can't without straining your ability too far." Shirai remarked in annoyance.
From what you're saying, you're going to try and find the last traces of the gravitons present in the air at the last location since they should still be fresh enough for you to detect."
"Yep..."
"And then expand your gravity dimensions throughout the entirety of the 7th district to see if you can track its source?"
"Correct again."
"If I were to tell Sissy of this plan of yours, she would probably lecture you into submission for doing such a thing as we both know you would open yourself to getting overwhelmed by everything if you lose even the slightest bit of concentration…"
"Then there's no need to worry about that since this will be kept between you and me for now, meaning MK won't have any knowledge of it to prompt her to do so. And you're honestly the last person to say I'll get overwhelmed by everything from how much you teleported me just a little while ago. I may or may not let that slip if she somehow finds out about this because of you." Asher responded bluntly, with Shirai sweatdropping hard enough to push her into silence and secrecy.
But she's right to some extent though, Asher thought as she narrowed her gaze.
There's a high risk that I will push my sensitivity limit enough to lead to some problems. Even if I turn my Amps all the way to 0, some of the noise may not be filtered out from how much I'm going to open myself to the sound around me along with any fluctuations in the whole area itself.
If I'm not careful, I could potentially cause myself to at best to pass out or put myself in a slightly panicked state…
At worst, I could potentially cause myself to completely freak out….which wouldn't be the best if I'm out here alone like this.
But…
This is the best and most logical thing I can do at this point. It would be illogical for someone ranked as a Level 5 esper who specializes in basically all things gravity like myself, not to be able to somehow assist in something as easy as gravitons, practically something I use day in and day out.
And if I don't, potentially more people could get injured. With this plan, it makes it to where the only one who is at a higher risk for strain or injury is just me and raises the probability for whoever is doing this to be caught.
"You don't have to be concerned about this Kuroko. I've done something like this multiple times before. It may be unpleasant, but as long as I keep myself as calm and collected as I usually am, it shouldn't lead to anything that bad to be life threatening." Asher stated as Shirai stayed silent.
After contemplating what she had said for a little longer, she heard Shirai let out a sigh.
"Alright fine, I will stop trying to get you to change your mind. But please Zierdan…just be careful. You literally just recovered from your severe anxiety attack at the hospital last night. No one wants to see you in worse shape than you were before then, okay?" Shirai stated as Asher rose up from where she was sitting and moved towards the center of the roof.
"I will. You already know how much I hate hospitals and doctor visits in general. I'm not trying to send myself back there voluntarily. It would be a complete and utter waste of my energy to do so." Asher stated as she closed her eyes to begin to focus, bringing her hands up to her Anti-Amps in her ears. "Now as a secondary but necessary precaution, I'm turning my hearing as low as it can go, meaning I'm going to have to mute you until I'm finished. If I don't pick back up or text you in the next 7-10 minutes or so, call me since I'll have the vibration all the way up on my phone in my pocket. If I don't answer after a few times, then just come here to check on me I guess to make sure everything is running smoothly."
"Okay I will, good luck."
After Asher muted and disconnected her Amps from her phone, she turned the dial to make it so that practically no sound was coming in through her ears, blocking her out from the world around her.
She let in a small breath through her nose and out through her mouth as she extended her hands out in front of her, projecting her dimensions around the building below her feet. It didn't take her long to detect foreign gravitons in that space that she hadn't left there herself, using them to somehow lead her to the esper who had left them there in the first place.
Now here comes the hard part, she thought to herself as she moved her arms to her sides.
She hesitated for a couple moments before expanding her dimensions across the entirety of the 7th district, instantly feeling an incessant aching in her head and hearing her breath coming out harder than it was from before as if she wasn't able to take in enough air from the strain of going past the limits of the amount of gravity she should hold and sense at one time.
She felt her arms shaking at her sides as sweat rolled down the side of her face, connecting her fully to the space itself and unable to ignore all the fluctuations as it was nearly impossible to do so.
I need to finish….f-finish this as quickly as I possibly can, she thought as the purple streaks in her hair seemed to grow in size, taking over the blonde in her hair as red tinged its edges.
