Just outta curiosity, how many of y'all have played Deltarune Chapter 2? Man, the story is brilliant; Snowgrave was equally as well written as it was dark, and the OST is just godly-I'll probably end up using some of it at some point. Toby Fox might as well be a magic god of games.
Terrarianium: Unfortunately, one of the downsides with such a big series like Toaru is that a lot of characters miss the chance for their full potential. Kinuhata's one of my favorite dark side members, so hopefully I do a good job with her ;-;. As for your question, she will have a lot of relevance in one of the major arcs in the future. No spoilers though-Imma leave it at that. And thanks for the spelling correction; it should be fixed by the time this chapter is released.
Fortitude501: Misaki'd be fuming if Kumokawa so much as breathed near Kamijou~
VLPURN: Glad I got that across, then. Some say that Gunha is like a cardboard cutout of Kamijou, which I don't agree with at all; so I'm glad I was able to communicate the differences clearly.
Guest: Yeah, I realized that mistake; should be fixed once this chapter is up. Thanks!
tommthecommie: B R U H
animeonlywatchrer: As I've said, I take into account everything in the reviews and what people say, and I don't wanna ignore anyone-I wanna make sure you guys enjoy the story just as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for the kind words!
MGMM: No problem at all! You guys keep the story alive, after all, so I'd like to keep in touch with you all when I can.
thekingofdestroynm: Well, I won't spoil anything. As for Gunha's strength, I agree that it's above Mugino without question; with his full potential he could literally beat Ollerus, so I don't think that's up for debate.
pcmark1: I had a ton of fun writing that lmao
distinguished-one: Crazy types do tend to be pretty fun to read or watch, yeah. Though, that's not to say GUTS should be counted out either~
onlinedoor44: I can understand your stance; but I don't mean for Gunha to be part of the Delta Force; I intend to put him in a position that they can interact with him. Gunha's tends to be very overwhelming for those who speak with him. The reason why I've made him acquaintances with the Delta Force is because they also have quite overwhelming personalities-mainly their perverseness and lack of shame. However, since to me Gunha seems like the kind of guy who would be either oblivious to anything explicit or simply wouldn't care for it, I think he would be one of the only people willing to put up with the Delta Force, where normally no one else would. However, I purposely tried to draw as much contrast as I could between Gunha and the Delta Force; them all being bad at algebra while he's good at it, or him not needing to eat whereas the other three value it heavily. These differences are meant to display the contrast between them; sorry if I didn't convey it that well. But I appreciate the feedback all the same!
themangatester: Glad to hear that. Sorry again, but Kongou's always been a very-Railgun oriented character with her being a textbook Tokiwadai student and all. She's just sorta hard for me to work into an Index storyline beyond some scenes here and there. Thank you for understanding
linuxforallpcs: Actually, Mikoto's also fought Gunha in canon before, in the Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare side story. He caught one of her 35% power Railguns with his teeth in it. As for the story itself, Mikoto will have her moments; but since she's so heavily focused on in the anime mediums of Toaru, I'd like to make this a more Index-oriented story that covers a large cast of characters and overarching plot lines. Thanks so much for your continued support!
me-of-my: Yes, there will be a variation of Battle Royale in the story, in arc 4. As for whether he'll fight Accelerator...Well, I think the answer to that is pretty obvious, though I don't know if I can top the source material. The LN fight of Kakine and Accelerator was great, it was mainly the anime that flopped it. As long as I can top the anime, then that's good enough for me. Thanks for the support!
pringslchips: Damn, that's some high praise~I appreciate that you think so highly of it!
twinonsdl: I answered this in onlinedoor44's review response, but I don't mean to imply Gunha to be part of the Delta Force; I only want him to be another person they can interact with. I contrasted him to the other three on purpose to show that he is still very different compared to them, and that they don't float the same boat, and I've allowed him to interact with them precisely because he isn't interested in their antics. Gunha seems to be the kind of guy who is either oblivious to explicit things, or simply doesn't care about them; and so in turn, he wouldn't really care about the Delta Force's perverted nature, whereas others definitely would.
libton1980: You'll have to wait a little for an in-person appearance Mugino, I'm afraid.
natsukiisthebest: GUTS are universal~
pcusertony: Agreed! Though I believe that Kamachi is underutilizing him on purpose to keep shrouded in mystery; but hopefully we can get more Gunha content in GT! I'd love to see that. And yeah, I'm having a lot of fun writing him~he's a pretty goofy character, and they always tend to be fun to write.
