Psychological Battle
Instant_Inadvertent_Understanding

Kumagawa-oniichan,

Please meet me at Misawa Cram School.

Regards,

An admirer.

This was the note Kumagawa found on his chest when he woke up this morning. Excited at the delusion that it may be a confession of some sort, he leaps up out his cardboard shelter, which destroys it since he burst through it's roof, and runs as fast as he can. Though it took 20 minutes for him to realize that he had no idea where that was and went about asking everyone he saw as to it's whereabouts. Everyone mostly ignored him, which irritated him just a little bit, and so he went into an alley where he thought some polite gentlemen such as himself might be. After some light conversation he got to the point of what he needed to know and the nice guys there gladly told him. All in all, it had been an hour and a half until he found his destination.

[Oh boy! Oh boy! I'm about to get a confession! I wonder who it is?! Could it be Enshuu-chan? Maybe that girl with the sweet legs at Zura-chan's house? Guess we didn't really talk so maybe that isn't so. Oh! Maybe it's that lesbian I fought yesterday! Man oh man, I'm not very picky as to the identity! But I wonder why she wanted to meet here? It looks a bit abandoned. Whatever! I don't care! I'm finally going to get a confession! Kumagawa's time is now! The golden age of Kumagawa is upon us!]

He runs at the door full force without even bothering to try to open the doors and crashes through the glass, All Fiction disregarding the lacerations. He runs and runs and runs some more. Through doors, windows, up stairs, up elevator shafts, until he finally reaches the roof. He is hit with momentary disappointment that she wasn't there but that is rejected as he thinks himself as being simply too early. He slicks his hair and roams about for the perfect position to be confessed to. These things need to have a proper picturesque feel to them after all.

He waits and waits and waits some more. You'd think he'd be at least a bit impatient at this point but he was still in high spirits after 5 hours. Eventually, the door opens and what appears is definitely not female.

A tall, built delinquent sort walks out with a sword about his size and stars in his eyes approaches. Kumagawa's smile freezes, then slowly becomes a foul expression.

[...Am I really not allowed that much happiness? Do I not deserve even a sliver of luck?]

The delinquent charges with his sword swinging to cut Kumagawa in half.

[WHEN WILL I GET THE HAREM I DESERVE DAMNIT?!]

Screws stick his assailant in place like a bug in a frame for a collection. As he loses consciousness, his sword dissipates. With a flick of the wrist, so do the screws.

[Well. This is about what I expected anyway. But is that really all?]

He speaks to no one in particular but the rapid sounds of feet running up the stairs answer him.

On the top floor of a nearby building, Shokuhou Misaki and Kihara Enshuu watch things unfold. They sit by a window facing the cram school with tea and cookies on a table between them.

"Still don't get why we're bothering with all this. I've already seen what he's capable of you know~."

"No, you haven't. I set this up for you so you wouldn't underestimate him like so many before you."

Misaki munches on a cookie.

"Hm. I still don't get why you're helping me anyway. You're friends aren't you?"

"We are."

"So, why do you want him to die? Do you have a crush on him maybe~?"

Enshuu shoots her a glare. Not one of anger but a curious sort of amusement.

"It's an experiment."

"In what exactly?"

"I've already given him all the proper information on how to counter espers with his power. I'm about to give you the advantage of being able to see that in action from a safe perspective. I want to see, given those variables, if it's possible for him to die and if he does whether or not he'll be able to come back again. I want to see those last moments of his."

Misaki takes another cookie from the plate.

"...Aren't the two of you friends?"

"Yes."

"Then-"

"It's just how Minuses do things. An elite like you wouldn't understand."

Misaki takes a bite and shrugs her shoulders. She had gotten used to Enshuu's nonsensical way of speaking and has long since stopped caring about it.

"Right, right~. Anyway, what's up with those screws of his? Is he an exception to Dual Skill?"

"Don't think of him as an esper. He isn't apart of your system or any other in this world. Those screws of his are like your remotes in that they are for giving his power a vector for him to better direct his power. Doesn't mean that he can't use them without the screws, it's just easier for him. That and I think he uses them because he thinks it's cool and stylish or something."

"Oh, so he's that sort huh. I can see why people underestimate someone with that kind of a personality despite the power he has. Which, by the way, you still haven't really told me about."

"Nor do I intend to. It'd ruin the experiment if I interfere too much. Well, I've done my part at any rate. The rest is up to you."

Misaki picks up another cookie as Enshuu gets up to leave.

"Oh? Thought you wanted to see his last moments? Maybe you're getting cold feet~?"

Enshuu continues to walk out as she speaks.

"You're not going to be able to give him a true death here so there's no point in staying. You're the 3rd ranking level 5 though so I'm sure you'll figure something out on your own without me to hold your hand."

Misaki frowns at this but otherwise let's her leave and continues to monitor the fight.

"Well, whatever. Let's just see how much immortality he has for me to burn off~."

This was the 26th time in the past 10 minutes that he's died.

No matter how many of them he takes out, more just replace the fallen. He had no idea of where they were coming from or why but he's having fun.

[Man, there's no end to you guys is there? Oh well! I'll just keep playing with you all until the girl of my dreams confesses to me! ...Though I doubt she'd confess to me even in my dreams but that's neither here nor there.]