She began searching and searching for the esper who would of had the same exact graviton signature that was left behind when this store was attacked. After a few painstakingly long minutes, she felt something come across her senses as she found the esper she was looking for in a place that she has been to numerous times.
It was easy to tell that it was the esper that they were looking for as her eyes opened at the fact that a notable reaction was starting somewhere in that building, sensing a build-up of gravitons beginning to accelerate enough to be concerning.
Seventh Mist, she thought as she was about to stop what she was doing.
Of all places, it had to be the one place where multiple people filter in and out throughout the day for their apparent liking to use their energy to shop or look at clothes from afar.
Something that the others always-
After that thought came across her mind, another thought relating to it came to its forefront.
Wait…w-where did Mikoto say they were going today?
["Alright I will and will hold you to do that at least." Misaka said as her face fell slightly, though the smile on her face remained. "Do you think you'll be up to maybe at least going out sometime around 3-4 to go shopping with me, Uiharu and Saten?..."]
["...If you change your mind though, you can either text me or meet us at Seventh Mist around the time I said before."]
No th-they can't be still there…they would have left by now. They would have gone there right after school and not do anything other than that. I'm just causing myself to get worried for…
That was when she noticed a familiar EM field that she wouldn't have been able to mistake for anyone else due to have been near the top Electromaster in the city for nearly half of her life, noticing then that the accelerated gravitons were about walking distance for the girl and her friends to be caught right in the explosion of unknown scale.
Mikoto, Saten, and Uiharu….are still there a-and…and they literally have no clue of the danger that's there, she thought as her body trembled slightly, feeling like her entire body was paralyzed and couldn't move because of the fear and panic beginning to seep into her soul.
Mikoto would probably not notice it until it was too late…if I had been there and actually gone with them today, I could have been able to tell something of that caliber was there right from the get-go.
I need to tell Kuroko of this and go and get there as fast as I possibly can…o-or they might….
They might…tch….
In that instant, it felt like her head was being crushed, having forgotten the fact until now that she hadn't stopped what she had been doing before, accidentally losing a bit of her focus, and leaving herself in a whole world of pain as a massive ringing sound began to surge in her head.
She tried to stop herself from screaming, cutting it off as a quick shout of pain as she clutched the front of her head tightly and fell to her knees, with her eyes wide open in agony.
"D-Damn….i-tt…N-Not now….ngrghh!" Asher said angrily under her breath as she shut her eyes in pain, feeling as her senses and awareness were ripped to shreds even with her Amps trying their best to block out the noise filling her head at unfilterable rates.
She stopped her ability from projecting her dimensions across this district, thinking it would alleviate some of the strain but knew at the same time it would amount to nothing in the process as she shook in agony.
K-Kuroko….I h-have to t-tell Kuroko, she constantly thought as she tried to push her body to do something that it was completely against, refusing to even listen to her anymore.
I have to tell her…I have t-to tell her so that the o-others won't be hurt i-if I'm n-not….
If….I-I…I-I can't…
But…I can't…
I-I cant….I can't think st-straight anymore.
The light slowly faded from her blue eyes as her thoughts gradually took a turn for the worst, losing her hold on them entirely as her mind couldn't stop making her think about the noise in her head and how that it was more important to be fixed versus their safety.
Ri-Ringing…S-So much ringing…Noise, just tons and tons and tons of noise!...if it doesn't stop…I could be a danger….to this c-city again.
Th-This must be another trial…..I m-must still have that device inside of my head. And Silas f-found a way t-to activate it wh-when I w-wasn't paying a-attention.
He's b-back and he's trying to manipulate me with this horrible noise that won't stop…ever stop…n-never leave me alone…t-to force me to redshift un-until I c-can't anymore….t-to break me again and…again and again and again….until I snap and lose myself again.
"Someone …a-anyone please…make it stop. I n-need…n-need help. I'm going to lose c-control…I'm going to put everyone in danger again. H-He's back…Silas i-is back...He's trying to break my mind again!" She began to mutter fearfully under her breath as the world felt as though it was beginning to close in on her as she huddled in on herself and clutched the sides of her face as tears fell from her eyes.