FranceBB: Well, I got good news for you then, cause the Acqua Arc is actually the one I'm doing next. As for how things will play out, I'll leave you to speculate~
VictorLS: Thank you so much, and I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so much! And don't worry about being harsh or having to do other things-that's just part of life, and there's no obligation for you to shower this story with praise or anything, or to prioritize reading it. Thank you again for your avid support!
Funky080900: I'm already aware of Kakine Teitoku's channel, it's where I've listened to most of the Toaru OST's. Nonetheless, I appreciate your thoughtfulness! Though, I won't only be using Toaru OST for the fic-I'll be using many different songs scattered across Youtube. I've got a pretty long playlist of songs I wanna include already, so hopefully they fit well once I use them.
vietnamese guy: Glad that it's peaked your interest! And thank you very much; this is one of my favorite series of all time!
ARC 2: Genesis of the Mirage
Chapter 9: Unexpected Companionship(A_Moment's_Tenacity.)
Academy City was known as a hub of scientific development-with it's technology and science advanced 30 years ahead of the rest of the world, it was the pinnacle of the modern era. And naturally, given the nature of the esper development program, 80% of the city's population being students was what was best suited for continuing to study these esper abilities-as they were planted into the creative, aspiring and energetic minds of the youth.
However, while Academy City was mostly made up of students, making student dorms the most common type of residency, that wasn't to say that there were no luxurious abodes available for those who were well off.
ITEM, an organization of Academy City's dark side, was one such group of people.
"Huh? We've got another job?"
Mugino Shizuri shook her head as she twisted herself around to face her from the couch. "No; you've got another job. An infiltration assignment-I'll send the full details to your phone in a moment. But our liaison said that this is a job that has to be completely immediately without question; lest we lose our protection from the higher-ups. They also requested the job be top-secret; an S-Rank operation."
Kinuhata raised an eyebrow. "So is that why you super want me to go alone?"
Mugino nodded. "You'll be best suited to the job. My power will attract too much attention, Frenda always leaves too many traces behind, and Takitsubou isn't a combat specialist, so it falls to you."
"Hey! Basically, was that a jab at me?!" ITEM'S resident explosives expert, Frenda Seivelun, cried out indignantly from the couch opposite to the Meltdowner.
However, she was promptly ignored, and Mugino continued speaking.
"Your objective is simple; a tall ass building in the middle of District 7 with no windows. It's got a logo for some metalworking business, but that's just a front-it's not a business at all. There's a sewer grate about a block away which feeds into the building, so you can break in that way. Once you're in, kick the asses of whoever gets in your way, and extract whatever information you can about this organization and their operations without getting caught. We'll supply you with some USB's to download data from the computers. You're slim and quick, so you should be fine."
Kinuhata raised her eyebrow. "Kick their ass? I thought this was supposed to be a super stealth operation?"
Mugino clicked her tongue.
"Technically, yes. But it pisses me off that this other group gets to do whatever the fuck they want while the higher-ups force us to play it safe. Do whatever you want-just don't die. As long as you don't do anything drastic we won't get penalized-roughing them up a bit won't bat any eyelids."
"Who even super is this other group?" Kinuhata inquired.
"Another one of the dark side organizations, that's all I know. All the higher-ups have got their panties in a twist because of it, and it's apparently all they're talking about these days. I don't know what the hell they did, but if they're making those bastards this scared then they've gotta be trouble. This likely won't be the last time we get a job like this either."
A hum of agreement rang throughout the apartment.
"So, basically, they're just really paranoid?" Frenda said bluntly. Mugino snorted in amusement.
"They've always been spineless like that. The second something starts going wrong, they can't help but panic." A smug smirk adorned her face as she spoke. It wasn't often that something went wrong for the puppet masters in the shadows, so when it did happen, she would always take the chance to relish in the small satisfaction it brought.
"So I just need to obtain whatever super secret information they've got hidden away and bring it back here?"
Mugino nodded. "Exactly."
The tea-haired girl nodded. "I've super got this. I'll be back by tonight. Have a car prepped for me outside the place."
