A Certain Scientific Vampire

by ProbNotAHuman

What if there was another unexplainable power like Imagine Breaker? What if Dual Skill was achieved? And what if Shokuhou lost another savior? (A Prequel To A Certain Scientific Vampire. Read Author's Note At The End of Chapter 2)

1. When Two Stars Meet

Flashback Arc - Arc 0
1 year before the main story

Contents

Chapter 1: When Two Stars Meet

-Prologue: A Normal Day [15th_September.]

-Part 1: Intertwined Fate [The_Threshold.]

-Part 2: One Step Off The Rails [Unknown_Variable.]

-Part 3: Fill In The Blanks [Accursed_AIM,Everlasting_Regret.]

-Between The Lines 1

Chapter 2: Miracles Astray

-Part 4: Rejecting The Future [16th_September./That_Fateful_Day_When_It_All_Went_South.]

-Part 5: "A Duel Of Memories" [Come_In—Door's_Open.]

-Epilogue: Beyond The Door [Choking_On_Air.]

-?

---

Prologue: A Normal Day [15th_September.]

"Ah, unfortunately, I can't hang out today because of my Judgement duties." Hadi Kuroi waved their group goodbye as he went in the opposite direction. "Ugh, I still can't believe they want me doing patrols and odd jobs instead of being involved in anything. Don't they know how capable I am!"

They heard him grumbling to himself as he disappeared off into the crowd. Akaru Kirishima can't help but sigh at his attitude.

"Judgement really hates Hadi, huh?" said Shiroki Azumi, watching the spot where the messy-haired boy had left, frowning. Azumi had long, straight red hair which framed around his head with the exception of his face that reached slightly above his shoulder, and straight bangs that framed his forehead. The top of his head was covered by his hat though.

"Beats me." Kirishima shrugged with a frown of his own as they continued their pace along the busy sidewalk. On the side of a shop, there was a cleaning robot being hounded by kids and it seemed so confused he was actually worried it was going to swallow them up as a defense mechanism. The boy with navy-blue slicked-back hair spoke once again while keeping his eyes trained on the front.

Not even noticing the redhead wasn't next to him the entire time.

"I heard this rumor that there's this scary Judgement officer that beats people up while giggling. And I think that might be-bwgh!?"

Someone did not put a cloth over his mouth and kidnap him.

But he definitely felt his weight shift to one side.

"Geez, Kirishimaaa~ why did you leave me behind!? You should really pay attention to me you know!" Azumi was hugging his entire arm against his torso as he practically shouted over his shoulder from behind in a soft voice. His head couldn't quite reach above his shoulder so only 2/3 of his face was visible.

He looked so cute that he wanted to take off Azumi's hat and pat his red hair right there and then.

But that was exactly why Azumi was so dangerous.

Upon seeing Azumi acting like a stuck-up girlfriend, he wanted to chastise that cute boy immediately but stopped as he heard voices all around them.

With a stiff nervous smile, Kirishima creaked his head to look as the realization dawned on him. Students and adults alike were whispering to themselves as they watched the 'couple' flirting with each other.

But none of them were smiling.

They looked at Azumi and him as if they were exhibitionists. And he quickly realized why. He had a height of 160 cm (even though he was 12) while Azumi had a height of 150 cm, a lithe and thin physique, and was equipped with silky, supple skin courtesy of the boy's ability so it was easy to misunderstand they were a couple. Not to mention the small boy's hair was relatively long for a boy and styled like a girl's.

But Shiroki Azumi was (and still is) a male through and through, but they didn't know that, so that begged the question.

Why was a little 'girl' wearing a male school uniform?

Kirishima looked over his shoulder at the 'girl' who now had swirls for eyes hugging his arm like it was a million yen. And so, he communicated solely with his navy blue eyes.

The 'girl' stiffened, feeling like 'she' had stepped on a landmine.

And so…

They made a run for it!

---

"Misaki-san, what are we buying here?" Junko asked her as they wandered into the sliding doors of the famous Seventh Mist.

"Uhhh, you'll see…" She sweatdropped. She really didn't want Junko to know what she needed here to resort to such lengths as going outside of Tokiwadai. The school had its own shops after all.

Junko looked at her oddly before nodding with a pure smile. "I see."

After the incident of that day…, she had started bringing along Junko everywhere she went. And the girl didn't seem to mind it at all, instead, she had looked rather happy about it. It brought her immense relief to go around with someone who could protect her, especially when she was powerless. But this time, she really should have gone alone.

Perhaps she was starting to become paranoid, but she couldn't help but feel rather disconnected around the people here. They were normal students like her, chatting and teasing each other happily, but it felt like they were so far from here mentally. And it wasn't because she was from a prestigious school either.

All the girls in her school had looked at her with either fear or envy. But none of these people around her right now knew that she was capable of erasing their sense of self with just a click of a button.

And yet…

Misaki found herself viewing them with cold, unemotional eyes.

Yes, perhaps she was becoming constantly paranoid about everyone around her except for Junko.

With her trusty shoulder bag and her trusty friend, they carefully navigated through the giant building as they embarked on their journey to buy…

"Oh there it is." Junko followed the stars in Misaki's eyes and found a sign pointing down the aisle with the words 'Menstrual Products'.

"Ah, Misaki-san. You could have just asked me for those. I have plenty stored up in my dorm room. Or…or do you just not trust me…!"

Junko trembled as she came to that realization while Misaki tried to desperately calm the girl down.

"It's not that I don't trust you! I-I just don't want to bother you!"

That actually made the 15 year old girl (who came from a prestigious family) wail.

With her mouth agape as she was slowly panicking, her outstretched hand frantically flailed repeatedly in front of the girl, not knowing what to do.

"Ah, ah, Ah! Calm down!-"

"Ehehehe, you should have seen the look on your face, Misaki-san."

Misaki stiffened and her facial features froze. Just what kind of face was she making right now!?

"Hah…" Junko sighed but kept up her smile. A gentle smile was directed at the blonde girl who was so cunning yet so kind and naive. That twin braided lavender-haired girl crouched down to meet the blonde girl at eye level, purple eyes locked on golden eyes which adorned beautiful sparkles. "Misaki-san, sometimes when things are tough and you think life hates you, don't forget that I am here to help you every step of the way. No matter how hard and impossible the challenge is, I will never let my eyes leave your side. So,"

Junko brought her arms up and caressed those doll-like cheeks of hers. Those violet eyes seemed to gleam affectionately as she continued, "Please, call out for me when you are at a loss, okay?"

At that those words, Misaki felt her cold heart beating, remembering its rhythm once again. And so, at that kindness that never left her side, at that selflessness that she didn't deserve, and at that girl who didn't judge her for who she wasn't; teary-eyed Shokuhou Misaki smiled as gently as she nodded.

Junko seemed to have more things to say as she brought one arm into her hand-held bag and fished out something. The girl then displayed it in front of the little blonde girl, holding it with both hands. Junko spoke once again, "I originally wanted to give this to someone that I deemed I owe a favor to or as a thank-you present, but you can have it."

It was a very long white scarf. Nothing more, nothing less.

"…Why?"

"So that when you get older, you would look at this scarf with a smile and remember my name once again even if I was gone and you had forgotten about me."

"…But it doesn't fit…" She croaked her voice out.

"Who said it needed to?" Hokaze Junko said with a truly pure smile.

Shokuhou Misaki hesitantly took that scarf and then gripped that soft fabric hard against her chest as she muttered softly, averting her gaze down.

To that scarf.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Small, genuine smiles graced their lips as they embraced their feelings in so few words.

---

They soon realized that running might have made things worse.

"Hah…" Kirishima sighed truly dejectedly, as he leaned against the white tiled wall while holding his (not randoseru) bag in one hand.

"Noo, Kirishima. Please! I beg you to reconsider! I don't want to get the teacher mad again!" Azumi's pleading voice came out of the stall. Fortunately, the public bathroom was completely empty so they didn't need to worry about anyone looking at them weirdly or anything like that.

Again.

"No. This is what you get for pulling a stunt like that." He put a hand to his mouth and stifled a yawn. He'd been feeling tired all day long for some reason. And because of that, his instincts were getting muddled behind a wave of dizziness. And if not for that, he would have noticed Azumi getting distracted by a cat.

Perhaps it was because he couldn't sleep last night. He wasn't sure why, but last night he felt literal impending doom. His entire being told him if he slept, it would be the last. And that lasted for a grueling hour before the feeling faded.

Kirishima knew he was acting like a strict older brother, but really, he couldn't get too complacent with these two people in his life. One was a killer and the other was one step away from becoming a killer (which was undoubtedly worse than the former). But, he didn't mind those 'trivial' things. Kirishima just wanted a happy normal life and if he let those facts get to him, he would never find one that was as pleasant as this.

"Urghh..! I'm sorry… okay?" Azumi apologized in a gentle, alluring, and almost motherly voice. It would have tricked him if the boy was here and not in a bathroom stall, though.

"Still no. But hey, at least you apologized." Kirishima said, smiling.

"Grrr... Fine." The echoing sound of the toilet being flushed filled the public bathroom. And he knew Azumi was going to spam the group chat tonight. "I know I had already asked you this before but... how do you always know if the teacher is gonna check our homework? Is that your secret esper ability?!"

"I...I don't know. Before, I said it was 'instincts' but now..." He looked down to the tiled floor in contemplation, licking his lips. "Every day, I have this weird sense that tells me when something's gonna happen and when something's gonna go wrong. It's similar to Hadi's ability but this feeling is more closer to... knowing the future."

"Ohh, that's super cool! I...I wish had that ability instead of this one..." Kirishima frowned at that tone. Then, the door to the stall was opened and the red-haired boy came out. "Anyway, how do I look?" Azumi put his slender hand to his hips and shifted his weight to the side, posing like a model with his randoseru backpack and a hat that resembled a top hat but with a short brim.

Foregoing the school uniform, the redhead now sported a white hoodie with black drawstrings and black stripes above the sleeves, which were also black. The black hood was pulled back, as Azumi always did, revealing him with a nervous smile. The hoodie looked oversized, reaching below his crotch, but that was likely the intent.

Below the hoodie were comfortable black slacks equipped with zipped pockets on both sides. If you paid close attention, the trousers' fabric looked very smooth and pristine. Kirishima knew they were really soft to the touch too. The cloth also seemed too big to wear as it almost reached below his knees, but Azumi had told him he couldn't find one that fitted.

And typical black school dress shoes.

It was almost October, but the weather was still warm and definitely unfit for such baggy clothes.

Kirishima spoke with a deadpan face and a deadpan tone, feeling his unfiltered opinion flowing out with a striking tenacity.

"Even though your outfit is super baggy, but to me, you look like you are trying to desperately get groped in a train and when the groper finds out you're a boy, you laugh. But then the groper actually starts groping you harder, you start panicking—"

"W-w-w-w-what are you saying!?" Azumi's slitted black eyes quickly turned to swirls as Kirishima kept speaking.

"—but your voice won't come out because you are too anxious to make a sce-Bwgghh!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" As soon as Azumi questioned Kirishima, the boy clenched his fist and immediately punched Kirishima's gut out of pure embarrassment while screaming as if to drown his voice out.

Kirishima doubled over, clutching his stomach, but he put up a teasing smile and said, "…Worth it…"

Azumi looked ready to punch him again as he raised his fist, and Kirishima instinctively closed his eyes. But, the blow never came.

Confused, he opened his eyes and found Azumi pouting with a "Hmph!" before immediately apologizing. "I-I am sorry…" With a remorseful tone and a disappointed frown directed at himself.

---

A fog entered his brain as he approached the kids terrorizing the robot on her demand. Considering his subconscious was busy 50% of the time with all the calculations that needed to be done, he had trained himself to slow them down so he could go on with everyday life without spacing out every time someone new entered his range.

But he needed to turn that ability on to its maximum considering his senpai was here to watch over him!

"Hey, you kids~." Hadi Kuroi bent down to meet his juniors, hands on his knees as he smiled thinly. "It's not good to obstruct a cleaning robot, you know."

Upon noticing the shadow covering his entire silhouette and the voice scolding them, they froze in their sneering, but then realized it was just another arrogant kid. The leader of the group who first noticed the disturbance immediately turned his body and prepared to shout profanities no kid his age should know.

"HAH!? WHO DO YO-"

"As I said~, please stop such an indecent behavior."

Hadi Kuroi smiled thinly.

The kids didn't notice the Judgement armband, nor did they notice anything that would prove dangerous to their livelihood.

And yet, why did they freeze at the sight of his face?

He knew exactly why.

And he was loving every second of it.

He kept that thin smile as he watched the leader of the group stagger backwards, the kid's face contorting into fear and then running away, shouting like a man possessed. Subsequently, the other two lackeys followed suit.

He opened his half-lidded eyes and saw the cleaning robot swallow one of the lackey's Gekota key-chain that had fallen off the boy's grasp when he ran. It looked new.

The cleaning robot now continued its duty, unimpeded.

Hadi heard someone's dejected sigh from behind him and turned around with an expectant look.

"So, how did I do, Konori-senpai?"

The bespectacled black-haired girl shook her head in exasperation and spoke ruthlessly. "Why did you smile like that again!? Are you trying to scare them off- Never mind, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?" Konori Mii sighed once again. She took a breath, pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose to recompose herself, and continued, "If you can't control yourself, I simply can't allow you to partake in any major cases. No. Matter. How. Skilled. You. Are."

With a huff, she brushed past his defeated figure and interrupted the cleaning robot. Pulling out a well-prepared screwdriver from her skirt pocket and inserting it inside, senpai managed to remove the round lid at the top of the drum-shaped cleaning robot and hesitantly plucked out the Gekota key-chain from it. There was probably a lot of trash inside it.

"Now we need to return this to its owner." She could barely keep a straight face as she said that. She was beyond frustrated. Barely keeping a snarl from taking over her face, she turned her head to the messy-haired boy and spoke with a steely voice. "I know you remember every little bit of detail of that kid in that twisted head of yours, so you can't run away this time. Follow me and take responsibility for it."

Upon seeing her glasses shining with an evil glint, he knew he was screwed.

And so, Hadi Kuroi clutched his head and stared at the blue sky in shambles. (Why is becoming a Judgement officer so hard!?)

But wait—

He thought back to what that senpai had once said.

"Well, to be completely honest, I don't know what's in your pocket right now. With my Clairvoyance, I can easily see through your clothes similar to an x-ray but I like to respect others' privacy so I don't use it unless the situation really demands it."

Wasn't that basically the same as his ability?