"He's going to push me over the deep end again….he's going to make me hurt my friends…make me hurt Mikoto another t-time. He's going to take everything away. Every single last thing that I just regained….that actually m-makes me happy and content for once in my life..."
"Wh-What am I going to d-do!? I d-don't want to go through this again…I d-don't want to start over…I don't…"
"I don't want to forget everything for a 2nd time…I-I j-just I-I just….want to b-be normal a-and not deal with this anymore."
I just want to calm down…and be left alone to be content for at least one moment but I can't…because he's here. He's always here.
H-He's somewhere close by and probably h-has been all this time, watching and waiting to get me alone l-like I'm right now like he did back then to capture me.
Why did I come out here t-to allow that to happen?
These thoughts just ran rampant through her mind even though there was still some part of her that knew that what was happening wasn't Silas's doing as she was just having a hard time processing everything going on around her from being overwhelmed by sound just minutes before. But the larger half of her was thrown in the past as her present self was drowning in it, unable to break her state of panic from not being able to focus on anything other than that.
It was like her mind almost couldn't as her already damaged brain confused the sound for the same exact ringing that littered her memories and nightmares of the experiment that she hadn't been able to endure as much as she thought she would have when it was proposed to her by someone who had probably wanted that to happen.
At some point and by some miracle her attention had been somehow drawn by the phone vibrating in her pocket, feeling the haze over her mind clear slightly enough from seeing Shirai's name pop up, a small reminder to a problem that was real here and now.
Not the fears that she hadn't been able to escape from…
R-Right Kuroko…I-I need to warn her about what's about to happen and go stop it myself, she thought as she began to feel irritated with herself for allowing her emotions to get the best of her again, rationalizing why they shouldn't be there in the first place.
I need t-to stop whatever this is I'm doing…I can't get lost in the illogical nonsense my head is trying to force me to focus on, especially now.
I shouldn't.
It's stupid and starting to get so old: panicking, getting anxious, and having all of these illogical mental breakdowns and useless feelings on the littlest things possible just because of something that I willfully did to myself? It will hold back the others more so if I didn't have it to begin with.
She scavenged enough energy to shakily rise to her feet as a small shadow fell on her face, bringing up one of her hands to answer the call from Shirai as she began to make haste to Seventh Mist…
To the next attack that was targeted by the Graviton Bomber in which her friends were in danger of getting caught up in the crossfire.
They need me for once, even if they don't know it for themselves. That is something worth to use my energy for, not sitting here and having my 3rd or 4th panic attack of the day for no reason at all. She thought to herself as she bit the side of her cheek, hearing something going on the other end of the line of her Amps and raising the volume enough that she could hear it to some extent.
I've nearly reached my breaking point with this. I probably already have. I can't stand feeling like this when I used to be able to just internalize and desensitize myself from things like this entirely. It hasn't even been a day since I've woken up from that headscan, and I'm already mentally, physically, and emotionally drained just because of something I've already went through…And I hate it…even if I didn't remember all of the details until now.
Emotions have no amount of logic in them whatsoever and should be shown when they absolutely have to be…that is something I've always known.
Right now and nearly never is one of those times as suppressing them is the only logical thing to do to prevent others from seeing something that needs to remain hidden and will go away over time by losing its significance.
To prevent them from worrying about someone who should never be worried over in the first place…as I don't deserve it.
Even if a part of me wants them too…To get me to show them how I truly feel about them and this hard situation as a whole that I've carried within me probably my entire life…
Judgement 177th Branch Office
Shirai and Konori were sitting in a stress-induced silence as they waited for Asher to finally pick up the phone after Shirai's second time of calling her.
Konori had been trying to talk her down from going there to check on the esper in question, since her 10 minute time limit hadn't been up yet. But for some reason, Shirai had just gotten this inkling of a feeling that she needed to check on her after the minimum amount of time she had given to her had passed.
As they waited for a little while longer, Konori took a look back at the evidence in front of her, sighing at the fact that they were struggling to figure out what they were missing in this situation to narrow down the suspect.
"Hey, Shirai." Konori said aloud as she laid her head into her hand. "Do you think we have two different suspects with the same M.O.?"