The Level 5 gave a lazy nod of acknowledgement. "One's already on it's way. Don't worry about that."
"Be careful, Kinuhata..." the voice of the soft-spoken Takitsubou Rikou could faintly be heard from one of the chairs in the corner of the room.
Kinuhata merely nodded.
Thinking back on the urgency of her current mission, only one thought circulated through her head.
"I seriously don't have the time for this!"
She had not betted on meeting anyone within the building, much less another Level 5.
She didn't know very much about the Level 5's. She knew Mugino, of course, as she was the leader of ITEM; she also had met the ever-famous Railgun face-to-face when they had been hunting for a specific Indian Poker card, and she indirectly knew the first-ranked in a way, due to her having some of his thought patterns planted in her head as a result of the Dark May Project; although she had never met him face-to-face.
However, she barely even knew any of the other Level 5's.
She had only heard Mugino mention the second-ranked, Kakine Teitoku, in idle chatter-she knew he led his own dark side organization, but that was all she knew. She had basically no idea who the fifth-ranked was-she only knew her alias, Mental Out, and it was easy enough to discern what kind of ability she had based on that alone; but not what she looked like or how she acted. The sixth-ranked, as always, seemed almost non-existent on the face of the earth, while the seventh...
She knew Mugino had met him once, and she had given a very simple, five-word description for the boy.
"He's an absolute, utter moron."
And Kinuhata could now very clearly see why Mugino held this harsh opinion.
After all, who could be this air-headed? With his own words, he stated that his reason for assisting her was because it was a "6 versus 1." What kind of pity-accruing value was that supposed to be worth? This was no fighter game, in which you would always get a fair fight of a one-vs-one. There weren't any restrictions on cheating or dirty tactics-in a real fight, all that mattered was that you win. She couldn't accept such reasoning. Did he really just want to spar with her that badly?
But that brought a problem of it's own.
"Kinuhata, was it? That's a gutsy name! Now, I wanna see you live up to it!"
The girl raised her hand as if to halt him. "I told you, now is super not the time for a fight!"
The boy just blinked in response. "Huh? But you said it wasn't the time for an arm-wrestling match. That means that a proper fight is still on the table, doesn't it?"
"It was a metaphor! How about you try super taking the hint?!"
"Hint? What hint? Is this some sorta game where we're supposed to figure out a mystery?"
Kinuhata bit her lip to stop herself from screaming.
The certified idiot Sogiita Gunha did not notice the girl's inner turmoil, or even any sign at all of her frustration. Given that he was staring so intensely and expectantly at her, one would think that any person would've taken notice of it at some point, but he showed no signs of doing so. From an outsider's perspective, it would've looked akin to someone who was not understanding the most obvious joke that had been placed in front of them.
Patience was something that those of the dark side had honed quite well. Far too many operations required it to ignore, and the slightest bit of impulsive action could result in a failure or death. Take a hasty shot and miss one moment, and then you would be shot dead the next. Walk the slightest bit forward, and you could be walking into a grenade. The shadows of Academy City sharpened the minds of it's inhabitants to recognize these things.
However, this was very quickly turning into a situation in which Kinuhata Saiai could not hold onto her patience.
"Listen to me, you knucklehead! I'm not in the mood for a fight, so will you lay off for a second?!"
"Not in the mood? But that means that you'll be in the mood sometime, right? Then we can fight later!"
"God, fine! We can fight later or something-whatever's super gonna get you off my back!"
Sogiita then clapped his hands together like a kid on Christmas. "Alright, deal!"
Shaking her head, the girl muttered curses under her breath. "I wasn't expecting him to be this stupid. This is super beyond what I could've imagined." The fact that she had many any sort of agreement with this boy with fists for brains gave her mind cause for concern, but she had decided to prioritize the security of the mission over anything else-even if it meant pissing her off to no end.
Nonetheless, she grit her teeth and began walking towards the stairwell. There was still more to do, after all. She hadn't gotten the data she needed yet.
However, there was...one issue.
There was no one conscious in the room aside from her and the seventh-ranked esper. Everything else was silent-aside from the quiet humming of computers that had not been shut off, there should've been no noise from behind her.
And yet, she could distinctly hear another pair of footsteps behind her. Kinuhata narrowed her eyes.
