Chapter 9 - Not His White Whale

"This is an opportune moment to assess our options," Kongou said, her voice close to his ear. "Do you have access to emergency cables?"

"Yes," replied Yakumaru. "But it won't even be enough."

"Eh?"

"I'm working with a limited budget here, I don't have those fancy retractable cables that you bigger factions use."

Kamijou felt a little out of place at that moment, a sensation intensified by the dizziness he felt. But he had to force himself to keep moving. Guided by the two girls, he entered a building that looked like it had once been a fancy hotel, its sign still hanging there, reasonably well-preserved.

"Kamijou," Yakumaru said, "I know it's a lot to ask of someone who can barely walk on his own at the moment, but in case we need to fight, you'd be a great help. Can you manage?"

If he were to be honest, a resounding "no" would be the answer, but he chose to sigh, plant his feet in the hotel lobby, and then gaze into the void for a few seconds. Afterward, he carefully distanced himself from the two girls.

"I'm not dead yet," he said, closing and opening his right hand as if to test the muscles. "I'll do my best."

"That's not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but it'll have to do." Yakumaru glanced at the street outside through the windows and then gestured towards the stairs. "We have to go up. Remaining here on the first floor is a death sentence."

"Do you intend to spend the day here in this place?" asked Kongou, her tone worried, a trace of nervousness. "It doesn't appear to be an outpost. If we happen to be discovered—"

"Then it's just a matter of not being discovered," she interrupted and then started walking towards the stairs. "Let's go up to the tenth floor at least. Can you manage that on your own, Kamijou?"

With an assertive nod, he followed her up the stairs, trailed by Kongou, who appeared uneasy about the entire plan. She undoubtedly still harbored complaints to voice.

One observation that consistently stood out to him was that while the city streets were almost always in a state of decay, there were numerous places indoors that seemed remarkably intact. This happened to be one of them. Yakumaru had called this region a "no man's land", but most of the buildings even looked habitable. Kamijou must have misinterpreted what that meant.

"This is suitable," said Yakumaru. She took a look at her utility belt, as if waiting for something.

The corridor on the floor that led to various rooms was well-preserved, much like everything else in the place. However, several bedroom doors had been ripped off, or rather, someone had meticulously removed them. It didn't appear to be the aftermath of a violent struggle.

"We want one with a door, of course," said Yakumaru, stopping Kamijou from entering one of the rooms.

"Does it make a difference to those things?"

"As an obstacle? No. But I chose a hotel for a reason. Like it or not, humans are noisy by nature after all."

Even though she only said that, Kamijou understood perfectly. This was an expensive hotel, which meant it should have good soundproofing. That also clarified why someone would remove the doors and relocate them, given their likely quality. Luckily, not all of them were taken.

They ended up choosing one at the end of the hallway, number '99', Yakumaru meticulously checked it, as if expecting to find someone or something there. Kongou was engaged in a similar inspection, once again leaving Kamijou with a sense of displacement. They even synchronized their actions, parting ways without verbal communication.

"Everything looks clean," said Yakumaru, sighing.

"Same here," replied Kongou.

It was good news. It at least calmed his head, which seemed to be spinning with the dizziness that wouldn't go away. Kamijou closed his eyes for a few seconds, attempting to shake off the unsettling feeling, focusing on his deep breathing.

"This place hasn't been looted, that's wonderful," said Yakumaru. "Or someone decided to use it here as a makeshift base. Maybe I'm actually a lucky girl."

Kamijou noticed her half-hearted smile when he opened his eyes; she didn't seem to believe her own words.

That hotel room was actually quite nice. There was even a bed, messy, but with expensive-looking sheets that were in good taste. At least, that was the perspective of a boy unaccustomed to such accommodations.

"You can lie down if you want, Kamijou-san," Kongou suggested, approaching the window, which she opened just a little, allowing the weak sunlight to filter through. "If we're going to be here until the evening, we'll have to swap shifts. You take the last one, since you need to rest." She paused and then glanced at Yakumaru. "Before I forget, do you guys usually carry flares?"

"Yes." Yakumaru put her hand in one of the pockets of her utility belt. "But it's too late to use it."

"Maybe not," said Kongou, peering through the window again. "They're not here yet."

Curious, Kamijou walked over to the window and stood next to Kongou. His eyes were sore from the sudden brightness. What he was experiencing seemed to heighten his senses, much like someone who has just woken up in a dark room and is suddenly exposed to light, which wasn't far from the truth. Despite this, the natural luminosity soon made him feel better; it was actually quite welcoming.

"Let me check first." Yakumaru had a pair of small binoculars in her eyes now. She really was a prepared girl. "Hmm... as I said, too late. Kamijou, this is your first 'dawn' out here, so take a look."

She handed the binoculars to him. He opened the curtains a little more and began to scan the distant streets.

"Right over there," she gently directed the binoculars.