He reached out to that scary senpai of his and—

"PLEASE!" Hadi bowed at a perfect 90 angle and pleaded with all his might. "I might be really arrogant in my abilities and also have a screw loose but that doesn't mean I don't want to be a better person. So, please! Teach me how to control myself!"

She didn't really know what to expect when the boy just shouted "Please!" and bowed like that but, she knew it couldn't be good. But against all odds, the boy had begged her to teach him. She was only 15 years old and the boy was 3 years younger than her, but still, even though she was a mature young woman, she didn't know how to teach others, much less someone who was mentally unstable!

But…

The boy had expressed his willingness to ask for help when he reached a dead end. With all the 4 months she had known that boy, she knew he had swallowed his own pride and ego for that. It was absolutely something not many were strong enough to do and that…made her really proud?

The boy had massive potential as a Judgement officer and you could argue that he was destined to become one. But unfortunately, there was a massive wall blocking that path and she honestly didn't know how to help him overcome that. She had tried making him acknowledge and learn from his mistakes but that proved to be futile.

And now… that same boy who had drowned himself in his own selfish pleasure had asked for her help in rejecting that part of him.

A gentle smile graced her lips at that unequivocally foolish act.

"Fine. But only if you bring this to the boy without scaring him. If you fail…" A smile played on her lip. "I will personally request you to be rid of your Judgement membership."

Part 1: Intertwined Fate [The_Threshold.]

Amidst the excited cheers and frustrated sighs inside the arcade, Shiroki Azumi and Akaru Kirishima found themselves drawn to the colorful arrows streaming up on the screen. Flashing neon arrows on their feet lit up every time they stomped on them, carefully and accurately syncing with the upbeat music playing from the DDR machine.

It was only the start of the song. Wide grins crossed their faces as they anticipated the beat drop, carefully shooting short glances toward each other to check if they hadn't messed up on the easy part. If one of them did, it was obvious who would beat who. The action wasn't out of fear, though.

Both of them knew their skills were very similar to each other. And if one person got the upper hand on the easy part, it could even create a difference in who won on the final score by a mere one point.

Yes, that did happen before.

Though, if Hadi was here, he would absolutely demolish them all with a perfect clear.

But anyway.

There was odd one thing that stood up more than the game itself.

Because the red-haired boy wore slacks that were too long for him, he had tactfully folded the cuffs of his pants to avoid accidentally slipping on them if his pants ever decided to slide down after too much stomping. But that wasn't the odd part.

He was wearing knee-high socks.

Those plush black socks pushed up against his soft skin snugly and decorating them was dainty stripes that slightly pushed against the stretchy fabric so it kinda looked like something one would wear at home.

Not for Azumi though.

And now they looked like a young couple again.

And once more, Kirishima had been thoroughly defeated by that sly and cunning witch.

It was a word that seemed like something Azumi wanted to hear but it actually wasn't. At least, not for Kirishima. Azumi preferred people mistaking he was a girl so those people must be strangers and Kirishima was certainly not one.

He'd known the boy for 2 years.

…And first met him 5 years ago.

However, the screen took precedence rather than trying to explain that depressing story.

(Here comes the beat drop!) They both thought in unison.

The beat per minute of the song spiked in tandem with the song's climatic shout. More arrows started streaming down the 4-arrow lane, each with their 2D directions: Left, Right, Up, and Down. Kirishima found himself momentarily surprised at the inverse rain of arrows coming towards the arrows' hitboxes but quickly regained his composure.

In a swift and practiced motion, he placed both his hands on the DDR's railing behind him and grasped it tightly. Leaning against the support while keeping his upper body ramrod straight, he jumped from arrow to arrow using solely his lower half, all the while keeping his grip on the railing. Each of his movements was thought off ahead of time to ensure he got a perfect hit.

He wasn't like Hadi who could do acrobatics on the fly but his body was relatively big and tall for people his age which allowed him to move his legs easily, stomping on each neon arrow without any real difficulty. His limbs weren't lanky as he had actually worked out at his apartment whenever he was free.

Azumi on the other hand...

Well, he was certainly dancing that's for sure. Eyes completely fixated on the screen before him, the boy's grin only widened when faced with such a challenge as he moved his entire body with grace to stomp on each neon arrow on his shoes. With his short and relatively small stature, gripping on the support would be massively illogical so he improvised. On the contrary to the boy's appearance, his slender legs were very flexible and strong, and he had a very good stamina to back that up.

Still not better than Hadi, though, who prioritized his entire body.

Anyway.

His joyful yet competitive grin widened, mimicking Azumi's own grin.

He wasn't about to let him win that easily!

---

He lost.

Utterly and completely lost.

He had messed up on the stairway part once again!

With his back hunched over and gloomy clouds over his head, he weakly moved his legs over the fine-tiled marble pathway, going towards the bench right beside the arcade store. A delicate hand was gently caressing his back in sympathy.

"Oh, Kirishima. Cheer up! At least you managed to perfect that doubles part after all this time! To give you some credit, I still can't do that part without missing a few arrows and hitting some of them late."

"That's only because you didn't do it like me..."

He sat down in the middle of the beach, placing his body down on a spot where Azumi could sit beside him on both sides. Azumi didn't like having strangers sit beside him.

"I will get some drinks. The usual?" Azumi asked him, pointing towards the vending machine right beside the bench.

He nodded. Azumi was using his own allowance but he didn't mind. Actually, how did Azumi have that much money even though he was only level 3 and a Child Error at that? "The usual."

The sky was tinted with yellow and orange hues and that made him realize something crucial. He looked up at a blimp's screen, noting that it was only a minute before curfew. It was a new feature of the airship to show the time after students had repeatedly broken curfew even after the announcement was played.

This time, they were too absorbed to even notice.

Usually, an Anti-Skill officer would have kicked them out of the arcade but they were nowhere in sight. They might have gotten too carried away to realize the time because of their earlier detour to the bathroom as their playtime was cramped together and worked like an alarm clock the moment curfew started.

The sound of two drinks shuffling down the vending machine resounded and Azumi went to pick them up. Afterward, he went up to Kirishima and handed him the Café au Lait, his favourite drink. Don't let the name fool you, the beverage was just coffee mixed with milk but fancier.

Kirishima smiled as he gave a thanks. He popped the drink, savoring the sweet aroma combined with the cold mist wafting off of it, and chugged it. The creamy, sweet taste mixed with a subtle bitterness blessed his taste buds with its perfect combination of milk and coffee. He released a pleased sigh as he brought the drink away from his lips, barely resisting the urge to lick his lips.

He sat beside Kirishima, a hand atop the bench's railing as he drank his Milk Tea Latte, one of his favourite drinks. He had always loved black tea and milk, so this combination of both truly gave his taste buds overwhelming pleasure. He closed his eyes, limiting his senses and focusing on that slightly caramel-like malty and sweet, milky sensation going through his mouth, and going down his throat. His cheek reddened as that indulgent taste threatened to consume him whole and licked his lips in total satisfaction, taking the beverage away from his face.

"Hah... Goodbye, my money..." A forlorn smile crossed his face as he reached out his slender hand into the air as if trying to catch the money that had flown to freedom.

"Pfft!" He looked towards the snickering that invaded his daydream and raised an eyebrow.

"W-why do you look like you are holding a laugh!? Is...is there something on my face!?" He brushed his slender hand across his mouth and felt his blood rushing to his face. There was a beige-coloured stain on the back of his hand.

[Cute? What's that?

He's a male, not a female.]

The dam burst. Laughter came out of Kirishima's mouth in waves. His shoulders shook as he leaned backwards, barely able to keep pointing at the red-haired boy's face. His eyes crinkled as a wide smile graced his lips. The canned coffee wasn't affected as the boy had placed it on the empty spot beside him.

There was no one on the sidewalk as it was already past curfew.

Red-faced Azumi couldn't help but feel a smile forming on his face. The laughter was very contagious. The sight of the boy with navy blue, slicked-back hair laughing without a care in the world made him dismiss his prior embarrassment. And soon, he was laughing alongside Kirishima with hearty smiles.

By the time they calmed down, it was already dusk. Still, no Anti-Skill had interrupted them but they didn't exactly care about that since they had a great time in each other's company. Anti-Skill wasn't some magical task force that could teleport to people who were outside after curfew.

They finished up their drinks in relative peace, tossed them to a cleaning robot, and made their way home. Coincidentally, the way to each of their separate apartments was the same but they still had to separate when they reached the halfway point which was near Misawa Cram School.

Well, if they even reached there in the first place.

However…

Akaru Kirishima yawned as they walked the barely-lit, barren streets of District 7. It was… eerily quiet, except for the occasional breeze and cleaning robots roaming around. Sometimes 1 or 2 cars drove on the empty street but never more than that. Also, other students were prowling around this late in the day but they looked closer to delinquents if anything else.

He was feeling so tired that he'd probably forget to shower and fall into that soft, bouncy temptation called a bed. Azumi who was ahead of him wasn't looking any better himself as he grumbled to him while skillfully walking backwards.

"Grrrr! Where is Anti-Skill when we need them!? They could have just sent me home." Azumi sighed. "They literally know my address."

"Eh?"

However, the hatted boy didn't elaborate further and, instead, gave a small, thin-lipped smile at him.

And what happened next dashed the open question back into his throat.

Alarm bells started ringing in his brain as his eyes widened with shock and fear. "LOOK OUT!" When he shouted that, there was nothing wrong or anything that posed a threat to Azumi in his field of vision.

But he knew from his own instincts that something bad was going to happen.

A figure obscured by the darkness jumped from the adjacent alleyway, wielding a huge pipe as if it were a weapon and swung it at the red-haired boy's head with precision and speed.

Time seemed to slow down as he watched Azumi's black slits slowly widening and moving to the left, also sensing that something there was something aimed at his head-no his brain specifically before it was even swung.

That single fact made his instincts scream it was suspicious and deliberately done.

And it hit.

His slender body was sent flying and his head collided with the fence beside the street. A painful clang ensued. His slits turned into orbs and his eyes closed.

Kirishima did not stop in his approach.

With adrenaline charging up his body from its exhaustion, he clenched his fists and roared to suppress the fear he felt. If he wasn't tired, he would have without a doubt sensed something wrong before Azumi even stepped a meter near the entrance of that alleyway.

A streetlamp shined on the dark figure, revealing a presumably high school delinquent who probably became a thug because he was a level 0.

Kirishima wasn't a fighter nor was he someone who had fought before. To be honest, if he had the option to fight or let his friends fight for him, he would have chosen the latter, primarily because they were much more capable than him. Even though doing that would probably turn out very bad for his opponent.

Kirishima too was a measly level 0. The scientists had told him he didn't even have a sliver of potential to increase his level. The scientists had told him he was completely powerless, utterly incapable of lifting a piece of paper off the ground with only his mind or even changing the properties of anything on a quantum level.

But there was something the scientists had gotten wrong about him.

Who needed powers when he had his 'instincts' doing the job for him?

He kicked off the ground in a sprint, approaching the sneering figure in just a few steps.

He saw it.

He saw that pipe's trajectory!

He twisted his body slightly to the side and slid down, narrowly sidestepping the slanted slash and giving an uppercut to the thug's crotch with his tightly clenched left fist. It dug into the man's balls as the thug screamed and promptly yelled curses at him amidst the excruciating pain, wilting on the ground.

But he didn't respond.

He was too focused on the fact that there were more thugs than just this one. There were two of them, in the alleyway, just watching the fight leisurely.

"Damn, brat. Do you get off on that? That's a man's pride you have wounded, you know?" Even though he said that, there was no empathy in the man's words: only amusement.

"I can feel the pain from over here…" The thug who wielded another pipe physically shivered.

Stomping on the earlier thug's foot with the sole of his shoe, he glared with his navy blue eyes at the two wordlessly. But on the inside, he was breaking out into a cold sweat.

(T-two!? N-no way, even if I can see their attacks… It won't matter if I can't dodge on time!) He despaired behind that mask of hatred and anger. But of course, it didn't matter to the thugs as they were going to beat them up anyway. Moreover, he had only added fuel to the fire by attacking one of their guys.

There was no talking out of this one.

He could only clench his fists and hope to hold off long enough for Anti-Skill to notice.

The two thugs seemed to notice his intention as they began approaching him slowly while cracking their knuckles with a sneer.

"...Ah." Seeing the approaching thugs who were bigger than him made his stomach churn but he kept his appearance and clenched his fists, etching crescent imprints into his palms. He brought them up and prepared a boxing stance he'd seen in those arcade games.

"Kiri…shima?" He heard Azumi's weak voice behind him and perked up. He was awake! He almost turned around right there and then but he knew he couldn't keep his eyes off the thugs.

One of the thugs sprinted and threw his clenched fist at him but he sidestepped it. He prepared for a strike but the thug was faster as he threw another for a punch with his left. Sensing the approaching fist, he crouched down and rolled backwards, away from Azumi but near the downed thug.

But then he realized something…

Where was the other thug?

And he immediately widened his eyes. The second pipe wielding thug was preparing for a vertical swing to Azumi's head!

The thug he was facing smirked as if beating up Azumi was their only goal. He clenched his teeth and watched as that pipe got closer to Azumi's head because of his mistake.

And…

"…"

It never reached Azumi's head.

Azumi did not attack the man in retaliation nor did a savior or Anti-Skill arrived and stopped the makeshift weapon.

Confusion swirled inside his gut as he watched everyone freezing in place and stars in their blank eyes. What was going on? Did god save them?

He then heard voices and footsteps coming from behind him.

"Sigh…, these Skill-Outs have hit a new low ability." A girl's sweet voice slipped into his ears.

"Misaki-san, may I have the permission to beat them up?" Followed by another girl's voice but this one seemed more refined rather than sweet.

But he didn't immediately turn his head back to look behind him. His navy blue eyes were too focused on someone still unmoving while surrounded by those stiff people.

Azumi hadn't moved an inch from where he lay on the ground.

A sense of unease replaced the confusion and he found himself looking at the duo who had done exactly that. He meant well, right?

No, he didn't.

Definitely not.

But he still tried his best to smile as his gut churned very uncomfortably.

"Hey…, you two. Did you misfire your ability? Because my friend over there," He pointed towards the red-haired boy without moving his eyes off the girls. "Isn't moving at all."

---

After shopping for some more tampons and pads because she ran out of them, Junko had spotted a raffle taking place in the mall and that one of their prizes was a special limited-time Gekota product, so, upon seeing Junko's bloodshot eyes, they had joined the raffle. Fortunately, they won the special limited-time Gekota toothbrush, but by then, it was 6:00 PM.