"Why the super hell are you following me? Just wait a few minutes before making your way down so I can finish what I need to do, then you can leave. Stop being impatient-I don't need you ruining this more for me."
"Huh? No way! If we're gonna fight later, then I wanna wait until later comes!"
"Are you fucking kidding me right now? This guy is even more of a super idiot then Hamazura!"
The girl's brain was now working in overdrive. Part of it was allocated towards mentally ranting about the the empty-headedness of the boy before her, but the other part was focused on the implications of that problem. He was the belligerent type-someone seeking a good fight with a person on equal footing with them-a competition of strength, for the sake of pride and proving one's worth to themselves. It was the sort of thing that would be attributed to battle-hungry knuckleheads; and in this case, it seemed Sogiita Gunha was no exception. His eagerness almost reminded her of a typical street punk-just overly joyful. He was evidently the kind of person who would relish in the thrill of battle.
It bothered her a little. Typically, those who worked in the shadows of Academy City did it because they had to; not because they wanted to. People who had gotten manipulated into it and now had no way out, some were blackmailed and unable to fight back, some had to for their own survival; there was a wide variety of reasons you would get, but there were very few that fought those violent battles willingly.
She didn't think that the level 5 before her was involved in the dark side-he seemed all too dim-witted to know of it's existence, much less operate within it. But nonetheless, she could not help but be a little repulsed by him.
"When I say later, I don't mean as in a few minutes! Can you just super go away!?"
"How later then? I want a timeline, ya know?"
"I don't goddamn know, ok?! How about sometime wayyyyy off in the far future? That's fine, isn't it?!"
"How far off are we talking? I can't keep my guts waiting for long!"
"JUST GO AWAY FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"
The carefully constructed patience of the seasoned dark side veteran, Kinuhata Saiai, had crumpled unbelievably easily.
She was furious. Where was any of his common sense? She knew he wasn't the brightest, but surely even he would be able to read the atmosphere slightly, couldn't he? There was heavy nonsense to his words, and a distinct lack of any delicacy-in short, not at all the type of person Saiai was used to speaking to. Smugglers, thieves, assassins, and others among the shady lot; all were very different, but there was one thing that every dark side member shared: caution. No one drew attention to themselves, no one was tactless, and every word was laced with double meanings that only the astute could pick up on; it was a very big difference when compared to the blunt, belligerent speech of the level 5 before her.
"How about a deal, then?"
"?"
Escaping the prison of enraged thoughts for a moment, Kinuhata turned to narrow her eyes in suspicion at Sogiita. "I'm surprised he even knows how to make a deal."
Although these less then kind thoughts plagued her mind, she did not voice them. Instead, she said something else more civil.
"What kind of deal?"
Sogiita grinned. "Well, if you don't wanna fight right now, then you're not gonna put your all into it if I come at you right now, right? So if that's the case, then let me come with you instead! I'd like to see what other guts you're gonna show me!"
"..."
Kinuhata could only blink.
"...He just completely 180'd what he wanted to do? What is super wrong with this guy?"
"Do you have some sort of super split personality disorder or something?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sogiita tilted his head in confusion. "Well, no-not last I checked. I've only got one type of guts, you know." He spoke as if he was explaining single digit addition to a child.
The brown-haired girl's eyebrows twitched in annoyance at that, but she did not voice a complaint. She didn't need anymore headache courtesy of this boy. So, she just chose to shake her head, then speak again.
"Who said I was going to be fighting? I might not even be doing anything of interest to you."
"Hah! You're a pretty good comedian, miss Kinuhata!"
Unfortunately, her rebuke seemed to do the opposite of what she wanted.
"What? What are you super talking about?" she barked with an annoyed expression.
The boy halted his chuckling for a moment before opening his mouth. "I mean, there's no way you came here and beat up all these guards for no reason, right? If you wanted to fight just to test your strength, then you could've done that anywhere on the street! So that means you've got something you need to do here, right? Something that other people are gonna try and stop you from doing."
"Tch!...Why the super hell is he actually using deductive reasoning now, of all times!? That sounded way too smart for a guy of his IQ!"
Kinuhata took a deep breath.
There was no longer a rebuke available for her to shoo him off. She could not fault his current logic; and if he was smart enough to discern that, then it was unlikely that whatever half-baked excuse she came up with now would fool the boy. The lack of effort she had put into her attempt to make him leave now served to backstab her; a fact that she was well aware of, and also incredibly annoyed at internally.