None of them were being totally controlled by Misaki so far. They were only put under the suggestion that Kumagawa was an enemy they must destroy no matter what. But their instincts were beginning to win out over her power. Seeing someone getting burned to ash, crushed under debris, poisoned, torn to shreds, and really just murdered in all sorts of ways, get back up with a smile on their face no matter how many times or how many ways they do it is just unnerving.

"Don't falter now! He can't keep this up forever!"

Kumagawa turns his head to the bravest of them, a pretty boy of average height with the same stars in his eyes, and chuckles.

"Don't think you can laugh forever demon!"

[...Just how much longer are you going to watch for?]

The boy looks at him with confusion.

"What the hell-"

[I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to your master. Are you my secret admirer, Mastermind-chan?]

The boy's bewilderment continues for but a moment before his eyes, as well as everyone else's dull. Like machines without power, they all freeze in place. Then, a voice breaks the silence.

"Oh~? How'd you figure that one out?"

[WHOA, I WAS RIGHT?!]

He whips his body around to the small girl with black hair of about middle school age next to him. Her eyes were slightly different from how the others had been. Her stars shone and sparkled like sun on water.

"You don't need to play so stupid with me Kumagawa. And just so there's nothing for you to continually be a fool over, that note was just a lie made by your friend, Kihara Enshuu, to lure you here for me to eliminate you."

[Oh, that Enshuu-chan! I'm going to have to make her serve me for a whole day in nothing but kneesocks for this!]

The girl scrunches up her eyebrows.

"You don't care that she's betrayed you?"

[Treachery is cute.]

"Whatever. Even if you can continually revive yourself somehow, I bet there's a limit on it and I've got just about everyone in this city to use as bullets for the gun that will kill you~."

Every set of eyes in the room regain their stars and ready their powers. With fire, ice, earth, wind, heavy objects, electricity, gravity, weapons, light, shadow, projected clones, speed, strength, poison, disease, pain, and overall death, they ready themselves. Kumagawa sighs.

[Maaaaan. I really can't win against a force like this. This is just overkill for a weakling like me.]

"Maybe so. But it's what the bosses of this place want so I'll do it. Well, I'm only really going until you can't use your power anymore. I'd rather not get blood on my hands you know "

[Yeah. I know what you mean. I guess that's why you aren't personally going to show up.]

"That's right~."

He sighs again but instead of despair or exhaustion like she was expecting, it sounded rather relieved.

[What a shame. I just can't win the way I want to. Cheating suits me so much better after all.]

In response to his enemy's bloodlust all around him, he produces an elongated screw and launches it seemingly over everyone's head. Misaki's puppet laughs but stops suddenly. It wasn't a 'stop' like she had been interrupted by someone else making noise or her doing anything herself, it just cut out mid-laugh. She suddenly grabs onto her head and cries out in pain.

[This is how I should use Bookmaker. Right, Enshuu-chan?]

His screw had sunk deep into something invisible in the air and began horribly warping everything around where it struck. It was like a spreading disease on reality. Every one of the espers began to scream in agony as their powers went haywire. Some of the ones with a hardier constitution tried reining it in but to no avail. Flames, poisonous gases, debris, and every manner of power that had been prepared to kill him whipped about the room without regard to friend and foe.

But Kumagawa Misogi still wasn't finished.

[And All Fiction can be used like this too huh?]

As he stomps a screw into the ground, the floor explodes into fragments that float about and fly around the space it filled, the unrestrained powers causing them to propel even faster. Kumagawa bounces about his created battlefield, screwing whoever is unfortunate enough to cross his haphazard path.

One. Two. Five. Thirteen. Twenty-seven. Forty-two. He was culling the entirety of the army Misaki had gathered with simple flourishes of his screws. Eventually the Bookmaker screw in the air as well as the All Fiction one in a chunk of floating concrete disappear and take their effects with them. In part to how he had methodically pinned them to the floor pieces, none of his attackers were crushed under the debris as gravity caught up to them.

The only one to retain a level of consciousness was the one Misaki had puppeted. She tries to crawl away but a screw sticks her in place. Slow footsteps approach.

[Wow. Full disclosure here, I didn't think that first part was actually going to work. Enshuu-chan had mentioned that Bookmaker could be used, theoretically, on that AOL field you guys use but I'm not smart enough to understand all that nonsense. Wait. Was it AOL or was is MSN? Doesn't matter I suppose.]

The sounds stop just by the girls head. She tries to turn it to the sound but his smiling, upside-down face stops just an inch from her face as he stares into those star filled eyes.

[You won't have long for it but please give me a proper confession when I find you~.]

After he had used All Fiction on the mess he left, as well as on the memories of the ones that fought him, he had decided on seeking out Enshuu rather than his true attacker. It would be better for him to get a full scope of what was going on but that wasn't anywhere on his radar in terms of what he wanted her for.

[Hmm. Is just her serving me in nothing but kneesocks really enough a punishment here? Maybe if I threw those cat ears from before on her...nah, I don't want to trouble Zura-chan any more than necessary. But I still feel like it's not enough! Make her add nya to the end of her every sentence? No, the novelty would wear off if it went on for too long. It'd be like using your go to porn every single time you're horny, you'd just get tired of it before too long. Modified school swimsuit? That's a no too, her expression wouldn't be embarrassed enough to satisfy me. Hm, what about having her let me give her a naked massage? She'd be embarrassed then right? No, no. What to, what to do?]

