Chapter 5: A Certain Chance Encounter
"So, this is the place huh?"
Akari said those words, looking at the large building in front of him. It was only a few days since the incident, and the explanation to various parties involved. It ended up being a little more chaotic then Akari had expected, and in a different way then he expected. For some reason, some boy named Toma seemed to get blamed a lot, hit on, and even made Level 5 Mikoto Misaka try to zap him a little. Of course, Akari maintained a good solid twenty feet distance away from Toma at all times, as he possessed Imagine Breaker, which would nullify everything inside him that kept him alive.
However, ultimately, what was decided was...
"Akari shall go to school and try to have as normal a life as possible!"
Ai declared this, and so it became his order. After all, now that Bootup was over, and he had imprinted on Hokari Ai, and Hokari Haruka, and so his main priorities were to protect and obey them. That was the life programmed into him as a weapon. Except, something had changed. Maybe it was one of the things Ai said during his bootup phase, but he felt as if his programming had been altered, that he was made to be unique and different from before. His entire mental structure had shifted on a few words, though he did not know what those words were.
But it gave him more emotion, and more sense of self.
And now, he had an entirely new hurdle to overcome. A hurdle that made him wish he was practicing his abilities as a weapon.
He was facing down the gateway to an elementry school. To be exact, it was Adori Elementry School, one of the more famous schools, although it had a bit of infamy as well. Though that could be gotten to in detail later. Akari was currently dressed in the Adori Elementry School Uniform, which was blue shorts, a white shirt, and a blue blazer or blue vest for young boys. However, he was...not entering.
"You know what, its probably not a good day to start!"
Akari said that and tried to turn around, but both Haruka and Ai were there.
"No way, you have to go to school!"
"Yeah Akari! YOu need to be around children your age and learn things!"
"No no no! I already know tons! My head is full of knowledge! I definently dont need to talk with anyone else!"
"Akari...you have to make friends your age!"
Those words pang in his head, an order.
"I dun wanna!"
"Oh my...come on, its litterally just the first day of school for you. You have nothing to be afraid of! Everyone will be nice!"
"And besides, yo uare a level 5. They will probably be more scared of you then you are of them".
"No no no no no! I dont want to be seen as a monster!"
"YOu wont! They will love you! Now...go...to...class!"
Akari was deeply afraid of being rejected by his classmates, so he desperately did not want to go to school. Well, there were his various other issues, and some concerns with allowing a weapon into the same class as other students, however...
"Its fine its fine. After all, the other Level 5s all go to class...well, not sure about Accelerator, but other Level 5s and 4s do. And some of those Level 4s are actually quite strong, at least against individuals, so its perfectly normal!"
That was what he was told.
In retrospect, eventually he had to obey, being an order and all, but they wanted to at least try and make him more willing. Although, one had to wonder how strong that forced obedience even was if he was able to argue like that. From what they learned, it seemed that it randomly had different levels of strengths at different times, likely something to do with the alterations Ai inadvertently made during Bootup, or maybe it was the fact they crammed Esper Powers and Magic successfully into a single vessel that caused this instability.
Either way, he finally made his way to class. His teacher was named Kurobee, and soon enough he was welcomed and introduced to the rest of the class.
"My name is Hokari Akari! Please take care of me!"
He did just as he was told, introducing himself properly.
"Akari-kun, you can take the empty seat next to Kota-kun in the back. Kota-kun, make sure he gets settled in, and do try not to drag him into trouble".
As Akari was directed to sit down at the empty desk, he spotted the neighbor in question. Kota, a black haired kid with onyx black eyes, with hair about as long as Akari. His face had a smile that just screamed of mischief to most, but Akari was still getting used to people and so he didn't fully pick up on it. Next to him on the floor, he had a bag that looked as if it was crammed with all sorts of things, and a look of interest in his eyes.
"Nice ta meet ya! Names Kaito Kota, but ya can jus call me Kota!" (All of that is on purpose. Trying to define his speech)
As Akari sat down, Kota immediately introduced himself, although it sounded like he had a bit of an accent. Or, he just liked to talk differently.