As such, she was out of options.
"Fine. Hurry up, then." She spoke reluctantly.
Immediately, she resumed making her way towards the stairs. She could hear the footsteps of Sogiita behind her, scurrying to catch up, but she did not slow down.
Time was short, after all.
District 10 of Academy City was typically a mellow, quiet place. It was the location of multiple reformatories, where the more youthful residents of Academy City would be confined in if they engaged in any delinquency. With the city being home to thousands of espers with potentially dangerous abilities, it was only to be expected that they would have to be held somewhere should they turn to a murkier path. In addition to those reformatories, the district also housed a majority of the nuclear research facilities within the city; massive, towering buildings that were a good deal taller then the average condo or high-rise building within the city. With the city being so far ahead technologically compared to the rest of the world, it was only to be expected for them to be performing research dedicated to as many fields of scientific study and concept utilization as they possibly could-which also extended to nuclear study.
These facilities were typically quiet, aside from the hum of machinery. A minimal amount of personnel were required to operate them, since many of the city's machines and scientific establishments were all automated; which allowed for very sparse supervision.
However, today it was not nearly as quiet as normal.
"Gwaughhh! M-Mercy, please! Stay your hand, I'm begging you!"
Blood had been splattered on the floor. It's scarlet red color contrasted the pure white color of the observation deck, akin to a sore thumb.
"Tch. Finally."
A displeased grunt could be heard ring throughout the now silent room. It had only been a minute ago that it had been full of shouting, panic and gunfire, but it had ended as quickly as it began. Only two people in the room remained conscious.
The struggling guard, fully equipped with armor and a rifle, had been brought to his knees, begging for mercy faster then anyone could have imagined. Naturally, there was only a few people on the scientific spectrum of the world who could accomplish this.
Standing over the guard was a scrawny boy, whose messy, unkempt white hair blanketed his head like a curtain. His sin was pale; a complexion of which had color similar to his hair, with scarlet red eyes the same color of the blood on the ground. His posture was slightly slouched, giving off an air of laziness in his demeanor; like he didn't see a threat before him at all, and that the guard he currently had pinned to the ground and had his foot on was nothing more then an ant.
And in this case, it was accurate.
Academy City's number one monster, Accelerator, just rolled his eyes. Normally, strolling into a heavily guarded chamber full of guards in full riot-gear carrying firearms unauthorized, and then proceeding to fight them would be like welcoming death with open arms. There was no other esper in the city who could accomplish that. Even a renowned Level 5 such as the Railgun attempting it would be akin to a suicide attack.
But Accelerator didn't adhere to those boundaries.
A moment later, feeling the silent shaking of the guard beneath his feet, he snorted. "Can't you take a hint? All of your buddies on the ground pointed those rifles at me and emptied half of their magazines, and each one ended up collapsed on the floor with not a single scratch on me. The fuck were you expecting when you tried to pull the same shit?"
For better or for worse, his tone wasn't even mocking-like; it was more matter-of-fact, like he knew for certain that he would emerge from the battle victorious. It wasn't even a taunt in the eyes of the boy, but rather a genuine question, no matter how crude the way he asked it was.'
"Now, what do you know? Cough it up, or I'll give you a bit of...special treatment. How does reversal of your blood flow sound? You'd make for some good artwork in a horror museum, I'd bet."
"GAAHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I SWEAR, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! WE JUST GOT STATIONED HERE FOR NO REASON; WE WEREN'T TOLD WHY! ONLY THAT WE WERE TO LOITER AROUND THE PLACE AND KEEP GEAR ON US! IF I'D FUCKING KNOWN THAT THIS WOULD ALL BE POINTLESS...I WOULDN'T HAVE COME! JUST...PLEASE, DON'T HURT ME!"
The guard shrieked at the top of his lungs. If they weren't on the top of the research facility, he likely could've been heard for a few blocks.
"...Shit. So it was a bait, huh? There wasn't any intel to be had here after all."
"Tch...clever ones, aren't you?" He spat at the now subdued guard.