What he saw made him freeze momentarily. It was powerful binoculars, so he was aware that what he saw was far away, but that didn't stop him from opening his mouth in surprise. He had seen PBs before, and he had seen that horde of Shattereds that night, but none of that prepared him for what he saw.

"This is what dawn is like," said Yakumaru, her voice somewhat solemn.

There were many.

A euphemism that echoed in his mind. "Too many" didn't begin to explain what he saw. Hundreds? Thousands? He couldn't see the entire horde, so it must have been much more than that. The distant streets of the city resembled an anthill of monsters, flooding everything with their strange colors, moving at a slow pace, as if on patrol.

"We'd better move away from the window," said Yakumaru, pulling the curtain all the way back, preventing Kamijou from witnessing any more of that horror show. "If one of those things sees us... it could be the end."

Her voice sounded calm, but it was obvious that the girl was hiding the fear she felt. He didn't blame her. Not when he felt the same way. Kamijou had expected there to be many during the day, people avoided going out at that time for a reason after all, but this... this made him realize how hostile that world was. Odd. It seemed like this definition was updated every day.

"Comfortable bed."

He snapped out of his stunned state and turned around, seeing Yakumaru sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, testing the mattress with her hands. Perhaps she was attempting to calm down by feigning casualness.

"I wonder if someone used this as a base at some point," said Kongou, also climbing onto the high bed.

"You two seem too relaxed," complained Kamijou, moving away from the window, still craving more of that welcoming light. "Aren't we supposed to be on high alert here?"

"And who says we're not?" Yakumaru said, a shy smile playing on the corner of her lip. She tapped the mattress of the bed twice. "Come here, enjoy the comfort. You'll feel better."

Maybe she was right, walking around as if you had the weight of the world on your back could wear someone down. And that bed was indeed comfortable. He felt a bit better when he experienced the softness. Then he also noticed something crucial: the two girls around him were too relaxed for his liking. What was this? He was essentially sharing a bed with two attractive girls; they weren't considering sleeping on either side of him to maintain acceptable body heat levels, were they? Kamijou's mind wandered randomly in the worst situations.

"Now that I think about it," said Yakumaru. Why was she smiling so mischievously now? "There's only one bed here."

Damn, she read his thoughts. Kamijou has apparently become an open book.

"Is your imagination already being stimulated, Kamijou?" To screw with him even more, the girl took off her cap, which sent her sky-high on the attractiveness scale. "One of us is going to have to share a bed with you while the other keeps watch. Consider yourself lucky."

"I'm certainly not." He shrugged, keeping his composure in the face of the sudden provocation.

"How can you say that? Look." For some reason, she joined both hands in front of her face in an almost 'V' shape and then rested her chin on it in a cute pose. "It must have escaped you, but I'm kind of a beauty, ya know?"

"Have you swapped sarcasm for arrogance now?" He kind of regretted saying that when he saw her pout. "But yes, you actually look very good with your hair down."

A good use of euphemisms there. The girl hadn't lied; she was undoubtedly a beauty. If she chose to pursue an acting career, she would likely go far.

"I know that very well," Yakumaru said seriously, now leaning back a little, supporting herself with one hand on either side.

"I see," interrupted Kongou, nodding several times. "You're the type who used to take advantage of your looks and gloat over them."

"Technically, I still am. Got a problem with that, spoiled brat?"

"Not really." Kongou raised her arms above her head, keeping them crossed. Was that a magazine pose or something? It even accentuated a certain area that Kamijou forced himself not to look at. "In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with using all the tools available to you. Appearance is just another one of those tools, and one that I used very well in the past. I'm very proud of what I have here."

"Oh..."

Yakumaru gave Kongou a rather peculiar look. He certainly hadn't seen her look in Kongou's direction like that, or rather, in anyone's direction. It seemed as if a kind of static was crackling in the air for a few moments.

Until she decided to break the silence.

"Look at that," said Yakumaru, using her hand to toss her hair aside. "This is unexpected. You see, Kamijou, there's someone here who understands me. High five, partner!"

And then he watched the two girls smile at each other as they exchanged a high five. People connect for any silly reason, apparently.

"By the way, Kamijou, your hair looks strange, you should take more care of your appearance," said Yakumaru.

"Huh?" He quickly retrieved the piece of mirror he had in his pocket, the one he had kept from that fight, and then examined himself. "Damn, I should have checked to see if there was any hair gel left in the bathroom." Shrugging, he turned his attention to Yakumaru's face. "What about that cut on your cheek? Let me fix that before you turn into one of those crystal things or something."

Kamijou took out the first aid kit and carefully applied a small adhesive strip to the girl's cheek. It was a very superficial wound, so not much care was needed.

"That's very thoughtful of you," said Yakumaru. "But that's not how it works. Shattereds don't infect people by biting or scratching like zombies; a person needs to come into direct contact with the parasite to be infected. And the infection takes a while to complete, going through several stages in the process."