After they exited the mall, it was time for their trek back to School Garden. They were walking down the sidewalks of District 7 when suddenly, a crying kid had bumped into them. The kid had said something about losing their precious Gekota key-chain and that they were running away from a scary person. It was Junko who did the talking, though.

Naturally, they were on guard when they mentioned a scary person so they had helped the kid find the kid's lost Gekota key-chain. The kid was alone and had mentioned that he had lost his friends while running. She barely resisted the urge to read the small kid's mind for any lies and had only stopped when she realized Junko was there to protect her if this was a trap.

And when they had found someone holding that exact key-chain…

Well, that was a story for later.

And now, she and Junko had coincidentally found themselves here right when the sun had disappeared below the horizon. Definitely not a good time to be on and about.

"Hey…, you two. Did you misfire your ability because my friend over there," The boy with the slicked back, navy-blue hair pointed towards a red-haired girl lying on the ground with his upper body and head on the fence. "Isn't moving at all."

Now, now, she was a level 5 and had used her ability for as long as she could remember so…how could she misfire her ability?

She was half a second away from clicking her remote towards the navy-blue-haired boy when Junko grabbed her wrist firmly. She looked up at the lavender-haired girl with a half-hearted glare and voiced her protest. "He's suspicious! There's not even a single chance that my Mental Out ability accidentally targeted the wrong person!"

"Don't act too hasty, Misaki-san. Look," The girl pointed with her chin towards the redhead. The girl's voice was soothing and calm as she continued. "Her chest's moving like she's asleep, and besides, you have me to protect you even if she's faking it."

Yeah, right. The last person that protected her had forgotten-

Mentally shaking her head at that thought, she reluctantly nodded but still couldn't hide the single bead of cold sweat trailing down her cheek. That day only happened because her Mental Out didn't work and if Mental Out didn't work right now…

Let's just say, they'd rather wish they died.

"Look, I am not the bad guy here. These thugs attacked us out of nowhere while we were walking back to our respective apartments so I don't get what you are all so paranoid about." The boy with navy blue hair professed as he stepped past the wilted thug at his feet, frowning. That move actually brought her distance closer to him.

She approached the boy and greeted him with a bright smile, bowing. "I am Hokaze Junko and the girl behind me is Shokuhou Misaki! Nice to meet you!"

The boy (who was actually pretty handsome and young the closer she looked) was initially confused but recomposed himself when he realized she didn't show any ill intent.

"Y-yeah. I am Akaru Kirishima, nice to meet you too." Bowing, Akaru glanced back to the stilled red-haired girl and frowned. "By the way, he's actually a boy and his name is Shiroki Azumi."

"…Ah?" She scrutinized the redhead closely, but still couldn't find any evidence pointing towards his claim. She(?) was even wearing socks below that oversized slacks. Even the name was girlish. Still, to not potentially offend Akaru or Shiroki, she took the claim nonetheless. "Sorry if I offended you or anything, is...he perhaps transgender?"

"O-oh! Nothing like that! In my years of knowing him, he firmly refuted that and kept referring to himself as a boy…" Akaru paused, seemingly at a loss for words. "I… I don't know. I don't know why he dressed up like that. All this time, I just guessed that he was ecstatic from people thinking he was one.

"And now that you asked me that…, why exactly does he wear unisex clothes but wears at least one feminine garment every time?" The boy finished his thoughts with a pensive face.

She pondered about it too, but instantly realized they were getting sidetracked. Perhaps it was Akaru trying to distract himself. "We are getting a little sidetracked here, let's check on Shiroki first."

"Ah, right!" Akaru rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and they immediately went up to the boy in question.

The thugs that were once around him had moved inside the alleyway on Misaki's command, and they were able to get a close look at the boy with Misaki following close behind her. Upon entering the alleyway, two of the thugs immediately started beating each other up like wild animals while the other called up Anti-Skill to confess their wrongdoings.

Shiroki's delicate face was frozen and his mouth opened wide, revealing fangs. His eyes were wide open, but they were completely blank. There were no sparkles inside those eyes nor anything that suggested Mental Out's involvement.

But he wasn't unconscious or asleep. That they could tell.

Kirishima suppressed his body's light tremble and brought his arm to Azumi's cheek and lightly shook it. If it wasn't for the frozen shock on the boy's face, he would have looked like a sleeping beauty and not a red-eyed demon. "H-hey, wake up…" No response. Not even a twitch of a muscle. He shook and slapped that delicate face. "Please…! Wake up..!" His movements became rougher and his voice began to crack as he saw he made no progress whatsoever.

The red-coloured eyes on Azumi's face made him reflexively clench his fists together as he recalled their second meeting after a long time. Frustrated, he closed those red eyes, adjusted his hat which looked like a top hat but with a short brim, and gave a resigned huff.

He gritted his teeth, refusing to show weakness, and instead transformed those emotions dwelling in his gut into anger at the remote bearer.

"YOU! FIX WHATEVER MESS YOU HAVE DONE RIGHT NOW!" The boy with navy blue hair shouted towards her loud enough to make her flinch. He was about to genuinely punch her but Junko had stopped him by grabbing both of his wrists. Apparently, he was strong enough that Junko had to slightly use her ability to restrain him.

For her part, she didn't know what the hell was going on.

Despite the absence of stars in the redhead's eyes, there was a connection between Mental Out and him: the same feeling she had when someone was under her control. That feeling had continued to permeate when she first stopped the thugs but she chalked it to the connection between the thugs and her ability.

But now that the thugs were nowhere close to the boy, she could tell it definitely wasn't. Of course, when she had moved the thugs away, she had also tried to dispel that same connection but…

Nothing happened.

The connection wasn't dispelled nor did her commands prove to be effective. She didn't even use Mental Out on him in the first so… (WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON..!)

If she used Mental Out on the redhead more, she had a feeling that would only make things worse, but she couldn't stop the quivering in her hands from clicking the remote repeatedly. It was a desperate and irrational move but her emotions were going haywire to even think straight.

All she was focused on was the calculations in her head and trying to find what was wrong with it.

This wasn't the same when the machine took over the movements of the person and was following its predetermined instructions.

Her own Mental Out was getting nullified, no, that wasn't quite right. It was getting sucked in.

Was Deadlock right?

Had her AIM diffusion field already distorted the world without her even noticing?

It was when Junko grabbed her hand and told her to breathe that she realized what she was doing. It took her a second to realize the cold sweat on her face as she was gasping for air while leaning on the girl.

Was she…having a panic attack?

No, no, that can't be right. The calm and collected Shokuhou Misaki was having a panic attack?

That absurd idea was quickly ejected out of her mind faster than her intrusive thoughts and she quickly recomposed herself with a fake cough.

"A-hem! …Uhh…" She trailed off. Akaru was looking at her with worry and guilt while Junko had crouched down to her eye level with the most concerned face imaginable. She felt her cheeks heating up when she realized it failed miserably.

Thankfully for her, the sounds of sirens blared in the distance, taking their (much-needed) attention with it. Flashing lights illuminated the vehicle, revealing blue armored trucks that were headed this way. Anti-Skill had arrived to take care of the thugs but that wasn't their concern right now.

Shiroki still hadn't shown signs of moving or waking up from his semi-conscious state that was akin to sleeping with your eyes open but if they were as wide as saucers. What if the boy didn't wake up? Questions similar to that plagued her mind as she watched the oncoming Anti-Skill trucks.

(…I need to take responsibility, don't I?)

Even though she asked herself that, she had already made up her mind that all the minds that she manipulated would be under her responsibility. Of course, the situation was a complete accident and she truly didn't target him using Mental Out. But still. Her ability had taken part in it and that was enough for her to be at fault.

The 'how' was a different question, though.

---

The scene was calm as the thugs who looked worse for wear—given the numerous bumps all over their heads—were brought inside the back of one of the blue armored trucks. Behind her, Akaru Kirishima and Hokaze Junko were bundled together with the former looking like he was about to cry and the latter comforting him (but failing so).

She briefly wondered if Shiroki and Akaru were together for the latter to look so…heartbroken.

"Shock from a traumatic experience?" The Anti-Skill officer posing as a medical advisor questioned her. Too bad, she was an expert in the human brain.

"No. If it was, my ability would have snapped him out of it instantly." She replied, trying to put some energy and confidence into her voice which thankfully succeeded. (Ugh, this is going to be a headache-)

"Oh, he's waking up."

"..HUUUH?" Three 'HUH?'s resounded at the same time.

All eyes were fixed on the stretcher containing Shiroki as the boy opened his red-slitted eyes and placed his feet on the ground after the Anti-Skill officers placed the stretcher down. The trio just watched as the boy stretched his body to fix his sore muscles and then looked around as he noticed the three people staring dumbly at him.

"So, what did I miss?"

The boy (who looked like a girl and a little taller than her) with rose-red hair and matching snake-like eyes tilted his head as his hair swayed just above his shoulder. It would have been cute if it wasn't for him boring holes into both Junko and her.

Akaru seemed to have the same opinion but refrained from asking and instead asked something the girls had been completely oblivious to.

"Thank goodness, you are awake." Kirishima breathed a sigh of relief as he went past Shokuhou and went up to his friend, barely resisting the urge to hug Azumi. Immediately after, his face turned serious. Was that a…subtle haunting familiarity swimming in Akaru's eyes? "But, Azumi… why are your eyes red?"

Some of the Anti-Skill officers still wandering around the scene seemed to share the same sentiment as Akaru as they nodded to themselves.

"Huh? My eyes…are red?" Even the boy sounded genuinely confused by Akaru's question. Akaru seemed to look for something and she snapped out of her confusion as she realized the navy-blue-haired boy needed a mirror.

Rummaging through her shoulder bag, she touched a soft fabric instead of a hard remote and remembered it was the scarf Junko had given her. Smiling, she swiped it away and instantly found her compact mirror, giving it to the boy.

Akaru thanked her earnestly as he flipped the mirror open and showed it to the confused Shiroki. The redhead seemed to look at his own face for a second before staring at his own eyes. His slender hand went up and stretched his eyelids in wonder. "Wow… it's really red."

His black slits were replaced with the glowing colour of red and Azumi found himself strangely elated for some odd reason he couldn't quite place. It was like something was blocking his senses yet, everything felt so bright and beautiful. The feeling was akin to having your old ceiling lights replaced with a new one and suddenly everything in the bright room felt fresh and you could notice every little detail in it.

He felt complete.

With the red slits glowing brighter, Azumi spoke to Kirishima. "I don't really know why my eyes are red, but…" A gleeful smile found its way onto the redhead's face. "Enough about that! Let's go continue our trek back to our apartments!"

Shiroki suddenly grabbed Akaru's arm as the redhead practically dragged the boy away. The redhead raised his hand as if calling for a taxi and shouted, "Oji-san! Can you take me to my apartment again and also take my friend to his apartment too!?"

The bespectacled, skinny middle-aged Anti-Skill officer with a receding hairline and a combover that resembled a barcode, who was minding his own business while trying to disappear into an Anti-Skill truck, had nearly fallen off the truck's entry stairs in surprise when he was called over.

"E-Eh!? Oh, it's you." The man regained his balance and looked like he was one second away from berating the two but decided it wasn't worth it. "Whatever, get on. And I see you opening your mouth there, save it. Tell where your apartment is to the actual driver instead of me."

"Oh yeah, Kirishima! An adult like him doesn't know how to drive." The way the redhead said that didn't seem to annoy the middle-aged officer as Rakuoka Houfu smiled in a self-deprecating way and went inside the back of the truck.

But before following the man, Shiroki turned his head towards them with pinpoint accuracy and stared into their souls as he winked with a terrifying smile that brought a shiver to her spine. Afterward, Shiroki and Akaru (who were trying really hard to not lose balance) entered the truck.

One of the officers asked her if they needed a ride but she politely turned them down.

Soon, all of the trucks drove away and everything turned eerily silent.

And during all of that to even now, she still could feel the connection between Mental Out and the boy.

She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and hunched over in exhaustion. "Junko-san, let's go back to school…" There was no response and she turned her head to the girl. "Junko-san….?"

The aforementioned girl's fists were clenched tightly and Misaki followed where she was looking. She found that the girl was looking in the direction the Anti-Skill trucks had disappeared. Sparks arced and leaped from the girl's body in small volts and Misaki found herself sweating profusely at the sight of her friend acting very oddly.

"J-Junko-san…?"

That seemed to finally wake the girl up. "Ah, sorry for that…" Junko rubbed the back of her head and instantly went back to smiling at her.

"What was that about…?" She tentatively asked.

"Oh, it's nothing that you should worry about, Misaki-san. I was just reminiscing some stuff…" She didn't know what Junko meant, but still nodded, albeit reluctantly. The exhaustion was getting to her now.

Junko smiled at her with the same pure smile and they went back to their dorms. She couldn't help but take nervous glances at Junko every few seconds to be sure she didn't go chasing an Anti-Skill truck like a madman. That was what Junko had looked like to her then.

Not even a minute in, she found herself on Junko's shoulder as they practically rushed across the streets with Rampage Dress.

But she still couldn't sleep.

Everything felt wrong and she didn't know the exact reason why.

She still could feel the connection between Mental Out and the boy no matter how far she went. No calculations was being done in her head to maintain such a thing, so how was it still there?

And so, to bring relief to her mind, she went back to being paranoid and started overthinking about everything.

(Is this…the dark side's plan of making me lose trust in my ability…?)

Part 2: One Step Off The Rails [Unknown_Variable.]

District 9, in his opinion, was the weirdest district in all of Academy City.

Walking through the streets of District 9 reignited that belief inside him as he watched male students walking around in suits and female students in risque dresses that unnecessarily showed off parts of their skin. All in the sweltering September heat. There was no such thing as a school uniform here: only suits and dresses.

Of course, he really tried his hardest not to stare too much as he had gotten somewhat accustomed to the place, but it still bothered him why they wore such tight outfits. As a fellow resident of the district, he of course knew why, though. Capability-focused hierarchy, artistic views of the world, and all of that.

Still to this day, he wondered why he had agreed when his parents sent him to live in this district. Younger him was completely brainwashed by them! In his parent's view, he'd be a delinquent if he asked himself that same question. Well, he guessed they weren't particularly wrong with that.

Don't get him wrong though, he was still a diligent student by all means.

In any case, he was on his way to school. There were no elementary schools in District 9, instead, there were only middle schools and high schools so he had to travel all the way to District 13 to find his elementary school. Besides, the schools in the district were art schools and he didn't have any aspirations of becoming any sort of artist, unlike his parents who were both artists and influential people.

Although they were pretty strict, they had respected his decision, and that brought him immense relief.