"Ah...thanks, you can call me Akari, Kota-kun".
"Nah nah, ya can drop the -kun. Jus Kota is cool! Nice ta meet ya, friend!"
The moment he heard that, Akari settled down a bit. So far, not only has his worse fear not happened yet where he got rejected by everyone, he already made a friend! A huge success! He felt really great about all this!
Of course, he didn't even remotely notice yet the other looks he was getting. While some where indeed filled with hostility, in truth...many of the girls in the class found him interesting and charming and cute. But, that was not something he was well versed in picking up.
Once that was all done, the teacher went on and started homeroom, giving some announcements and such, and also telling everyone that recently, there have been some dangerous gangs and such starting up and to be careful. She also mentioned the fact that the District 7 Festival would not be delayed by that, and to make sure everyone who went remembered to go with friends and family for safety, and that they may be requested to participate in certain events.
After that, she went and taught them math and other core subjects. Adori had a relatively advanced cirriculum compared to the average, although it was not that advanced compared to some of the super elite schools. However, one of the things it did feature was early stage Esper power and development, which meant that many of the children in the school had developed Esper powers. Of course, many were currently Level 1s and 2s, but they would get additional resources to advance further. There were also Level 0s, but at the same time there were Level 3s and 4s, even in the Elementary School Level.
And so, eventually time passed and they went off to gym. Akari and Kota headed into the locker room, and immediately started to get changed into gym clothes, which was a pair of blue shorts and a white sleeveless shirt, as well as some blue sneakers. But right when they were halfway through changing, some older kids grabbed them from behind and lifted them up and away from their clothes and belongings.
At first, Akari thought this was some sort of abduction, until he realized who they were. But before they could do or say anything, the two were pushed out naked.
"Hey! What is the big idea!? Even if you dont like me, there is no reason to get Akari involved you jerks!"
Kota said something like that, and it made Akari realize in that moment that Kota had not gotten caught up in all this because of him. Rather, it seemed Kota was the main target.
"Ha! After all the trouble you cause all the time, its your own damn fault! And not only that, but I remember perfectly well the member of Judgement that got my big brother had the family name of Hokari, so this can serve as revenge for that!"
...or at least, mostly the main target. That said, it was in part bad luck. Adori had Elementry, Middle, and High School levels, and while some buildings were seperated, the gym building was not. The kids in front of them were from the middle school levels.
"Besides, you should learn your place as a Level 1!"
Akari looked back over at Kota. Although he supposed he never asked, Akari was a bit surprised to learn he was a Level 1. Something about Kota always gave him the feeling he had a relatively strong Esper power, at least for an Elementry Schooler.
"Although..." he said, taking out a video camera and hitting the record button. "...if you give us something interesting, like kissing each other, we might let you back in, and not lock you out here naked and exposed".
"You sick jerk! And you wonder why I always give you trouble?! You always go overboard! Most bullies at least have limits, maybe stealing lunch or lunch money, but you...stealing lunch from a whole bus? Tying that one kid naked to a flagpole? Stealing all the clothes of the boy's locker room and replacing them with frilly dresses?!"
"Shut up! I am the king here, and as one of the strongest Level 4s, you should both bow down and respect me! Now you gotta do more then kiss, you gotta make it a long kiss and roll around in the grass!"
As the bully shouted, he remembered what he and Ai talked about yesterday.
"BUt...what if I hurt a classmate? I dunno, I dont think I should go to school".
"You are going Akari, and that is final. And you wont hurt anyone, we trust you Akari".
"But when I went beserk there..."
"That was because you saw something traumatic. That just means you are normal..."
Akari looked at her with an expresison that said "really", and to that she nodded, ignoring the fact his overreaction caused his brain to switch into Crisis Mode which seemed dangerous and definently not normal.
"Besides, there are some people that are okay to hurt".
"Eh?"