"Thank you very much for the lesson, Yakumaru-sensei."

"Maintaining education in the apocalypse is important, Kamijou Touma," she replied, raising a finger as if to capture his attention. "But I'm not a teacher, at least not an ordinary one."

"Do you prefer the term 'know-it-all'?"

"Save it for the Tokiwadai girl over there."

"I'm perfectly okay with that," replied Kongou, a slight smile on her face.

The lighthearted moment between them was abruptly cut short by a sudden noise. It came from the door, more specifically, from it being violently ripped off its hinges.

It occurred so unexpectedly that Kamijou could only gaze at where the door ended up, crashing into the fancy coffee table, which shattered into pieces and joined the wall next to it, mirroring the fate of the destroyed door.

"Shit!" shouted Kamijou, his gaze now fixed on the entrance of the room, where another girl stood.

"Another Shattered?" asked Yakumaru, her voice alarmed, breathing slightly out of rhythm.

Both she and Kongou jumped out of bed, one on each side, already in battle positions. Kamijou barely had time to see their enemy, Yakumaru had already thrown a strange bottle in the direction of the room's entrance. But he could see it all the same, that sinister glow coming from the eyes of such an ordinary-looking girl, who didn't even scream when she began to be consumed by the flames that surrounded her.

"How did that thing find us so quickly?"

"Maybe our conversation tipped her off," Kamijou mused.

"We're on the tenth floor, in a room with good soundproofing." She looked at the shattered door. "Or at least it did. These things are supposed to be dumb. Are they evolving by any chance?"

Yakumaru became pensive, her face contorting as she kept her hand close to her utility belt. An instant later, another deafening sound rang out in the room. This time, the window had been smashed with extreme violence, and through it, a multi-colored creature roared.

"Look out!" shouted Kamijou.

He ran at full speed towards the girl who was taken by surprise, the insectoid creature opening its jaws towards the girl who took too long to react. Worst of all, Kamijou took too long too. He was too far away, and his reach was, at most, one punch.

The boy arrived too late.

However... the air in the room seemed to change its rhythm, and in the next instant, the bed flew out from where it was, hitting the monster hard as it staggered from the sudden attack. The creature roared once more, seeming to change its target to the one responsible for the attack.

"Come on, monster," said Kongou, pointing her fan boldly in the monster's direction.

As if it understood what she had said, the monster moved at an unnatural speed towards her, its jaws closing the distance between it and the girl in less than a second.

But it didn't hit.

The girl simply stepped forward, throwing herself into the danger. Her fan touched the monster's torso while it was in mid-air, and then a strange momentum was created.

The monster flew across the room, smashing through the concrete wall and continuing to fly for dozens of meters. Kamijou saw it crash into the wall of a nearby building, and it seemed that even that wasn't enough to cushion the girl's blow.

"Wow," said Kamijou, impressed. "Well done, Kongou-san. "

"Ohohoho. Your astonishment suggests a rather simplistic assumption about me, doesn't it? Know that I am more than a pretty face—"

She was abruptly interrupted. A different kind of monster, resembling a strange caterpillar, hurled itself through the hole the girl had created in the wall. Kongou would have been crushed if she hadn't reacted in time, but this time she didn't have to. A single step forward and a raised right hand were all it took for the gigantic creature to explode like a balloon meeting a needle. The pieces of the creature scattered, but quickly disintegrated in mid-air, as if they had never existed.

Now, it was Kongou's turn to look at him in surprise.

"Eh?" She was perplexed. "That was a Class A. How... how did you... a single blow?!"

"Didn't you hear our group's conversations?" asked Yakumaru, approaching Kongou while glancing at Kamijou. "I saw him casually destroy an abomination with the same ease."

"An abomination? In a single blow?!"

The girl's bewilderment was interrupted this time by a tremor that made everyone lose their balance momentarily, almost falling face-first to the ground.

"What was that?" asked Kamijou, his heart racing.

"What does it look like?" said Yakumaru, approaching the hole made by the bed Kongou had thrown. "My God..."

Kamijou saw the girl's confident façade disappear at that moment. He joined her, and then he was sure that his face had an expression very similar to hers.

The distant threat was now present. Tens of thousands of them, in all sizes and shapes, in every color imaginable. It was like a hellish parade, flooding the streets with destruction and converging on a single point: this building.

"Those things will bring down the whole building if we don't do something!" Yakumaru exclaimed, looking at Kamijou as if he were her last lifeline. "You're still pale, so you must not be at one hundred percent, but tell me you can handle this. Please."

He couldn't. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way in hell that those three could face so many things. Even if their entire team was there, nothing would change. The only thing that relieved him was that not all those things were trying to climb the building and get to them, but some were already clinging to the walls like spiders, slowly climbing as if savoring this moment, while the others were entering the lobby of the place in an uncoordinated march.