Once he arrived at District 21, he took a subway train straight to District 13, and from there he walked the remaining way to school. It was finally somewhat bright out once he reached the sidewalks of the district. Children his age were walking around in their own little groups and he found himself without company.

Until he spotted Azumi that was. With his lips upturned, he sneakily walked behind the boy's trail, careful that he didn't make any noise, and was about to bring his hand over Azumi's shoulder when it happened.

He didn't make any noise so...how the hell did Azumi know he was right behind him? The boy had turned his head to face him with pinpoint accuracy and smiled mischievously but instantly frowned when Azumi took full-stock of his face.

Oh, right.

"Umm, Kirishima? Did you sleep well last night? Your eyes are red. Please don't tell me that you were worried about me..." Azumi tentatively spoke, slitted black eyes (thank god) viewing his face with undiluted concern.

He had a vision last night when he tried to sleep. It had started when...

---

Laying on his bed, he stared into the ceiling with a blank face. On the contrary to his earlier statement, he hadn't jumped into his bed the second he reached his apartment, instead, he had showered, changed into his pajamas, and then finally jumped into his bed.

He wasn't hungry at all. And Azumi hadn't texted him about whether the teacher would check their homework tomorrow. That instinctual feeling hadn't appeared so he was sure the teacher wouldn't check them so he guessed he would let Azumi slide this time…

Thoughts of the last hour accompanied his mind.

"Azumi..."

That friend of his was acting strange earlier. But it wasn't as if he had became a completely new person; quite the contrary. To put it into perspective, instead of being too anxious to scream or alert fellow train passengers about the groper, Azumi would put his hand over the groper's mouth to muffle a groan as Azumi elbowed the man. Then, he brought the man's face close to his and whispered into his ear with a sickeningly sweet voice, "If you do this again..." A single thin blood blade resembling a bird's claw took shape from his finger and he traced the man's neck with it, drawing a thin line of blood. Azumi grinned wide, his fangs glinting and his red-slitted eyes shone with amusement as he continued, "You know what's gonna happen~" Azumi would then release his hold of the man, and the man stumbled backwards in pain, trying to scream but no words refused to come out of his mouth except the words "M-monster!". Azumi stared at the other passengers who had noticed the commotion and tilted his head as he spoke, "Why are you all staring at me like that? He tried to grope me and you want to sympathize with him? If so, then you are all complete jerks." He glared at the passengers with a scowl before turning his attention back to the train's door.

Yes, that weirdly specific event would happen. And yes, that was what Azumi wanted to do if he could control his emotions instead of being super anxious. Of course, Azumi being super impulsive was a part of his personality-his being, so for what reason did he need to change it?

Was it a good thing? Certainly not. At least not for the long term. And he wasn't about to accept it like all the other truths he had already accepted, because, unlike those horrifying truths, this one was a direct threat to his daily life. Without anxiety holding Azumi back, who knew what he's gonna do with those impulsive thoughts of his?

(I need to have a talk with Azumi about this.) With that thought, he closed his eyes, content with his plans for the next day, and welcomed the sleep that he so desperately needed.

However, he can't help but wonder why he was thinking as if someone else was asking him questions inside his head-

"Gargh!?" A sharp pain entered his head and his back left the soft fabric, torso arching upwards. The pain got stronger as he clutched his head and barely stifled a scream, gritting his teeth. It felt like a needle had pierced his skull and was slowly digging its way to the center of his brain. It hurt to think, but he couldn't help but try to make sense of the situation and think rationally. (W-what, WHAT IS GOING ON!-)

"Don't close your eyes as you focus on the spoon. Try to imagine the atoms bending and going along with your will. Moving your hands in accordance with your visualization works best, but that could have the side effect of your hands being the sole activation factor of your ability so it's highly frowned upon amongst researchers due to its lack of flexibility. Don't be afraid to try it, though." The teacher instructed him.

Complying, he burned holes into the spoon as he imagined it turning into a ball. After a minute had passed, and the spoon still hadn't changed into ashes, he released a disappointed sigh. At least this teacher actually gave him new advice.

It was time for the yearly System Scan and he was failing at it again. He went to Academy City to get some powers and get away from becoming an artist, but all he got was a sense that someone was talking to him inside his head. And he got a sense that someone was encouraging him to keep going.

And the next thing that same sense was also telling him was to run for his life.

"Ah?" He was utterly, unequivocally confused. In a foolish move, he panned his head towards the thing he was supposed to be running from.

That indecision may have cost him his own life. Sounds of a scuffle reverberated beyond the wall leading to the courtyard. Distant screams echoed throughout the walls of the barren room as the sound of his own heart beating slowly became louder in his ears.

…He was the last one to get his ability tested.

He kicked his chair backwards and was about to finally run when the sound of screams grew louder—no, closer—as the sound of limping footsteps echoed from the door adjacent to the wall that led to the courtyard.

The person fell to the ground before reaching the door and the person's head was peeking out from it. Wide green eyes reached his own and the person's lips moved in a silent "Help" before something stabbed her head, causing a torrent of blood to splatter against the walls.

That was his classmate and Hadi's friend, Uiharu Kazari.

Frozen in fear, he watched as a blood-stained shoe stepped on the girl's flower headband without abandon, its sound dulling his heartbeat. The figure finally revealed itself from the massacre. A thick black mist covered the entirety of the murderer's head and two glowing red eyes were staring at him from beyond it. A single drip of drool fell from the mist and splashed against the blood puddle, causing it to ripple.

The figure twisted his slender body like a puppet on its strings and faced him.

"…A…Azumi…?"

The blood splatter on the walls rushed towards him and his eyesight fell and hit the ground, shifting from darkness to clarity a few times before stopping on clarity. He heard a thud behind him and something wet splashed against his hair like a broken open faucet.

He blinked a few times before his brain caught on with what had just happened.

His neck had been cleanly cut off from his body and he didn't even realize it.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" He was brought back to reality screaming, his back contorting in agony as gasps and wheezes came in and out mouth, and eyes wide with shock. His hands left the sides of his face and instinctively went up to his neck as if trying to confirm it was there. He felt flesh and no blood.

Clutching on that lifeline brought his mind back to the present. He slowly but surely steadied his breathing to get his bearings back and wiped away the tears in the corner of his eyes with shaky hands. As soon as he got some resemblance of self-control, he readjusted the position on his bed so that his upper body would be leaning against the wall of his apartment and his legs sprawled out across the mattress.

He brought the hem of his pajamas up and swiped away the unpleasant cold sweat dotting his face. He stared at the ceiling, still breathing heavily, and stayed like that for who knew how long.

---

Yeah, he wasn't fine in the slightest.

In fact, he was one second away from taking Azumi by the wrist and skipping school to avoid that exact situation from playing out. But relented. The next System Scan wasn't going to happen until next year so he had a lot of time.

However, that didn't mean he was going to leave it alone until next year. That mentality was the same as not doing your homework until it was late at night and you had to submit it tomorrow. That situation would only bring unnecessary stress to yourself until you give up and decide to sleep without finishing it.

He would fix and avoid that situation today.

Perhaps he was desperate but he really couldn't bear another day knowing his happy daily life might end. And to top it all off, he didn't even know what the cause of it was. That instinct or sense the 'future' him felt wasn't the same as the instinct he had been feeling since birth. He wasn't able to make sense or understand anything about why that difference existed, though.

"I…I barely slept last night because I was worried that you didn't text me last night…" It wasn't a lie. He was genuinely worried since Azumi usually texted him and it didn't matter whether or not Azumi had promised himself to not do that.

He couldn't let Azumi know he was rejecting that (undoubtedly) part of Azumi he saw with Shokuhou and Hokaze last night. Azumi would hate him for it and he had already accepted that part of Azumi during their ride in the Anti-Skill truck.

…Azumi could hate him later when he decided enough was enough.

"Ah! I-I accidentally slept last…night?" Azumi sounded unsure of himself as he slowly tilted his head, but still continued, "Huh… you really care about me that much that you barely got enough sleep!?"

"W-what!? O-of course..! Y-you usually text me for idle chatter or just ask me about stuff! I was really worried when you didn't text me and I didn't text you about it because I really thought you had followed your promise. A-and I was also really worried when Anti-Skill knew where you live and also…" Kirishima then blabbered on and on about the things he made the boy worry about while gesticulating wildly.

Seeing Kirishima flustered like that made him chuckle lightly. In a typical fashion, he grabbed his wrist and dragged the navy-blue-haired boy away while shouting with a smile, "We'd be late like this!"

---

"Hadi-kun?" The homeroom teacher shouted during the morning assembly, checking each student's attendance.

But there was no response from that friend of theirs nor did they see him anywhere. Of course, due to Hadi's popularity, this caused quite an uproar among the class and they could only shrug at their classmates' questions.

---

The much more messier messy-haired boy walked down the hallways, humming freely to himself. There was no one in sight as classes were still ongoing. He'd just reached school at 12 something in the afternoon. Good thing he didn't spot any teachers because that would be a pain in the ass to handle. The gate guard was really nice and sympathetic to let him in.

He wanted to learn and not stay at home because of some bruises. Sure, he got his right knuckle all messed up but he could still write if he tried had enough!

He idly flexed his right arm. The knuckles were bandaged as he might've punched something that even knives had trouble piercing.

Soon, he reached his classroom door and heard the female homeroom teacher beyond it. As he had stated, classes were still ongoing. But that didn't stop him from sliding the door open with a loud bang.

"OHAYO GOZAIMASU!"

Everyone's heads turned to him, slack-jawed, and he could only offer a grin at them, fighting off the painful throbbing in his cheek. The bell rang, signaling the start of lunch break, and—

"HADI-KUN!-" But the teacher was cut off as a storm of classmates practically rushed up to him, asking him questions too fast for him to make out.

"No way! Who defeated the ninja of the school!?" "What are you saying!? He's the strongest in the school!" "It's not even morning anymore?" "Hadi-kun! Can I have your phone!?" "Wait everyone, we don't even know if he lost or not!" "Hey! Who said that!?" "But how do you explain the bandages!?" "He failed to dodge!? Impossible!" "Shiroki's the strongest!" "Wow, do you even care about your hair? I think it somehow got worse. If you keep it like that, everyone's gonna think you are a creep."

Hadi's eyes were silently pleading for help but he and Azumi could only return it with nervous smiles. His navy blue eyes moved to Azumi's piercing black slits, and he made up his mind silently.

(It's time.)

"Azumi, how about we eat under the stairs today?"

"Eh? When have we ever eaten under the stairs? We aren't loners or anything like that?"

"Let's do it just for the fun of it! Let's go!"

"Ehhhh?"

---

"Open your mouth and say 'ahhhh'~" The split-apart half of the cupcake impaled with a fork flew towards his mouth wobbly as if enticing him with its sweet cocoa flavor and its rainbow frostings. Barely anyone went to this part of the school since it was really far from the cafeteria and Azumi seemed to take full advantage of that fact—completed with a set of a soft-hearted smile and curious eyes.

"W-w-what!? S-s-stop! D-d-don't get any closer!" He desperately resisted its seductive allure by crawling away from it, but soon his back hit a wall. Dazed and horrified, he watched as it neared his lips, forcing him to open his mouth so it didn't make a mess, and hesitantly swallowed it along with the fork.

"There you go! It isn't so hard, is it?" Azumi questioned him with a truly pure smile and he was left dumbfounded at the inexplicable holy light that shone from it. "Ehehe." Taking the fork out of his mouth, the red-haired boy then giggled, finding amusement in how he had reacted. It sounded so sweet and carefree.

(Dangit, Kirishima! Are you gonna let yourself get swept away by him and forget about why you came here in the first place!) He mentally berated himself, but couldn't find the energy to truly come out of the boy's spell as the chocolate cupcake melted inside his cheek and he found himself swept away by the mood again. (Arghhh!)

It was at that moment that he realized his grave mistake.

Wide-eyed, he watched as Azumi swooped up the other half of the cupcake with the same fork and ate it all with no hesitation. He was pretty sure there was still his own saliva coating the fork. The boy had noticed his intense stare and tilted his head, silently asking him what was wrong, still with the fork in between his lips.

Seeing this, he felt his already red cheeks heat up uncontrollably and he brought both his hands to his face as steam somehow poured out of his face.

(That's right… even though Azumi does these things, he can be so clueless about love sometimes…)

They ended up finishing their meals before he got the courage to go straight to his main topic.

"H-Hey Azumi? Can you hear me out for a second?" He closed his bento box and faced Azumi hesitantly, a bead of sweat on his cheek. He didn't want to do this, he really didn't want to. But if this was what it took to delay that future until he had found a real way to fix it and protect his normal daily life, he would no longer hesitate to pull the trigger.

Reminding himself that was the top priority, and he refused to curse Azumi by saying that he would kill all his friends in the future. He wasn't even sure if that vision was truly the future or not. If it was true, he should be the one to carry that burden and fix it because he was the one at fault for being too weak to protect Azumi that night.

There was this same instinct screaming at him that the vision was true and he should do this. And even if that instinct was silent or had rejected his idea, he would've done it anyway.

And so, he schooled his face to be completely serious and composed, looking into Azumi's black-slitted eyes with a steely expression. It made Azumi uncomfortable, and he found himself facing red-slitted eyes instead of black. "What is it that you want to talk about?"

(No matter, this is the Azumi I want to say it to anyway.)

"Azumi. I am not trying to invalidate you nor I am trying to reject you. Even if you despise me for this, I beg you to please listen to this selfish and irrational request of mine." He paused, the next words he was about to say felt bitter on his tongue and he took a heavy breath. Staring deep into those eerily calm cat-like red eyes, he continued, "Can you please refrain yourself from getting close to anyone except me and Hadi?"

Silence. Absolute silence blanketed the thick atmosphere. Everything seemed to darken under that stairwell compartment and the audible cacophony of distant chatter of students coming back to class seemed muted in comparison to his own heartbeat. He waited with bated breath on what Azumi would say or do or both.

SLAP

"DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF!? IS IT BECAUSE OF MY RED EYES THAT YOU ARE SAYING THIS!? I AM NOT THAT IMPULSIVE AND INTRUSIVE TO HURT PEOPLE FOR FUN UNLIKE WHAT EVERYONE THINKS! AND WANTS! JUST BECAUSE I CAN CONTROL MY EMOTIONS DOESN'T MEAN I'M AUTOMATICALLY A FERAL ANIMAL WAITING TO BE PUT DOWN! 'REJECT'? 'INVALIDATE'? YOU KNOW IT'S ME THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO SO YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT!" By the time Azumi had said that last sentence, tears pricked his red-slitted eyes as he stared at him in betrayal. The rosy-haired boy continued weakly, his voice cracking, "Fuck. I…I am not gonna listen to your nonsense."

