A/N: How do you test for your level proficiency when your ability is Vector Change? Heads up, next weekend I'll be gone for a math competition, so no chapters due to inability to type. This is a long chapter and I wasn't able to get it done on Sunday. Sorry. I've been working on it everyday.
Chapter 18:
Accelerator lay on one of the couches, lounging around to Yomi's annoyance. Last Order had fallen asleep. Everyone was aware of where she was. Accelerator saw to it.
"Tch, all you do is fight with people or lope around. It's a good thing you have something to do now that you're teaching Rei." She waved her rolled up magazine at him, she too sitting on a couch.
"Aren't you doing nothing too?" Accelerator asked rhetorically.
"At least I'm reading!"
"Ryuuzaki-san has given something for Accelerator to do, but really she gave us an even bigger problem." Yoshi walked to the single-seater and sat in it. "Her identity crisis has yet to be solved."
Yomi crossed her arms. "That girl is just one big contradiction. I'm not even sure she's a vector change ESPer!"
Yoshi nodded thoughtfully. "That I am not sure of either. What do you think, Accelerator? You're around her the most often."
"She can move non-moving and moving objects, is there any kind of ability out there that can do such a thing?" Accelerator said with his eyes closed. "It's like she has Vector Change but there's more to it."
"Do you think she has more than one ability?" Yomi posed. Silence. "Well, they say that's impossible, but I wouldn't put it past some scientists to try…" All three of them knew too well how far the science in Academy City could go to achieve a goal. Accelerator was a living example of it.
"We only have two pieces of evidence to suggest something is up with her ability: the database and the rope. The rope in itself is quite odd, as Rei neither has the character to cheat her way out of an exercise nor was there a knife anywhere in the premises." Yoshi speculated.
"It's possible to rip a rope like that with vector change, but, in Rei's case, it would have taken some time. Besides that wasn't the purpose of the exercise."
"Maybe you just bought really cheap rope. You brought in a pole from the trash inside the apartment, jan!"
"If the rope could tear like that just by a person being tied up in it, it wouldn't have made the trip from the store to home."
"Maybe we're putting too much emphasis on a piece of rope. Maybe all the other data makes sense and this piece is just an outlier."
"They categorized her as a freaking electric manipulater! Electric manipulater, jan! That's one terrible typo."
"That's true, they even said she was a level 1. She is most certainly not a level 1." Yoshi looked to Accelerator and then to Yomi. "Wait, Aiho, when's the next Toshiko school examination?"
"I don't know, do you think I stalk Toshiko kids in my free time?"
"You're part of Judgement. I thought, maybe…" Yoshi stood up and retrieved her primary casual laptop. "Let's see if Toshiko posts its event calendar…" She typed and clicked a couple of times. "Ah, here it is! The next examination is a little more than 5 weeks away." She looked up. "Do you think Rei is nervous about it?"
"Isn't that a long way away, though? I wouldn't have worried about it." Yomi dismissed the thought of worrying by waving her hand.
"Yeah, well you could have stood to be a better student when you were younger." Yoshi closed the laptop and put it on the computer. She looked again to Accelerator. "The culmination of her time with us would be tested then. Do you think, based on how she's improving now, she could make it to a Level 5?"
"Not really." He put it to her bluntly.
"…" Yoshi didn't know how to respond to that.
"Well, she was already at the edge, right? Maybe she has enough skills to get over the edge. And you've been making her run and do push-ups, so maybe's she gotten stronger to handle stronger forces?" Yomi threw something out.
Accelerator shrugged and sat up. "I dunno. She has a lot to learn."
"We have to keep in mind that that's coming from the number one ESPer in Academy City." Yoshi gently reminded the two of them.
"It's not like there's a lot of Level 5s out there. I just don't see her of ever being on the same spectrum as me."
"You're just a harsh teacher, you know that, jan? I think Rei-chan's better than you think, but nobody is ever going to know just how good until she's put into a tight spot. But obviously you're not going to try to kill her and vice versa-"
Accelerator snickered.