"Nope…" Shirai simply stated, seeing Konori deflate in her seat from shooting down another one of her suggestions right as she made them.
"I'm grasping at straws here. There is literally nothing to go on to find a connection between the attacks." She replied as she began typing on her computer as Shirai dialed Asher's number one more time before she would go out to get answers for herself on what she was currently doing.
"Well we need to figure it out soon before one or more people become victims of these immoral attacks. I was hoping Zierdan would've figured out something by now, but she has gone completely radio silent to the point of concern." Shirai remarked.
"Why is just one solid lead so difficult to figure out with all of the help and information we've gathered so far?" Konori complained. "Nine of our collogues have been injured in these attacks already…"
Shirai took a pause at that, not noticing that Asher had picked up the phone as her eyes widened in shock at what Konori had said to her.
"Nine?" Shirai asked aloud as Konori turned to look at her in confusion.
"Is something on your mind?"
"Doesn't that seem like an awful lot?" Shirai asked before the both of them arrived at the same conclusion.
"Maybe we're the target of these attacks!" Konori said in alarm before the both of them heard a notable sigh on the other end of Shirai's phone.
"Damn it…it all makes sense now. Why hadn't I thought to ask that?" Asher stated aloud after she had remained quiet to listen to their conversation.
"Whoever it is must be coming for her of all people…"
"Zierdan!? What have you been doing all of this time!? I've been trying to call you for at least 5-10 min-"
"That piece of information honestly has no significance right now, Kuroko. I'm not in the mood or have the time for one of your lectures, so I suggest you stop while you're ahead or be at risk of making me lecture you instead for getting on my nerves for ignoring that fact alone." Asher remarked, holding not even a drop of emotion in her tone, completely monotone even compared to her usual stoicness.
"All you need to know is that I finished my task and have discovered the current location of both the bomber and next attack to be at Seventh Mist. I'm currently on my way there now, but I'm a little farther off in comparison to you, so I think you should go and warn Uiharu of the matter on your way there."
Shirai was so taken aback at Asher's tone with her that she didn't have enough time for her to explain in more detail before she hung up the phone in her face, looking down at it in disbelief.
She was wondering what had happened in the last 10-12 minutes since she had talked to her last to cause her to change to be so cold with her tone but also lack that brutal coldness at the same time.
She snapped out of her stupor, however, when she heard the alarm go off from the computer right in front of Konori, displaying information on the screen that correlated with Asher's findings.
"She's right! Accelerated gravitons have been detected at Seventh Mist!" Konori announced aloud as she rose up to her feet in shock as Shirai stood up and looked at the computer in shock herself.
Somewhere in the 7th District…
After getting off the phone with Shirai, Asher was focused on pushing herself to the max in order to make it to Seventh Mist on time, sensing that the accelerated gravitons were on a direct path of reaching critical mass too fast in terms of the distance she still had to traverse.
Her face was darkened in a shadow as her it bore absolutely no emotion with the only semblance of it seen within the vibrant purple in her eyes tinged in red that couldn't hold back that she was completely and utterly furious with herself and the situation as a whole.
She kept thinking on and on if she had decided to go with Misaka, Uiharu, and Saten today, would she have allowed them to be in this position to where their lives were in danger?
If she hadn't caused herself to fall into an irrational amount of panic from allowing herself to get overwhelmed, would she have been already there if she had left right then and there?
And if she hadn't pushed herself after the headscan a couple of days ago, could she have been able to sense this mad bomber before any of these events even happened, so that this would have never been a problem in the first place?
Every time it played through her head, the ends of her hair slowly but surely grew red at its edges, growing more than it should have from trying to bottle up the anger hidden in her soul as she started to lose the will to keep herself balanced to not redshift enough to completely set her off…
Saving that fact for the Graviton Bomber themselves when she would come face to face with whoever it was before the person attempted to leave the scene of the crime.
Come on Zierdan, you need to go faster! she thought, ignoring the fact that her ears were constantly dropping drops of blood onto her shirt due to her eardrums being damaged from the sound assault to her senses previously.
You need to get there…you need to be there on time in order to make sure they're safe.
She clenched down on her teeth slightly as this situation reminded her of a crucial point in time she should have been there to save someone that was precious to her, only to arrive late from not knowing that to be the fact of the matter.