And with that grueling conversation done, he picked up his paper bag along with his bento box and stood up, showing his back to Kirishima, glared at the numerous curious students blocking his path with a "Move ." and walked away.

Or at least that was what he meant to do but instead, his legs refused to slow down and he found himself pacing across the hallway. He ignored the weird stares and instead focused on finding literally anywhere that didn't have a flock of fellow students near it. Carefully avoiding any students walking by while speedily pacing, he placed a hand on the side of his head and softly groaned. His calculations were approximately a minute away from reaching the breaking point and breaking down entirely.

He guessed that was the countdown until his thoughts went from calm to a bursting dam and he snickered at that. Since he had gotten only the basics of Mental Out, he truly didn't know which chemicals in the brain would help him fight off a mental breakdown and stay calm at the same time. But from this interaction, he could conclude that making himself calm didn't fully help in stopping it.

His vision was slowly getting more blurry and his footsteps were slowly becoming frantic. He could barely think straight because of all the calculations he needed to do so he had to resort to his other senses; mainly the eyes. The toilet, yes, a toilet stall was what he needed right now.

(…Am I being myself?) The memory of how he had acted replayed inside his mind and he couldn't help but smile resignedly at his own shortcomings. Look-alike blue was replaced by greyish blackness which was now replaced by unlocked red so he kinda lost track of what 'me' truly meant.

(Oh…time's up again.)

He stumbled into the toilet's L-shaped walkway, one hand gripping the walls in an effort to force himself to not fall as he slowly brought himself to its main compartment. The grip was weak. And so, he fell down on his butt.

A muffled whimper came out of his mouth and he felt his hands brush against something hot. He was pathetically tearing up. His adrenaline-filled mind was a jumbled mess of trying to make sense of everything that had happened, but the puzzle pieces stubbornly refused to click together. Frustration bubbled in the shape of tears and they dripped down his eyes, only to be brushed away by his unfairly small fingers.

Everything in his life was unfair. He never once had any control over it, and when he did try, it all amounted to short-lived satisfaction when the reality of the situation clicked in. It was one of many reasons why he had stopped fighting back against the tide and resigned himself to his fate.

Sometimes he just wished he could try over again from the beginning. Maybe he could run away from those scientists before they could take him away and erase his dreams. Maybe he could be reborn as anyone but him.

He just…wanted to run away from everything. Away from his responsibilities and the stuff that hurt him. Everything would be so much better if he didn't have anyone to condemn him so he could do everything he ever wanted in his life.

But they were all fantasies and he could only indulge in them for a short while before everything caught up to him. He wanted to be innocent but the tired voice in the back of his mind reminded him he truly wasn't.

And the saddest thing about those desires was that they weren't his, to begin with.

He had never met those shiny blues in the mirror simply because they were never there as far as he remembered so he didn't know what to base those desires on but he instinctively knew they weren't his.

But without a template, it didn't stop him from clinging on that rope as a last resort.

He heard the sound of water splashing against the sink basin. There was someone in the restroom.

He desperately gripped the rope as hard as he could, but he simply didn't have any strength left.

That rope left his grasp.

A smile subconsciously tore across his face from right to left and his fangs gleamed dangerously. An empty, thoughtless look entered his black eyes.

That wasn't a good sign.

---

After finishing styling his hair into its natural (handsome) messy state, he turned on the faucet and washed his hands, preparing to leave. Fuck, he had forgotten his knuckles were bandaged and now they were wet.

"!" A feeling similar to an electric discharge went down his spine as he sense an intense bloodlust coming from beyond the wall. "Eh?" Now, now, he knew Sixth Sense wasn't lying to him but he couldn't help but be bewildered in the prospect of a school shooter in the school. This wasn't America so this must be another test from those scientists.

How the hell did the scientists get into the school, he didn't know but he didn't genuinely question it.

For some reason that defied all logic, that desire to kill him had grown until he could literally see shadows crawling about like tentacles from the restroom's entrance. A normal boy might have their legs given up from under them from sheer fear, but he had faced these things on a regular.

He clenched his fists and undid the lid on all his ability's applications, preparing for a fight.

But what Sixth Sense had caught made him freeze in place. The long red hair, thin physique, and a hat that looked like a top hat but with a short brim and short crown, white shirt, and dark-coloured pants, all pointed to the assailant being Azumi.

And he was crying? Tears were running down his cheeks and onto the floor, but he hadn't heard any sobs or whimpers while he was busy styling his hair. Or was that because he wasn't paying attention?

"!" But before he could come out of his shock, the red-haired boy leaped like a frog from the walkway and a thin needle like blood construct flew towards his head at 30 m/s. The projectile was about as fast as a car, and the distance between him and Azumi was a little less than 6 meters. It was impossible for a normal person to dodge that.

However, thanks to his Sixth Sense, he was able to crouch down before it was even fired and immediately leaped at the boy despite his back injury who…showed no reaction at all? The boy's black eyes were empty and they were no longer slits, but behind those thoughtless eyes was a feral instinct filled with killing intent.

(Oh.) He instantly realized what was going on.

Azumi had told him about this in their sparring sessions since Azumi stated that he was the only one that the boy knew that could stop him during this state. Pretty sure Azumi didn't tell any of this to Kirishima either. (Monster.) He thought with a grin and slapped the boy's doll-like face as hard as he could (using his left) instead of punching him.

"WAKE UP!" He shouted into the boy's face as he came crashing down on Azumi. Pretty bad idea when Azumi could cut him down there and then. But he would die anyway if Azumi didn't regain consciousness after this. Now, wasn't that a terrifying thought?

Both of them slid for half a second before Azumi crashed against his back with a groan. He put both his forearms on the floor and pulled his upper body up to see if Azumi had woken up. Beyond his bangs, horrified, shrunken black orbs stared back at his golden orbs and his only reaction was a relieved sigh, a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. He consequently placed back the lid on his ability.

FUCK, HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE AND HE ACCEPTED IT LIKE THAT!?

"S-s-stay away!" He was brought out of his thoughts when Azumi suddenly screamed in pure terror at him. In an instant, the boy was hyperventilating as tears pricked his wide eyes. Did he remember what had happened?

"H-hey, take deep breaths. You didn't hurt anyone, not even me so it's fine!" Wow, his voice was laced with uncertainty and he was trying to help Azumi! With a smile he wasn't even sure was comforting, he backed away and stood up.

Unfortunately for him, a sharp pain entered his back and he jerked forward, almost falling as a grimace split his face. (Why, now?)

"Eek!" A truly pitiful noise came out of the boy's mouth the instant he jerked forward in pain. (Curse you Hokaze Junko!) Dispelling his desire to punch the girl's gut again once they met a second time, he gave Azumi a reassuring, yet panicked smile and said,

"It's-it's not what you think! This is an injury I got from fighting someone yesterday! It still hasn't fully healed yet but I decided to still go to school today because I was bored staying at the hospital," He finished, gauging Azumi's reaction and found that the boy was still on the edge of a panic attack. Think, think something that Azumi liked! Oh, that's right. "So we can play!"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break, but both boys refused to acknowledge it.

His words seemed to slightly calm down the boy, but he knew there were other problems lying deep inside Azumi, besides the fear of accidentally hurting someone, especially his first friend.

Or at least that was what he thought.

However.

Red irises and black slits stared into his golden orbs as Azumi gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "C'mon, we are going to be late for class," The boy said as he stood up, absentmindedly dusting himself off. Azumi didn't wait for his response and began walking out of the restroom, leaving him alone.

He just stood there in a daze, his eyes focused on the spot where Azumi had been, no, the spot where those glowing red slits were and the smile that didn't belong to Azumi. There were a million thoughts going through his mind all at once, but they all had one similarity:

(Who was that?)

He left the bathroom, running to catch up to Azumi. Hadi Kuroi and Shiroki Azumi had forgotten about the blood needle embedded in the wall, which had fallen to the floor after losing its shape due to negligence. They had also failed to notice a student from across the hallway who was going to the restroom and had seen the two of them coming out.

---

He idly rubbed the red mark on his cheek and noted that it stung. So he wasn't dreaming then. He actually had a vision, and the vaguely talking thingy inside his head was unusually silent.

As if it was guilty.

He wondered if he had been born with schizophrenia but dismissed that thought as soon as it came. This talking thingy had an actual difference from the thing he was born with and he had finally figured it out after thinking back on that vision. He actually didn't care about what that talking thingy was, but he definitely wanted to punch that piece of shit! That shit was the one at fault!

He was still inside that dark compartment below the stairs and hadn't moved an inch after Azumi had… had… he didn't want to think about that again. The red-haired boy had left and after that, the curious students had left too, whispering to themselves things he didn't hear or even want to hear.

Leaving him so cold and alone.

"Hehehe." He felt an unpleasant sensation splitting apart his mouth and found out that he was grinning. Immediately upon realizing such an unhinged grin, he covered his mouth with his palm so it wasn't seen and muffled out another bout of giggling.

(This…why is this so funny…?) He could feel the formation of tears in the corner of his eyes as he could do nothing to stop the funny feeling in his chest. It was the talking thingy, it was the one to make Azumi hurt. (Hey, can you hear me stupid fucking talking thingy!? LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!?)

Silence reigned inside his mind and he could somehow hear the tumbling of a haystack being carried by the wind.

"Ehehehe." It was him, he was the one to make Azumi hurt.

Then, he picked up something. It was a minor disturbance but he could definitely feel something inside his head.

It was an apology laced with guilt. A tiny, little, hesitant "Sorry." playing once inside his head. And that might've been his tipping point. (SORRY? A SORRY WON'T CUT IT! YOU NEED TO FIX THIS!-)

"Ehehehehe." It was all for naught. He had lost everything and it wasn't even because of anyone other than him. He couldn't even be mad at someone else because that someone else was probably himself, and he didn't have any way to fix this. He was going to lose Azumi again.

And wasn't that a fun thought? Yes, it-was-a-very-fun-one. "Ehehehehehe~" Huh? There was something wet on his hand. He brought it up and saw water rolling down it. Wait, was he crying? He put a hand to his cheek and touched something wet. Oh, there were lines of tears going down his eyes and onto the floor below.

He was crying but whimpers and sobs refused to come out of his mouth. It was all replaced with short giggles.

He was about to intentionally start giggling when something entered his head. It was a memory of last night. A piece of information sent by the stupid talking thingy. The moment it registered inside his head, his already wide eyes widened even further.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, this was it. How could he had missed this!? Taking the burden for himself!? What kind of bullshit was that!? His body relaxed, hands falling to the ground as he leaned against the wall and head looking up. He let the tears flow freely onto his shirt as he finally found some release. Something that will fix the problem. Something that will make Azumi forget this had ever happened and try again.

Mental Out.

Part 3: Fill In The Blanks [Accursed_AIM,Everlasting_Regret]

Shokuhou Misaki leaned against her dorm room's door with a tired sigh. It was a single room, and Junko's room was situated beside her.

They had gotten a harsh scolding from the Dorm Manager, and now she felt like her legs would give out any second now from how exhausted she was feeling. She debated on jumping into her bed fully clothed in her school uniform, nuzzling against the pillow and feeling its warmth…but decided against it. A girl's body was a girl's pride after all so she needed to take better care of it.

Reluctantly, she hunched over to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Her clothes were moist from sweat and she grimaced at the smell. She had ran around the park to catch everyone under her control so they wouldn't interrupt Junko's business. Curse her short height.

She had thought about making it so they would completely ignore the two, but that didn't completely eliminate the chance of someone running into them. Making them avoid the park took too much effort ability and they could still use their eyes.

Anyway, a full shower it was then.

After the refreshing shower, she put on a set of pajamas and crashed into her pillow first.

…It felt cold.

She grumbled and flipped the pillow, resting her face on it again.

Content with the warmth, she closed her eyes.

However, an annoyed expression quickly made its way to her face and she pulled her eyes from the pillow, glaring at the wall as if it had done something wrong. As it turns out, the shower had actually revitalized her energy ability and now she couldn't sleep.

So now she couldn't no longer avoid thinking about what happened an hour ago… There was still that same minor connection with Mental Out and she could tell it was coming from the direction of District 2. She guessed that it was the location of Shiroki's home and Shiroki himself.

It was surprisingly close by too—probably situated near the border of District 2 and District 7. Also, the School Garden bordered District 2. Running from responsibility because you were tired? Yes. Now, she was more shameless even when she got some of her energy back.

She tossed and turned on her bed, and ended up with her back to the mattress. And so, she stared at the ceiling and grumbled, "What a pain…"

Knock…knock-knock

Oh, that was her top secret, spy-level door-knocking technique—stylized to her needs (and excitement). Her best invention and it was finally being used for the first time.

She got off the bed (while trying to not be so giddy about it) and opened the door, ushering Junko in quietly. The Dorm Supervisor here wasn't that bad in comparison to the other one, but better safe than sorry.

The girl nodded with her usual carefree smile, and she noticed that Junko was holding two pieces of paper in her hand. She was still wearing her usual school uniform so it made her wonder if Junko slept with it on.

She carefully closed the door and turned her attention to Junko, her eyes fixed on the two A4 papers. "So, what are you here for, Junko-san?" She asked while heading to her bed and sat on it, legs dangling. Patting the mattress to the side of her, Junko sat next.

"I figured you were worried about Shiroki so I helped out by lifting some of that burden," Junko then handed over one of the pieces of paper and she could make one out of a name inside it: Shiroki Azumi. "It's his Bank profile!"

---

PROFILE
Name: Shiroki Azumi (白木 彩純)
Age: 12 Years Old
Level: 4
Esper Ability: Vampire
Applications: Blood Manipulation and Regeneration

Blood Manipulation
-A power capable of controlling blood through telekinesis. The ability is also able to separate the composition of all blood components to the extent of allowing a blood transfusion to occur.

- Due to its focus on blood, its telekinesis is much more powerful than any ordinary telekinesis, with a speed of 30 meters per second or 108 kilometers per hour. The controlled blood can change into any shape the user wants.

- The user can control his own blood without any restrictions and the blood can be expelled from any blood vessel of the body. Regeneration takes care of the hole it creates afterward.

- Capable of blood coagulation by compressing blood, turning it into semi-solid matter. Water seems to have a negative effect on the control of blood when dilution occurs and it seems to be capable of negating coagulation entirely, effectively decreasing the effectiveness of Blood Manipulation to basically zero.

- Unable to control another person's blood unless it is disconnected from the person's circulatory system and body. Bleeding doesn't count as being inside the ability's sphere of influence unless the blood is separated from the trail of blood connecting to the body. The exact range where the blood on their body becomes controllable is 5 cm away from their body.