"But I'm sure she practices. She's very agile, more agile than you, I'd say after looking at the way you two fought in the snow. She is smaller than you."
"There's a bit of difference between agility and running around, though." Accelerator said back. "She's only going to get tired from running around. What's best is to stay where you are until necessary."
As if to break up the growing debate, a sound came from the door.
人
Rei was still feeling warm. It was the sort of warmth people got when they were recovering yet forced to go back to their daily lives. To her, it was a daily life of struggle, numerous tasks at one time, and internal conflict. She took heed to where she was going in the hall, a scarf-Haruhi insisted in place of a mask- thickly wrapped around her neck. She was careful not to bump into anyone. Her balance had not fully returned. Actually, none of her previous skills had returned to her at full force.
As she arrived at her room and placed her briefcase-like bag at her desk, someone hugged her from behind. "You're back, Rei!" Reika said.
Haruhi and Kiri appeared in front of them. "We'll make sure to get some warm lunch for you today. We'll try to run to the vendors before the crowd gets to them." Kiri said. Haruhi nodded.
"Oh…Hi-" Rei sneezed. "Thanks for that. It's going to take me a while to recover."
"I'll say," Kiri noted. Rei sat down at her desk, but the others continued to talk standing up. "You've missed four days of school! Four! But we've been doing our best to get the homework and notes to you. Another thing Haruhi's seen to." She motioned towards the short light brown-bobbed girl. "You're very motherly, you know that?"
"Ehh?" Haruhi looked away, looking embarrassed.
"No, don't be so embarrassed; I finished the homework because of you, so thank you." Rei bowed her head to her. Haruhi just looked even more flustered.
"Y-you're welcome. It was no problem."
"I doubt that." Reika directed that to Kiri. "It's hard enough to teach, but imagine teaching a sick person! It must take forever to understand stuff."
"Yeah, but this is Rei we're talking about. She's probably already preparing for midterms."
"Ah, no! Don't remind her about that stuff!" Haruhi got in between them. "She's very stressed as it is, and the last thing she needs during recovery is stress. She could fall back sick. And," Haruhi crossed her arms and looked at Rei, "it's common sense not to want to fall sick even more through more worry."
Rei looked slightly sheepish. "I think I'm in the clear now, Haruhi. But okay, I'll try not to be overly anxious." Haruhi's shoulders noticeably relaxed. "But when I completely recover all promises are gone." Rei quickly added.
Haruhi's shoulders drooped even more. "Are you kidding me?" She said. "Fine, fine. But!" She stuck out her right pointer finger at her "You're not going to your tutor's house today! You have a lot to catch up at school, not to mention the rest I'm going to make you take!" Haruhi put her hands on her hips, her rule undeniable.
"You would make a good mom, Haruhi." Reika and Kiri nodded. Haruhi became embarrassed again.
"Speaking of motherly love, isn't Valentines' Day coming up?" Kiri asked when all of them sat down.
"Ooh, right. Are you going to make your new boyfriend chocolate, Kiri?" Reika mischievously grinned.
"So what if I am? You're just jealous because you can't even make ice." Kiri closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at Reika.
"Well that's true," Reika conceded, "But maybe I'll join you to make chocolate for the heck of it. What about you, Sei-chan, what will you do?"
Haruhi, who had been very embarrassed earlier faintly blushed. "What? Me? For a guy?"
"No," Kiri snorted. "For your secret girly crush on Rei."
"No! You have everything all wrong!" Haruhi flustered, covering her face with her hands, probably blushing harder.
"That's enough, Kiri." Reika proded her elbow. She looked to Rei, who was still in a sick, recovering stupor to be really paying attention. "Hey Rei," Rei snapped her attention to her, as if she had been spacing out, "you have a tutor? I thought you went to cram school."
"I do go to cram school," she responded through her scarf, "I just haven't been going on Friday and the weekends recently because I have a tutor for..something outside of school."
"Oh, I see. What do you get tutored on?" The small gap in Rei's speech went noticed.