However, he did not get an answer. The man was shaking badly, as if he was a bobblehead figure that was rattling after being spun around. He opened his mouth shakily, but no sounds came out-only hiccups and whimpers. He likely did not have the mental fortitude to force out any words when in front of the foe he was facing.
Accelerator recognized this as well, and could only shake his head in exasperation. Relinquishing his grip, the guard fell to the floor, his terrified visage never changing as he did so. It was with a grim expression that the number one pulled out his phone. After tapping it a few times, he then put it to his ear.
It only took a few moments before the call was received.
"Are you finished, Accelerator?"
"Yeah. It was a bait location. They don't actually have anything stored here; nothing but a few weapons and guards. Nothing that would actually be useful. What about your end?"
"Nothing here, either. Ours was also a bait location. It seems they already knew that we would be attacking, so they turned tail and just left behind their security to make it look like they were still here. The higher-ups are in a riot."
The pale boy snorted. "What I'd pay to see that in real time. So, they got the one up on us, huh? Can't say I'm complaining, though. I've already seen enough blood in this week alone to last me a lifetime."
A chuckle sounded from the other end of the line. "If only we could say for certain. Where's Musujime? Is she there with you?"
"Nope. We split the work; I took the top half of the place, she took the bottom. It's a big place, but she's got teleportation anyways; not like it matters much. She should be close to cleaning out the place, if she hasn't already. The guards are shitty anyways."
"Alright. Well, if that's all, then just call Management to get you out of there; this time, it'll be a massive truck disguised as transport for some fresh produce, so be on the lookout for it. Now, get ready to leave. Get Musujime, as well. You're certain she isn't injured, right?"
Accelerator scoffed. "Tch, please...with an ability like hers, if she got injured by nothing but a few scaredy-cats, then she wouldn't deserve to make it out of here anyway. Now hurry up and leave. You wouldn't have called to check our status without calling for your own getaway first, right? So get moving, Tsuchimikado."
The blonde gave another chuckle. "You've been getting better at discerning subtext. Me and Etzali will rendezvous with you two soon. We've got one more target to hit."
The phone then gave a beep, and then the line went silent.
Accelerator yawned as he pocketed the phone. This kind of job was almost routine to him now; more often then not, the higher-ups would contact GROUP in order for some sort of job, so much of what would normally be his free time was instead obstructed by his new line of work. He didn't mind as much as he did when he had began, however-his heart of hearts knew that this was necessary.
"I will protect that little brat, no matter what."
He clenched his fist.
He would not fail.
He couldn't fail.
He had an obligation to the safety of the Sisters.
And he would be damned if he broke it out of a lack of resolve.
Slowly, he put his hand over a button on the button of his currently retracted cane, and instantly it extended itself outward back into the shape of a normal cane. Once he had steadied himself, he brought his hand up to his neck, where he pressed a button on the side of his electrode; instantly, the light switched it's color and beeped. "Well," he pondered, "Guess I should find Musujime now." He turned towards the door.
He stopped for a moment, and grimaced. It was an eerily familiar sight. All the guards were strewn about across the floor of the room, slumped over from their wounds. Blood could be seen leaking from a few; it reignited a bad memory.
The taunts of September 30th rang in his head.
"Woooahhh! Ain't that COOL! You might make me fall for you, Accelerator!"
"Oi, just shoot him already...it's a pain in the ass for everyone else if you don't!"
"GYAHAHAHA! LOOK AT YOU! You think you're hot shit?! Barging in on some terrible evil, to save the little girl like you're some sorta hero; it's sad, really! You think that's gonna make up for all the sins you've committed during your shitty life!?"
The laughing face of Kihara Amata was still all too vivid in his head.
"...Tch. Fucking bastard..." He muttered under his breath.
As he left the room, he slammed the door with a little more force then was necessary.
"...Woah. In a bit of a temper, are we?"
Accelerator did not even turn around to face the newcomer. Instead, he turned the other way and began walking down the hall. "None of your business. Now hurry the hell up and follow me. There's nothing left here, so we need to catch transport on the bottom floor and get to the next spot on the hitlist."
Musujime Awaki merely shrugged as she began trailing behind the number one. "Well, don't act all annoyed with me. You just said it wasn't my business, didn't you?"
A vein pulsed in the boy's forehead. "Just shut up and hurry."
Musujime did not reply again as they descended the stairwell.
"So, what's your favorite food?"