- Blood Manipulation is unable to directly interfere with or manipulate a blood vessel or its processes. It is also unable to detect others even when they are in the user's AIM diffusion field unless some controllable or uncontrollable blood is on the person.

Regeneration
-The user regenerates skin tissue by increasing the blood's flow, particularly the red and white blood cells. The ability is active at all times even without Blood Manipulation being activated.

- However, blood isn't the only thing being controlled. The user actually has control of the body's lymph, allowing them to speed up or force them to be created at certain points of the body. The user hasn't found a way to manually manipulate such a phenomenon outside of the body as it is only done subconsciously and only done inside the body, the same as with the vasodilation of blood vessels.

- Endocrine Glands are under the control of Regeneration but the hormones are only limited to hormones that play important roles in skin repair and regeneration processes, with the exception of adrenaline.

- The ability is active at all times unconsciously. No overuse drawbacks were recorded.

- It can also regenerate skin cuts, nerves, and wounds that are similar to applying Blood Manipulation on the user's body, and can cure and prevent skin diseases.

- Unable to regenerate organs, bones, and wounds that involve anything other than the skin. However, it can place back dislocated bones in their original places.

- A side effect of the ability is that the user's skin is perfectly healthy, making it smooth and lustrous. Another side effect is that the user will be under a constant state of a 'half of an adrenaline rush', and due to this, the user doesn't know the difference between being under the effects of adrenaline, or free of one.

Physical Oddities Attributed from the Ability: Predator-like fangs and Slit-shaped pupils

Predator-like Fangs
- The user's canines have grown longer, creating sharp fangs. Their lengths almost reaching the lips.

- The fangs are biologically the same as those of a human tooth.

Slit-shaped Pupils
- The user has vertical slit-shaped pupils similar to those of a cat's or a serpentine.

- On the surface, it looks as though the user doesn't have any pupils but they are actually there and are completely black—the same exact color as his pupils with no visible differences. This gives the illusion of the user having no irises.

- Does not give the user superior eyesight.

---

Misaki's eyes widened while intermittently looking back and forth at Junko and the papers in her hand.

"H-how did you get all of this?!" Misaki asked her, voice trembling as she continued reading the document.

"Remember the Judgement branch that's in Tokiwadai?" She asked as she absentmindedly looked at the remaining document in her hand that she hadn't read yet.

"D-don't tell me…!"

"Yep! I broke in and accessed the Bank. The computer security there was nonexistent." She smiled at Misaki who, in turn, looked at her in horror.

After some time of panicking after realizing that the Judgement officers would eventually find out that their door's lock had been broken open and whether the cameras had caught her or not, Misaki decided that she, herself, would take all the blame much to Junko insisting that it was her own fault for breaking in.

Then, they finally started focusing on the situation at hand.

With their panic done, she looked at the remaining paper in her hands. She had printed out his Bank profile out of pure curiosity. Now that she took the time to think about it, she realized it had probably saved her the time of coaxing out his ability when they planned to meet on Saturday. She doubted Hadi would be willing to give out his ability's information that easily.

---

PROFILE
Name: Hadi Kuroi (ハディ 黒居)
Age: 12 Years Old
Level: 3
Esper Ability: Sixth Sense
Applications: Danger Sense, Malicious Intention Sensing, Movement Reading, Analyze and Lie Detector

Sixth Sense

- A mental and precognitive power capable of detecting other's intentions and presumed movements by reading their mind. This creates a form of one-sided telepathy.

- The power derived from the capability to read and detect the secretion of chemicals in the target's brain such as blood distribution, cerebrospinal fluid, and others, in the brain.

- The power is capable of a multitude of actions such as; Lie Detector, Malicious Intention Sensing, Movement Reading, Analyze, and Danger Sense.

- Although it is a mental power that reads the brain, it is incapable of Mind Reading. Only being able to use it as a precognitive-type and telepathic esper ability.

- Unlike telepaths who need to manually activate their power, 'Sixth Sense' is capable of being activated subconsciously, albeit limited, at all times in a radius of 50 meters in all directions. The user is capable of doing such a feat because of their calculation ability, which can almost rival a Level 5.

- The Applications of Sixth Sense that are done at all times/subconsciously include; Danger Sense, Malicious Intention Sensing, and Lie Detector. (Electromasters and Mental Espers are immune to its effect unless given mental permission or the user forcibly overpowers the other power's defense.)

- Although these applications are subconsciously activated, the user has learned to disable or slow down their calculation speed.

- Meanwhile, applications that need focus/manual activation are; Movement Reading and Analyze.

- Danger Sense does not need an external human brain to activate. For example: Inanimate objects that pose a threat to the user or others are detected. The true nature of this application is not yet fully understood due to limited research and understanding of AIM amongst the scientific community. This ability/application does not predict the possibility of the amount of damage a danger could cause, only its existence. However, it does increase the 'level of warning' for harm that is unavoidable or brings absolute death, but it does not decrease detection time.

- Danger Sense is capable of detecting harm that comes from outside its influence if it enters the ability's radius. It is not limited to the user's harm which means it is capable of sensing other's harm but it cannot exceed the radius of 50 meters. For example; if someone was standing on the edge of its influence were to be shot from outside its influence, the power wouldn't be able to detect it. Incidentally, if the user is intending to harm another, it will not calculate the target's danger. Punches, kicks, knives, or anything harmful to the user are included in the list of the detection ability. Danger Sense is, in essence, a weaker but simpler version of Movement Reading.

- Malicious Intention Sensing is a straightforward ability. But there is one peculiar thing to it. If a malicious intention comes from outside its influence and is directed towards the user, the user is capable of detecting it if it's 'large' enough. For example; If killing intent were to come from 60 meters from the user towards the user, the user is capable of detecting it. But, if it was an intent to deceive, the user would be unable to detect it. Examples of the various 'intentions' it could detect but are not limited to are; malice, greed, envy, revenge, manipulation, deception, cruelty, exploitation, betrayal, and destruction.

- If danger or malice were to befall the user, Malicious Intention Sensing would send electric signals into the brain, and then Danger Sense would tell the brain to dodge the oncoming danger before it strikes, similar to precognition. The user describes it as a sudden jolt of energy going through their spine and into the brain. Danger Sense and Malicious Intention Sensing can be considered the same application ability but due to Malicious Intention Sensing mainly reads the brain of others to detect harm, it is fundamentally different than Danger Sense which detects harm to the user or others through the environment.

- Movement Reading is the ability to read the movement of someone by reading the brain, but since the movement of the body is mostly an unconscious thing, the user would need a considerable amount of focus to do it. This doesn't affect Malicious Intention Sensing since a malicious intention is directly connected to the movement of the body and is thought of beforehand. Although it is possible to use Movement Reading by reading the small twitches of the muscles, the user hasn't reached such a level yet. This possible ability usage can greatly increase precision and decrease time delay when using it.

- Analyze is a peculiar ability. The user's AIM diffusion field that stretches 50 meters in all directions is capable of sensing its surroundings and everything it comes across. It is also a very crucial ability that works in synergy with the other abilities. Without Analyze, 'Sixth Sense' would be beyond a doubt incapable of being used unconsciously, even though Analyze is a conscious ability. Just like Danger Sense, it is not fully understood how Analyze is aiding the unconscious applications of 'Sixth Sense'.

- There seems to be a mental block when trying to learn to use Analyze unconsciously. It is guessed that the reason is due to the risk of an information overload happening inside the user's brain. Due to this, the full potential of the ability hadn't been unlocked such as noticing the light tremors of the earth, the changes in the winds, the movement of molecules, the temperature, and so on.

- Lie Detector is an ability that the user unconsciously uses when a voice enters their ears and into their brain. The other party's words do not need to be sent necessarily towards the user as all that enters the user's hearing range are filtered into the Lie Detector. Unintelligible words that enter the user's ears aren't able to be filtered as they are just gibberish. But true gibberish that the other party understands but seems like total nonsense to the user's ears, can be filtered into the Lie Detector. Words from a language that the user doesn't understand are also filtered into the Lie Detector.

- Lie Detector is right 100% of the time. But there are exceptions. If the other party truly believes that they are right but the truth is otherwise, Lie Detector will say those words are true and the other party isn't lying. Even if told those words are false beforehand and no matter how hard the user tries to focus and recalculate on making those words a lie, it will fail. Lie Detector will only take into consideration the other party's intentions and not the user's knowledge. Lie Detector is literally a part of Malicious Intention Sensing which is deception, but for some reason, it could differentiate the the truth from the lie. This ability does not disallow the user to lie, or lie about the lie, or lie about the truth.

- The multitude of abilities 'Sixth Sense' has truly put it into the Level 4 category, but due to the user's calculation abilities stagnating as it seems to have hit the upper limit and the ability does not have a way to self-defense like destroying walls, it have been put into the top of the top of Level 3.

- During joint research with 'Vampire', the 'Sixth Sense' abilities of Movement Reading and Malicious Intention Sensing seems to have its detection time delayed significantly. However, repeat testing shows signs of 'Sixth Sense' slowly overcoming the phenomenon until it had completely erased the time delay. Regarding the user's relationship with the owner of 'Vampire', both users of their respective abilities have said that they were taking it seriously. The user of 'Sixth Sense' personally stated; "It's like Sixth Sense was desperately trying to not get too close to him but, in the end, Sixth Sense found a way to get close to him without getting 'hurt'." It is unknown how this happened and the research is still ongoing, albeit without the full collaboration of the researchers of 'Vampire' due to unknown reasons.

---

"They didn't even explain why those physical oddities exist in the first place…?" She quietly grumbled in disbelief, rereading the document but still found no clue about it. Vampire? This wasn't some fantasy world where fairy tales like that existed.

Her eyes had stars inside them but she was born like that, unlike Shiroki who had been scientifically altered. Those researchers were really messed up if they had somehow created or forced such a drastic change. Just what kind of AIM and Personal Reality did he have? And what allowed Mental Out to be stolen from her grasp?

"By the by, what is that document you have there?" She curiously took a peak at the document Junko was reading and read some of it. (That boy, huh?)

Junko noticed her taking a peek and smiled, sharing the paper for both of them to view. Misaki had already known about Hadi Kuroi from their last interaction so she didn't need to explain who it was.

After some reading, she asked Junko, "Hm, how did you even beat him?"

"We agreed to not use our abilities after I decided to not use mine."

"…Isn't that just manipulation? Are you really the Hokaze Junko I know or an imposter?" She said without a thought, but then she gasped as a revelation occurred to her. Junko had acted very oddly and unJunko-like after Anti-Skill drove away! "I-I knew it! How did I not notice you were replaced an hour ago!? Give me back my Junko-san!"

"C-calm down, Misaki-san! I did not get replaced! Ow, ow, ow, please stop adorably hitting my side!"

Misaki, with tears in her eyes, stopped her jabs and looked up at Junko with a frown. "T-Then why did you act so…strange back then?"

They stared at each other for a second before Junko diverted her eyes from her's, expression twisting into guilt. "I…" Junko stopped, a faraway look entering her eyes as she gathered the correct words to her mouth. The lavender-haired girl then turned her head towards the window with a truly serene, yet bittersweet look. Turning back towards the blonde-haired girl's golden eyes, she spoke with the usual pure smile, "Why don't we finish reading this first? You seem rather interested in it as it is quite an impressive mental ability after all. I promise we will talk about it after that."

She looked into those kind lavender eyes and nodded. She had to admit, Sixth Sense was quite an amazing and surreal ability. If she had to describe it, it would be as if Mental Out had been a purely combat ability. That was just how powerful Sixth Sense was, and it wasn't even at its full potential.

Also, Junko was never someone who lied or went back on her promise. She was a sweet, naive, and kind girl, loved by her peers. Sometimes, she wondered why Junko had deliberately stuck to her all this time even though everyone else avoided her. But she never dared to really question it. Fate worked in mysterious ways. She just hoped that string would never be severed.

"Oh, look at this!" Junko pointed her forefinger towards the lower end of the document for her to see. "I don't know what coincidence brought this here but it might give us a clue!"

"Hm?" She read the paragraph and had to reread it quite a few times to actually understand it. What a garbled mess. The whole document was an insane researcher's rambling so it wasn't organized at all. At least it gave her much more information unlike Shiroki's which felt like they were gatekeeping trade secrets.

She decided to compare the two documents before finally giving her thoughts. It was something she didn't want to think about considering the consequences of such a thing were undoubtedly terrible, and impossible.

"Shiroki could copy other's AIM and replicate it, which is essentially the infamous and theoretical impossibility, Dual-Skill, in the flesh."

"What!?" Junko exclaimed in disbelief. "B-But I heard that Dual-Skill isn't possible because a single brain couldn't handle two or more abilities!?"

"I didn't tell you this, but Mental Out is still active even without my calculations. I can also tell where he is right now due to this. In the Sixth Sense document, Vampire caused his Movement Reading and Malicious Intention Sensing to briefly slow down. And you know what those two abilities have in common?"

Junko looked thoughtful for a second before answering, "Reading the brain?"

"That's right." She instinctively tried to take a sip of something and quickly realized her blunder. Instead, she cupped both her hands together and laid them on her chin. "As-as stated, Sixth Sense is an ability that detects all forms of danger which could mean that the ability itself detected something that posed a threat when it tried to access Shiroki's brain. And I theorize that Vampires AIM tried to copy Sixth Sense's AIM, but the latter's AIM detected that and avoided it as Hadi had stated. Sixth Sense might have detected the threat it posed to Vampire, or maybe it was just trying to preserve itself and its originality, who knows? That leaves how Sixth Sense managed to avoid all of that and invaded Shiroki's brain without being copied, but that's going off-topic. The real question is how Vampire is able to copy AIM, or is that even Shiroki's actual ability as blood manipulation has nothing to do with manipulating AIM."

Junko handed her a water bottle after going through her brand-named bag which had been laid haphazardly on her bedside table. She mumbled a thanks, took a long sip, and placed the bottle on the space to her next. Feeling her throat soothed, she continued, "As you know... there is such a thing as an AIM diffusion field. In the past, I…I have met people who had brought something to my mind about that, about my Mental Out's AIM diffusion field subconsciously distorting others with my ability. And because when I used Mental Out on those thugs and Shiroki still managed to replicate my AIM…" She bit her lip, an image of a certain pointy-haired boy appearing in her mind. But she blinked those tears from her eyes and dispelled those depressing thoughts, ignoring Junko's concerned look.

She hung her head and clenched her fists on her lap. She avoided eye contact and spoke in a barely audible whisper, feeling defeated.

This was the true reason why she hadn't wanted to think about it.