"Obviously you cant hurt them seriously, but people such as bullies and perverts? You can totally defend yourself against them! Trust me, I have been congratulated several times for it!"
Technically, those were partially reprimands, but Ai left that part out.
And so, back in the present, Akari realized this was the moment Ai was talking about.
"So yeah, unless you want me to up the stakes even more, maybe you should start by grab...guh?!"
One of the bullies stepped up and gave additional orders, but Akari grabbed a rock off the ground. Suddenly, the rock sped forward and hit the bully right in the face. And then, some of the stone bricks that made the walkway below, when he stepped on them as he walked forward they began to float into the air. And then, they went and fired themselves at the group...only to be shot down by the center bully, who seemed to fire energy blasts from his hands. He then hit Akari with one which made him stumble backwards, and he looked extremely upset with him.
But before anything could be done, the gym teacher for Akari's and Kota's class called out to him and could be heard approaching, so the bullies ran off. For a moment, Akari tried to recognize them but...one of htem had their eye's flash a different color, and suddenly Akari and Kota found themselves confused about how to recognize them. It was like they knew who they were, but they also didn't. And so, the teacher found them like that again, and seemed to understand. He let the two back into the changing room, so they could get changed and head to class.
"Wow Akari! That was really cool! What are you, a Level 4? Wait, a Level 5 maybe?!"
Once they had gotten changed and joined the class, Kota excitedly talked about what he had seen.
"Aren't you phased at all over what happened?"
At those words, Kota got a bit red in the face and looked away.
"Yeah kinda, but...its also kind of normal here. Very few people have actually realized it, but there is a reason this school is so advanced and cost friendly..."
Now that Akari thought about it, a school like this was a bit strange for Ai and Haruka to be able to pay for right out of the blue...
"One of the experiments they have been allowing at this school is to see how bullying helps to develop Esper powers further. Because of that, bullies can often get away with what they do so the experiment can proceed. That said, up until that guy, it was a bit more tame. And its not like everyone suffers all the time, but I guess we kind of have targets painted on our backs...especially those with supposedly weaker Esper ranks like myself".
"You mean the fact you are a Level 1?"
"Yeah, but my Level 1 power is super useful if you know how! Really, it is! I can basically map and calculate spatial distances and differences, as well as speeds and such. However, since people can do that naturally, although the way I can do it is actually quite advanced and powerful, it is still treated as a Level 1. But, I can make good use of it along with my other talents".
"Other talents?"
"Ah...yeah...I can show them to you later!"
Finally, it was time for gym class to start. It started out with some light warmups, but then it was decided that with the new student, they were going to do another round of power evaluations this class. And of course, Akari was one of the first ones up, since he had no set ranking yet in the system.
"Just, show us your power and how you use it. Also, we need to know what type of power it is".
"Its telekinetic based I suppose, although psychokinesis is also possible with it technically".
"Huh...maybe you will be the next Accelerator then..."
Certainly not right now. We already fought and he kicked my ass, while going easy on me.
Of course, Accelerator was someone who was considered to be a Level 6 candidate, and for good reason since he won each and every time against over 10 thousand Misaka clones. So, anyone who compared themselves to Accelerator was going to look weak by example.
Akari then picked up some rocks they had on the side, including one very familiar one, and used his power as he picked them up. Indeed, his power was similar to Accelerator's. Accelerator's however was Vector Manipulation, while Akari's was Vector Programming. In terms of power, Accelerator had him beat for sure, but in terms of utility, Akari's was actually a bit more useful. After all, while he had to touch something to program his vectors into it, he could set them on a delay, or add in advanced command lists. He could make it so a vector was activated after he let go of something, so long as it was programmed in when he actually held it.
Of course, he had no idea how he would program an energy attack like how Accelerator could manipulate it easily yet. But it was strong enough to be considered a Level 5 ability.
ANd so, he had the rocks follow his vectors to a T, making hard turns, avoiding each other, occasionally doing something that resembled a dance. He wondered if he could one day program a pen to write for him, but so far words seemed too precise and needing too many calculations to be practical.
"Woah..."
"That ability..."
"A level 5?"
"Damn! Kota-kun beat me to befriending him!"
"So dreeeammy..."
"...adorable and dependable".
"Tsk. Showoff".
"Anna-chan! Dont be fooled! He is no good!"
"You have a weird relationship with your childhood friend".
"Ru-chan! Did you see how he made them dance!"
Those and various other comments were let out by the children and adults alike. Unfortunately, Akari was a bit confused on how this reception was.
"Did I...do something wrong?"
"No no, everyone was just shocked. That was a splendid display, very fantastic Akari-kun. Now then, please go sit with the others while we get through everyone else".
And so, other students went up after him. Some where Electromancers like Mikoto Misaka, though with less power. Others seemed to have minor cases of telepathy, others showed no real powers at all, a few were able to project things.
And then, Kota went up, and took a small object out from his pocket. It looked like a handle, but when he pressed a button, it extended into a bo staff. Some clunky looking training robots immediately came up to try and hit him...and then, Akari saw his Esper power in full talent, and understood just how great of a Level 1 ability it was. Using his Esper power, he was able to anticipate and understand the attack vectors of the robots, and dodged accordingly. He jumped right over one of them, and then smashed it from behind with his staff. He knocked it to the ground, and then proceeded to attack another, while dodging another blow and then moving around the side and knocking the third one down.
"Very good Kota-kun. We still have to submit our findings, but its possible you may get the opportunity to become a Level 2 Esper with this progress".
"Thanks!" Kota said, before happily running back and joining Akari. "Well, I suppose now we will have more advanced Esper training soon. I suppose we should probably brace ourselves".
"Brace ourselves? Is there something bad about it?"
"Well, one reason that despite the bullies, Adori is so popular is because it features a high possibility to develop better Esper powers. A lot of what happens around here is built around causing emotional stirs, though the more you do and are a part of it, the more you get paid and the more they add to your grades. However, to let you focus on your Personal Reality, often the more advanced experiments are done in your underwear, or naked. Apparently it lets you focus more during the experiments, but like I said, they have double and triple meanings for everything".
"...you know, I suppose that is why this place is both cheap and produces lots of Espers, huh?"
"Yep. And why so many people come here despite this. This year alone has produced a lot of Level 3s and 4s compared to others as they added new ideas and policies and experiments. We are even threatening schools such as the one that produced Railgun, so even more people are joining up. Of course, we still have rivals that are trying to do the same results with their own ways, and from what I hear some of them are even succeeding, thoug hI have also heard some dark things about some of the underground experiments to try and boost people's levels".
"Huh...by the way, I have been meaning to ask, but...you seemed really strong back there yourself. I thought your Esper power was spacial mapping and stuff, but you were able to jump over that robot like it was nothing".
"Ah! Yeah...to make full use of my Esper power, I trained a lot!"
"Oh, cool!"
And so, the conversation switched and changed into something else, as the two continued and finished their school day.
AN: Kota: Wazzap people!
Me: Oi! I get the first line! Get down Kota!
Akari: Why do I have a feeling of dread about this school?
Me: *whistles innocently* Certainly not for any plot related reasons...
Kota: Relax! It will be fine!
Akari: I got locked outside naked on the first day!
Kota: But you had a friend to be there with you!
Akari: Fr-friend...
Me: Ah, we broke Akari again.
Kota: He is a softie, but he comes through when it counts.
Me: By the way...both of you, go back in that lockerroom and take a shower. Especially you Kota, you smell like wet dog.
Kota: Whaa...cant me and Akari just go to a bathhouse or hot springs later instead?
Me: ...I suppose. *whistles mischevously*
Akari: ...why do I sense danger...oi oi, why are you writing down "Rocket Launcher?"
Me: No reason~ Anyways, thanks for reading everyone, and stay tuned for more of A Certain Hybrid Weapon!