"Shut up."
"Not that, either? Favorite color, then."
"Shut up."
"Favorite kind of fight?"
"Shut up..."
"No go, huh...Oh! How about favorite kind of guts?"
"Shut. Up. PLEASE."
"You're not that social, are you, Kinuhata?"
"Ugh-just super keep quiet for a while, could you?! I'm trying to focus!"
The indifferent shrug she received in response as she glared at Sogiita only made her angrier, but she reigned in her temper as best she could. If he wasn't the seventh-ranked esper, she wouldn't have hesitated to punch yesterday's lunch out of him, but she still had no idea what exactly his ability was, and she was aware that he was at least physically capable. She didn't want to know what the potential repercussions of throwing a punch would be. If the boy himself was surreal, who's to say that the rules which governed his ability didn't work the same way?
She wasn't anxious to find out. So instead, she grit her teeth and continued down the staircase.
"!"
Internally, she breathed a sigh of relief. She could now see that they had reached the next level of the building, right below the first one.
"Oh, that reminds me, Kinuhata. You got in through the bottom, right?"
The tea-haired girl whipped her head around to glare at the Level 5. "How'd you super know that?"
However, the boy was unaffected and merely shrugged. "Well, I didn't see any other holes in the roof. If you didn't break in through the roof, then how else would you have gotten in?"
The girl sighed. "Well, I can't really super refute that logic, I suppose; simple as it is." She then raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, what's it to you then? Why does it matter where I got in from?"
"Well, if you came in from the bottom, how come you didn't clear out any guards on the lower floors from the one we met on? Wouldn't it have been easier to start from the bottom?"
Kinuhata just waved her hand. "Are you a super idiot? If I started from the bottom, then that gives them time to escape to the top floor and get out by a helicopter or some other aerial vehicle and relocate. If I start from the top, then anyone who manages to escape a beating from me has to escape through the front door and get out into the ground. Since this is super District 7, there's always Anti-Skill on patrol, so they'll notice if a bunch of agents run out of this mysterious no-entry allowed building, and they're gonna have some questions. Even if they say there's been a break-in here, that'll prompt an investigation on the building, which will unveil the sensitive information they have to Anti-Skill; which they wouldn't want, but if they don't say anything, then Anti-Skill will get suspicious all the same. This is the super best way to flush them out."
She rattled it all off fluidly and without pause like it was obvious.
For the second time, Sogiita actually looked impressed. "Wow! You really thought of everything to beat up these gutless people, didn't you?"
Kinuhata merely rolled her eyes. "It's my job to think of everything. Not like I've got much of a choice."
"Awesome, though! I don't think my guts would have the patience to think of something like that."
"I can imagine," she thought in her head. She then turned back around to Sogiita. "Anyways, enough super chit-chat. When I open the door, we split; you take the left side, I take the right. Sound good?"
"Sounds great! Let's do this!" He gave a battle cry as he slammed his fists together.
...A little too loud of a battle cry.
Kinuhata face-palmed as she heard the clatter of chairs and hushed whispers coming from inside the room. "Well, there goes our super element of surprise...guess it's gonna be brute force all the way through." She sighed as she cracked her knuckles.
Sogiita was a few steps ahead of her, however; for as she did so, the boy jumped forward.
With such force, in fact, that he flew into the room-taking the door flying with him.
"AGHHH!"
"OWWWW!"
Shouts of pain echoed throughout the room as the 100-pound metal door went flying into the room's personnel; knocking them to the floor. But although they were just barely getting their bearings, the boy seemed to spring back into action as if he hadn't just made himself a living projectile mere seconds before.
A grin so wide it almost split his face apart made up his expression, as he looked back with nothing but excitement and thrill ruling his eyes.
"Now, show me what kind of guts all of you have!"
No less then a dozen agents had turned their attention to him. Several of them reached into their pockets, and a second later pistols had been drawn; the typical weapon for anyone working undercover, and with good reason. Light, small firearms were not a very valuable asset in a warzone or raid, but were amazing weapons to keep on standby in case of a sudden threat. It was with no surprise to Kinuhata when she saw them draw the pistols, but she didn't believe that her temporary companion was aware; he seemed unaware of a great deal of things, after all.
"H-Hey, wait! Are you super insane!?"