"We need to gain some distance," said Kamijou, looking up at the ceiling. "Maybe lure them to a more favorable spot."

"There's no favorable spot, Kamijou," Yakumaru sounded desperate, her hands trembling as she held the flask in her hand, to the point of almost dropping it. "We have to face them."

"That's your plan?" cut in Kongou. "Even if by some miracle we kill all those things, all the thousands, there are still tens, no, hundreds of thousands underground. And they'll all be attracted by all the noise."

"Hundreds of thousands?" He almost choked, his chest tightening.

"This is dawn, Kamijou," said Yakumaru, shaking her head. "There's a reason we avoid it at all costs."

Time to organize his thoughts was needed after that, but the boy didn't even have a chance to do so. The walls around them caved in. Now, the attack came from several directions, PBs of various sizes coming through the holes in the hotel room, pieces of expensive wooden furniture torn apart by their unstoppable onslaught.

"I'm sorry, monsters," said Yakumaru, somehow coming to her senses, "but I don't feel like dying today."

She had several vials, held between her fingers, and with a casual gesture of her hands, these vials flew in all directions. A strange liquid spread out, and an instant later, a white substance spread out, freezing the area around it, which instantly sent icy air into Kamijou's lungs. The onslaught was momentarily halted, but even that mountain of ice was broken by more creatures invading the room.

"Damn it," said Yakumaru.

"Keep throwing!" shouted Kamijou.

"I can't, I'm running out of materials here."

"What do you mean? I thought you came prepared."

"I'm working on a tight budget, give me a break!"

A creature that had entered the formation through the ice was thrown by Kongou's fan, opening a path through the ruined place.

"Kamijou-san is right, we have to gain some distance and lure them to a better place." Kongou used her fan to push the ice out of place, then ran desperately. "This way."

The hallway was now in terrible condition. What had once appeared to be a habitable place now resembled more of a scene struck by a hurricane. Countless creatures crowded the narrow space, causing chaos as they jostled for position, their claws and teeth creating openings and even leading to attacks on their own companions. The scene was so hellish that Kamijou didn't even want to look at it.

Without a second thought, the three of them ran for the stairs. The view of the floors below was even worse than the corridor, but the three of them ignored it and moved as quickly as possible up the stairs.

"We need a plan," said Kamijou, concentrating on ascending the stairs as rapidly as he could.

"Great idea," replied Yakumaru, panting. "Anything else obvious to add, Kamijou Touma?"

The sarcasm was back, and he didn't blame her. Even if he didn't know this girl well, and she had probably been through some desperate situations, she likely hadn't encountered death this closely. Or at least, it had been a long time since she had felt so trapped.

Kamijou felt a sudden, powerful impact on his torso as the wall beside him shattered. The blow was so swift that he lacked time to react or discern its source before being propelled through the air. He crashed into the door leading to one of the floors, tearing it off with the thud of his back against the wood.

The air escaped from his lungs. The sensation was so intense that he lost his bearings, feeling as if he wouldn't be able to breathe unless he straightened up and forced himself to stand.

"Kamijou-san!" The first to follow him through the door was Kongou. The monster that had hit him was nowhere in sight, and he had no idea who had dealt with it. "Do you need help walking? "

"No." That was a half-truth. The effort made just to get up was already too much to ask of the aching body. "We have to—"

He was interrupted by a bright light, a bolt of electricity that flew and he instinctively swatted it away with his right hand.

There was no room to breathe properly, much less talk. Everything was happening too fast.

"More Shattereds," said Kongou, standing between him and the person forced to turn into a monster.

But she didn't have to do anything, as that poor boy was consumed by more flames, courtesy of her teammate.

"There's more coming!" said Yakumaru, positioning herself next to Kongou.

It was a horde of the infected, "Shattereds" as they were called. The situation was so complicated that he barely reacted when he realized that the powers of those boys and girls were still there, even though they were in that state. If their personal reality hadn't vanished, did that serve as proof that they were still alive? Perhaps they remained there, compelled to witness their bodies wandering around and causing harm while being powerless to intervene.

More attacks flew towards the group, but Kamijou acted faster and held out his right hand. Bolts of electricity curved in mid-air and were drawn toward his right hand, while stakes made of ice were erased with a sweeping gesture. As the attacks lacked coordination, he managed to negate enough of them to keep the group safe.

"Good job, Kamijou," said Yakumaru, glass vials in her fingers. "Let me do something too."

The vials broke near the infected espers, and a purple, gooey substance spread out, swallowing them up as if a gigantic jaw was closing on them all. He had no idea what it was, but it seemed quite effective.

"How many of that stuff do you still have?" asked Kamijou with interest.

"That was the last one."

She didn't lie about the tight budget.

"Ah, damn!"

Kamijou turned around when he saw Kongou complaining about something. One of the day creatures was emerging from the disabled elevator shaft. The reinforced metal door was torn like paper, and then a gigantic figure sprang into the hotel corridor. It was the biggest yet. Not just of what he had seen today, but of what he had seen so far.