"…" Rei wasn't sure how to put it into words. If I tell her that I'm being tutored for my ESPer ability, she'll easily discover my tutor. I don't want to let that happen. But her mind was all in a flurry. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
"Are you okay, Rei?" Haruhi asked. She stopped talking with Kiri, causing her attention to be on her too.
"I…just have a slight headache." It wasn't a lie at all. She really did have one; trying to skirt around the direct truth about Accelerator-sensei would have been less trouble otherwise.
"Get well real soon," Reika said, "You'll need it if you want your grades to not tank."
"Yeah," Rei was grateful for the change in subject. "So, for the math homework…"
人
Of course there was a math pop quiz. Thankfully, the teacher took pity on Rei and told her to study outside of the room and that she could take it at a later date. Rei almost objected, but a slight wave of nausea came over her and she complied.
As she sat in the hall outside, her scarf shielded her from the occasional draft. She tried to focus on the numbers on the page, but they blurred together with the letters at times and she gave up, putting her head on her book and put her head against her knees.
"Ryuuzaki-san? Ryuuzaki? Are you okay?" A female voice was overhead. It took moments for Rei to come back to reality and look up. It was the teacher. Once the teacher realized she was awake, she said, "You can come back inside. It must be a little cold out here."
It took several seconds for her to stand, but she refused the teacher's help.
As she followed the teacher into the room, the room blurred and then readjusted itself immediately.
Something tells me I can easily lapse back into illness again…
人
Rei was blanketed on the couch, her Japanese history notebook and textbook in her lap and briefcase down near the side of the sofa. Haruhi walked over and placed a small bowl of chicken noodle soup on the coffee table to her. Rei looked at the clock on her phone. 5:43. Normally she would be preparing to leave now, but constant attention from Haruhi was preventing her from going out. As if knowing what Rei was thinking of, Haruhi gave her a knowing glance. "You're not leaving those blankets if I can help it."
"But I'm feeling so much better now!" And she was. Nothing was getting blurred. She wasn't dizzy, and the warm feeling was leaving her to her relief.
"You're going to get sick again if you keep pushing yourself." Haruhi was stern-voiced. "And, to help you stay indoors, I'm gonna stay here."
"How, exactly, do you plan to stop me?" Rei asked with a tone of innocence. "You can't stop me by being invisible. And, let's face it Haruhi, you didn't do too well during the physical examination."
"T-that's not the point! You're staying here and that's that. Dorm-manger doesn't want you going out for the weekend either. It would be a different story if it was for an hour or so, but you stay there for two nights and two-and-a-half days."
Rei frowned at her. "Fine." She got up from the covers. Alarmed, Haruhi sprang up. "…I'm just going to the bathroom." Haruhi still looked on guard.
Rei did go to the bathroom. But, after that, she went to her bedroom. She quietly closed the door and quickly putting her small items in the small bag she took with her every week to Accelerator's apartment. She hid it under her desk and went back to the sofa. Haruhi was still standing, looking at her warily. "Don't worry. I'm not going to suddenly make a run for it." She curled back up in the covers and started to read her textbook.
Haruhi sat down slowly and took out her notebook. She gave Rei the occasional glance, but it seemed as if she relaxed. Rei, on the other hand, was constantly focusing on Haruhi through her peripheral vision. She was telling the truth, she wasn't going to suddenly make a run for it. Suddenly meaning at that point in time, that is.
人
8:01. Dinner had already been eaten, but Haruhi was still on guard.
I don't blame her, Rei thought. I still have plans to leave. She kept scribbling on her scrap sheep of paper, too pent up to be focusing on schoolwork.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom. But I'll be quick so don't try leaving!" Haruhi backed away and ran to the bathroom.
As soon as she heard the bathroom door slam, Rei jumped up and put her ability to work. She tossed her books down on the couch. She pulled her longcoat toward her with her mind, allowing her to be put into it sleeve by sleeve. She dashed into the hall and looked at her room. Her bag came whizzing into her arms and she bolted toward the door, unlocking it as she arrived to it. Rei closed the door with her ability while pelting down the stairs to the street and train station under the lamp and hallway lights.