'What if she had already controlled countless people without realizing it and that had led

them to lose fortunes, closed off their futures, or even taken their lives?'

She had wanted to run away from her responsibilities because she felt like it was trampling on something that kept her sound and a certain someone's efforts.

She forced herself to swallow that undeniable, harsh truth, her knuckles turning white from suppressing her trembles.

"I think they are right."

She meant to continue and elaborate on how it connected to Shiroki having the ability to copy not AIM but specifically AIM diffusion fields, however, her voice refused to come out.

She didn't know what face Junko was having right now and she felt immensely guilty about it. She had basically told Junko her reason for being here wasn't her's to begin with. It made her heart throb sharply but maybe Junko, no-Hokaze should just leave her alone and become her own person instead of her right-hand man.

Suddenly, she felt an arm gently wrapping around her from her back to her side and pushed her body lightly, leaving her shoulder to lean against Hokaze's chest and then the girl's hand left her side to rub her back in a soothing gesture. Her face twisted down in a frown of confusion.

Even though that pointy-haired boy had rejected such a notion and then stayed by her side to protect her, he had lost something in return for that kindness. She didn't want Hokaze to end up like that, so why wasn't that lavender-haired girl running away from her…?

She tilted her head up to look eye-to-eye with the girl, pleadingly, her voice almost desperate, "…Why…? Why are you still here…!?" Tears pricked at her eyes, and her fingernails dug into her palm harder, forming deep crescent prints. "All-ALL my life I have brought others to their downfall just for me to succeed and live an easy life," Twisting her body, she brought both her fists to Hokaze's chest and weakly pummeled, a single tear falling onto the mattress as she bowed her head, grief marring her features. "And that includes you, Hokaze-san…!"

"No, you are wrong Mi-"

"I AM WRONG!?" She backhanded the hand rubbing her back away in a fury. Not a second later, she came to, instantly wincing at the sound of her yelling, and forced herself to breathe, bringing back her sea of emotions to a still. She morphed the out-of-place scowl on her face into something more tolerable, quickly mumbling a sorry. The entire dorm might've heard that, she noted with a grimace.

Even Hokaze had winced at her sudden mood swing, well, who didn't when somebody you tried to comfort suddenly screamed at you in the face?

She hung her head, and continued, "I…I don't really know why you are here, Hokaze-san. I know you went to me because you wanted to ease the pain of your ability but…that didn't mean you had to stay with me even when everyone else avoided me." Looking up, she forced herself to look Hokaze in the eye again, guilt settling in her gut. The girl was frowning. "I appreciated your presence, felt myself at ease when you are by my side, and know you're kind and willing to help others in need, but I am just scared that, at some point in the future, it will all come back to me in the worst way possible."

She listened quietly, her expression softening as Misaki spoke. She felt like Misaki wasn't telling the full story but she didn't mind. In fact, when she thought about how Misaki suddenly started inviting her to be an escort, she could guess what had happened then.

She reached out a hand, gently resting it atop Misaki's own. "That's fine. You don't have to force yourself to make sense of it all." She gave a soft smile. "If you want me to, I could never interact with you ever again," She scanned Misaki's face for disapproval and found none, only relief. She didn't know why that hurt. "But did you forget that I am strong?" Misaki made a face to protest, but she raised a hand, telling her that she wasn't finished yet. "So, could you give me one last chance before you decide that?"

And maybe then will you change your mind?

That part went unspoken, but Misaki was keenly aware of it.

But she didn't want to question about it, so she asked a different question.

"Why…?" She whispered with a frown, and Hokaze simply smiled.

"It's a long story but…, I promised I would talk about it, didn't I?" She sheepishly smiled, looking off the side and then back to Misaki. "It all started when…"

And so, Hokaze gave a retelling of the events that transpired to her needing to be saved which caused the death of the only good-hearted researcher in the Clone Dolly Ideal facility. It had started when a failed experiment had Yuuri Senya's ability going haywire after interacting with the personal realities' of the other girls in the project, creating a monster that had been able to use multiple abilities and was even capable of plopping back a dislocated arm with no outside interference which rivaled her own ability. The amalgamation of AIM had possessed a researcher and went on a rampage. Seeing this, she tried to intervene, but her ability's drawback had caused her to slow down at the worst possible moment, and allowed it to strike her. However, she was saved by a researcher who she first thought was like the other researchers but was actually well-meaning and kind and actually gave love and affection to Yuuri Senya. After taking the black spear-like object to her chest, the researcher had tragically passed away in front of her.

Seeing tears fall off the lavender-haired girl's face, she gave Hokaze a tissue to wipe off her tears and rubbed comforting circles on her back. "T-thank, sob, you.."

"Do you want to talk about this later…?"

"N-no!" With tear tracks on her cheeks, she looked at her with determined, but teary eyes. "I made a promise to myself to get stronger so I need to overcome this! I don't want her sacrifice to be in vain and end up having someone to save me again!

"I don't want to be the kind of girl that thought she was strong, but couldn't save someone when she was needed."

Compiling all the facts, she thought forlornly. (So this is why she felt like it was her responsibility in case Shiroki ended up the same so she could redeem herself and avoid the past from happening to others…)

Was it a noble-hearted desire, or was it a survivor's guilt?

In any case, she still had questions.

"So, how did the possessed researcher go…unpossessed?"

"Ah, that. A girl with a very similar ability to you kind of…'exorcised' him…? I don't know the specifics, but the black mist surrounding his head vanished right after she used her mental ability."

She looked into the distance. "Oh, so it's suited for me then," She then looked back at Hokaze. "And in the case of my ability failing, you would swoop in and knock him out…"

As if Hokaze could read her mind, she responded with a pure smile. "Don't worry about me. I won't hold back."

---

"Oooh..! I wonder who that handsome gentleman is waiting on! His girlfriend must be very lucky to have such a loyal and loving boyfriend. No one's coming though….. This might very well be my opportunity..!"

"Shh..! He's gonna hear us…!"

"And what's wrong with that!"

She raised her eyebrow. It was currently the end of the school day, and while walking towards the School Garden's gate with Hokaze, she noticed a bunch of girls huddled past the gate. (What's with the commotion?) She thought as she swiped her card at the turnstile.

"Hahaha! Watch me steal him!"

"W-wait don't..! Eep! It's Shokuhou Misaki! The Level 5, Mental Out! And she's coming this way!"

"Huh? What are you talking ab.…out….." The girl slowly went pale at the sight of her.

"Shokuhou-san!" A boy's shout reached her ears. She turned her head and saw Akaru, standing across the street, smiling and waving at her while holding his bag over his shoulder. However, there was some weird energy around him.

She blinked twice and squinted her eyes. He looked…fidgety like he was one second away from grabbing her arm and taking her away while ignoring Hokaze's surprised shouts. His navy blue eyes were bloodshot like he had cried, and the smile seemed forced. Those definitely weren't good a sign when you take into account her last night's conversation with Hokaze.

She hadn't paid Shiroki a visit since the connection with Mental Out had suddenly ceased, and she guessed that was because he had gone asleep. And today, the Mental Out connection seemed weaker than last night so she had to actually focus on pinpointing Shiroki's location.

Anyhow…

(How shameless is he to wait in front of the School Garden's gate!?) The School Garden area only allowed girls in so, unless a boy wanted to be labeled a pervert, no boys would even think of going near there, especially alone or without the opposite gender. And apparently, Akaru was either naive or utterly shameless.

The high-class young girls seemed completely taken over by his appearance to even care about that, though. (Wait…if Shiroki is 12, then how old is he? He has a height of about 160 cm, and Shiroki is slightly taller than me which is about 150 cm… Better ask him.)

As she and Hokaze headed towards the boy, she was suddenly aware of all the young girls swishing their heads from her to Akaru at a rapid pace, disbelief written all over their faces. (Oh no..!)

A bead of sweat moistened her cheek, and she wordlessly sped up her pace. Akaru seemed to appreciate that action, but he wasn't going to appreciate what happened next. She resisted the urge to punch his face as she didn't want rumors of Miss Shokuhou Misaki being a temperamental girl and instead…

"H-Hey…, why are you looking at me like that, Shokuhou-san? Eh? Ow ow ow! Stop pulling on my ears!"

"Shut up!"

While speed walking with the shameless boy in tow by plucking his ear, she looked at the blue sky above and squinted her eyes. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Junko smiling, as clueless as ever.

It was Friday. Summer break ended a week ago, but the sun was still as bright as ever. The second school term was starting and it was not off to a great start.

And so, her heart screamed into the heavens as if prying for whatever was out there to listen to her cries for help.

(Now there's gonna be boundless rumors about me and him!)

---

He bit on his fingernail as they walked through Academy City's beautifully paved, and clean sidewalks, his eyes looking off to the side and a hand idly rubbing his right ear. He'd done a great job at pretending everything was alright and not lashing out everything that irritated him but he had reached his limit.

(Why the hell were they so late!?) He looked up at an airship's giant screen, noting it was 4:30 PM and the sky was going to be cloudy at 6:00 PM. He had come out of school at 3 PM and arrived at the School Garden's gate at 3:45 PM (after getting lost once) so he had waited basically half an hour since then. Good thing there were trees shielding him from the sun as he did not have any plans of getting tanned, thank you.

He didn't know the time when Tokiwidai students were let out, but he had seen girls with the same uniform leaving about 30 minutes after he'd so patiently waited. Multiple kind girls had approached him but he politely shooed them off with a thin-lipped smile and half-lidded eyes.

They were apparently going to get some grub as his stomach had so frustratingly growled at the wrong moment and wrong time. They had also asked for his age, and he realized they were probably going to have a hard time accepting the fact he was 12 when he looked like he was 15. Like everyone else that asked him that.

And like 15 minutes later, they reached a fancy, but obscure restaurant located on the side of a hill.

They sat at an outdoor four-person table table which overlooked the hill, Shokuhou across and Hokaze adjacent to him. As soon as the waitress came, he ordered a cheeseburger and a Matcha Green Tea because he simply didn't have any appetite for anything else. Even though he had never eaten one, those Western burgers on the menu kept making him gulp. Maybe if he didn't feel like the world suddenly turned gray, he would have definitely brought some expensive sushi as Shokuhou was the one paying for it all.

He sighed for the umpteenth time, keeping his eyes on the table as he couldn't trust himself to not burn holes into the girl the second she entered his view. He already had a fair share of glowering into her back so much so that the blonde girl started sweating bullets.

During the time he had sheltered under a tree, he had collected his thoughts and came to realize that wasn't she at fault for all of this? The past him might've come to this girl asking for a memory wipe so Azumi didn't remember anything he had said to him that time, but that's utterly stupid.

"So, what did you come to me for?" The waitress came back with the drinks and food, and he took a sip. The ice cubes cooled his lips as the light green fluid flowed through the gaps and into his mouth. A sweet and magnificent cool flavor slipped down his lips and into his throat. He released a satisfied breath and prepared to munch on the burger.

"Fix it." He took a bite and chewed. The sweet taste of ketchup and the rich creamy flavor of mayonnaise perfectly complimented each other as the cheese and freshly deep-fried patty practically blessed his taste buds. Its mouth-watering appearance definitely wasn't a lie then. (Maybe I should invite Azumi and Hadi here sometime…)

"Oh?" Her eyes gleamed mischievously, smiling smugly while taking a sip of her tea. He didn't even thank her for paying for it all and now he was acting rude when asking for her help? "Why should I? For all I know, you could be trying to guilt trip an innocent girl like me, and who knows, I might just spread rumors about it all over my school…" Trailing off, she winked.

Besides, she needed to get his reason for finding her before she actually resolved to help him as that will make everything less complicated to explain.

The buns in his hand was squished as his face scrunched up in barely restrained frustration, glaring at the cheeseburger as if it had killed his parents. He didn't even care about having his reputation demolished in some stupid part of District 7 as he was trying really hard to know why that girl just did a 180. Then, something familiar whispered to him and he relaxed, releasing a breath.

Right, she was just teasing him and just wanted to know the true reason why he came to her.

"Azumi's gonna go berserk and kill everyone in my soon-to-be school during the System Scan next year." He mumbled under his breath, taking another bite from the cheeseburger while carefully keeping his eyes fixed on the table. The taste of the cheeseburger did a great job of calming his nerves and distracting him from everything as he was pretty sure he was going to lash out at something if he wasn't eating such a succulent thing.

Hokaze's smile fell and a distraught look came over her face as her mouth pursed. She panned her head towards Hokaze, silently wanting to know what he had just mumbled. Then, Hokaze whispered to her about it and her eyes widened before she pulled away, nodding to each other wordlessly.

She rested her hands on the table, clasping them together, and stared at the 12 year old boy (what kind of genes did he have?), who still refused to make eye contact and seemed to be in his own world as he munched on the burger. However, Hokaze beat her to the chase.

"Do you have an esper power that could see the future? And ca-can you describe to us a bit more about the future that you saw…if-if you are comfortable about it of course?" She didn't mean to sound so frantic and breathless, but she also couldn't calm down because she might've been right about it all. That black mist might come back and she needed to be ready for it.

He pulled his eyes from his burger and stared at the twin-braided girl in surprise. He was 100% sure they were going to call him insane and crazy but he didn't prepare himself for them to also be insane and crazy. What kind of person would trust a total stranger over something as ridiculous as seeing the future?

He took another bite, finishing up his burger before raising a finger to the air, suddenly becoming bold over the oncoming loss of his absolutely scrumptious appetizer. "Uh, can I order one more burger in exchange for that information? And I won't be paying for them, okay? I got no money anyways."

She and Hokaze stared at the boy mouth agape. Was he a mind reader and he was reading Hokaze's mind so that he could manipulate them into giving him more food or was he really just a 12 year old boy with his own priorities? Whatever it was, she nodded reluctantly. (Wait, what is that thing wagging behind his back?)

Soon, there was another cheeseburger on his plate and Akaru started spilling out every single tidbit of information he had like an obedient dog. It worried her but he seemed to be able to meet her eyes without glaring during the conversation so she guessed it was all good. They listened closely as the boy went on and on about how his future-seeing power was something he had since birth, and how it seemed to evolve over time. They asked if he was a gemstone but the scientists denied it after finding that he emitted zero AIM diffusion field and said that it was merely a coincidence, since coming to Academy City. While explaining, the boy seemed to suddenly come up with a name for it, which was 'Future Regret', and when she asked him why, he had said something whispered it to him. And when they asked what that 'something' was, he had said it started whispering to him 5 years ago and had suddenly started becoming active. He didn't actually know what it was, though but it did help him sometimes.