She did a quick mental count, as they were all focused on the Level 5; seven pistols in total, all aimed at the boy's head. Once all triggers were pulled, no doubt his head would be blasted open; painting a dark, disturbing scene like a horror movie come to life. While pistol shots weren't as strong as that of other more powerful firearms, they weren't necessarily weak by any stretch, and seven at once did not spell anything good.
Kinuhata braced herself for the gunshot, and the spraying blood that would surely follow.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Some shots were synchronized, and some were not; but whether they were shot at the same time or not didn't matter. The pistols were equipped with silencers; no doubt to mask any potential conflict which might arise within the building, but silencers did not fully muffle sound, so Kinuhata, who was directly next to the assailants, could still clearly hear the bullets fired. No more were fired, which only furthered her belief. Sogiita Gunha, the seventh-ranked esper, was surely dead; lying in a pool of blood on the ground. She mentally prepared herself.
She slowly eased her eyes open.
PLAY: Re: Zero Season 2 OST 2 - "Takt of Heroes -Awakening-" by Kenichiro Suehiro
But the scene they witnessed was not at all what she had prepared herself to witness.
Still standing tall, Sogiita Gunha had not moved an inch from his spot on the ground. His face was still very much full of life and excitement like it had been a moment ago.
There was just one difference.
His mouth was full.
But not by food like a mouth typically would be.
Seven 9mm bullets had all been caught precisely between the boys teeth.
Evidently, the agents were equally as dumbfounded as she was. How on Earth was that possible? The shots had been fired off separately, and bullets were, needless to say, incredibly fast; how could he have caught all 7 bullets in rapid succession, with his teeth? By all accounts, it made absolutely no sense for him to even be standing.
For the first time in a very long while, Kinuhata was completely shell-shocked.
"What in the super hell did he just do?!"
However, seasoned as she was, this very rare moment of utter surprise was quickly replaced by the logic of her brain.
"Now's as good a chance as ever!"
Immediately, she sprung into action. She clenched her hands into fists and with astonishing speed, she had clocked one of the agents clean in the back of the head. Instantly, they collapsed to the ground.
It was at that moment that they seemed to properly register her presence; the ridiculous entrance of Sogiita and his subsequent, equally as ridiculous counter to their attack had obviously taken all of the attention. Not that Kinuhata minded; it merely made her job easier. Although they tried to point their guns on her, it was too late; they were in far too much disarray to properly coordinate anything; even themselves.
As she slammed her fist into the face of another agent next to her with the same incredible speed as the first, she could hear multiple grunts of pain and shouts from beside her. It didn't take a rocket scientist to identify what had happened. Turning, she gazed at the rest of the room; upon the floor of which the rest of the personnel were sprawled on. Singular bruise marks covered their faces; it seemed only a single punch each from the seventh-ranked experience was enough to knock them cold.
Seeing that their current battle war over, the tea-haired girl turned to her companion. "Hm. I guess you're more super competent than I thought," she begrudgingly muttered. "Well, at least its working in my favor for now."
Sogiita opened his mouth, assumedly to give yet another dim-witted response...
...however, he did not have the time to do so.
"I see. So that's the kind of thing that the seventh-ranked is capable of, huh?"
The voice had not come from them.
Both whipped their heads ro the direction of the voice out of instinct; but to their confusion, there was no one to be seen.
And yet, the voice was most definitely in the same room as them.
"Honestly, I don't get how your potential has remained unnoticed all this time. I guess it just boils down to those grown-ups and scientists being too afraid to try and dabble with things that no science or logic has been able to understand. But still, its quite contradictory to what their profession guides them to do, isn't it?"
Both biy and girl instinctively took a step back. Not having vision of an enemy, no matter how powerful you were, could prove to be fatal.
"But enough of that. There's so kuch more to unpack from you then just a touch of eccentricity, isn't there, Sogiita Gunha?"
Chapter complete! Wooohooo!Sorry that this took a while; since school has restarted, its been tough for me to get much writing done at all-homework remains a high-school students greatest enemy, I suppose. At any rate, I'll do my utmost to keep things going as the school year continues.If you've got any praise, criticism, questions or suggestions for me about the story, feel free to leave them in a review and they'll be addressed next chapter. Once again, thank you all for your continued support!Have a good day and stay safe!-Cloak