"Shit, an abomination!" Yakumaru shouted in despair. "Can you handle that thing?"

"I can try."

His aching body was forced to move. The creature loomed on two legs in the expansive corridor, barely fitting within the limited space. Standing at least 6 meters tall, it ambled forward, hunched over, its head brushing against the ceiling. Its sturdy body bore a resemblance to a tick, yet its massive arms were elongated and robust, reminiscent of a primate.

A thunderous roar erupted from the creature, but Kamijou wasn't intimidated. He rushed towards it with his clenched fist, his ultimate weapon. The creature's giant arm moved, a punch tearing through the air that was intercepted by another punch from a much smaller fist, but one that had greater destructive force when it came to the supernatural.

But the creature was not destroyed when the two fists collided.

"Huh!"

A roar of what sounded like pain rang out. The creature wasn't wiped out instantly like all the others, but Kamijou had done a great deal of damage to it. In fact, the creature's entire arm had been decimated in an instant, along with a large part of its right side, but it was still standing, albeit staggering.

This occurrence wasn't entirely unprecedented. Of course, even elements over 100 meters in that situation were deactivated with a single touch, but in the past, he had encountered large magical objects that were only partially negated, as if divided into several areas, or were several objects with no practical connection between them. He wouldn't be able to explain exactly how it worked even if he tried, but that seemed to be the case here. Perhaps this anomaly could be exploited as an advantage?

Simultaneously, the walls of the corridor, along with the adjoining rooms, crumbled. Waves of insectoid creatures flooded through, their palpable bloodlust permeating the air. Fighting them all seemed not only impossible, but also a waste of time.

"We have to keep going up," said Kamijou, turning away from the staggering creature and shooting off in the direction of the staircase they had come from.

"What difference does it make anyway?" asked Yakumaru breathlessly, following him up the stairs. "If we keep going up, we'll be cornered at some point."

"But it will attract them." He looked at her, and then saw Kongou joining them just behind after throwing another creature through a wall. "Hey, Kongou."

"Yes?"

"Explain to me as quickly as possible how your powers work."

The girl looked slightly confused but didn't protest.

"My ability, Aero Hand, allows me to create ejection points on an object, including air, basically making projectiles at will. I can create thousands simultaneously, activate them whenever I want and—"

"I see. Then you can throw really heavy things. That'll do."

Kongou probably didn't like hearing her powers being reduced to this, but the desperation of the situation prevented her from voicing her thoughts.

They eventually reached the terrace of the building, the sun still low in the sky gracing them with its pleasant morning glow.

"If you have a plan," said Yakumaru, "this is a good time to start explaining."

The prismatic beasts were already present, emerging not only from where they came from, but also tearing openings through the ceiling. They sprawled everywhere, scaling the surrounding walls with an uncanny agility.

"Start by using that flare," said Kamijou.

"What?" Yakumaru exclaimed in disbelief. "This will attract all the PBs in the region. Are you trying to kill us?"

"I hope there's more of that freezing stuff too."

"I can prepare a bit, but would you mind elaborating on the flare part?"

Even though she was practically begging and in doubt, she raised her trembling hand and fired the gun upwards. The bright red trail left its mark in the sky, which would attract the attention of any living creature in the vicinity. The first part was over. There was no turning back now.

The terrace of the building was turning into pandemonium. Yakumaru was right, that flare was attracting all the PBs in a good area around the building. And all that noise served to attract one in particular.

"The big guy's back," Kamijou said, stepping forward. "Big enough to give us a good ride. That's my cue."

"Wait, what—" Yakumaru began, her words halting as she observed the multitude of creatures converging on her from all directions. The expression she cast Kamijou suggested that something had just clicked in her mind. "Understood. Go straight to it, I'll cover the right. Kongou-san, I need backup."

"Understood. I'll take the left," replied Kongou, unfurling her fan and unleashing a gust of air that toppled several of the advancing creatures. "But that won't last long. Seconds at most."

So he hoped it would be enough.

He ignored the mass of monsters coming from every direction, temporarily divided on his left by a sudden mountain of ice, courtesy of Yakumaru. A single strike from even the feeblest F-class creature could potentially spell his demise. But he trusted the girls beside him and focused on his target.

The abomination made cracks appear in the terrace with its heavy steps, but they were too agile for something so big. Its only remaining arm tore through the air and came down like an axe towards Kamijou. The boy leaped to the side, rolling out of reach and then shooting up with hands and feet on the ground, like a wild animal.

Kamijou's right hand made contact with the monster. The reason he had thrown himself in such an unorthodox way was because he wanted to aim right at the creature's foot before it recovered from the blow he had dodged. He didn't know if hitting it more in the center would destroy the monster completely, so he didn't want to risk it.