Desperately hoping that wouldn't happen again today…
I won't…
I refuse to be late a second time.
Even with the pressing matter before her, a smirk grew on her face from the thought of it all as her eyes were nearly overtaken in red.
I will get there the fastest I can and make sure that they won't get hurt…I swear it.
Even at the cost of my own mentality to do so, without caring if I push myself too far to be an issue for the last sliver of sanity I have left in this moment.
After a couple moments, she closed her eyes and released a sigh, opening them with her normal purples as the smirk on her face faded into a frown.
"When I arrive, whoever this bomber is going to honestly wished I hadn't that's for sure. Such energy wasted in the most ridiculous and illogical way possible." She said under her breath with her tone layered and laced in restrained rage. "He or she better hope Mikoto finds them before I do, because I have no clue what I'm going to do when I track down that esper's graviton signature that I've been doing ever since I found it surprisingly enough…"
"I may have more patience than her in most situations, but as of right now I've completely run out of it entirely and will hold no remorse for what I'll do to them if they end up harming any of my friends or anyone for that matter. They'll be lucky to get away with their dignity intact after I'm through with them if that happens to any extent."
"If he or she wants to go around and risk the lives of those around them, thinking they'll gain something in such a way as that then…"
"They logically shouldn't have a care for their own well-being if it's at risk from someone like me, giving me the great opportunity to show them in the hardest and most soul crushing way possible how foolish of a goal that is just as I had to find out the hard way for myself."
After that, she continued on to Seventh Mist, seeing it in the distance as it pushed her to go even faster towards her destination.
Seventh Mist
Misaka, Saten, and Uiharu were looking down into a display case until one of their phones started ringing.
After a couple moments of the loud noise beeping in her pocket, Saten notified Uiharu of the fact that it was her phone, prompting her to get it out and answer the call.
"Hello this is Ui-"
"UIHARU!" Shirai said loud enough on the phone to cause Uiharu herself to grimace from the volume. "We have an update on the Graviton Bombings. Zierdan was able to narrow the place of interest for the next location that is being attacked, which is backed by the surveillance satellite picking up on an explosive acceleration of gravitons. She's on her way there now, but I don't know if she's going to be able to make it in time to cancel out this reaction from occurring…"
Uiharu looked down at her phone in surprise, before quickly moving it up to her ear as the others started to worry slightly from the look on her face.
"Where is it happening?" Uiharu asked.
"Anti-Skill and, as I said, Zierdan is also responding to the scene immediately, but I'Il need you to get back here to the Judgment office at once!"
"But hold on, Kuroko! Tell me where the next attack is!"
"It's at a clothing store called Seventh Mist in the 7th school district."
This made Uiharu pause for a few moments, noticing that the small hunch she had was correct in guessing that this was the next location being hit. Whatever the motive was for the Graviton Bomber, a mall filled with tons of people would be a good sight as any to commit the crime for their own satisfaction or immoral desires.
Even with the danger hanging over her head, this did not deter her from doing her duties as a Judgment officer.
"That's perfect then as I'm actually there right now! I'll start the emergency evacuation!" Uiharu said in determination, having no clue that she was essentially the target of this attack.
Shirai didn't have time to notify her of that fact, though, as she went ahead and hung up the phone in order to focus at the matter before her.
After hesitating for a slight second, she pushed back the fear into the back of her mind and turned around to face her friends behind her as calmly as she possibly could.
"Please listen and do not panic when I say this. Asher along with the surveillance satellite have detected where the attacker's next target is. We're standing in it." She explained as a look of shock fell onto both of their faces.
"Wait, what did you say!?" Misaka asked in complete disbelief as Saten remained silent in her own.
"Here's what we're going to do: I want you to start helping with the evacuation, Misaka…" Uiharu ordered as Misaka nodded her head as she turned to Saten. "And I want you, Saten, to go ahead and get to safety."
Saten at first felt opposed to this all together, not wanting to abandon her friends who were going to stand in the face of danger without her.
But…
She knew that unlike the others, she didn't have any power in this situation to do anything of use for them.