人
"Argh! No!" Haruhi stamped her foot. She knew the moment Rei was not on the couch that she had left. "I had only spent like a minute and a half in there! She couldn't have been that fast in leaving!"
But she had been. Haruhi harrumphed down on the spot Rei had sat on. She kept on telling Rei not to go, but really Rei was right; she had no way of actually keeping her there.
"Maybe I should've asked Reika to change into the dormmistress." She grumbled to herself. She passed a glance at Rei's books on the table. She did a double take on a sheet on top of Rei's texts she held it. There were several scribbles on the paper and a note.
Sorry Haruhi. I owe you one.
人
The train only jolted a few times en route to the area near Accelerator's apartment, but it made Rei feel slightly nauseous. Rei grabbed the bar near one entrance tightly, her skin very pale.
No, I can't be falling sick again!
As the train stopped, its brakes almost sent Rei flying despite her hold on the bar. If it wasn't for the kind man who grabbed her shoulder, she would have surely hit the seats on the other side.
"Ah, thank you." She said, turning to see her helper, but the crowd was thickening to get out.
人
All this walking was making Rei tired, as much as she was trying to deny it herself.
By the time she got to the door, she felt sleepy. She leaned her head on the door and just stood there.
I'm actually starting to worry that I'll fall sick…
She heard talking on the other side of the door. She couldn't make out anything, but she could hear Yoshi's gentle yet solid voice. She could hear Yomi's strong voice as well. She had trouble listening for Accelerator's voice, but she felt that he was still there.
I hope they don't mind me intruding so late. She stood upright and knocked on the door.
人
"It's probably Rei." Yoshi got up and headed for the door.
"She's late today." Yomi noted. "Maybe something else has been going on, like studying or something."
They were right, it was Rei. "Hel-CHOO!" Rei partly raised her hand before she sneezed.
"Bless you." Yoshi and Yomi said at the same time.
Rei sniffled. "Thank you. I've been a bit under the weather recently." She stood up taller. "But I'm able to continue learning, Accelerator-sensei!" She looked at him.
He looked at her looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I was really worried about that."
"He wasn't really," Yoshi closed the door.
"Mmn, he knows how hard-working you are." Yomi waved to her. "He just doesn't show it."
"Really?" Rei.
Yomi turned to Accelerator. "You could be better." Accelerator simply put.
"You certainly haven't seen better, though, right? I mean, Vector Change isn't a common ability." Yomi sighed.
"Actually, I have. I've seen me."
Rei yawned. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm sure I'll feel a bit better after a night's rest."
"Have you been sick from school, Rei-chan?" Yomi asked. "You certainly don't seem all perky."
"Yes, but I have been feeling better, so I came." Rei coughed into her sleeve. Knowing how to get water, she went into the kitchen.
Yoshi exchanged a glance with Yomi. "Are you sure you won't get sick again?"
Rei shook her head. "No. I'm perfectly capable of continuing training after some rest. I brought some medicine just in case, though."
Yoshi sat down and observed her. Accelerator seemed to be falling asleep on the couch. "Don't fall asleep on the couch, you have a bed." She sounded stern about it.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll go later."
"If you do not mind, I shall go to bed now." Rei stood by the kitchen waiting for a response.
"That's fine. Good night." Yoshi responded.
"Good night." Yomi added.
Rei still stood there. Her eyes moved to the sofa. "Good night, Accelerator-sensei."
"Night." He simply said again. She walked into the bathroom. The sound of running water could be heard from their spot.
"Sensei. You know, it just sounds weird when put with your name, jan." Yomi crossed her arms and smirked. "You're just a child."
"If I, Academy City's strongest ESPer, is just a child, I'd like to see what you'd call her."
"It's somewhat sad, though. None of us completely trust her yet, but she's gotten reasonably close with us. You occasionally call her a brat, but you usually leave that to describe Last Order." Yoshi noted. "You just call her 'her'. I expected you to come up with some witty name."
"If they're both brats then how the hell is anyone ever supposed to know who I'm talking about if they're always together?"