Losing its footing, the armored creature tumbled onto the terrace, a resounding crack echoing as Kamijou seized the opportunity to dismantle the remaining leg. In a swift follow-up, he targeted the arm flung desperately in his direction. The onslaught resulted in extensive destruction, not limited to the limbs, but much of the torso and head remained intact. What remained of the monster now struggled pathetically. This entire sequence happened in just over 10 seconds. There was no time to lose.

"Yakumaru, now!"

Kamijou didn't feel the need to say anything else out loud, the girl nodded at him while holding several vials and opening up a distance from the creatures, standing back to back next to Kongou.

"It's about time," said Yakumaru. "Kongou-san, I need five seconds."

Kongou smiled as she threw one of the larger creatures, causing the others to fall like dominoes. She didn't need to speak, that smile said she could handle it.

The dismembered monster on the ground was quickly swallowed up by the viscous blue liquid in Yakumaru's vials. An explosion erupted. There was a mini iceberg there now.

"I hope there's something slimy in there too," said Kamijou, protecting the girl by desperately punching all the PBs that approached, Kongou tapering them enough so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed. "You know, seat belts."

"Leave it to me. I'm not so useless as to forget something so basic." Another vial was thrown in the direction of the thing now immobile inside the ice. "There."

The transparent, viscous substance stuck to the sole of Kamijou's shoe when he climbed onto the creature. He hoped that would be enough.

"Kongou!" he shouted. "Get us out of here, now!"

The girl was clearly overwhelmed, her exhausted face dripping with sweat, but she still had the strength to run at full speed and throw herself on top of the creature with the help of Kamijou holding her hand.

"Quick!" said the boy, punching one of the larger monsters that was trying to climb the iceberg, making the other smaller ones partially flinch, as if in fear.

"Hold on," replied Kongou, touching her fan at various points on the side of the small iceberg.

Kamijou's plan was now in full swing.

The pull of gravity left that iceberg flying through the clear sky with the three teenagers clinging to it for dear life.

x-2-x

It hadn't been the best landing.

"Your plans are the worst," complained Yakumaru, trying to get the goo out of her hair and making matters worse. "Seriously, I thought we were going to die on landing."

As mentioned, it was a dangerous landing. But luckily Kongou was a good pilot, so everything went well. Of course, they slid down almost the entire terrace of the building they landed on and almost fell over the edge, and the ice had also cracked and shattered all over the underside due to the friction. That goo that Yakumaru made served very well as both a "seat belt" and impact cushions.

"Hmm, interesting," said Kongou thoughtfully, assessing the 'Iceberg' situation. "You chose a creature rather than literally anything because you knew it wouldn't break into pieces on landing, I suppose."

"You realize that now, Kongou-san?" asked Yakumaru, smiling slightly at the girl.

"I'm sorry, Yakumaru-san, spoiled girls like me sometimes worry too much about trivial things to be as perceptive as you."

Those words came out with a dose of sarcasm instead of the normal "pomp". And Yakumaru continued with a genuine smile on her face as she playfully elbowed Kamijou.

"See?" asked Yakumaru. "She's a fast learner. Take notes."

At that instant, the frozen creature began to squirm desperately, now almost free of its prison. Kamijou was having none of it, so he casually hit the monster's head, which not only destroyed a small area, but its entire body, leaving a trail of glowing smoke that disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"I think we're safe for now," said Yakumaru. She had a retro device that Kamijou knew very well what it was for. "But we'd better try to call for some help, although I don't think they'll come until sunset."

"Do we have to wait at the top of this building until sunset?"

"You got us into this, don't complain. And I hope there's something good to eat in that backpack, I'm a growing girl. Preferably something you've prepared in secret."

In fact, he had baked some bread in secret in the faction's kitchen. Not exactly a secret since Maidono had given permission as long as she could taste it.

"You seem too interested in my food," said Kamijou, a crooked smile on his face. "I'm not surprised, thinking back to that moment—"

"Do you want me to admit it out loud again? I have no problem with that. It would be interesting if we cooked together. I can give you some tips."

"Wait, you cook?"

She shook some tubes in her fingers and smiled mischievously.

"What do ya think? "

Kamijou raised his head skeptically when she tilted her head.

His gaze shifted to Kongou, standing there quietly watching the two of them.

No.

She wasn't looking at them.

"Um... Kongou-san?" Kamijou walked over to the girl, who suddenly turned her back. "Hey—"

He stopped. But not just from walking. His breath caught in his throat, his body became immobile, except for the slight tremor in his raised hand that almost touched the girl's shoulder, but it was as if he had been intercepted on the way.

Kamijou's gaze shifted once again, in the same direction that Kongou was looking. He didn't need to check that. He knew she was seeing the same thing as him. At some point, he also realized that Yakumaru had joined them in that trance.

That thing was back.