Something that she had been realizing these last couple of days of being fact as she was only a Level 0 and knew she would probably just get in the way.
As she held onto her and Misaka's bag that held the things they had gotten for Asher in an attempt to help raise her moral, she resigned to make herself content with Uiharu's decision and not argue for her worth to help.
"You'll be careful too, won't you?" She asked, seeing Uiharu send her a smile to relieve her fears as she ran away.
As Saten went outside with the other evacuees, Uiharu and Misaka made a tag-team effort at getting the entire store emptied in order to prevent any more people from getting hurt from the bomb hidden somewhere inside.
After she was done with her part of her task, Misaka stood outside of Seventh Mist with the rest of the onlookers until she saw a familiar boy running up to her. Even if her irritation spiked at his presence, it was quickly put onto the backburner from seeing the amount of concern and panic located on his face.
"Zapper, have you seen the little girl that was with me before!?" Kamijou asked as Misaka gasped in disbelief.
'"Huh!? I thought she was with you for all this time!" She replied in shock as worry filled her chest, seeing him shake his head.
"I can't find her anywhere." He remarked as he turned to look across the crosswalk at Seventh Mist. "There's a chance that she could still be inside of the store…"
"NO! What is she doing in there!?" Misaka shouted as she went right back into the store, hearing Kamijou follow right behind her.
"Hey come back!"
When they had ran in there, they both looked off to the side and saw the little girl they had been looking for with Uiharu, gifting her with the same frog that Misaka had saw not too long ago.
No that cant be!
Misaka's fears were answered, however, seeing Uiharu toss the stuffed frog away from them as the gravitons had accelerated nearly at the point of combustion as it condensed into itself.
"Get down right now! That thing is a bomb!" She heard Uiharu shout as she made an effort to shield the girl from harm, prompting Misaka to run out in front of them.
I'll railgun it out of here! she thought as she took her coin out from her pocket before it slipped from her hands and onto the floor.
Her radar had been slashed in half after a window had shattered somewhere, immediately seeing a purple vibrance light up the area before it went away as quickly as it came as she had dropped her coin onto the floor in surprise of detecting the esper so suddenly.
Wait was that?
She didn't have time to complete that thought as her eyes widened, seeing Kamijou step right in front of her as the floor was overtaken from a massive explosion, clouding her vision completely in that instant.
A few moments before the bomb went off…
After standing there for a little while and completely terrified for the lives of her friends, Saten happened to catch something out of the corner of her eye.
She hadn't heard the esper's footsteps, being as they had most likely been dampened with her gravity barriers as she had chosen to make the rest of the way to Seventh Mist closer to the ground.
But when Saten had caught a glimpse of her purple streaked blonde hair, there was no one in the entire city she could confuse her of being…
That can't be…is that Asher? she thought in disbelief, not having seen a glimpse of the esper in question until now and suddenly feeling relieved that she actually was up and about.
But that relief quickly shifted back into fear from seeing her make her way up to one of the floors of Seventh Mist and crashing through the window, witnessing the floor that she had just made it to basically explode directly into her face.
Her eyes widened at the sight, not seeing her friend come back out of the smoke and completely feared that the worst had just happened.
While someone else in close proximity to her had very much hoped that it actually did, since he had been the one to plant the bomb in there in the first place.
His name was Kaitabi Hatsuya, and he had been given the well-earned name of the Graviton Bomber from his recent attacks on the city in an effort to take out those who never were there to protect him from harm or those who wanted to bring said harm to him.
That was perfect down to the very second! My power is still growing and giving me the power that I have dreamed for such a long a time! he thought as he turned around and left the scene with a wide smirk on his face and laughing to himself under his breath.
He arrived into an alley to contemplate the thought of all he had done, laughing even louder that he had success after success towards the goal he so desperately wanted to reach.
"Aha..hahahaHAHA! I'm getting close. So so close. A few more attacks and I should be ready!" He said mostly to himself with a wild glint in his eyes, not noticing the presence that had just uncloaked herself from behind him.
"I'll take on Judgment and those punks at school with this! I'll blow every last one of them away straight to hell!"