These were the kinds of things he'd mutter while he walked the streets, without any attention paid to who, or how many, were watching.

"...Why don't you just kill me then?"

His head nearly snaps all the way back with all the creepiness of an owl if not for the physical impossibilities of such an endeavor.

[Because you'd escape my holy wrath, Enshuu-chan! Now, hurry up and put on these kneesocks with this modified school swimsuit! Start using lots of nyas too while I get the cat ears for the massage I'm about to give you!]

"No. I'd rather eat glass that a fat man who had eaten curry previously crapped out into a corpse."

[...Rather macabre aren't you? Is it that special time of the mo- oh. Have you even had one of those yet? Did you get the birds and the bees talk?]

Enshuu only offers up a blank stare.

[So no? Ok, well when-]

"I know that Misaki told you about what I did. You aren't curious about that?"

[Geeze, it's rude to cut someone off y'know? But I'm not really worried about you teaming up with that mastermind girl, Misaki was it? Anyway, I'm sure you have your reasons.]

Enshuu continues her deadpan gaze until she averts her eyes awkwardly.

"I...I just want to test your immortality. Or really just how those Skills work."

[A test huh? How was she supposed to do that anyway?]

"...The experiment isn't over yet so I'd like to save that for later."

She walks past Kumagawa as he grabs her arm.

[Enshuu-chan. I know you may be using this experiment thing as an excuse but you're also doing this to help me to save her from whatever is forcing her to fight me like I had Accel-kun, right?]

She kept her head faced away from him.

"...Did I do it right?"

[Yeah. Thanks.]

He lets go of her arm as he wanders off. Enshuu holds her hands up around her mouth as she yells at his receding back.

"Expect a call from me soon! When you fight next time, don't die!"

He simply waves in acknowledgment without looking back.

Misaki had somehow managed to get back to her apartment without anyone following but that didn't stay the feeling of impending doom. Her exhausted body had plopped itself down onto her couch as though she had just run a marathon.

"I have to agree with that Judgment girl that he had fought before, what in hell kind of monster was that? What are they thinking, getting me to face off against something like that? Perfect for killing him? Who the hell do they think I am? No wonder that number 1 couldn't do anything."

She mumbles her complaints to no one in particular. Or at least, that's what she had thought.

"Hmm. Well it is certainly true that you going up against him directly would be downright foolish but you mustn't lose heart, Misaki-chan!"

Misaki's head snaps up to the voice in a cold sweat. On the table in front of her sat a cross-legged, short-haired girl with a golden hairband in and a Tokiwodai uniform on. On her shoes read, 'Ajimu' by the toes.

"...Are you with Kumagawa?"

"Oh? No cute symbols? Is this pseudo-author really so lazy that he can't take the time to figure out how to get them through the website's system? Ah, but maybe just now was just because of how shell-shocked you are. Fine. I'll give you a break for now, pseudo-author, but you're on some thin ice."

Misaki rubs her temples. All of these weirdos were wearing on her nerves.

"Just...cut that idiotic talk out please. I'm not in the mood for it. What do you want anyway, 'Ajimu'?"

"Call me Anshin'in."

"Sure. What?"

Ajimu chuckles at her fatigue.

"Sorry! I do like to tease a bit too much. As far as to my relationship to Kumagawa...he was like a little brother to me, I suppose."

Misaki tenses herself for an attack but Ajimu waves her arms dismissively.

"No! No! The key to my previous sentence was the past tense. Right now since he's standing in the way of my goal, he's my enemy. No more or less than that."

"Enemy?"

It sounded off to her. The way Ajimu spoke of him wasn't of hate or disgust. It sounded more like how someone might talk about a friend that did well for themselves.

"Hey, now. I just said he's my enemy didn't I? How I speak of him shouldn't really matter, should it?"

A remote is whipped out like a gun from a cowboy's holster.

"Category-"

"You're stubborn, aren't you?"

Misaki's every muscle froze. Her mind wasn't being controlled, or at least she was sure it wasn't, but even so she couldn't move at all.

"Mother Time. It's one of a few skills I have that can manipulate the flow of time. I'm sure Kumagawa would be disappointed with the name but...I shouldn't ramble like this."

She scoots to the edge of the table and does a little jump across to the couch.

"Ah but, I didn't read your mind just then. All I was doing was a little bit of reading ahead is all. Anyway, I was the one who told that 'chairman' of yours that you should be the one to kill him. No one else is really capable of doing it that is so conveniently reached as you are. Well, other than myself but I can't be in this reality long enough to do it unfortunately. A few minutes here with you is the best that I can do."

Misaki's mind reels with question after question but, again, Ajimu waves this off.

"Don't concern yourself with any of that right now. Or ever really. You may be a valuable level 5 but I doubt Edd will have too many qualms with erasing you for digging too deep. No need to worry about all this though! He'll just scold me the next time I see him so he won't bother with you. Probably."

Misaki wanted to comment on that last bit but Ajimu takes advantage of her unwilling silence.

"Moving on, Kumagawa isn't the sort to be killed with regular methods. Bookmaker may be a skill powerful enough to make even myself want to avoid dealing with it but for the rest of you minor characters, All Fiction is too much of a hurdle to get over."

Bookmaker? All Fiction? She wasn't sure of how she was doing it if she wasn't reading her mind, but by now she has accepted this person's palaver to be her only method, shy of fighting Kumagawa some more, to find out more about him.

"Oh, I suppose that girl hadn't told you anything of worth huh? Not entirely unexpected, it's why we're having this conversation. Bookmaker is his original Minus that allows him to forcibly make anyone, and apparently anything, as weak as he is. Given that he is physically, mentally, spiritually, and really just encompasses the entire definition of being weak, he can take down beings at my level with ease. All Fiction was originally a skill that I had given him called Hundred Gauntlets, a skill that can reverse casualty, but it got warped by him into the Minus that can make anything into nothing. I'd apologize but the circumstances I was under were dire enough to need to switch Bookmaker with Hundred Gauntlets. Well, you don't need to know that much. Just know that these powers are directly linked to one's personality."

This was all going so over her head that the entire conversation may as well be in the Andromeda Galaxy from her standpoint.

"Hahahaha! Yeah, this would be a little confusing for anyone outside our series but as they say, it can't be helped. All you need to know is that killing him is easy for you. An infant could probably do it. But since All Fiction saves him from ever experiencing a true death, there's no way someone like you could beat him, let alone kill him as directly as you've tried."

She was beginning to get a bit irritated at her manner of blatant disrespect. Misaki wonders why the damn woman can't do it herself then.

"Come on now. I'm not saying that it is a matter of skill or intelligence, it's just that there really aren't many that can get even a chance at permanently killing him. As to your last point, again, I can't be in your reality for too long. It's far too fragile to support the few skills I have. Right now, you're the only one that has that chance, unfortunately. You just have to be a bit more roundabout with it."

She remembers Enshuu saying something vaguely similar but she wasn't connecting any dots here.

"That's why I'm here. That support loli of his refuses to give you that piece of vital information and I'm not too sure you'd have ever figured it out. Not for lack of trying or intelligence on your part. It's just so severely simple that it's easily overlooked."

Ajimu leans in and whispers in her ear.

"Just get in his head a bit more when you erase his mind. He might be more willing to let go of those skills if you give him some good dreams maybe."

With that, she vanishes. Misaki moves her raised arm, experimentally. Then she puts the remote away and relaxes back into the couch.

She couldn't quite get it. She had thought of doing a mind wipe but given that he's such a difficult person to approach without getting messed up, or with in many females cases, it shouldn't be possible for her to sneak up on him. Ajimu's suggestion, if it was what it sounded like, is even more of a horrid idea than trying to brute force the situation. That and even if she did the wipe, she was sure he'd just regain his memories.

Her eyes open wide in realization.

"..I see now. Still don't quite know who you were, Anshin'in, and I definitely don't trust someone that knows the chairman personally but thanks for the advice. I'll take him out of both of our miseries~"

[So that's why you called me over!]

"...I hadn't said anything yet but whatever it is you're thinking, you're probably wrong."

After her conversation with Ajimu, Misaki had Enshuu set up a meeting with Kumagawa in the middle of a park. Currently, they sit at a table across from one another.

[Eh? Really? So you aren't going to try to kill me anymore?]

Misaki's half-lidded eyes go up in shock.

"Eh?"

[Oh, so that's what I had wrong then? WAIT, DOES THIS MEAN YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING-]

"No. No. No. With every fiber in my being, no. I just hadn't thought that you'd actually get straight to the point before your usual idiocy. But I suppose you wouldn't want to be cut short of that~"

Her comment causes his shameless pride to irritate the back of his unkempt scalp.

[Ehehehehe.]

"Well, that aside, I have something of a gamble for you."

[Oh? Are your panties on the line? Otherwise, I don't know if I can muster up the proper motivation for this.]

"No but maybe it's something you'd be more interested in~"

[More interested in? YOUR CHASTITY?!]

"Anshin'in."

His usually jovial behavior and mannerisms vanish on hearing her name. Misaki's grin widens to make up for the loss.

[...What about her?]

"I met with her just recently. She told me about all sorts of things. Wouldn't you like to know?"

[It's probably just the same crap she tells everyone else.]

Misaki leans forward, propping her chin underneath the backsides of her hands.

"Then it's fine for you to let this sort of an opportunity go? Enshuu had let me know that you're trying to find her. Maybe it's nothing you don't already know but just the chance that it might be something more should have peaked your interest~ But if that's not the case-"

[Enough. What're we doing for this challenge of yours?]

She pulls out a remote from her bag.

"All you have to do is let me enter your mind."

[That's it?]

"Yep~ That's it. If I can't kill you this way then this whole mission is a wash anyway."

Kumagawa's eyebrows scrunches up as he crosses his arms.

[And you couldn't do it without my consent?]

"I can. But with the way you are, there's no way I could try unless I got you off your guard like this. You'd have just hit me with those screws and walked away muttering some self-defeatist crap like you usually do. This way, there's a better chance for me to win."

He sighs.

[She's rubbed off on you, I see. Fine. It's better for me to have the odds against me.]

"Good. No complaints now~"

She raises the remote and points it at Kumagawa.

"Category 030 / Leave Kumagawa Misogi unconscious for the next 24 hours."

His body slumps onto the table.

"Now for the finishing touches. Category 820 / Place Kumagawa Misogi within a dream made of his fantasies."

She gets up and signals the men waiting in a nearby van. Two of them come and pick him up while they all get inside.

"Take us to the warehouse."

"Hey. I know you're a level 5 and all but is just that much fine? If putting him to sleep was all it took then-"

"Shut up~"

With a click of a remote, the driver does as he's told and takes them away.

"Once we're there, I'll go inside to see that his memories get wiped safely. Without any way to defend himself, and his mind cleared of everything other than the knowledge required to breathe, he should be able to die once and for all. I'll be putting that long journey of yours to an end, Kumagawa. No need to thank me though. I'm doing all this pro bono~"

"Are you sure this will be enough?"

"Yes. Without a doubt, he'll have his mind erased of everything and he'll be yours to do with as you please. Though I think with the expiration on him, it'd be iffy to put him in the fridge next to that pretty boy on the second shelf. But that's just my opinion."

"Then he's finished."

"Of course...although I still have my doubts."

"What? Do you think he'll really be able to use All Fiction to recover without a personality?"

"That's not it. She has a bigger heart than she'd care to admit but it is even weaker than she'd ever realize. Kumagawa is too similar to Kamijou for her not to make a connection and once it's made, the plan will almost certainly fail."

"He's too twisted for anyone to link to the Imagine Breaker."

"I wouldn't know about that. He's got a certain talent for worming his way into other's hearts. The conditions as they are would say that it's possible. But that's not the only threat here."

"What else is there?"

"His fantasies are bit...much for the mind to handle. Even for me."

"Ha. I somehow doubt that the Mental Out will have troubles even in that psychopath's mind."

"...Seriously?"

It should have been what she had expected. Given how he acts, if his best possible dreams were to be like this then there shouldn't be any surprise for the one that gave it to him. But that's just how big of an ego she was nearly drowning in.

It was like a festival to celebrate Kumagawa's existence. There were banners with his name riddled throughout the streets. Men dressing and speaking like him. Women swooning over his pictures. Children fighting over who got to be him in the games they play. People cheering at his passing like he was some kind of god.

The cherry on top of all this being the gigantic float that he rode to school as he waved to everyone, wearing a majestic set of a crown and robe. No, that's not right. The oddest thing of all was his actual head on a body with rippling muscles that looked as though they were going to burst out of his clothes the moment he flexed.

[Good morning everyone! So nice to see all my fans out today as well! Sorry though but the breast signings will have to wait until after the baseball tournament. But in return, I'll be sure to come to it with my 400th national trophy! Please wish me luck everyone!]

The cheers grow past their deafening roar and start vibrating the windows around them.

"This guy...really loves himself huh? No. I shouldn't be standing here saying such obvious things. I guess it's fine for now. I've got some time to wait while everything gets erased anyway."

As he hops from his gilded throne, things get even more bizarre going into school. Teachers stop him at the gates to ask for his help.

"Kumagawa-san! Please help me with this test! I know it's above your level but I'm not sure of what pace to set for the others."

"There's an unruly delinquent that transferred in that needs to be talked to but I'm nowhere near as competent as you. Please!"

"K-kumagawa-kun, please have my children! I know I'm 35 years old but..."

This was only the beginning.

"Hey! Can you help me study for this test we're going to have? If I don't score well, my Mom will kill me!"

"You're still on for karaoke right?"

"No way! He has to help out with the karate club!"

"To hell with that nonsense, he's helping out with the chess club. You guys had him yesterday!"

"K-kumagawa-senpai, please have my children! I know I'm as flat as a board but..."

Still just the tip of the iceberg.

"Whoa, Kumagawa-senpai! You sure get a lot of love letters huh? I'm so jealous!"

"How do they even manage to cram so many in there anyway?"

"Holy crap! One of those is even from the school idol!"

"K-kumagawa-san, please have my girlfriend's children! I know she's not to your standards but..."

At every chance, people stopped his giant frame from lumbering around the halls for one matter or another. It was honestly giving Misaki quite the headache. Eventually they came to what appeared to be a room for the student council. She had made it so no one can even perceive her so she wasn't worried about much but the entrance to the room disturbed her a bit. There was nothing outwardly suspicious about it but it still felt like something was off about it.

"Ah, President! Good to see you! Today's girls are waiting inside for the usual contest for your love. Good luck!"

[Ahaha! It's somewhat troublesome to have so many girls vying for my affection but if this is the only way they can satisfy themselves then who am I to stop them?]

Misaki had been wearing a look of extreme disgust for awhile now but with that comment, her level of outright revulsion was reaching a point where it may just gain sentience and spread out to worlds far and wide to tell of Kumagawa's character.

"Don't try to say that shit while you're clearly enjoying all this. Ahhh. But I can't let this get to me. He's going to die anyway so might as well let him have his fun. Only a few more minutes til it's done. I'll just have to endure a bit longer.

The door opens to reveal a room that absolutely shouldn't be in a school. Pink lighting glows dully about the space. A large heart-shaped bed that would look more fitting in a love hotel situates itself in the middle of the room with several naked women on it. One of which included-

[Misaki-chan? You're among this morning's group?]

"Oh absolutely, Kumagawa-sama~ Today is the day where I make you mine!"

"..."

Her hate had just joined it's older brother in it's quest along with it's twin, her bloodlust.

"No way! He's mine!"

Said a long haired beauty with breasts even more outrageous than Misaki's own.

"No mine!"

Said a twin tailed, short girl, with only a green Judgment armband on.

"He's my beloved, get out of the way!"

Said a rather rough looking girl similar to the first.

"N-no...he's mine..."

Said a girl with flowers in her hair.

Misaki had heard and seen some that she knew as well as others she didn't but the recognition was being phased from her increasingly murderous mind. She wasn't even aware of her bleeding lips from biting down on them.

"...I can't take it anymore. I don't care if this ruins everything and if I'll regret losing this chance, I have to cave that stupid face in!"

As Kumagawa gets swamped with a myriad of beautiful women, Misaki grabs a fire extinguisher and drags it over.

"...Wait. I'll just change this into an ax. Yeah~ I'll be able to carve him up better this way."

At this point, the dream Misaki had pinned Kumagawa to the bed and sat straddling his chest.

"Are you ready for this, Kumagawa-sama~?"

"O-only if you are."

The real Misaki lets the ax scrape and grind along the way as the other one giggles and runs a hand through her hair. The fake, however, tears the hair off of her along with what appears to be a face.

"Then, I'd say I'm about as through with this shitty dream as she is. Have fun in the afterlife, Kumagawa."

The girl plunges a blade into his face.

"A-anshin'in?"

The world began to be eaten up by a spreading darkness as Ajimu's head, still on Misaki's naked body, turns to her.

"Sorry. It was irritating me as well. But, you're already nearly there right? Just ride through the void and you'll be at your goal soon enough!"

Everything went black.

From the moment he had memory, he knew that his life was to be a horrible one.

He hadn't had a bad family life. His dad worked a salaryman type of job while his mom was a housewife. They never raised a hand or yelled at him. They simply let their son live his own life to himself. But that didn't necessarily mean that it was good. Neither of them paid much attention to him or what he did or where he went off to. He only existed at that house. It was just an address where he happened to reside. That was all.

He'd get attacked on the way to school which would make him late. No one was ever willing to approach him. Everyone constantly avoided him. The few that did interact with him, whether for good or ill, were sucked into his misfortune without him trying. His grades were poor, his athletic ability to match. He would try to save someone but it would never come out that way. His methods could never be seen as being for the good of someone. But it was all he knew.

If the world was going to decide to make him into a villain, then what sense is there in fighting it? He would crush other's dreams. Kill people in exceedingly violent ways. Ruin the lives of anyone that got to close. All so that no one else would have to suffer for it. Though, he forgot about that reason at one point. He remembered again later, the guilt coming back threefold.

Despite this, he always had a smile.

Even when things went bad. Even when people gave him those looks. Even when his parents ignored his misfortune. Even when he fell in love with a girl knowing full well that it wouldn't ever work or that she'd ever look at him the same way. Even when he fails at everything he tries for. Even when he knows that life is as pointless as death.

He continues to try to care about something. Anything.

He still smiles and tries to fool himself into thinking it's going to be alright. He tries to rationalize it all as just being the fault of whoever wrote his shitty character that he's a born loser. He smiles and helps out anyone he meets, regardless of however much he hates them or vice versa.

Because maybe he'll finally save someone he'll give half a damn about. But that's just a lie within a labyrinth of lies that he can't even see out of anymore. In the end, he just doesn't want to see anyone suffer as he has. He fully accepts his mantle of being the most unfortunate loser ever born so no one else has to.

After seeing all this, somehow Misaki couldn't quite shake the idea that most of this sounded eerily similar to someone else she knows. Even more startling to her than the relation between Kumagawa's personality and her prince's was the thought that he wasn't too dissimilar from herself as well.

But this went both ways.

Kumagawa saw all her memories just as she had his.

He saw her meeting one of the few people that she cares for, the clone Dolly, for the first time. As well as her despair on realizing her condition. The efforts put into saving her. The joy she felt on getting her first friend back. Her light teasing of Misaka Mikoto. Her everyday life surrounded by her followers. All of it came flooding into his mind like a torrent.

But, the majority of it was filled by one boy.

He hadn't done much at first. He was just some guy that she kept perpetually bumping into. They'd talk about the most nonsensical things. He'd constantly tease her and she'd constantly get angry over it. Yet, she didn't mind it at all that much. He slowly became someone that she'd seek out in a crowd whenever she was out and about. She'd look forward to their accidental meets.

Of course, Kumagawa also saw how it all ended as well.

He had saved her life without any regard to his own. Despite the fact that they hadn't really known each other to the point where it could be said that an average person would stick their neck out so far. He had paid a price for it. In return for his kindness, she had used a risky maneuver to save him. But that too had a cost to pay. Even if they met again, he would never remember her. All she would ever be is someone with a familiar face. Odds were that this condition could never be recovered from.

She could've left it at that, satisfied that he is still alive. After all, it should be impossible for him to regain those memories since he will always forget her whether or not it's from the past, present or future. Indeed, it may have made the pain hurt less.

But she had decided to spit in the face of those odds.

Even if she is forgotten. Even if it pains her every time he regards her with a vague familiarity. Even if those already tender wounds get irritated from seeing others by the side she sought after.

She decided to never give up on him. She'd find a way.

As a Minus, Kumagawa had loathed her at first. Enshuu had given him dossiers on all the potential threats within Academy City but one of the few that stood out was Misaki. She's blessed with a charming personality that captures a great many that she meets, excellent grades, beauty, power, and, overall, a winner at life. She seemed to be just as much an opposite on the surface as Medaka had been.

But now that he sees a great bit of himself in her, both in terms of personality as well as motivations, he begins to doubt the system of Abnormals and Minuses that he had understood as being valid measures of one's personality.

Their collective drowning in each other's past and personalities as they come to understand one another comes to an abrupt halt.

There was nothing but blank, white space surrounding them. They stood at about ten feet from each other. At this point, they knew each other better than most ever did in their lifetimes. With but a glance at one another, they knew that the other had seen everything about them. No words could be said after witnessing something like that. But even so, Misaki tries to break their silence with her gloved hands clenched.

"...I...just can't accept you."

[Yeah.]

"Even if you were really like that, you're still a devil. You'd still try to kill him, I'm sure."

[Yeah.]

"There really isn't anything I can do here. If I were to spare you, it'd be bad for my conscious to let someone like you free. You'd just destroy the world to save An-Ajimu."

[Heh.]

She narrows her eyes.

"What?"

[I get it already. You don't have to feel so bad about it.]

There was something like a black mist eating away at his existence. His body had become translucent.

"What're you talking about?! This is what I wanted!"

[I know better than that. You're just as softhearted as me. I'm...sorry for forcing you to this. But I know even with my memories in your head, you'd have still done the same. It's what I would do in your position after all. So please, stop feeling guilty. It'd leave a bad aftertaste for the both of us.]

"Don't. You're not someone that apologizes. You're a goddamn monster. This...is exactly what I wanted."

Her voice shook as she spat out these words. Kumagawa can only smile however.

[Yeah. I know. That's why I'll just have to keep fighting.]

A hazy screw already on the verge of dissipating appeared in his right hand.

"You can't," she nearly whispers as her voice raises to an indignant roar, "There's no point! You're already this far gone! All Fiction has gone back to the point so that it can't make things with emotional attachment into nothing! It's probably even worse than that so-"

[You know I gotta try. I have to. Otherwise, I won't be able to save her. It's the same for you, isn't it?]

She clenches her teeth.

"Do you really expect to be able to match me here? I'm completely within my element in here! Out there you may have had a chance but in here, where I can completely reign as queen, you're doomed to vanish!"

His smile stretches wider but there was no mirth to be found in his usually frivolous eyes.

[You know better than that. I've always been an introvert, despite my contradictory appearances. You should know, right? We've both been more inhabitants of our own heads more than we have been of the outside.]

The haze about the screw seemed to still itself as he gripped tighter onto it.

[We stay cooped up in here for our own reasons. You, for your past revelries. Me, for all my fantasies of winning. While inside, we have built great walls about ourselves. Ones that no one really has

managed to truly knock down or otherwise get over. It shouldn't have been possible given the human condition but we managed to do it entirely by accident.]

His screw regained it's solidity but his body was still fading.

[So you should know better than anyone that this is my territory. We're not in your fortress of solitude. This one is mine. All of my imagined victories live here. If there's anywhere in the world where I can actually win something, it'd be here. Here in my fortress of solitude, I'm the one that reigns sovereign!]

He charges but she does nothing. She doesn't want to yet does. Her motivations are in opposition with one part wishing him death because he was a threat to the one she loves but the other part simply couldn't allow that to happen. But, she doesn't have to do anything anymore.

[...I went on for too long huh? I guess I can't even win in my dreams. How fucked is that?]

His screw had stopped just short of her face before it left reality. All that was left was everything from the chest up.

"...Why didn't you-"

"Because even if I love her, I can't just sacrifice someone else that I care about for her. It's...not that she isn't important but...it's difficult to describe. It'd be like choosing one family member to live while the other...dies."

"With the way All Fiction was then, you might've survived."

"Hm. Maybe. But...then none of this would've happened. I don't want to forget someone that actually came to understand me. Even if it wasn't exactly by choice."

Her eyes had grown a bit misty as she watches everything up to his face disappear. The thing that got to her most was the smile. Not once had it left his face.

"...That's it? That's all you have after you forced me to this? Just an oh well, I'll try better next time? You're lying! I know you don't want to die so stop it with that stupid smile!"

"Sorry. But it's...all I can do. I have to laugh now or...I won't be able to cope."

"Are you really fine with her just offing herself like that?! Even if you're dying now, you won't see her again even in the afterlife! Existence, itself, will probably need to be destroyed for her suicide! Are you seriously letting her go through with something like that?!"

"It's fine, Misaki. It's not actually but...you didn't know any better. Thank you. Friend."

With that, it was done.

Inside the Windowless Building, the one above the city's order and the one even further above him talk.

"There. I told you your doubts were unfounded."

Ajimu sits atop her little desk as she shoots the ever tube-bound, Aleister, a look.

"Still don't believe he's dead. He's kinda like a cockroach, really."

"You really think that he can use All fiction without a personality or memories?"

"He's worked with less. Honestly, even without that Skill he twisted from mine, he'd be just as dangerous as he is now. If not more so."

Aleister's chuckling causes several bubbles to rise upward.

"He's nothing without those powers."

Now it was her turn for smug laughs.

"That's what makes him so dangerous. He's enough of a threat without his powers that I'd say he has about 5 minutes against me."

"Only 5?"

"For reference, you are at about 4 minutes 15 seconds, Edd boy."

She had disappeared before he could reply but, with a rather awkward looking upside-down shrug, he disregards her usual ramblings. There's no way he could've survived such an encounter. Well, that's just one man's opinion at any rate.

She had woken back up in the warehouse with tears streaming down her cheeks. She almost lost it but when she looked up towards the goons that were waiting to haul off the shell that was known as Kumagawa Misogi, she wiped her tears from her sleeves and told them it was fine. And it was. He no longer resided in that body. Misaki gave her report to the higher ups and was on the way home but she saw Enshuu.

"Is he dead?"

"...Yeah."

Enshuu gives out a noncommittal sigh.

"Which means it failed. I suppose that's good since this was just a test but-"

"What are you talking about? I wiped everything from his mind, even down to the basic biological functions. They should've cremated him by now. He's nothing but ash."

"His old body is, sure, but given how you spit those words out, I'd say he still has something of an outlandish chance of appearing anyway."

Misaki gives no response to this or what she yells at her back as she keeps on her way.

Once she had come back, she plopped herself onto the couch again. She lay there motionless for a time before she stared hard at something leaning on one of the walls. Given her behavior from before, one would think that she'd be crying. But that's not something she'd really do so it all just seemed fake. Especially when a ghost of someone sits on the wall.

"...So when are you going to start haunting me? Or is that what this is?"

[Eh? I dunno~]

Without rhyme or reason, Kumagawa Misogi walks over, bringing a chair to sit in along the way.

"How are you still alive? You shouldn't even be here right now."

[Who knows? Maybe it was because my memories got that ingrained into you. Maybe it was because I'm too weird to die. Maybe it's even because of your intensified, burning love for me!]

She laughs without any sarcasm or disgust to it.

"Sorry but no. You're like a brother to me after all this has been taken care of~"

[Hahaha! Yeah! Nobody out there actually fantasizes about impregnating their sister, right?]

"Nobody worth a damn~"

[OW. My pride…]

They joke like this for some time. Somehow, despite the heavy atmosphere from earlier, they did this naturally. It was like watching two old friends meet for drinks. Just lighthearted talk. But even this sort of stress relief has to end.

[So uh Misaki?]

"Hm?"

He looks down for a few moments before meeting her eyes.

[If you want, I can use All Fiction to fix his-]

The answer came before he was finished.

"Sorry but no."

[Why not?]

She chews on this for a minute or two before answering.

"Would you like it if Ajimu was saved by someone else in a matter of moments?"

[Yeah...makes sense. Just figured I'd offer.]

He scratches the back his head. His hand droops ever so slowly. No more words to be said. But even so, they needed the validation from the one that saw so deep into their hearts. They really wanted to ask whether or not it was alright for them to keep going like that but it is just a mite bit embarrassing. Thus, it goes like this.

"So what now?"

[You already know. You?]

"You already know."

They leave each other's path for now but they have forged an unbreakable bond that not many can say to have even one. One is beautiful. The other is ugly. One has smarts. The other doesn't. They are complete and utter opposites of each other's personalities but regardless, they have become friends of a deeper level than either ever has. At least, they have their underhanded methods in common.

Their long fight ended on the night of November 18th.

The night before the Crawling Minus traded blows with the Imagine Breaker.

Mid-week updates! Sorry this one took a bit. Writer's block and work don't make for conducive writing elements. The way I see it is that without personality, none of the Medaka Box Abnormals or Minuses would have their powers. Therefore if Misaki had just mindwiped herself of anything relating to Kumagawa, then that would be it for and to the review I saw from Hachiman, since I guess I can't respond to that one, I'm not saying that because of power or because I'm biased, it's just what I saw as a logical progression in the story. Kumagawa can beat Touma, at least the first go around, because of how much Touma relies on information. Just about any time he runs into some magic side stuff he has no idea as to the rules of, he usually gets beaten badly. But if it's something he's dealt with/just about any esper type stuff, he wins with ease. In the first instance of Kumagawa vs Touma, at least in this story, Kumagawa has plenty of info on him and Imagine Breaker. Given he has an ability to make things spontaneously appear anywhere he feels like, which might say pin Touma so as to not allow for movement or use of IB, the first win should be his in this scenario. Even outside of my stuff, Kumagawa has enough mobility and power to wreck him. But this all just as a first encounter. All Touma needs is information and some good ol' trial and error. Then, he has more than a fighting chance at getting a win. Another thing to keep in mind is that this is all without considering dragon shenanigans because Kamachi doesn't want to reveal jack about it. Though when it does come into play against Kumagawa, I don't plan on Skills working on it. Yet. Still under consideration. I don't think it negates powers but that bit is just some liberty I'm taking due to how vague it is. But trust me. I try to think these things through as much as possible. Sorry if this got too long. Got a bit butthurt that someone thinks that I'm just jumping the gun because I'm some fanboy of whoever. Anyhow, far as updates go I'd tell you not to expect anything regular. Work is getting more and more retarded lately. But it'll be cool! Touma vs Kumagawa, Kumagawa vs Thor, and probably some other crap spliced in there! See you in the next one...hopefully soon.