She was quickly losing her trust in the boy upon hearing that last tidbit of information, but it wasn't the first time she had found an unexplainable power, and guessed that might just be a part of its 'evolution'.

By the time the slicked-back navy-blue-haired boy had finished explaining Future Regret, the cheeseburgers were gone and he was sipping on his mostly ignored Matcha Green Tea when he finally explained the so-called vision he had. The boy had only told the important bits of the vision and said that she needed to pry into his brain to find out more, but the said retelling was enough to set both of them on edge. Hokaze was right, even after breaking the taboo of esper development, Shiroki still couldn't handle two or more esper abilities. No human brain could. As that will only cause a black mist to surround their head, and send them towards a mindless rampage of death and destruction. It was set to happen next year too, but from what she saw from Akaru's face, he wanted her to 'fix' it now.

Not that she hadn't resolved herself to fix it last night.

"Uhh…" The navy-blue-haired boy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he looked at her, both guilt and regret swimming in his navy-blue eyes. "Sorry for being all rude to you earlier… I…I wasn't in the right mind…"

"Ah, no worries. It would be weird if you didn't hate me after experiencing all of that." She waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, finishing off her tea, and plopped it back down. "Given the circumstances, I'd probably be just as frustrated If I were in your shoes."

Without Akaru's feedback, they would've tried to gather information on Shiroki's true ability or the extent of his ability, and if the boy could handle the strain of Dual-Skill or not.

But now…

Her mission had changed from making sure the past wouldn't happen to make sure the future wouldn't happen.

It looked like nothing changed, but the differences between the past and future were highly significant. There was no time to dwell on possibilities anymore as it had taken a nosedive into the worst possible outcome.

They needed to act now.

"So you would…help me out then?" The boy asked, a bit reluctant, but hopeful.

Hokaze took the initiative.

"Of course!" She smiled at the boy. "In fact, Misaka-san here feels responsible for her actions and has been wanting to rectify it all day long!"

"Very well," She stood up from her seat and offered a hand to the boy across the table. It's been half a month since her misadventure with Kamijou. That pointy-haired boy had saved her but she wasn't able to repay that debt. She knew he would refuse her help, having memories or not having memories, it didn't matter. But still. The hole in her heart would refuse to be eased unless she did something.

And so, Shokuhou Misaki smiled bittersweetly.

"If fate dictates that you will die, then I will reject that future."

Smiling, the boy reached out and shook her hand.

"Thank you very much, Shokuhou-san."

Between The Lines 1

It was a standoff.

On the right was a supposedly scary boy with black messy hair, and a bespectacled black-haired girl. Both of them were wearing Judgement armbands on their sleeves and they were confronting the opposing side. They were one of the many defenders of peace and order in the city.

On the left was a blonde-haired girl and a lavender-haired girl, with the former donning a white shoulder bag. The two school girls were of high class and attended the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School. Hidden behind those girls was a tiny boy, presumably scared of the two Judgement officers, but he was currently on a quest to find his key-chain and the messy-haired Judgement officer was the one holding it.

They were in a park located in District 7.

"I already told you, we are from Judgement and I am trying to give that kid his key-chain back!" Standing face to face, he shouted at the lavender-haired girl (who was a little bit taller than him), barely keeping his temper in check.

"Then, give it to me. That kid doesn't seem to like you so I will be the one who will give it to him." The girl, on the other hand, was trying to be civil.

"No! You don't get it! I need to be the one who does that!" He subconsciously clenched his fist out of pure anger. These two girls just had to 'help' the kid out and now senpai wasn't going to teach him!

All of a sudden, the kid who stayed behind the small blonde-haired girl started bawling his eyes out and everyone's attention was shifted to the boy. Seeing the opportunity, he grinned wide and threw a punch to her gut.

"Huh?!" His punch was dodged at point-blank range!? The girl had jumped in the air, backflipping backwards (oh, she's wearing green) as electricity cackled around her body, landing in front of the blonde-haired girl who was busy tending to the boy (but failing miserably).

"!" As soon as she landed and without hesitation, she dashed towards him with speeds comparable to a car and prepared a right hook, crossing that 5 meter distance in a split second.

It was a warning attack, as in she will pull back the punch once she reached just one centimeter from his gut.

But…

Who did she think she was messing with?

The moment that outstretched hand entered his arm's length, he grabbed the wrist in an instant, repositioned his body to the side, tripped the girl mid-walk with a swipe of his leg, pulled the girl's arm back and vigorously stomped on her back as soon as she fell. All in under 2 seconds.

"You're weak. " Ignoring senpai's protests, he taunted the girl, still grinning as wide as ever. "!" He was about to dislocate her forearm when his Sixth Sense all but screamed at him. Wide-eyed, he swooped his head to the side and saw the blonde girl pointing a remote at him with a wink.

And click.

Two sparkles appeared inside the two Judgement officers' and the crying boy's eyes and they instantly stopped moving.

"Sigh… How did you lose that badly?" She went up to the boy who had fished out the key-chain from his pocket, grabbing it from his hand. "Huh, seems like they were telling the truth. But still, he didn't have to scare the boy like that just because it was convenient. Plus, that face wasn't scary at all!"

Without the boy's weight pressing down on her, she got up from the park's pavement and brushed herself repeatedly. She thought back to what that boy had said after thoroughly humiliating her. "You're weak. " That boy's words stirred something inside her and an intense desire slowly became prominent in her eyes.

(T-That boy… I…I am not weak…!) Flames burst forth from her purple eyes and she found herself gazing at her friend, Misaki.

"H-huh? W-why are you looking at me like that..! Ahh!" Her remote had fallen to the ground as the lavender-haired girl had all but jumped towards her and clasped both of Misaki's hands together in a pleading manner while intensively staring at her.

Junko tilted her head and spoke with a gentle yet scary voice, "Misaki-san. Please release your control over that boy—and only that boy. I want to have a talk with him. So don't let other people interrupt us, okay?"

Seeing those fervent eyes boring straight into her soul, she nodded vigorously as if she had been brainwashed herself. She had a feeling that Junko did not want to have a talk with that boy, and if she were to let herself question that and refuse, her hands would be squished into pancakes, and Junko wouldn't be the same anymore.

"Thank you!"

Afterwards, she released the hold on Misaki's hands and the golden girl crouched down and picked up the remote. She created some distance from the boy while Misaki clicked the remote, went, and gave the brainwashed boy his key-chain back with trembling legs.

However, she didn't concern herself with that right now. She watched as the boy snapped back to reality.

"Ah!" A sound slipped into his ear and it took him a second before realizing it was his own. He was standing upright and there was no girl under his foot. In fact, there was no weight in his pocket, and he had moved away from his original position.

Brainwashing. One of the things that was impossible to dodge. But at least, he was still alive unlike what Sixth Sense had warned him.

He released a sigh of relief and then turned his head towards the two perpetrators. Noticing the key-chain in the blonde girl's grasp and giving it to the boy, he realized he had failed spectacularly.

(There's no need to fight someone who can brainwash people…) And with that thought, he hunched over and turned towards his senpai to beg for forgiveness. Then, he realized something was very wrong. Senpai had stars in her eyes and was completely standing still, not moving at all. He turned his head back to the kid and realized the boy was moving unnaturally and also had stars in his eyes.

"Fight me."

For a second, he thought he had finally became psychotic and started creating illusions of others asking for a fight just to justify his own desires. But apparently, he was wrong and his Sixth Sense was always right.

The girl's face was familiar to him. As in, he had seen that face on others before. But this one this one specifically wanted revenge and did not wilt like a plant after facing him once. He wanted to teach her why that was a bad idea.

"Oh, did this 12 year old kid break your pride?~ " He all but taunted the girl, fully relishing in the fact that he got to wipe that determination off her face. He mentally readied his Movement Reading, and Analyze which had been limited to only surround him and the girl.

"You know, you are really making my blood boil with every word that comes out of that mouth of yours. And if you know me…" The girl's body started crackling with electricity and she glared at him with electrified purple eyes. "You will know that's a bad idea."

"Thanks! " The electricity-clad girl rushed at him at speeds he could barely see. But unfortunately for her, he could sense where she was and was going at all times. The problem was whether he could react in time or not and he had to counter-attack too...

(Oh boy, this is going to be a tough one.)

"!" He moved his head to the side, avoiding a punch, and jumped back as a round-house kick threatened to destroy his liver. (So athletic!) As soon as the girl planted her feet on the the ground, he pushed forward and watched as the girl lightly leaped back, expecting him to counter-attack but not expecting him to straight up dash at her as if he knew her every move all along (yes, he did).

Ah, such a good opportunity.

"Damn that Gekota bra! " He shouted the first thing that came to mind in an effort to catch her off guard and smirked as she briefly tried to rationalize what he was saying in an effort to know how he saw through her movements but failing to make sense of it all (because when did he saw the bra that she wore? And how did that even correlate to this?). The girl realized that too late however as an uppercut knocked her gut and all the air in her lungs was forcibly expelled.

He felt a heavy bruise forming on his knuckles and grimaced. Her skin seemed pristine outside but the inside was a monstrosity of enhanced muscles. Now his right arm wasn't suited for punching anymore.

Taking advantage of her disorientation, he did not miss a single second in grabbing the back of her jerked-forward head with both hands and pushed it down as he brought up his kneecap straight to her head. Releasing his hold the moment his kneecap hit her jaw, sweat glistened in the air as the blow knocked her head up, eliciting a painful groan. That seemed to be her wake-up call as she glared at him deeply, the electricity that arched and leaped across her body increasing in intensity.

"!" The girl had jumped backwards the moment her feet stabilized, took a heavy breath, and immediately disappeared from his view in a flash. He ducked low, avoiding a hand chop to the back of his neck, and stomped onto the girl's shoe with the heel of his shoe before she even tried to kick his ass, putting his 50kg weight behind it and eliciting a groan. The girl tried to use her other leg but before she could do that, he barreled on the ground, away from her, and fully capitalizing on the fact that she would flinch the moment she felt her toes being crushed. Why was she telegraphing her movements so early in her head? Was it because she needed to think about her movements before calculating them so she could move correctly and avoid accidentally straining her muscles?

Anyhow, since there was barely any skin in the toes, she wouldn't be able to enhance it properly unlike her stomach, right?

"!" She, in fact, held back a flinch and instead performed a super-speed push kick straight into his back the moment he jumped. Her foot connected with his spine lightly but that was enough to knock him flying, but he saw through that and positioned his body to roll briefly as he landed and immediately turned around to face the girl, still in a crouch. The fast and sudden movement caused a burning pain to flare up in his back, and he breathed heavily whilst scrutinizing the girl who was currently panting as her eyes took on a calculative glow (probably trying to make sense of why he could figure out her movements so easily).

True to his Analyze, all the hits he had made had been healed and no bruises could be seen on the girl. A form of regeneration. It wasn't unfamiliar to him as he had faced Azumi who could do that before. A lot of times actually. It was so unfair to him who relied on speed and always used his stamina, because if the fight lasted long enough, his legs would give up before the boy could even start sweating.

But this girl, she was a completely different beast than the instantaneous 30 m/s monster. Enhanced strength, super speed, and regeneration were such a deadly combination that if it wasn't for him being able to stand up against Azumi, he might've doubted his chances of winning.

But the weird thing was…she wasn't using that monstrous ability of hers. No electricity arching through her body threatening to tickle his belly.

"So you have figured me out and want to fight fairly? Rather bold of you." He noted with a grin and a threatening undertone at the end.

"It depends. If you want to fight with your ability, you can, but then I have no choice but to play fair." She shrugged dramatically. "Besides, I have no actual way of knowing whether you use it or not. So you can just use it mildly without me noticing, but…wouldn't that break your pride too? "

"Tch!" He audibly clicked his tongue, frustrated at how right she was. A fight where both sides held back was a boring one, but a fight where both sides agreed to hold back however, one side held back but the other didn't could only mean one thing. The one who didn't hold back was weak, and the one who held back was naive, but also the brave and strong one.

And he had his own pride as an honest fighter. He didn't hide his desires to win nor did he not warn them to run or submit to him. He loved breaking those who thought they were better than him but people who submitted to him weren't even worth batting an eye.

And she thought she was so much better than him that she'd rather beat him using sticks and stones. Well, he'd use those same sticks and stones to show her who's better.

Slowly, they closed their distance in a silent agreement and took a fighting stance.

He readied his bruised right fist to his chest and his left slightly farther away, relaxed his shoulders, and brought his left leg to the front and right leg to the back. He watched as the girl did the same but with open palms and a lower posture. Probably some martial arts or something. He only knew boxing.

They both stared each other down, indomitable golden eyes met unwavering purple eyes. Nothing in the world mattered to them anymore except for each other as they slowly shuffled their feet whilst moving their hands closer.

(Even without Sixth Sense…

(Even without Rampage Dress…

They had thrown away their basics and went back to fighting like cavemen.

"I will win."

There was a brief silence then—

He threw a jab with his right and the girl was briefly surprised at how fast it was as she moved her head to the side to avoid the blow and pushed the hand away with her left. In retaliation, she brought her left leg up for a kick to his side but he parried it with his right knee and then threw another jab with his left. The girl ducked, avoiding the blow, and instantly got up as she deflected a jab he threw with his right and did a swift side-thrust kick to his abdomen. (Damn those long slender legs.)

The blow knocked him back a few feet, slid on the pavement, and tried his hardest to not fall backwards as he swiftly regained his footing, only to be met with an oncoming fist to his face. He moved his head to the side but it was too late as it hit his cheek, knocking him back a few steps. Feeling the area becoming swollen, he grimaced and immediately saw a roundhouse kick aimed at the side of his head. Covering his head with an elbow to block the attack and feeling his head slightly jerking to the side by the surprisingly weak blow, he skillfully twisted his body, retaliating by sending a low kick to below her knee that sent her slightly off-balance and then threw a jab with his right.

Moving like the wind, the girl had somehow managed to regain her footing in an instant, parried the punch with her left, and changed the open palm on her right to a fist as she corkscrewed his gut (that was definitely personal). All the air was forced out of his lungs along with his spit as his stomach and back were contorted. Clutching his stomach while groaning and taking deep breaths, he tried to resist the pain and fight back but his efforts were thwarted as she sent a kick to his knee. Still breathing heavily, he fell to his butt, legs sprawled out and his eyes focused on the ground as a shadow loomed over him.

"…Hah, hah, hah…, so you won. Congrats." He said, sarcasm rolling off in waves in an effort to mask the fear he felt.

The lavender-haired girl kept towering over him and did not say or do anything nor did he look up, but he felt her eyes scrutinizing him, probably burning the pathetic sight into her retinas. