A Certain Premonition

by WwEpsilonwW

A certain girl was supposed to die on October 9th, at the hands of the 4th ranked Level 5. All part of a Battle Royale... But, what if a boy interfered. Something that couldn't be explained rationally, this boy was made aware of this blonde girl's impending doom. Will this girl die because it is certain? Or will the boy shatter the illusion that is fate?

4. A Second Round

Kamijou made his way back to school, despite his entire body still groaning in pain. His fight with Mugino had happened just a short three hours before. And in that time, he had woken up in the hospital and met with Frenda and her friends.

(Not a lot of time has passed.)

Kamijou felt like events had been way longer, but he guessed that was what a near death experience would do to you.

The boy was now lacking the standard issue hospital gown, dressed in his usual clothes, the dark blue winter coat with matching slacks. They were a little worse for wear, but it wasn't as if they were unusable. Plus, it's not as if he had anything else to change into. Kamijou would be going to back to school after all. He could have skipped the rest of the day and went home, but then he would have to deal with a classmate of his, one he had specifically told that he would coming back.

Though, even if he did go home, there might be a surprise attack waiting for him there as well. Kamijou shivered.

(I don't think I can survive one of Index's biting attacks with my body in this state…)

So, Kamijou went with the lesser of the two evils and went back to school— where he might be just be beaten up anyway.

(But maybe I'll make it just as school lets out, and only get half a beating…?) Thinking this, Kamijou could only sigh at the unfairness that awaited him.

The trek towards A Certain High School from the hospital wasn't too long, but it was notably slower because of his body's fatigued state. "Oh thank god." He practically brightened up in joy as he finally saw the entrance of his school within view. He hastened his approach all the more quickly when—

Move.

A cold chill ran down his spine as his senses screamed at him to evade. Kamijou dived to the left instantly. Half a second later, a green beam of scathing hot energy barreled past where his head would have been.

(Wha?!)

His thoughts completely failed him as his body moved on autopilot, expertly rolling into a crouch facing the direction of the would-have-been kill shot. There stood a person who had to have been approaching him from behind for a while now, and Kamijou recognized them instantly.

Long brown hair. Tall and beautiful body. Eyes that spelled death for anyone who looked in them. She was an Esper that he thought he had seen the last of. But he should have expected he wouldn't have his way.

The 4th ranked Level 5 he had the extreme misfortune of meeting, Mugino Shizuri.

"Tch. How in the hell did you dodge that?" Came the girl's irritated mutter.

"What are you—" Kamijou's attempt at what was probably a pointless question failed to come to fruition, as four beams sparked into existence around Mugino and were immediately fired in Kamijou's direction.

(Damn!)

He didn't have a lot in the way of cover at the moment, seeing as how he hadn't even made it up the upwards slope that led to his school entrance yet, but that didn't mean there was none. Things would just be a little tricky. Kamijou dashed off to the side, clearing the pavement and ducking behind one of the trees that lined up the main path. In doing so, he immediately heard the tell-tale sign of the high velocity projectiles zooming past him. However—

Thunk! Thunk!

A few of them impacted directly onto the solid wood that was shielding him.

(They moved!?)

Kamijou thought in a panic, assuming the green particles had tracked him in midair. But he calmed down as he belatedly realized something.

(Wait no… that's not what happened…)

They weren't fired all at once. She had fired them one at a time, readjusting her aim with every one of his movements. Kamijou was relieved that she didn't get a power up all of a sudden, but this barely helped his situation. Hamijou peaked his spiky head out from the tree, only to barely thrust it back as iridescent fire almost hit him between the eyes.

"Kh…!"

(Close! That was way too close!)

His heart was beating out of his chest. Of course it was in a terrifying situation like this.

What he needed was to escape from this area, and hopefully bring Mugino with him. But would she chase after him if he ran, or would she notice what he was doing and start attacking the school? Kamijou couldn't risk the latter so he decided he would stay put. He was far enough away from the main buildings to prevent students and staff from getting caught in collateral anyway. At least, he hoped that would continue being the case. But right now, he needed to solve why she was attacking him. Well, he was pretty sure he knew why, but he needed to be sure.

"Mugino, are you still mad from earlier?" Kamijou shouted over his shoulder from behind the tree. But the minute Kamijou said that, he wanted to punch himself.

"Am I mad? AM I MAD?! What the hell do you think?!"

(Okay, maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.)

"Look! Is there any way we kind solve this peacefully?" Kamijou cried hopefully.

"Why don't you come over here and find out?!" She yelled as she fired more beams at him, getting closer to his position slowly.

(Well, there goes the much-preferred diplomatic route… not that I was expecting much anyway. But I had to try dammit!) Kamijou thought with disappointment.

However, even though Mugino was approaching his position, she wasn't hastily rushing. This told Kamijou that she now knew better from their last fight. She would not allow him to get into close quarters as easily as before, not when that practically rendered her powers useless the last time. But he might still be able to surprise her by making contact with her body with his right hand. Kamijou wasn't sure if she had figured out exactly how his hand worked just yet, but he was hoping she just assumed he could continue using it as a shield and only a shield.

But even so, Kamijou couldn't just wait for Mugino to reposition herself. That would spell out his death, fast.

He had to make a move.

Mugino had been pelting the tree with non-stop assaults without faltering, so she was probably waiting for him to properly get into her vision. So Kamijou decided to do just that. He would get into her vision.

…

…

…

Mugino was getting annoyed by how long this was taking. However, she wouldn't get impatient. It was because she lost her cool did this bastard get the drop on her before.

(All I need is one shot, and then I'll shower the pavement with his guts!) She thought with an eager smile.

—A flare of dark blue suddenly darted out of the trees to Mugino's right.

Spurred by adrenaline and surprise, she immediately fired upon it without thinking. A searing hot beam of light tore through the air without any mercy and caught the target dead center, burning a hole straight through insanely quickly

A little too quickly.

Mugino knew her power was strong, as it would have to be in order for it to shred through metal, so burning through flesh wasn't a challenge. Though there was no way that it had went through that guy's body that quickly.

As Mugino pondered this, her "target" fluttered helplessly to the ground.

It was a dark blue overcoat.

(What!? His—!)

It was too late though. She had already caught movement to her left, moving in directly into her blind spot.

Kamijou had dashed using the line of trees as cover the minute he had thrown his jacket in the opposite direction. If Mugino could shoot rapid fire, he would already be dead, but she had to take the time to generate more beams each time. On top of that, she had to properly aim them too.

Kamijou clenched his fist and was in her space by the time she had done exactly that.

"Bastard!"

Mugino canceled out her power as the boy in front of her was now too close for comfort, only managing to put her arms in front of her face as a fist collided with them. Kamijou's fist didn't manage to break her guard, but it did disorient her. Kamijou, someone who was experienced with brawls with delinquents, was not someone to let this opportunity pass him by.

The second Mugino took a faltering step, Kamijou was on her again, with another fist coming her way, but this time, aimed at her gut. He felt impact.

"Gah!" Mugino spit out saliva as she recoiled. "You son of a bitch…! I'm gonna fucking castrate you!"

"As much as I feel guilty about hitting you, and the fact that you actually just said 'castrate', you ARE trying to kill me!" The boy yelled, just narrowly dodging a wild haymaker Mugino threw. However, he grabbed it, and gripped her wrist firmly, holding it in place. The other arm came swinging, and he hastily grabbed that one by the wrist as well.

Mugino couldn't move her arms. And as much as she wanted to go full Meltdowner, she found that she couldn't. But this wasn't just because she was in the line of fire — not wanting to shoot the piss-ant in front of her lest she damaged herself in the process — it was because she actually COULDN'T activate her power.

(What the—? Is he doing this…? What the fuck his right hand?!) She grit her teeth in frustration.

Kamijou's voice entered her ears. "Hey, let's talk about this. This doesn't need to end in violence!"

"Shut. UPPP!" Mugino growled. "All you do is talk and take cheap shots. You are JUST a Level zero! Why are you this hard to kill?!"

Mugino was beyond livid at the level of difficulty this was proving to be considering her opponent.

(This… This… This… insect! A lowly Level 0! One like that weakling Hamazura, who I could dismember instantly!)

Mugino believed this to be the case.

"Just a Level 0 huh?" Kamjou muttered as he struggled to keep her in place. "Now you believe me? I thought I was just mocking you before?" He retorted, a little irritation rising to the surface.

Mugino finally stopped struggling, as she looked at Kamijou and grinned. "Yeah, but then I looked you up, Kamijou Touma."

A shiver ran down Kamijou's spine. He always imagined a sexy older girl saying his full name one day sure, but this… he thought it would be under very different circumstances. "H-How did you even know what to—?"

"You said your name out loud in that alley-way you dumbass…!"

Kamijou did recall something like that happening.

"And imagine my surprise in finding out that even a Level 5 clearance wasn't enough to gain more than name, a level, and some hundred or so hospital records—"

"THEY KEPT THOSE?!" Kamijou yelled in what looked to be distress.

"Why the fuck are you asking me for?!" Mugino shouted, and then did something that Kamijou had forgotten about, a certain weakness that she could exploit that all men had. Her leg lashed out, striking right between his legs.

"Hbbwaahhh…!"

Kamijou went white as a sheet as he collapsed to his knees. However, Mugino (kindly) saved him the time of keeling over himself, because she promptly roundhouse kicked him, sending him flying backwards. Kamijou tumbled in a spiral, landing on his back. But that didn't stop him from instantly hunching over to cradle his proof of being a man. Honestly, he looked really pathetic.

Mugino donned a feral smirk. "How do you like that you piece of shit?"

"Ah…Ahhh…. Ohhhh-… You just-…(Wheeze) … You kicked me in the—…!?" Kamijou did not finish, instead choosing to wantonly moan and groan while clutching his lower extremities.

"Hah? You gonna cry? Get up you fucking pussy." Mugino mocked, chiding him in displeasure.

"G-Get up she says…!?" Kamijou seemed a bit delirious as he processed what she said, replying in mock sarcasm, however dazed he was.

"Heh…" She scoffed. "You just like to run your mouth, don't you? Well let's see if you stay that way by the time I'm—"

"Oh shut up with that!" Kamijou suddenly shouted, cutting her off. "I don't wanna hear anything from someone who kicked me in the dick! How would you like it if I punched you in the breasts or something!?" Looking ridiculously indignant, Kamijou glared at her from his curled-up form, not bothering to mince his words at all.

"Wha…t?" Mugino replied on autopilot, her voice ice cold.

What was this guy doing right now…? Saying such things to her. Actually… Mugino just realized something off about this situation. Looking at Kamijou as she was, she noticed an irregularity.

He was looking at her with a form of rueful anger. No, not even that. He was looking at her like she was just an annoyance in his day. Like… she was just a pest bothering him. To him, it was like Mugino wasn't even a threat. He wasn't joking to mask his fright of the situation… no… he was joking because he could. He had the energy to joke even when facing off against her… HEERRRRR! He wasn't scared, not at all. He was facing off against a Level 5, someone so scary that your day or entire life could be ruined with one wrong word. That's how serious her title was. That's how much fear and respect she expected with her position.

(But this guy… Kamijou Touma….?)

Mugino bit down on the back of her teeth and began trembling.

The air seemed to have changed.

"(I get it. You're STILL making fun of me. You still think I can't touch you, huh? Even in this situation…)" Mugino was muttering and Kamijou could barely hear her.

"Uh… Mugino…?" Kamijou blinked at the sudden change and started to get a bad feeling. "D-Did I cross a line? Should I… Should I have not mentioned your breasts?"

"KKKhhhh…..!"

That was it. In a single terrifying instant, Kamijou felt a wave of overwhelming bloodlust and killing intent, several times more terrifying than what she had exuded previously.

And then, she screamed.

"KAAMMMMIIIIJJJJJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'M GONNA RIP YOU INTO FUCKING PPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

Green then lit up Kamijou's vision.

The most Meltdowner orbs Kamijou had seen her activate at once was six. However, this was three times that. Looking like a celestial goddess, twenty-three particle waves surrounded her like a magnet, each in the air and ready to serve the will of the one commanding them. Fear was not the first emotion Kamijou felt. Rather, he was captivated the grand spectacle. But in the next moment—

"Die."

That feeling disappeared. Hell rained down in a blurred cacophony of light.

…

…

…

Fukiyose paced back and forth in an empty classroom, looking cross. School had ended an hour ago, and there was almost no one still inside the building, except her that is.

(He still hasn't come back yet.) She thought as she looked at a lone bag draped over a chair in the back corner of the room.

She of course, was talking about Kamijou Touma.

Now, he didn't necessarily say that he'd be back as soon as he got off the phone with her, and he wasn't obligated to do so by any means, but that didn't change the fact that the girl might have silently… secretly been hoping the boy would show up before the day ended.

"Ah! What am I doing? This is ridiculous. There's no reason why I need to wait for him." And with that sudden change in mood, Fukiyose whipped around to grab her own bag near her desk.

That's when she heard it.

"KAAMMMMIIIIJJJJJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'M GONNA RIP YOU INTO FUCKING PPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

"…!"

That bloodthirsty scream deafened Fukiyose's thoughts and she shrunk in on herself just as quickly. And in the very next moment, her heart throbbed in fear. Yes, fear. Because more than the terrifying words that promised violence to all those involved, Fukiyose had heard a singular name.

A name of a boy who was unaccounted for at the moment.

Before Fukiyose even realized what she was doing, she slammed the door open, and took off in a dash. Down the unbearably long hallway. Down the stairs, two at a time. Around the corners, barely stopping to get traction in her step. She ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. Her loud footsteps were only dwarfed by the sound of her own booming heart as each step caused it to quake in unease.

Eventually, Fukiyose found herself stopping at main entrance of A Certain High School.

"Huff, huff…. Huff, huff…" Panting from the exertion, she looked her head towards the retreating sunlight looming in the distance to see—

"!?"

Fukiyose forgot to breathe.

Along the path, she stood witness to a situation that surpassed her wildest expectations.

She could see someone in the distance. This incredibly eye-catching person was an older girl with long brown hair that ended at her waist. However, it was not her appearance, but rather what was happening around her that gave Fukiyose cause for concern. Materializing into existence with what she could only assume was practiced ease, was a plethora of green floating balls of energy, amassing above her head at over a dozen.

This was an Esper power.

As soon as that thought kicked in, Fukiyose's sense of danger went on overdrive, as she assumed that whatever this girl was doing was aimed at her, and conversely the school. But that all changed as she looked lower in her periphery.

"?"

Yes, because from where she was, her viewpoint was higher than what was below her. That is why she didn't immediately recognize the existence of a second person; the person this grand application of Esper ability was truly pointed towards.

—Her heart sank.

A spiky haired boy stood with her back towards her.

(Kami… jou?)

However, just before she was about to even think to react in any possible way, a cold word swept through the quiet air.

"Die."

And then the glimmering lights that almost looked like neon stars, fell down on the lone boy. The roar of noise accompanied by the shockwave and grand deluge of smoke that followed stifled Fukiyose's impending scream.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

…

…

…

It was deathly quiet as smoke billowed through the air. Not a peep could be heard. That is, until an eerie breathing broke it.

"Hah…. Hah…. Hah…." Mugino was panting with a smile of pure satisfaction as she looked at the massive smoke-filled crater before her.

The entire front walkway of the school had been completely reduced to rubble, soil turn over, and trees disemboweled from their roots. It was quite impressive actually; so much destruction was beautiful in the aftermath of her victory. Yes. Victory. Because, special right hand or not, there was no way her opponent had survived that without being a Level 5 just like her.

"Ha ha ha…"

Laugher erupted from her stomach.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha—!"

But all of a sudden, a sound made her falter.

Crunch…! Rubble…! Crush…!

Her head snapped to attention towards where the sounds were coming from, the heavy smoke still wafting through the air. Straining her eyes to get a closer look she saw—

(No… No way….)

It was exactly what she thought couldn't have been possible.

Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!

Kamijou burst from the smoky haze surrounding the area, looking as if he had appeared out of thin air.

"Muginooooooooooooooooo!" He roared.

From what she could she, his irises were hardened, like his soul had just been set ablaze. At this moment, she knew. Mugino knew. Kamijou was now taking this seriously. As such, she couldn't stop it from forming, the smile that tugged on her lips.

"Yes… yes! If you died against that it would have been too quick! There would have been no meaning if you crumbled after lasting this long!" Mugino felt positively giddy as that frenzied smile split her face. "Hahaha! Hahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

She laughed like Kamjiou's survival was the best thing in the world. And that laughter sparked the next wave. She shot Meltdowner orb after Meltdowner orb at him, no longer even bothering to be precise. The deadly manifestations or fire and energy cut into the air at scary speeds, all heading towards the soft flesh of the boy in front of her.

Shatter!

They hit his hand.

Crash!

They hit the surrounding rubble!

Flash!

Green illuminated the sky that was beginning to darken.

So much destruction, yet Kamijou had been keeping up with her, not allowing a single of his defenses to falter, nor allowing his balance to crumble. It was the ultimate sword versus the ultimate shield, neither giving an inch of ground to the other. Mugino's volleys began to stir up sporadically as well. No longer was she shooting one at a time, but ten, no twenty within the span of a couple seconds.

"Hey Kamijou! Don't you see, I'm broken now! I've completely lost it! Nothing's bringing me back at this point! This rage, this burning feeling of hate, I need to release it, expend it! It needs to go anywhere and everywhere! All at once! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

She was howling like she was mad, and that might have been the case.

"Mugino…" Kamijou said with an indescribable expression on his face.

But it irritated her!

"Stop… stop it! Stop looking at me like that! Kamiiiiijjjjjjoooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Green masses of destruction exploded left and right, causing flames, smoke and ash. She didn't care if she missed. That didn't matter. All that mattered was this feeling inside of her, and the boy who was taking every last bit of it.

"Yes! More more more more more more more more more more more more more more!"

"Kh…!" The boy grit his teeth laying witness to the rampage in front of him.

He ran at her.

"Mugino, you need to stop! Please stop this!" He shouted.

"Stop…? No, there is no stopping. YOU'VE already stopped me today, so no more stopping." A crazed glint entered her eye as she rambled. "She was going to die but you stopped me, HAHAHAHAHA, you saved her! That traitorous bitch!"

Then she started shaking her head left and right like she was possessed.

"But not this time Kamijou! Nu-uh! This will only end in one way. Death! Whether it's you or me doesn't matter, it NEEDS to happen!"

Kamijou stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed something. (Wha… wait, her eye…?)

Mugino's right eye was flashing green, unhealthily so.

"Mugino, your eye! Stop, something is—"

BUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTT!

He didn't finish, there was no way he could. Because in the next moment, Mugino's right eye burst in a shower of blood, green light filling it up. The scream that followed sent shivers down Kamijou's spine.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mugino clutched her head in a vice as she collapsed to her knees, twisting every which way in what looked to be unimaginable pain. "Ah fuck, it burns, that fucking burns….!"

Kamijou grimaced and took a step forward. "Mugino…" His voice was pained.

But, no sooner did the screaming start, did they change into something else.

"Hahahahahahahaha— yes…! This pain…..! It burnssssss! Her painful howls turned into manic laughter instead. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Mugino…! MUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kamijou screamed her name in what might have been frustration, rushing at her with reckless abandon, not even putting up any defense as he approached her writhing form slumped to the ground.

"Die… hahaha.. you need to—… die…. She needs to die— hahaha… someone needs to die… I need to… die. Die. Die, monster die." Her voice was barely coherent as she was dully staring at the ground with that green eye flashing.

Kamijou didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to help this person. She was his enemy sure, but she was clearly in pain. So Kamijou stopped thinking, and just acted.

"!"

Mugino flinched as an impact collided with her, reacting to its suddenness very slowly. "Ah….Ahhhh….?"

He was….

(This guy is…)

Kamijou had embraced her. She felt his arms wrap around her back, and then even cradling her head.

He spoke rapid fire. "Mugino I…. just tell me! Tell me if you're in pain! Tell me if you're scared right now! Tell me if your angry! Tell me if you want to kill someone! Tell me! Tell me all of it. 'Cause if you don't…"

Kamijou breathed in.

"I can't save you otherwise! Do you hear me? I don't want you to die, not when your suffering like this…!"

Mugino's despondency ceased, her eyes slowly gaining a slight light to them. She noticed the back of Kamijou's head in her periphery, his black spikey hair slightly discolored with blood and ash. "You… You want to save me…?"

"Yeah, I do. Please let me."

"Even though… I almost killed Frenda?"

"Yeah, even so."

What seemed like an eternity of silence enveloped, and then—

"What are you talking about…? There's nothing left to save."

Kamijou's danger sense went off as green flashed violently all of a sudden. But it did not come from Mugino's eyes, nor was it from any manifestation of green spheres appearing around her. No— it came from her left arm.

A sickening crack echoed, as muscles and tendons were split from their constraints.

Blood sprayed as Mugino's arm was blown cleanly from her socket, with green light stifling the blood in place with a chilling effort. Her arm didn't even get to fly to the ground, as the pure destructive power contained within her body incinerated it whole. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Kamijou got a good look at the arm Mugino had just conjured up in place of her other one— no, that wasn't right. Kamijou wasn't looking at a normal arm anymore. This monstrosity of a limb could not compare to her other one. After all, it had just consumed her own flesh and blood like it was nothing.

It was a bright neon claw— that was the only way to describe it. It was large and lanky, looking like it would put you off balance by having attached to your body. The seemingly sharp 'fingertips' at the end looked menacing and most assuredly dangerous. It was as if a mad scientist went to work with parts from an ethereal being, attaching them on a human on a whim. Either way, Mugino's power had surpassed simple applications such as summoning energy. Mugino herself BECAME the energy.

But Kamijou didn't even have time to fear it. Not a single second. He didn't even have time to compare it to another Level 5 transformation he saw. Flexing her newfound power like a muscle, scorching hot energy and all, Mugino lashed out at the Kamijou with killer swipe. He made a move to hurriedly back away when—

"!"

Kamijou's face stiffened as a strange noise echoed, one that filled him with a deeply ingrained sense of dread, and a tad bit of nostalgia. Due to this disorientation, he fell backwards, putting his hands behind him to catch his fall—

…But he only found one of his arms finding leverage on the dirt-filled, ashy ground.

Kamijou's face showed his confusion.

His body felt woefully imbalanced all of a sudden, like his mass suddenly shifted for some reason. But as Kamijou sat there with a growing feeling of unease welling up in his gut, movement caught his eye. He looked upwards; above the demonic entity in front of him, above the danger, above this fight or flight situation he was in, focusing his vision on the remaining hues of the setting sun, and the sky surrounding it.

There, flying through the air, was an arm.

But it was not Mugino's arm. There was no way it could go back from being disintegrated as it was. Which meant…

The boy looked to the right side of his body while his heart began to quake in fear.

But there was nothing there. Kamijou's right arm was missing.

Everything past his bicep was gone. No bones, no flesh, and most curiously in Kamijou's hazy mind, no blood— ah, no. The blood was there, it had just already stopped flowing out of his arm like a fountain. But Kamijou didn't make such a distinction. Because in the very next moment, his whole world seemed to freeze, and a terrifying silence hung in the air.

And then, Kamijou only heard one earsplitting roar, just as his vision went dark.

…

…

…

Mugino had stared at the flying limb like it was otherworldly— Kamijou's, not hers.

It was like she couldn't believe that it had so easily been lopped off his body. Well, she used 'easy' lightly here as the path to get to this point was paved with a bit of sacrifice. She had forsaken both her eye and own appendage, just for Kamijou to lose one of his. However even though that was in no way an efficient trade of blows, she grinned madly despite it all.

Because it was gone.

That accursed right hand was gone…!

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed a broken pitch. "It's gone! Its gooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She stood up with an uneven gait, brandishing her inhuman extremity on the left, and the demonic eye on her right.

"Now you can die! Now it can end! This festering pain will finally—…ah…" Mugino's deranged dialogue halted all of a sudden.

She had noticed something increasingly odd, so much so that her abundant euphoria diminished entirely. It was the boy in front of her… his arm— the wound he had gained upon losing a limb… there was no longer any blood coming out.

None at all.

His arm should be a gushing fountain of his insides, yet no such liquid came out. Another thing Mugino noticed, unlike her, when Kamijou lost his arm, he did not scream at all. Mugino hastily looked at the boy, to his eyes, wondering what expression he had on his face right now. Mugino was actually eager, hoping it was something extraordinary; like unbridled rage, pure terror, or maybe even a glare of defiance. But what she got — the expression she saw when she looked at Kamijou's face — was absolutely none of those things.

Kamijou was unconscious. And it was with that realization did a change occur.

Yes… Mugino was not prepared for what would come next.

Something sinister, something evil, had entered their reality, as if finally breaking in from god knows where.

…

…

…

The first thing Fukiyose realized when her eyes opened was her head hurt.

"Ugh…" She groaned as she sat up, clutching her head that began to feel woozy at the sudden shift in gravity. She blinked her eyes multiple times, until she realized just where she was. She was sitting on a familiar cold floor, that which belonged to her school.

"What the…?"

Fukiyose looked around, at a loss at what was going on, and reached for her head again, as a pain hit once more, but this time it was different.

(Eh?)

She felt a bump on the back of her head, one that she didn't have before.

She began to piece together what had happened. For some reason, she had lost consciousness. Still confused, Fukiyose got up to her feet and took slow steps towards the entrance of the school and was surprised to see that it was no longer light outside, as the sky had considerably darkened. But while looking out and trying to snap out of her daze, movement from afar was caught in her periphery.

Fukiyose sharply breathed in.

As she saw it, recognition hit her. There stood a woman, one that had different augmentations to her body. Her left arm and right eye were neon green, glowing in the dark. She was quite positively laughing her head off in an eerie manner. Despite there being differences this time around, Fukiyose knew. She knew this was the same person from before, the one who had fired that destructive ability with terrifying destruction, engulfing him with—

(…Him?)

Fukiyose froze as memories came back to her.

And then, her face lost all color. But this was not because she had been struck with terror amidst remembering that fearsome attack, or even because she had recalled just who it was who had been the recipient for it.

Yes, because in reality, what caused her expression to change was something else entirely.

"K—…" Her words failed her.

A spiky haired boy was tainted a deep crimson red of his own making. He lay sprawled out on the ground, completely motionless.

—And he was missing an arm.

Was… Was he…?

(Please no.)

Fukiyose feared the worse, and her heart began hammering away loudly in her chest.

(He can't be… Kamijou can't be…)

Fukiyose's emotions were at their upheaval, and she was this close from breaking down in despair, as the lifeless body of Kamijou surrounded in what she assumed to be his own blood wasn't helping her crippling mental state. And as this was happening, a sound began to echo in her dazed ears.

Laughter. Someone was laughing.

Fukiyose looked to see the girl trembling in what appeared to be glee. She then began to speak, however Fukiyose was too far away to hear what she was saying. She took a slow step forward, a new feeling running through her.

Even amidst this terrifying sensation, she still took a slow step forward. She had to help Kamijou. She had to see if he was okay. She couldn't just do nothing. She didn't even entertain the notion that it was too late.

(I… I need to move.)

She willed it. She willed her terrified body to budge even the tiniest inch.

(If I don't then Kamijou will surely…!)

Finishing that thought was too painful to bare.

Step. Another step. She needed to get closer, even closer. She was now at the very top of the outside stairs, overlooking the girl's form clearly as she cackled. Fukiyose even began to understand what she was saying now. In a rapid crazed manner, the girl was insulting Kamijou as he lay there, and conversely, was glad as all hell at his state.

For Fukiyose, that was unbearable. The black-haired girl clenched her fists, grounded her teeth, and willed every ounce of her body to speak up.

"…—"

Fukiyose was about to raise her voice, however stopped as she noticed something. Down below her, the repetitious horrid laughter had stopped abruptly, a dull silence filling the air. Stirred by this causality, Fukiyose studied the woman's features in confusion.

(Eh?)

And imagine Fukiyose's befuddlement as she witnessed the shocked and borderline nervous face of the crazed woman before her. Fukiyose turned to what she was staring at—

Her eye's widened, her blood simultaneously running cold.

The blood that had been almost endlessly pouring out of Kamijou's right arm had stopped completely. And then, adding onto this impossibility, the blood began to float in midair. This caused Fukiyose to stop breathing altogether. From her position at the very top of the stairs, she could see what was happening very clearly; so much so that she instantly realized that the blood wasn't floating, at least not by itself. Something that was coated in blood was making it seem as such.

Drip. Drip.

Fukiyose watched with bated breath as this blood rose to tower over the crazed woman, amounting at three times her size, the red liquid from Kamijou's body coalescing its form. And what it looked like sent the stifling emotion known as fear barreling into her pitiful human body.

(Tha… That's a—)

With its fangs dripping fresh blood, a rigid scaled body shimmering in the moonlit glow, was a creature with narrowed beady eyes— predatorial slits that were focused on the older woman in front of it. There was no mistaking what this was.

But before Fukiyose's catatonic mind could come to name the creature in front of her, something else happened first.

It opened its gigantic maw.

All sound vanished a moment later.

…

…

…

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

…

…

…

A bestial howl echoed so loud that it reverberated through Mugino's entire brain. She completely lost all strength in her knees, falling backwards on her bottom. Her face was sweating, her expression fixed in a perpetual look of terror.

(What the hell is this… What the fuck is this!?)

Those eyes… those narrowed eyes reflected only one irrefutable truth. To this creature in front of her, she was nothing but meat, nothing but the simple sustenance for something higher than her on the food chain. No, not just higher. The thing glaring at her with beady eyes was leagues above her in every possible way.

Her heartbeat quickened, her breathing accelerated.

This thing would kill her and leave not even her existence behind. It was weird. Even in this terrifying paralysis her body would not and could move from, she knew a few things as fact. This thing was a killer, just like her. But unlike her, it did so just because it could. Because it had the power to do so, it would kill others. What other reason could one possibly need? Since it had the power to destroy, to maim, to cull others, it had a responsibility to see that through.

That reverence for murder…

That diligence in snuffing life out of everyone and everything…

…It absolutely terrified her.

Mugino scampered backwards on her bottom, using her legs to gain any sort of distance from the evil in front of her.

What was this feeling? Why couldn't she stop trembling?

"S-Stay away!" Mugino got nervous as the thing inched towards her,

The creature snarled, as if it was laughing, enjoying the look of fear on its food's face. Because Mugino WAS food. There was no doubt. She knew it. The dragon knew it.

Then it lunged at her.

"STTTAAAYYYYY AAAWWWWAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!" She screeched, eyes going wide with terror.

Mugino thrust her modified arm in front of her, hoping to hit the eyes of the crimson demon if nothing else. However, the dragon effortlessly clamped its gaping teeth on the iridescent arm with a vicious frenzy—

"—Ahh!?"

And tore it completely from her body.

Yes. That arm made out of pure energy, one constructed from the very recesses of her personal reality, was ripped away from her without so much as a bit of opposition. But what was scary was Mugino did not feel an ounce of pain as this happened, only emptiness.

She sat there in a daze, completely dumfounded. Belatedly, she shot her Meltdowner, only for it to get eaten in front of her like it was a snack.

The beast recoiled for another lunge, and her mind went blank. She couldn't do anything. She came to that conclusion. She couldn't even run away; her legs had stopped working. She could only sit still and wait to be consumed. She knew what it was after now. There was one last place for the dragon to tear into. Her right eye, and likely her head along with it. Her life was going to end in within the next few seconds.

Being a Level 5? Standing at rank four? That didn't mean a damn thing in this situation. She was just a scared little girl waiting to get punished, just like those days long ago had been like. And as much as she wanted to deny it… the punishment fit.

What other way to end someone who's killed without remorse, than to have them be torn to shreds by a fellow murderer, a beast without mercy. Why shouldn't this be the fate of someone who crossed such a critical line again and again, so much so that she wasn't even sure she was human?

No… she knew. There was no way she was. Not anymore.

Maybe there was a time where she could have saved herself from this path, this fate. But that moment was long gone. She killed without an ounce of mercy, and this is what she got for it. This was her comeuppance for thinking that she had the right to play executioner on a whim. This was her retribution for thinking she was in a place where no one could touch her.

This was…

(This is what I get for trying to kill Frenda… a companion, isn't it?)

And as she thought that, one last image popped up in her mind, as nothing but blood tinged teeth pounced at her. It was that boy who had saved Frenda from certain, inescapable death. A hero to save her. A blinding Light enveloping someone so submerged in Darkness.

Mugino then muttered her final words as she closed her eyes.

"…Lucky…"

She could feel the putrid hot breath of the living creature assault her face as—

"(What do you think you're doing…?)"

A weak voice filled the air. Though even though it was weak, and even small, it traveled straight to the two listening.

Yes. Two.

To Mugino, who opened her eyes a smidge in shock at the sudden familiar voice. And then to the creature about to sink its rancid fangs into her flesh. But most shockingly, the creature actually stopped. That absolute murderer ceased movement, and slightly turned to look at the direction of the voice.

Mugino could not believe it. This embodiment of death, chaos, and destruction had actually obeyed the words of another.

"(You have… no right.)"

Mugino looked as the boy known as Kamijou Touma continued to speak, beginning to push his battered body from the ground into a standing position. But his head was down, and he was swaying, barely able to keep his balance.

Somewhere in her mind, Mugino wondered how it was possible for him to standing at all, with his body in the shape that it was. He had no right arm, a simple bloody stump replacing it, which matched her own arm's state. His orange undershirt was ripped in so many places that it barely covered the bleeding gashes surrounding his almost exposed torso. The pants were more durable, but combined with grime and blood, they made for a nasty color the original blue did not suit.

Nonetheless, he continued.

"(…She's my responsibility, not yours…)" His voice rose, getting louder. "I'll be the one taking care of her, not you…!"

With bated breath, Mugino watched completely dumfounded as the creature stared at the boy, then back to her.

"GRRRRRR….!" A low growl escaped the thing's throat, But that snarl, it… seemed to be out of frustration and outrage. It looked torn in whether to listen to the commands it was being given, or to simply feast without restraint.

Mugino was expecting the latter to happen, as her pulse quickened once again— but!

"I don't care if you're hungry, or if you think she's evil, or whatever the hell else you desire right now…" Kamijou was no longer whispering, no longer speaking softly. "…That doesn't mean she deserves to die. I'm not letting that happen…"

With a jerk, Kamijou's head shot up, and his eyes bore into the narrowed slits of the demon.

"Do you hear me!? I said you're not needed! I won't let you kill someone who still has a right to be saved!"

And with that shout from the boy, a loud sound of glass shattering echoed through the stilled air, one Mugino found familiar. And then to her incredulous surprise, the dragon flinched in pain and let out a small whimper.

Yes! That thing actually looked like it was in pain!

And no sooner did such an impossibility occur, was it quite forcibly yanked backward by some invisible force, heading straight towards where it had come from in the first place, Kamijou's right arm. With one last indignant roar, the creature was stuffed into that missing limb in an ethereal fashion, resonating with a loud SHOOUUUCKKK!

And then in a brilliant show of cause and effect, the second the beast was contained in whatever was pulling it back— a completely normal bare arm was brought into existence in its place.

Mugino had no energy left whatsoever to be shocked at this point.

Silence enveloped the night air.

"…"

Mugino let out a shuddering breath, as she just realized that she had stopped breathing as fear had completely frozen her.

"Wh… W….." She tried to speak, but she found she couldn't even do that much.

Moving her legs to stand up proved to be too difficult a task as well. Her body would not listen to her commands. She just sat there, coming to grasp the fact that she was still alive, even amidst what she thought was certain death. That thing had ripped off her energy arm with ease, and simply absorbed the ranged application of her power. It was just about to finish her off too, just shy from consuming her entire self. It had only stopped for one reason. It was because Kamijou had told it to stop.

Despite the loss of his limb — which was caused by her — Kamijou had awoken from his unconscious state just at the right time and halted the creature at the most critical moment. The creature had come from Kamijou, yet she ended up being saved by Kamijou.

Chills ran down her spine as that reality was cemented into her subconscious. But such a realization didn't bring any of the anger she was expecting to feel. Because even though that creature had come from him, she was still alive. Even though it would have been easier for her to die, safer for everyone involved for Kamijou to let that thing have its way, he still told it to stop.

(He could have ended it, he should have, but…)

Kamijou had deliberately denounced such overwhelming power; power that made her Level 5 ability look like a joke.

And he did so— for what? What did he say?

Mugino's hazy mind recalled the boy's words.

…

"Do you hear me!? I said you're not needed! I won't let you kill someone who still has a right to be saved!"

…

Mugino's mind went blank.

'A right'? Out of all people, she had a right to be saved?

Her?

Step. Crunch. Step. Step.

Footsteps snapped her out of her hazy deliberations, making her realize she had been staring at the ground, unfocused as to what or even who was approaching. She wasn't even sure what expression she had on her face.

Crunch… Step.

The footsteps stopped, but she did not dare look up for some reason. She heard something slump down to the ground in front of her, her eyes seeing the worn-out blue pants of a boy's high school uniform.

"Mugino… I…"

He sounded indecisive, which was typical for him she guessed. She made that observation as her senses were slowly coming back to her.

"Mu—"

"Why didn't you kill me…?" Her throat formed that question. Soft, no hostility whatsoever.

"…"

Mugino heard nothing for a time. However, if she would have looked up, she would have seen the unsure expression on Kamijou's face— kind of like someone who didn't know how to deal with someone who just had a psychological meltdown. The parallels were similar— if not exactly the same.

But after a while, he spoke. "…You didn't deserve to—"

"Oh fuck off with that…!" Mugino's hanging head suddenly rose up quickly, fiercely glaring at Kamijou, causing his words to die in his throat. "Don't give me that bullshit! Don't you dare tell me I didn't deserve to die! That my rotten life has meaning! Hundreds— no, THOUSANDS of people would tell you differently if they were still alive!" She snarled.

"…" Kamijou made to speak, but his mouth shut instead. Mugino kept going.

"I'm a MURD-ER-ER! Understand?! There's no salvation, no happy ending for someone who kills people!" She spat out. "Especially when they have no problem with it! Hahaha! Don't you get it boy! No matter how many I kill, I FEEL nothing!" She screamed straight in Kamijou's face.

Mugino slumped back, her tense shoulders seemingly giving up. "Yeah… I'm just an unfeeling monster…"

She looked down at herself, her expression becoming self-deprecating. She had an arm missing from her body, and as she rose up her right hand, she could see the viridian glow cast on it, curtesy of her glowing eye. And as if to capitalize on its horrific state, it flashed menacingly in an eerie manner.

"(…And now I even look the part…)"

"…"

"There is no regret. There is no guilt. It's just a thrill, and then the next job. That's all it is to me. I get off in getting paid for killing scum like myself…"

"So Frenda was like that then?" Kamijou suddenly asked, making Mugino's thoughts freeze.

"What?" She retorted with a glare.

"I'm asking if that was your reason for trying to kill someone like Frenda." Kamijou's question made Mugino's spine become cold as ice.

She wordlessly stared at the boy who looked at her with a serious expression. Not weak. Not pathetic. Not indecisive. His eyes told her that this wasn't him trying to be idealistic, it was him trying to prove his own point.

With no answer, Kamijou pressed her again. "Would Frenda's death have been a convenient paycheck for you?"

"…No." She responded after a little deliberation. She wasn't sure what Kamijou was trying to get at, so she just told the easiest and fastest answer. The truth.

"Then Frenda must have been a part of that scum you were talking about, right? She would have had to be on those lists that tell you who's lives to end, right? That's why you tried to do it then?"

"No...! That's not why." Mugino grit her teeth, beginning to get irritated. She knew what the boy was trying to do. He was trying to psycho-analyze her.

(…Let him try. He's not going to find anything I don't already realize.) She thought.

Yes, she was sure of that.

"Then why did you do it?" He asked steadily.

Mugino paused a little before answering. "It's plain and simple. She betr—"

"Because she betrayed you…? Sold you out…? Was that all a teammate — a companion that fought by your side — was worth in the end…?"

Mugino had no idea the boy was making shots in the dark based on little information, rather than having been completely informed by Frenda or the others.

"Was it one mistake and you're out, Mugino? Were those the rules you played by?"

"It wasn't one mistake you fuckwit. Every single little thing she did pissed me off! She—"

"So that's your excuse? Sure, you might have fought before, but was her giving up information under duress the out you were searching for? Were you waiting for a reason to get rid of her?" Kamijou's questions grew blunter, more accusing, relentless.

Mugino clenched her remaining right fist, showing her irritation. "Stop. Talking. You don't know a damn thing…"

"That's right I don't!" The boy reached for Mugino's temple with one hand, bringing his head close to hers, forcing her to look at him and only at him. "I'm not very smart, and I won't get things unless they're straight out told to me, so tell me! Tell me so I can understand, Mugino!"

She stiffened under the boy's touch, but her resistance to his actions were lost in comparison to the words being thrown her way. In that moment, clear hesitance and ping of anxiety flashed over Mugino's face.

Yet still Kamijou persisted, allowing no room for contemplation.

"Look me in the eye and tell me what you wished to do…! Was her life so meaningless to you?! Did she not belong anywhere in the girl known as Mugino Shizuri? Was she so empty of a person that her death didn't raise any reluctance at all? If so, tell me. If that's the case, then admit it right here…! If it's true, admit that you wanted to kill her just for the sake of killing her! If that's how it really went down, there should be no problem in saying it out loud. It's easy. It's just the cold hard truth."

The boy's other hand shot up, cradling the side of the girl's head on the other side too. It was not a romantic action, but it was gentle. And that gentleness brought about a small amount of clarity to Mugino's calculating mind.

"She—..." The girl paused. Mugino tried to get the words out. "She—…" She paused again.

But suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind. Or maybe it was something else? An inkling. A possible future of what could have been. A premonition…

…

…

…

It was a simple scene. One could even call it boring.

It was just four girls sitting in a booth at a family restaurant, with one guy loitering off to the side. Mugino was there of course, looking imposing and serious as ever. Kinuhata was her usual laid-back self, picking on a pathetic Hamazura. And even Takitsubo was looking and listening, nodding her head slightly in turn.

And then there was Frenda.

She was eating canned tuna, at a family restaurant of all places. And she was being so noisy while eating it. Humming happily, looking like she was having the time of her life. The girl — someone who threw bombs at people for a living — looked without a care in the world.

But all of a sudden, scene changed. All of a sudden, that blonde girl disappeared without a trace.

In her place, was a worn-out object laying broken and trampled on the ground. It was covered with blood, flashing with bright colors denoting its original state.

No… It wasn't an object. It was a corpse. It was a corpse of a very small girl. Her skin was sickly and gaunt, eyes wide open in immortal fright. Blood seeped out from every crevice of her body and—… and—…

…The girl's entire lower half was missing.

And standing above her with a manic grin was Mugino herself. Present with a gleaming eye, but this time, her inhuman arm was back. However, she just stood there by her lonesome. There was not an ounce of humanity left in such a rotten husk of what used to be a person.

…

…

…

"(Ah…)"

Mugino's pupils shrank and her heart lurched.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh…!"

A sudden pang of lightheadedness surged, and she brought her hand to stabilize her throbbing head, however she found herself brushing over someone else's, the person who was still cupping her face and refusing to let go.

That scene, it had been so perfectly reflected in steely-azure eyes, the pupils that had so perfectly shown her a possible future. They were Kamijou's. She had… She had been staring into these eyes, the eyes of the boy who was being unyieldingly persistent in what he was trying to say, what he was still trying to do.

Even if… Even if she had no idea why he was bothering.

But that scene, that flash, it told her something. And that voice echoed so loud, that she ended up letting it leave her dry throat.

"She didn't… deserve to die."

She admitted it.

She didn't say it because she was still coming to terms with it. She didn't say it because she still doubted it. No. She said it because it was the truth. She said it because the monster who she had just clearly saw as herself completely and utterly terrified her. And Frenda Seivelun did not deserve to die by that monster's hands, her hands.

"Did you think no one would have missed her?" Kamijou prodded softly. "Was that what made your anger feel the tiniest bit justified? You know that's not true. Whether we like it or not. We all leave a connection behind, even if it's small."

Information dredged up in Mugino's mind.

That's right. It wouldn't have just been Frenda who's world she shattered. A little girl no older than ten would have lost her only family remember.

"I… would have killed her." A pause. "…I would have killed her just like all the others…"

Mugino looked at her sole quivering hand, which was trembling as it rested clenched near her lap.

When did killing people become second nature? When did the bloodshed that she caused no longer mean anything to her? When did she detach herself from everything around her?

But the answer to those questions were so very simple. And that simplicity terrified her. Because she did not know. She did not know when her soul began to grow rotten. She did not know when the dark side's perfect weapon had been irredeemably conditioned. She tried to think back, to her humble beginning as an Esper, when she was a small insignificant Level 1, but… no such memories presented themselves.

All she had was the dark side.

She took a job and killed someone bad. She took another job and killed a bad group. She took another, and then executed someone when it couldn't be helped. They assigned another one, and someone had died there too. At some point, it no longer mattered whether they actually deserved death anymore, she just had to keep killing.

For her paycheck. For that thrill. For her reputation as ITEM's MELTDOWNER.

So she killed.

And she did it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

She raised her gaze to Kamijou's eyes. Uncertain now met certain. And finally, there it was. Doubt flashed over her features. It was tremendously small, but nonetheless, it gave way to a question that should have been so far buried in her subconscious, that such a notion would have normally never come to be.

So, as that doubt took hold, Mugino asked it.

(What… What was I even doing…?)

In that moment, something noticeably shifted in Mugino Shizuri's mental state. Or rather, the more apt descriptive would be— it was realigned.

"There was no point… There was no point to any of it. I just conditioned myself to be a well-behaved puppet. All for them, all for the dark side. None of my choices were my own. I was manipulated right from the very start…. And look where it got me. Now I'm a monster…" As she finished her rampant melancholy, just on cue, her right eye pulsed.

She was torn that she killed people who may not have deserved it. She was irritated that she sidled up closely to those higher ups, doing their dirty biddings again and again. And when it was all said in done, she looked like this. She was no longer Mugino Shizuri the girl, she just was the incorrigible embodiment of her power, of MELTDOWNER itself.

But…

"No…" Kamjou shook his head while smiling. "You're not a monster. …This right here…?" The hand cupping her face rose up ever so slightly, touching right next to her inhuman eye. "It's proof that you broke from their expectations; the result of giving it all you had."

"…But…"

Mugino wanted to say that 'result' was nothing but demonic and horrid, but Kamijou did not let those words escape her mouth.

"—But whether that something is good or bad is up to you to figure out. No one's words should hold more weight than your own, not even mine..."

Those words formed a solid blank in her mind.

"Not even… yours?" Mugino stared at him, eyes cocked in confusion, disbelief pouring out.

"That's right." Kamijou dropped both of his hands, relinquishing that tender touch and leaned back. "In the end, the decision of what you need to do is solely on you. Forcing you or making the decision for you would be pointless."

He was saying it was Mugino's decision and no one else's.

"Honestly, it was just my selfishness earlier in wanting you to hear me, speaking as if I knew what I was talking about." Kamijou laughed lightheartedly. "That was pretty pretentious of me, huh?"

In the end, if Mugino rejected his thoughts, or even tried to kill him again, there was nothing Kamijou could do about it. There was never any way that he could permanently stop Mugino from acting. Yes. Kamijou never even considered death as an option.

And that's why Mugino's jaw dropped.

(After all that…. After everything I did….. He would just leave it up to me…? Leave what I do from here on in my hands?)

But that also meant something else.

"Then the reason you didn't let that thing kill me was because you wanted me to make the right choice? That's why you saved me? Because you were hoping I would do the right thing…?"

"Well I uh…" Kamijou seemed to think it over for a moment, then he smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did."

It was the stupidest thing she had ever heard. In fact, anyone who attempted that on a battlefield where someone was trying to kill them HAD to be an idiot with a death wish, no question.

"And what if I chose wrong? What if I chose to kill you right here even after all that?" Mugino had to ask, tempting the boy with a little bark in her tone.

Kamijou's face immediately cramped. "Then I uh… would curse my rotten luck and hope I can dodge the attack?" He said, the latter half of his statement sounding like a question.

"…"

Mugino's expression did not change as she stared at him. But after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Mugino looked away and made a weird sound with her mouth. It was kind of like she was suppressing a laugh. Then, in a self-derisive tone — barely audible — she said, "Seriously, out of everyone who could have come into that alley, why did it have to be this person?"

"O-Oi. I'm pretty sure that's my line Mugino-san…!" Kamijou cried out.

But Mugino was right. Anyone else wouldn't have let it reach this point. Whether they had a chance to kill her and took it, or whether they ended dying themselves in attempt. The fact that things had progressed in the way that they had was truly mind blowing.

(And it's all this guy's fault…)

Mugino looked back at Kamijou with an exasperated look.

"What?"

"…Nothing. So? What now? You soundly beat me, without even killing me no less. Surely there was something you wanted out of all this. Those bullshit ideals of saving me aside, you don't really expect me to believe you had no other ulterior motives, right? So, what does the victor want? Money? The prestige of getting a Level 5 on her knees? Or were you maybe hoping I'd fall for you and masturbate to you in my dreams or some shit?" Mugino's sounded off rather crudely.

Kamijou instantly opened his mouth to deny her outrageous claim, but it fell shut. After all, she was right. He did have an ulterior motive in all this. There was one thing he had to ask of her, even if it might end up being too unreasonable.

Kamijou's mouth formed a thin line as he stared at her intently. "Yeah, I did have something I wanted from you…"

Mugino just smirked in a knowing manner. "And what would that be, Kamijou?

Of course, she had no intentions of doing whatever he wanted. That damn monster inside of him or not, she wasn't going to become someone's bitch just because she had been utterly annihilated by that thing. If he asked for her body, she would eagerly punch him between the eyes with her — still attached — right arm. If he wanted money or something like that, she…

Mugino grumbled.

(I suppose I can give him some…)

Truthfully, Mugino was thinking a meager number like 1/5 of her most recent cut. But she was unaware that even that much would be something Kamijou would frothing at the mouth for. Level 0's had it rough. Especially Level 0's with a roommate who ate him out of house and home.

Nonetheless, Mugino was prepared for any request the boy would make.

"I want you to apologize to Frenda."

—That is, until he actually spoke.

"Hah?" Mugino looked absolutely gob-smacked.

She couldn't believe what the boy had just said.

As seemingly good-natured as he was, she was sure that — given the opportunity — he would let his actual desires slip in, regardless of the consequences. For real, she was actually ready to retaliate accordingly to any unreasonable proposals.

But.

But…

"You… You want me to apologize to her? That's all…?!"

"Yeah." Kamijou nodded.

"But why…? Out of all things? Why do you even care?"

"Hm… It's kind of hard to explain, so you might not get it but…" Kamijou looked Mugino squarely in the eye. "Just because you were the bad guy this time around Mugino, doesn't mean you're stuck like that forever. So, I want you to do something you've probably never done before in your life."

Still trying to make sense out of such odd reasoning, she asked, "…And what is that?"

"It's simple. You say sorry and mean it. You get down on your hands and knees and beg for forgiveness for trying to end a life. They don't have to forgive you, and if they don't, you have to live with that. But you have to plead for it, they're owed that right. Nothing can begin again until that happens." The boy spoke as if he knew what he was talking about.

In actuality, he was a hypocrite. Telling Mugino to do something like that, apologizing for wronging someone, when he himself hadn't even done so yet. When he continued to lie to someone because he was scared of what might happen if he told the truth. But even so, the hypocrite still made that request.

Mugino instantly wanted to respond with "What? Fuck no.", however she held it back. If all Kamijou wanted in exchange was apologizing to the person she had tried to kill, which was something she already… regretted… then she could at least do that much.

Mugino brewed over such things in silence.

"…Fine."

"What?"

"Fine! I said fine! I'll apologize to Frenda, not that she's going to forgive me anyway, but I'll do it."

"Really?!" Kamijou looked at her incredulously.

"What's that look for…?" Mugino asked in irritation.

"Oh, nothing, it's just…" Kamijou looked sheepish all of a sudden. "I thought for sure you would have replied with something like 'Go fuck yourself' or 'Say that again and I'll kill you'."

Mugino's eye twitched in annoyance, but she couldn't get mad because that's probably how this conversation would turn out under different circumstances.

Kamijou stood up and quickly shook his hands dismissively. "B-But if you're all for it, that works too!"

"Yeah well, wipe that stupid look off your face before I change my mind…" She muttered, about to get up as well but—

"Need a hand?" Kamijou had his bare right arm outstretched in front of him.

Mugino looked at it, temporarily distracted by the fact that it had indeed grew back despite being sliced off. But she shook her head and glared at Kamijou, looking affronted at the offer of help. "No, I don't. So mind your own damn—…"

Mugino froze at something she just realized.

Kamijou was grinning and seemed to be chuckling.

"Oi. What the fuck did you just say…!?" She said, clear hostility leaking out into her voice.

"S-Sorry, too soon. I couldn't help it. Please forgive me." Kamijou said apologetically for his pun— which couldn't have had worse timing.

Mugino got up and steadied herself, feeling the odd sensation of imbalance due to her missing appendage. But at Kamijou's antics, she simply huffed and looked away.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm leaving, fuck off and save someone else that needs it, you damn hero." She said with the most amount of venom she could muster as she turned away.

Kamijou simply smiled and waved, watching her retreating form. But right before Mugino was completely out of hearing distance, Kamijou shouted, "If you run into Judgement or Anti-Skill, make sure you tell them your unarmed!"

Mugino whipped around so fast, Kamijou thought she would have whiplash.

"KAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIJJJJJJJJJJJJOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"Ayyyyiiieeeeee! I'm sorry! I-It was a reflex response, I swear!"

"LIAR! You thought of it from the very beginning didn't you!"

Kamijou's response was taking a hesitant step back in fear of what she might do next. Mugino looked about ready to charge him as the boy feared, but she suddenly stopped and deeply sighed. Then her expression turned into a smirk.

"I'll let you off for now…" She said.

"R-Really?" Kamijou said in amazement, not being able to believe his luck.

"Yeah." Mugino nodded, that strange smile adorning her face.

This should have been Kamijou's cue to feel afraid, but he didn't realize it.

"Oh thank you Mugino-sama. For a moment there, I thought—"

"But that just means I'll save your punishment for next time." Mugino said as she strode off, after having enjoyed the boy's expression.

Kamijou's face went pale at the word 'punishment'. His mind flashed over various scenarios, each more terrifying than the last. However, he didn't notice the incongruity of Mugino's statement— that she said 'next time' like it was assumed that they would meet again, soon even.

He would come to ponder on that much later.

…

…

…

"I wonder if I'll get blamed for this…"

Kamijou was standing in the exact same spot Mugino had left him, but he was paying attention in great detail to his surroundings. It looked like a meteor fell down. That or a bomb went off. Honestly, Kamijou thought both fit pretty well. The trees were torn from their roots, the bright red pavement was utterly demolished until nothing but dirt and rubble remained, and the surviving grass surrounding 'ground zero' could not have looked more out of place.

"But at least the school's okay… I hope." Kamijou said, getting nervous all of a sudden.

He was sure that no serious damage had come toward its direction in the long fight that occurred, but now he was a little uncertain. Fueled by this gnawing apprehension, Kamijou began to hoof it up the numerous steps. But he stopped as he noticed someone standing at the top.

"?"

For a second, he thought it was Mugino, come to dish the punishment she mentioned, but Kamijou froze as the person he was looking at was someone else he knew. Even though it was dark, Kamijou could still make out such recognizable features. Long black hair parted over her forehead, a dark blue high school uniform with a knee length skirt, and most notably (to Kamijou's guilt) two incomprehensible mounds of womanhood swelling up the chest area.

Yep, it was definitely who he thought it was.

"Fukyose?" Kamijou called out that name as he paused in the middle of the steps.

But even though she was looking at him, Fukiyose showed no reaction that she heard him. Actually, it was kind of difficult to see what kind of face the girl was wearing at the moment because of the dark.

"Fukiyose, what are you…?" Kamijou stopped speaking as a fear ran through his mind. "D-Don't tell me you're hurt!" At such a notion, Kamijou raced up the steps to the girl, and frantically checked her all over. But he couldn't find any injuries at a glimpse, and this made him relieved.

But he noticed the girl still hadn't said anything.

Kamijou hastily spoke up. "If you're mad about me not coming back in time, I'm really sorry. I got caught up with something on my way back and—"

"(Kamijou…?)"

Finally, the girl spoke, barely above a whisper, that which being his name. However, Kamijou thought something was off about the way she said it.

"Y-Yeah…?" Kamijou cocked his head.

"Kamijou…!"

Yes. He wasn't imagining it. Fukiyose's voice, which was always stern and confident, now sounded scared and unsure. Kamijou properly looked Fukiyose in the eye now. And what he saw reflected back at him were the eyes of someone who had been crying. Alarm bells rang loudly as this sight was so different from the authoritative girl he had come to know, and was about to ask what was wrong but—

"E-Eh?"

Fukiyose suddenly wrapped her arms around the boy in a tight grip, and she wouldn't let go. Then, even more surprising, she began to sob quietly in his chest. Kamijou's mind went completely blank, and his body froze up as the two massive protrusions of femininity crashed into his chest.

(W-Wait, never mind that!) Kamijou had blushed upon contact but rapidly shook his head at such thoughts.

"A-Ah! Hold on a minute Fukiyose-san! I don't remember doing anything to earn this event. And if you hug me like you'll get dirty you know. My clothes are a bit…" Kamijou trailed off, not really sure if he wanted to confirm that there was blood on his clothes, much less his own blood.

"I don't care about that." But the girl embracing him responded succinctly.

"B-But um—?"

"I said I don't care about that!" Fukiyose looked up at Kamijou, showing her tear stained face.

"You were covered in blood and weren't moving. Your arm was even missing! I thought you died! I thought that girl killed you. And then that creature showed up a-and my legs wouldn't move and I wanted to do something but I—hyah?" Fukiyose made a strange noise all of a sudden and stopped talking.

Kamijou had quietly returned her embrace, wrapped his own arms around her. He stayed like that for a bit until he felt Fukiyose relax from her fright. After he heard her breathing more softly, he spoke again.

"It's okay, Fukiyose." He dared to reach and stroke the back of her hair, caressing it softly. "I'm okay. So you don't need to worry about anything like that anymore."

She didn't say anything for a while, content in basking in the warmth she was feeling. And with it, her skewed nerves were slowly relaxing.

"And there's nothing you should apologize for. If anything, I'm the one who should be breaking down and apologizing to you. I'm sorry you had to see all that, and that my misfortune got you involved. So please don't cry. The Iron Wall girl is so much cooler when she's her normal self."

"…Cooler?" Fukiyose made a face at that. "Don't you mean cuter? I am a girl you know. Are you saying that I'm not cute?" She said with a the certain amount of sass Kamijou was used to.

"T-That is a loaded question and this Kamijou-san thinks all answers are rigged."

Fukiyose lightly snorted, and then, "(Idiot. You could have just said yes…)" she said while muttering under her breath.

"Um…?" Kamijou looked at her confused, to which Fukiyose just smiled at him in an exasperated fashion. "It's nothing." And as she said this, the Iron Wall Girl quickly pushed off of him and backed away, hastily turning around.

After taking a deep breath, she patted her cheeks slightly; one's tinged with a slight color of red. "Okay…!" She looked back at Kamijou, taking the time to look him all over. After doing this silently for a while, and after a noticeable moment of hesitation, grabbed the boy's hand with hers.

"K-Kamijou, come with me!"

"H-Hey, what are you— Fukiyose?"

And with that, Kamijou was dragged by a no-nonsense girl by the hand, straight into A Certain High School.

…

…

…

(W-What is this event…?) Kamijou idly thought as he sat rim-rod straight on an all-white bed, while lacking a shirt.

However, he wasn't in the hospital, but in the moonlit lit nurses' room of his high school. Fukiyose had brought him here, shut the door, and promptly said to him, "Take off your shirt." Naturally, there were some red flags and Kamijou might have even had a mini heart-attack because of prior PTSD.

Alledgedly.

Anyway, one misunderstanding from Kamijou and a red-faced denial from Fukiyose later, a certain boy was sitting quietly as the girl next to him suddenly plopped herself down on the bed, with a roll of white gauze in her hands. She had offered to wrap up his wounds.

"Alright, look the other way." She said, not being able to take Kamijou's gaze on her while she was working.

"Oh, sorry." Kamijou looked off to the side.

Now, Fukiyose properly stared at Kamijou's shirtless form. He had minor wounds covering his body, normal cuts and scrapes that needed to be addressed. But what was actually more surprising to Fukiyose was the bandages that were already present, and the dried-up blood that covered them.

(Wha…? Did you get injured earlier in the day as well Kamijou?)

She wanted to scold the boy but held off on it. Instead, she began to intently stare at where she could help him, so she stared at the place's bandages did not cover. And in doing so, Fukiyose found herself getting an eyeful of Kamijou's toned biceps, torso, and collarbone. Without even realizing it, she felt her cheeks heat up.

"Sorry it's so unsightly."

"Huh?"

At Kamijou's sudden apology, she snapped out of her trance with embarrassment.

"My scar. It's a little displeasing to look at, huh?" Kamijou was still looking off to the side, assuming her silence was because of something else.

Fukiyose had no idea what he was talking about, but upon further inspection, she found a weird mark running down Kamijou's right shoulder blade ending at the middle of his back. It was very light, so Fukiyose hadn't immediately noticed it, but it was clearly a scar, one from long ago at that. It looked like it hurt, and as such, she wondered how old he would have had to be to get this wound and have it faded as much as it was.

Unconsciously, Fukiyose found herself reaching out to touch it, but she pulled back just as quickly.

"…I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say.

"Haha, why are you apologizing? You weren't the one who gave it to me." Kamijou said with a lighthearted tone.

Fukiyose swallowed nervously. "Someone… gave it to you?"

She found herself not wanting to imagine what that could have looked like, especially considering how old the scar looked.

"Yeah, though I can barely remember what happened." Kamijou said, which wasn't a lie.

Fukiyose didn't say anything more on the topic, choosing to leave it at that. However, the girl did have a question, one that she had been wondering. She actually had multiple, but she didn't want to bother Kamijou with a bunch of questions he might not want to answer.

So, with that in mind, she spoke up. "Kamijou, that woman, does she have to do with why you weren't at school earlier today?" She asked as gently as she could.

She was expecting the boy's face to look uncomfortable, or even noticeably bothered by her question, but Kamijou only smiled gently.

"Oh, that's…. yeah. We… had a disagreement, and we settled it."

Fukiyose thought there was a lot more to it than that, and chanced a glance at Kamijou's right arm, which was completely fine now. However, she had seen what had retreated in that limb. Fukiyose gulped audibly.

Kamijou saw at what she was looking at and grimaced slightly. "You don't need to worry about that Fukiyose."

The girl looked up at his eyes as Kamijou continued.

"I don't know what it is, but as long as my arm is attached, it can't come out." Then he smiled at her with a bemused expression. "And you can be sure I'd like to keep it that way. Losing an arm isn't very fun you know."

Fukiyose blanched at the boy's sense of humor. "Are you serious? Don't joke about that."

"Actually your right…!" Kamijou suddenly turned serious. "I shouldn't jinx myself like that. I mean it's happened at least three times now. That's more than a human should receive in a lifetime." He muttered with a hand under his chin in thought, his expression turning a bit pitiful.

Fukiyose thought she just heard something extremely concerning, but she tried to let it go. "That again? You shouldn't blame everything on bad luck Kamijou." She said, reaching out to pinch the boy's cheeks.

"Yes, yes. My bad Fukiyose-san." The boy said tiredly.

A comfortable silence enveloped as Fukiyose made quick work of Kamijou's wounds, not that he was in critical condition to begin with. The girl found herself working so intently, she didn't realize that Kamijou was making an odd face.

"Kamijou? Why are you looking away?"

"Ah, it's just, you're a little too close Fukiyose."

As he said, Fukiyose realized she was draped over his shoulder and was once again pressed up against him. Fukiyose flushed red in response, but she didn't freak out.

"W-What are you getting flustered for? I have to be this close to you in order to treat your wounds."

"U-Um, I think you're underestimating how nervous a teenage boy with hormones can get next to an attractive girl!" Kamijou sounded off with no shame.

"I-Idiot!" Fukiyose grabbed his head and pushed it away, making sure he couldn't see her flaming face. "Why'd you have to say that when I was unprepared!"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but can I have access to my head again please!?"

"I don't know, are you going to be a pervert again?"

"There's nothing perverted about what I just said! Don't look down on the pure feelings of a boy with a healthy interest in the opposite sex!"

Fukiyose let go of him and sighed. "You're always like this." But she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. "Alright, all done." She said, tightening his bandages one more time before standing up.

"O-Oh, I see. Thanks, Fukiyose. I guess I owe you one then." Kamijou said, looking up at her with a smile, just as he put his shirt on (which could barely be called a shirt at this point).

"Then…" Fukiyose paused, as if coming to terms with an important decision. Kamijou looked at her inquisitively as she continued. "Then walk me home."

"W-Walk you home?!" Kamijou looked flabbergasted. "You?"

"Excuse me!? What is that supposed to mean!" Fukiyose replied indignantly.

"N-Nothing!"

Kamijou didn't want to tell her that she could probably take on anyone who dared bother her, from run of the mill delinquents to even Espers if such an occasion arrived. She would be able to do so probably a hell of a lot better than he could, that's for sure.

"It's just… is it okay if it's someone like me?" He had to ask.

"Do you see me asking anyone else?" She said with her arms crossed.

"Well, no but—"

"Then get a move on. Let's go. It's late enough as it is."

And with that, she walked out of the nurse's room, making Kamijou run after her. Looking into the hallway, Fukiyose was walking at a casual pace with her hands behind her. She gave him a look over her shoulder, noticing his stare.

"W-What?"

Kamijou shook his head and smiled. "It's nothing, Fukiyose. After you."

"Hmph." Making such a sound, Fukiyose gave a satisfied smile and walked off, Kamijou sidling up next to her.

He didn't know what to think when he found Fukiyose was still in the school, but he was glad she was in a good mood, even after what she saw. If she was happy, then who was Kamijou to deny that? Just for the sake of keeping that smile the way it was, he didn't care what misfortune he got into.

(Ah— right after saying not to jinx myself too…) He said with a defeated expression.

Kamijou Touma really couldn't win. But it was fine like that.

And with that, an unlucky boy's arduous day — finally — came to an end.

---

But maybe there'll be more at a later date?! But not right this moment.

Please Review if you smiled at all in this chapter!

Have a fan-frickin-tastic day!

-EPSILON