It was there. In the adjacent building, it loomed on the terrace, fixating its gaze on them. There was no way of knowing if the thing had been there all along and they hadn't noticed it. There was even the chance that they had been watched all this time, not just in the morning, but the night before. Kamijou quickly dismissed this possibility in his mind. For some reason, he knew that his body would know if the white creature had been there for so long.

But that didn't change the fact that it was there. Its strange color floating as if distorting space itself, merging with its surroundings, becoming its own. Every now and then, something seemed to flash. It was like floating symbols. Diagrams perhaps.

Too far away.

Too close.

It happened too quickly. A literal blink of an eye, and the thing was now sharing the same terrace as them. The group was more in the center, which meant that meters separated them from the edge of the building where the white creature was standing, but it all seemed like an illusion. Kamijou could swear that he could hear the thing breathing, right there, as if only centimeters stood between them.

"So that's it," Kongou's voice sounded next to him, through a strange distortion. "This is my chance."

Her chance? Of what? Kamijou's mind flew to all the possibilities, but the answer was so simple and came so quickly.

"Kamijou-san, help me," Kongou asked in a somewhat solemn tone, her fan open and extended towards the inexplicable thing. "I can't let this chance pass me by."

He didn't even have time to reply, not even as a gesture. The girl shot towards that thing, that... white queen who ran the whole place. But...

Kongou's efforts were stopped in an instant, a shrill sound coming from her mouth, pain etched across her face.

The queen didn't seem to have done anything. She just "looked" in the girl's direction and she collapsed pathetically. The thing didn't have eyes, at least it didn't seem to, but he still felt its "gaze" touch him. Kamijou heard a deafening sound. Yakumaru had suddenly collapsed too.

An abrupt force pressed down on his body, an invisible power inflicting a sudden surge of pain that nearly brought him to his knees. Was this the same sensation the girls had experienced? A pain so abrupt and overwhelming that losing consciousness became an involuntary defense mechanism? There was no way to ascertain.

Kamijou touched his head with his right hand. The sensation dissipated for a fleeting moment, only to intensify upon withdrawing his hand. That seemed like a problem. The mere sight, no, the mere presence ofthat color made his body tremble as if all the warmth in the world had been abruptly siphoned away. Now, his mind was veiled in a shroud of overwhelming pain.

He gritted his teeth. His right hand now in a fist.

No matter how strong a creature was, that power contained in that fragile fist of flesh and bone would destroy it in an instant. For many, this would be a death sentence, but for Kamijou, this was his chance. Just as Kongou had said, they couldn't let it go. If this thing in front of him really was the leader of all the others, he had to do it. He had to force the unbearable pain, worse than any he had ever felt, to the back of his mind, into the background, just enough so that he could move.

One step at a time. Staggering. Panting.

Kamijou forced himself to approach the creature, seemingly disinterested at the moment. Despite lacking a clear image in his mind, he discerned that the entity wasn't even maintaining its guard. There was an absence of fear, almost as if it was inviting him.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

That scream forced his body into full motion, as if a sudden injection of adrenaline was flowing through his body. He ran. His grip was so tight that he almost hurt himself. His heart raced as he raised that fist towards the creature, which didn't even make any gesture to indicate that it was worried about what was happening.

Good. The thing didn't know how dangerous he was to it. So it was up to him to complete the move, to finish it all off in a single blow.

He would kill that thing. He would save the world using the power of his right hand.

Something shattered. The moment that fist touched what would have been the creature's face, something certainly shattered.

The color suddenly left the world. In that instant, the threatening presence disappeared. His senses returned to full function, the pain fading away little by little.

But... even so. The creature was still there.

The color that once covered its face had been eradicated. No, it wasn't confined to the face alone, it had been stripped away from the entire head. From the back of its head, Kamijou observed something cascading freely. The fact that this detail seized his attention first was perhaps indicative of the disbelief coursing through his body.

What flowed from the creature waved in the morning wind. It was hair. More specifically, long silver hair.

And the creature also had a face.

And a grimace contorted Kamijou's features the moment he laid eyes on that face, which he recognized immediately.

How could he not?

His lips moved. Trembling, pale.

"Index?"

It was the only word that managed to escape. But at that moment, no words were needed in the first place.

There was no doubt about it.

That face, the one he saw among the first images when he woke up in that hospital bed, the day he died, the day he was born. It was hers.

There was no doubt about it.

And then, as if that revelation wasn't enough, the creature... no, his friend vanished. In that fleeting moment of bewilderment, his dazed mind entertained the worst. However, a flash materialized at the top of one of the nearby buildings.

The White Queen fled that day.

x-3-x

His chest hurt.

For the last few minutes, which passed so slowly, all that existed for him was the pain in his chest.

What had he told himself? All he had to do was find her and everything would be fine. But everything seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.

Footsteps sounded on the terrace, which made the boy stop staring at the horizon and look behind him. Yakumaru had woken up, checking on Kongou who was still on the ground. He was sure she had said something, but Kamijou ignored it and looked away once more.