"Oh…so that was the goal, was it? How very…underwhelming." He heard someone say darkly from behind him, causing him to stiffen in surprise but also feel complete and utter terror go through his soul from hearing the venom in her voice.
How did she find me?
Before he even had a chance to turn around, he felt as though he couldn't move from where he was standing at all as the area around him seemed to hold him in place, seeing a vibrant purple glow illuminate the area as the air seemed too heavy to the point it was nearly unbreathable.
"There was some part of me that hoped there was some logic in what you actually wanted to come about in these reckless and objectively foolish attacks of yours, to find some semblance of understanding even though I knew it to be completely and utterly illogical…" The girl behind him began as she casually walked out to be in front of him with the gravity seeming to get even heavier around him as she came closer.
"But that was all thrown out of the window when I witnessed for myself in which you nearly killed 3 people very close to me and a little girl who had no means of knowing your gift was going to rip her life away from her and those I mentioned if it hadn't been stopped by a boy protecting them. You go and attack Judgment of all people to the point you want them and those around them to be wiped off of the face of this city for your thoughts of vengeance and power? Then that is something you're going to regret entirely as I've been needing to let off some steam this entire day and you seem like the proper candidate for me to do so…."
"Mikoto isn't here to even be able to hold me back or calm me down at this moment, so that's something else that is not going in your favor as she is probably one of the few people who can in the mood I'm in right now."
When the girl finally came into view, he immediately saw the uniform she was wearing while also connecting the dots of who she was from seeing the streaks in her hair and color of her eyes. There weren't that many people to have gravity abilities such as this or…
Have such a dead look in her purple eyes in which her face seemed to be emotionally distant from the situation entirely. But contrasted with the words he knew to be laced in anger as she couldn't keep that emotion from being restrained any longer.
He had heard about her, knew of the top gravity user in the city that went to Tokiwadai Middle School. He had never thought that he would meet someone like her…especially like this.
Someone he also knew to have been a threat to this city some time ago, while she now hid herself mostly from the public eye nowadays…
That's…she's the!? Kaitabi thought as he saw her eyes were overtaken in a vibrant red, answering his thoughts entirely.
She's the 5th Ranked Level 5, GravShift Z….
Th-the Calamity of Tokiwadai Middle School!
"I'm guessing you've heard of me from the look on your face. A look I've received so many times in my life that I can recognize it quite well by now even if I don't understand most people. Especially people like you." Asher stated coldly as she stared at him stoically.
"There aren't many ways to piss me off as quickly and as much as you have in this moment and basically the last part of my already fairly lackluster day that still hasn't ended no matter how much I want it to. I'm not fond of losing energy because of it and even if some may still say otherwise, I honestly do care enough about people to not see me like this. To see me completely snap and brutalize them with my words in retaliation of their illogical efforts. But with you I'm going to make an exception. Which is something that I've said before that…"
"You're going to so regret and pay for during this whole experience of meeting someone like me in this manner. And better hope that someone I tolerate more than you comes to save you during my in depth and borderline hands-on lecture of your actions." She finished as she smirked in slight amusement, seeing Kaitabi's eyes widen from being reminded of that fact.
Word Count of Chapter: 9711 |Page Count: 18 pages |Reviews: 57 | Followers: 45 |Favorites: 36
Small AN for some hope from the emotional rollercoaster I'm probably been putting you all through for a while now:
I know, I know...
This story has been lacking the lightness from its earlier chapters for some time now. The laughs and silliness known as Asher's short circuiting and unique sense of humor, Saten's and Uiharu's hugs of friendship, Misaka's banter with her, and Shirai's 'disagreements' have been well missed...
I miss it too:`)
But you can probably tell its warranted with Asher's state of mind right now, along with a button being pressed that probably should have never been pressed in the first place as it doesn't even compare to the ones Shirai stumble upon or the ones Misaka presses outright just for fun.
It may not seem like it, but...her temper is probably on par or even worse than Misaka's when it's completely broken. And has no one supervising it at this moment...
But as a small tease and some light at the end of the oh so dark tunnel we've been in for a while now, the lightness will return in some form or fashion in the next chapter.