"I do have to give you credit, though. You're on high-alert with Rei, but you haven't really gotten super defensive between the two." Yomi said, not knowing what exactly went down the first time Rei and Accelerator met.
"That girl knows what's coming to her if she tries anything funny."
Yoshi smiled. "'That girl'? Well, that's an improvement."
人
"Ryuuzaki Rei? Isn't she the vector change girl?" Two boys were chatting in a semi-clustered hallway. People were hustling to and fro on this busy day. It was an Ability Examination Day.
"Yeah yeah. The level 4. You know the strongest ESPer in Academy City, right? Accelerator? They're the only two that have that ability!"
"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a common ability. How close is she to becoming like him?"
"Well, she's been really close to getting Level 5 the past few times, dunno about reaching the skills he has. We'll see how she does today."
"She really does seem knowledgeable and able, but I think she's too…Like, she's too frail or silent. Shy, kinda. She doesn't seem like a threat or someone with the guts to punch you, how can she get on that guy's level? I don't think she'll pass into 5 this time either, much less ever become like Accelerator."
"I agree. But hey, she's the closest to reaching 5 out of us. Maybe we can go see her examination if they've insulated the testing room well enough."
"They probably will let us see it."
Just then, a girl with long brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes ran to them. "Iwato-san, have you seen Haruhi?" She clutched a turquoise file to her chest.
"Itani-san?" One of them answered her. "I think I saw her in Class 3A while I was passing by."
"Oh, thank you. Do you know if she is done testing?" The girl asked.
"Uhh…I think she's still a 3." The other boy said. "We tested at the same time, and when she couldn't stay invisible any longer, Shana-sensei told her she basically didn't improve her time. Dunno about her making objects invisible, though…"
"Oh, thank you for the information." She politely dipped her head and sped off.
"Think it's time for her to perform?"
"Rumor has it that it's going to be at 12…so in, like, 20 minutes."
"Cool. Let's go watch it when it happens. You know the room number, right? So what did you do over the weekend?..."
人
Accelerator sighed. He was still on the couch. He didn't want to move, really.
"Stop sighing and head to bed." Yoshi said while sipping on a cup of coffee.
"It's only 9:30!"
"I'd rather you be tossing and turning in bed than sighing every 5 minutes."
Yomi was doing a sudoku puzzle. "Maybe you'd like to do a Sudoku puzzle?" She ripped out a page from her Sudoku pad and- in an attempt to get it to Accelerator- flung it onto his shins. She tossed him a pencil which landed on his chest.
"It's all just a bunch of numbers." He said, looking at the paper.
"Computers are basically 1s and 0s, you know, and you depend on those." Yomi fired. "Either do something or go to sleep. It's a boring night tonight. Nobody's out for Last Order, we've eaten dinner, and we have no plans."
"Next time we should go window shopping." Yoshi mused. "I haven't been shopping in a while…"
人
Rei's sickness escalated quickly. By the time she had brushed her teeth and dressed in pajamas, her whole body and forehead ached and felt hot. She crawled into the nearest bed.
These sheets are oddly too thin…I want more warmth…
Her mind couldn't stop wandering into her past failures with her ability. She remembered each and every one of the testing moments, but they were all basically the same.
人
As Rei speed-walked through the hallways, more people began to notice her. They would take a pause in the middle of their conversations to give her a passing glance.
"Is that her?"
"That's her, right?"
"Ryuuzaki Rei…"
Rei gave no heed and continued toward her destination. When she arrived at room 3A, she slowly walked in.
Standing near the teacher's podium, a girl with light brown, short bobbed hair was talking to a girl with long-but way shorter than Rei's- black hair. Haruhi turned to the door as Rei walked in.
"Rei-chan!" She walked to Rei, smiling. "Are you going to test soon?" The girl with black hair followed, but she was not smiling.
"Un," Rei stiffly nodded. "At 12."
"Good luck, Rei-chan! I'll be rooting for you!"
"You always act so cutely, Sei-chan." The other girl commented.
"Eh?!"