What course of action did he now contemplate? No matter how much more pessimistic his predictions were than usual, they fell significantly short.

"Hey," Yakumaru spoke up, right next to him. "Did ya kill that thing?"

Kamijou Touma trembled in place. That word. In the end, that was his intention when he shot towards the White Queen. Save the world, what a joke. He couldn't even save his own friend.

"She's still out there," he replied, trying as hard as he could to keep his voice even.

"She?"

Perhaps it sounded too personal, but there was nothing he could do.

A loud sigh escaped his lips.

"At least we're safe, right?" she asked, as if to cheer him up. "You seem to have driven her away, so even if she comes back, you can do the same, right?"

"Yes... yes, I can."

His hand almost formed a fist. He knew very well why this time it was only an "almost".

Trying to push it all away, he looked at the city illuminated by natural light and tried to let himself be carried away by the little beauty that still remained in front of him. The humans of this world were nocturnal creatures, but seeing the sunshine was so comforting. It made him think of a future where everything would be sorted out and he wouldn't have to worry about danger as he gazed at that landscape.

"Oh my God! "

And then Yakumaru said something alarmed. He quickly looked at her face, a strange expression there as she hid her mouth with one hand.

Had she come back?

"What is it?" He looked around desperately, but saw nothing. "Yakumaru what—"

"Come to think of it," she interrupted him, her face returning to neutral, but there was still concern there. "That's not exactly so surprising." She stared deeply into his eyes. "It makes sense now. Yes. You're constantly complaining about the cold at night, as if you're subconsciously waiting for the morning to arrive. Not to mention the fact that, ever since that first day, those things seemed to haunt us for no reason. Today too, in that room, suddenly appearing as if it knew where we were."

"Yakumaru, what are you talking about? Can you make sense of it?"

"Isn't it obvious, Kamijou? Let me show ya."

Yakumaru approached him, her hand reaching into his coat pocket where he kept a piece of mirror.

Her hand was raised so that he could understand for himself.

"You don't remember what we said?" she asked. "Shattereds attract Shattereds..." She moved the mirror closer to his face, to make sure he understood. And the answer was there, in his blue eyes, emitting a sinister gleam that he knew all too well by now. "And you, Kamijou... are one of them."

That was it.

The extent of that nightmare was even worse than he thought.

Hey, readers, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I like the number nine, and it represents something more for those who like this series, don't you think? Here I reveal how high the stakes are, which also creates even more questions. Kamijou's luck keeps getting worse. He's a "Shattered". Things can't get any worse, can they?

I managed to deliver this chapter on time despite everything, probably the last one of the year. Now I'm free to read GT9… among other more important things of course lol.

I'll quickly answer the reviews now:

onilink500: I'm still going to think about how much I want to use of this saga that is still being written. Index's whereabouts were sort of revealed here, she wasn't so lucky. Naru would definitely ask to ride the dragon, xD

Dimz: I haven't made up my mind yet. By the way, you hit the nail on the head about Index.

SizzleSchnizzle: Hmm… thank you.

Nicko2545: In the end, it wasn't just a strange feeling. Quite a foresight skill, eh? And here I thought I was being very subtle.

Guest: C-can I ask you to be gentle?

ImagineBreaker2206: Bad news about Index. Sorry. I think I've already mentioned it here, but the day and night cycle is a subtle reference to that. Good to know I caught you by surprise. I wonder if the revelations here also had such an impact. It looks like I'm getting the character interactions pretty right, thank you very much for the compliments. I mentioned this briefly in my notes. Kamijou's intention there is to say that he only had a similar conversation with two people: Index and Maidono. I know, I have weird takes lol.

5queso: Kamijou having flashbacks of all the times he's been seriously injured is basically a marathon, hehe. Anyway, thanks as always.

Sparity Ikari: Glad you liked it. You've been very kind with your compliments, I really appreciate it. Interesting, I'll have to take a look at that. You're giving me some interesting ideas here. What I can say is that Naru won't be too jealous if her friend happens to get a little closer to Kamijou. Kumokawa and Accelerator will give some explanations eventually. Thanks again.

Zatil Hidayah Spensa: That's more or less correct. Accelerator kind of volunteered, but he was convinced by a serious factor, so to speak. The current arc in the novels isn't over yet, but technically, yes, this takes place after it. However, in order to avoid plot holes, don't think that all the events happened the same way, since it's impossible for me to predict everything. These questions will be answered in the future.

Emzt20x: Thank you very much. We'll have more moments like this soon.

KHVSFF: I appreciate that you're enjoying the plot so far. Being biased towards Mugino is perfectly acceptable, LMAO. She'll appear more in the future, and Kamijou will help her with more than one problem. Thanks for reading and also for understanding my busy situation.

Until Next Time!

By the way, happy holidays! One more thing, how's the pace of the story? Too fast? Things should slow down soon. Maybe. That's it, that's all. Nio leaving.