Review Replies
Blankow: Thanks! Even if it shows a more dark and depressing side of her character, I knew that Asher wouldn't have been able to get over something that quickly from how much she falls into the habit overthinking things and blaming herself for some things that she doesn't notice she had no control of. And even if a couple days have passed since the hospital visit, it literally feels like that just happened yesterday for her from waking up two days after the event itself. So thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you and along with others see the realism of her perspective.
Even if she knows it will take a lot of her energy, she is probably the only one who is able to contain their silly and sometimes reckless behavior within the situations the Railgang ends up getting themselves into. It may be starting to seem somewhat bleak, but Z will return to some form of normality gradually after this chapter.
You are actually the first one to mention (some have probably already noticed by now) that Asher self-deprecates constantly which is usually hidden behind her laziness and stoicness she tries to portray at times. Her and Accelerator are fairly similar in terms of their thoughts on their own guilt as a whole which is usually hidden by their own personalities.
Z definitely does need her friends, especially after what took place in this chapter as she has nearly reached rock bottom in terms of caring about herself but still has care for those around her.
One day, Touma may learn of her past. When that will happen will remain to be seen;)
LostNeko120:Aw thanks and you're welcome:`)
Someoneluck: Thanks!
I said it a little in a reply earlier, but even if it has been a couple of days, the headscan Asher had relating to her memories that had once been lost to her feel as though they were put in the night before no matter how much Shokuhou tried to help by allowing her to digest it.
As it has been mentioned before, she has a hard time processing things both because of her personality but also from the backing of the brain damage she suffered from the experiment, making her fight with the PTSD she has but actively tries to ignore to be even more so hard for her to get by, with her friends being the only ones to help just by being there. I'm glad that you and others like my decisions regarding on how to show her mental state.
You know it's bad when Misaka isn't able to cheer her up in some form since this is probably the first time in the story that she wasn't fully able to.
I thought the little tease to the Graviton Bomber was needed. Glad to see it was well-received lol:D
AcceleratorxAsher was a ship presented to me by Blankow as a way to throw a new ship in the mix to combat the other shipping that's probably happening by some of you behind the scenes, with me as the author still on the fence of who to choose to win the hard fought battle.
I know that Touma was unfortunately missing in the last chapter and makes a small appearance in this chapter. I will think on how to get Touma to interact with the gang more. The only wrench in that plan is Misaka as she doesn't even allow him to get 10 ft away before shooting her electricity at him. Asher likes his company enough to use her energy to protect him from her, though, so we'll see.
velvetsthetic: Aw thanks! I try to entertain at a constant rate of speed for you all's viewing pleasure:`)
Addie101: Thanks! Again, I'm glad that you all like how I've written Asher's mental state. As Misaki has said a few chapters before: "Her personality is a mixed bag that anyone would get lost in if one is not careful" and I'm probably no exception at that fact as her personality is complicated to say the least. Glad to see I'm doing it well though.
Even though it's a little later from where we are now, both Asher and Misaka are connected when it comes to the PTSD from the events that they've been through. Right now for Asher though, she's trying her best to actively ignore it, which in some ways is just making it worse and more severe whenever she does by affecting her mentality.
Soooo, I'm currently following the anime plot. Poltergeist is definitely going to be a thing from what I can say (unless I change my mind) as some of it will be setting up the next arc being the Sisters' Arc. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do Silent party as well, along with the Index movie and the 1st Railgun OVA I think.
gaidzani: Before I start, I am in no way offended by the advice on the grammar mistakes lol. I knew it was going to come sooner or later as I have started to see them as well. English is my native language, though, proofreading is still an art I have to learn from what it looks from the said mistakes I've seen.
Even from reading over the sections of a chapter 3-5 times to check for said mistakes, some just happen to appear out of nowhere when I post a chapter. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. I've been going back in my other story to fix them this week, so I'll go back to fix the ones in this story as well.
I'm glad you enjoy Asher's character and her banter with Mikoto. I knew it was crucial to show how close they are due to their past. I have some ideas on how that will be shown more in-depth, but that will come at a later time;)
I'm glad you've enjoyed this story so far and thanks for your advice! It was very much appreciated:D
Stay safe as well!
Thanks for your reviews!
-PurpleClover99