"Reika's kinda right, you know…" Rei trailed off. "But thank you, Haruhi."
Reika's watch beeped. "It's 11:53." She looked up at Rei. "You should be-" Rei nodded immediately, not waiting for Reika to finish her sentence and began to turn around to go.
"Wait, Rei! Do you want us to come see and support you?" Haruhi spoke quickly.
Rei didn't turn around. "I rather you do not," she spoke and walked away.
人
"I'm going to call it a night." Accelerator got up and stretched. He limbered to the bathroom.
Once he was done with his business, he walked across the hall to his dark bedroom. Not needing lights, he got into his thin sheets and slept on his side, looking at the window letting in lamplight and faint car sounds.
It wasn't long before he realized something was wrong with his bed. Focusing his eyes, he saw a bundle of something-sheets probably- resting on the other pillow. He tried to look closer.
Strands of long hair was coming out of this bundle less than a foot away from him. He saw a face.
Long hair. Rei was asleep in his bed.
"What the hell!" Accelerator immediately got out bed, almost falling out of bed in the process.
"Hmm?" Yoshi's voice appeared. The lights were turned on; Yoshi and Yomi were at the door. "Oh my." Was the only thing Yoshi said. She didn't look surprised, however.
"When I said I would prefer you to be tossing and turning in bed than in the living room, I didn't mean it like this, jan."
"Cut the shit and get the girl out of my bed." Accelerator glared.
Yoshi and Yomi looked at her. Her breaths were heavy and sounded as if she was filled with mucus.
Yoshi walked to her and put the backside of her palm to Rei's forehead. "She's getting a fever."
"This is bad, jan. How is she going to get home? Do you think we'll need a doctor in the morning?"
"She said she brought medicine. Accelerator, go sleep in her room. It may be pink, but it's probably best you sleep there and not here. For several reasons."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm not sleeping with that brat in my bed."
Yomi smiled.
人
"Ryuuzaki Rei, your level testing is about to begin. The first part of your exam will take place on this field. Step on the field when you are ready." A female computer-like voice blared on the speaker phones outside.
Toshiko was a rich-kids school. Similar to Tokiwadai-only co-ed- academically gifted students were constantly pouring in and out. Many became successful through a profession if not through their abilities. And, of course, alumni tended to give "small" portions of their wealth to the school that catapulted them to greatness, as if the school didn't already receive sufficient funds from the city. This money was used to purchase facilities, like the multitude of sports fields surrounding the expansive campus. Located near the baseball field and tennis court was a 100-meter radius circle outline in orange. There was no grass; brown dirt and small pebbles appeared to be the material of this large patch.
Rei knew better. Ever since became a level 3, she had realized that the ground was denser than it appeared. Very, very dense. She had yet to decipher what the material-or materials- were.
She had changed clothes into a track suit. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail. Like usual, she had a poker face on, but seemed ready at the same time. Her eyes and mouth were firm.
She crossed the orange line and glided to the black dot in the center of the circle. As she stood there, waiting for further directions, she could see people on the track field. Some were standing still. Some, she could tell, were looking at her. She scanned the ground. Faint green lines in the grass circled at intervals around the orange line; more circles had been sprayed in since the previous time.
"You are to destroy the earth surrounding you. You may crumble it in any form-or lack of- as you see fit. Begin when you are ready. If you require or desire more trials than the given one, staff is on standby to rapidly reform the ground and can be signaled by raising your right arm."
Rei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She put all her energy into her right leg and stomped.
The change was instantaneous. The earth roared as Rei willed the vector to amplify in strength. The 100m-radius circle broke into rubble sequentially, the force traveling from her to the farthest possible edges it could manage. There was no possible way someone could saunter through this space as it currently was. Sharp ridges stuck out in some places, other parts just looked crushed and severely cracked, the energy too much for the earth to withstand.
Rei had been doing this test for a couple of years near every few months or so. She was able to get a good idea of how she did before the speaker told her.
She looked at the destruction. Her face paled.
人
"Ryuuzaki Rei, you are about to begin the second and final stage of your ability testing. Once you are ready, please step into the center of the room and wait for further instructions." The school's intercom was now giving the instructions. A very large crowd was starting to gather at a near distance from the room. Rei was still in her track suit, looking calm and pale. She opened the door and began to walk inside, ignoring the fact that there were hurricane wind-proof windows near the door, allowing the crowd to see how she dealt with her upcoming adversity.
She was currently in the school's wind tunnel room. Used by the engineering students for lectures and demonstrations, it was used for Rei's testing. The main fan that created winds for use in the wind tunnel was very large: it was basically one of the smaller faces of the square room. Opposite of the fan was an equally large blackboard with windows on the side of the door and strong materials such as concrete on the other long face. Why the staff thought it was okay to test the power of a vector change ESPer in the school instead of outside, and why they thought it was okay for students to congregate outside was a puzzle in itself. While the room was certainly durable, it had to be repaired to a degree everytime Rei was tested in it. It was probably not safe, and Rei knew that the staff had been debating on whether to make a new, separate facility for her. Then she kept receiving level 4 and she felt as if the subject had been dropped.
This room was empty, its vastness clearly showing. Rei walked to another black dot in the center of the square and stood to face the giant fan. But, this time, there was a half meter-long side square encompassing it. "You will now direct the winds. Your body should not be blown by the winds. The test will end when you have been moved outside of the box in some form. The winds may or may not start slowly. The winds will begin in…" the fan started humming, first softly than near-deafening. "3…2…1".
Rei was rushed with a powerful-almost with hurricane potential-immediately. Chiriii, she reflected with not a hair displaced. She felt like people were murmuring outside.
The winds were only getting stronger. With her reflection field in front of her, she began to round it out to include her sides. Pressure was building up inside of her to kept the reflections steady, but she could see cracks starting to appear in the hurricane-proof windows. People were looking wildly at each other. Could this be it?! They looked like. This has happened before, but not this quickly, and the winds have yet to pick up speed!
More and pressure was compounding. Rei had no idea what speed they were at now. She was continuously grimacing, her left eye nearly closed as she tried to steady herself. She could feel tuffs of her hair gentle blowing along with the wind. She was about to give at any moment.
No! I have to keep strong! And she did just that, but her burst of strength only lasted for mere seconds as the wind was mercilessly getting stronger.
She had no idea what was coming to her. One moment she was giving her all to reflect the wind, the next her back rammed into the chalk ledge on the blackboard across the room. She shrieked in pain, not expecting the winds to drive her that fast. She fell to her knees and face-first onto the floor. The winds stopped, the engine purring as it calmed down. She could hear the tinkling of pieces of glass falling from the windows. She felt different parts of the room slowly creak. She couldn't see any damage, but she knew it would be at least a week before any classes would take place there again. The murmurs outside were furiously gossiping. She knew how this was going to end.
She tilted her face so she could see a couple of the blinding, metallic lights above. Her hair, for the most part, kept her face hidden. She was in too much pain to get up, so she just stayed there, her back supported and pained by the wall.
Next came information she already knew. "Ryuuzaki Rei, current level 4 ESPer. Damage-radius from stage 1: 105 m. Maximum wind-speed reflected: 271 km per hour. Category: Level 4."
People outside were talking. That's all she could focus on now. She couldn't bear to look anywhere, so she let her hair cover her face and closed her eyes. A medic would come to her aid soon. But her? Her reflections had met wind in battle and lost. She had lost. Again.
"Ryuuzaki Rei, the up and coming vector change ESPer…"
"Still a level 4? That's a shame. I thought that maybe this time…"
"See, she still failed."
"She looked so cool, though…"
"She gave a good try. But she's still no legendary, like Tokiwadai's Ace."
"Ryuuzaki's not Accelerator, that's for sure."
"She didn't make level 5."
She didn't. She didn't. Those words rang in Rei's ears. They rang deeply and loudly. Rei didn't want to get up and face them and the music of having the same ID card with a red 4 plastered on it.
Hot, wet tears streamed down her face as she stayed silent on the ground.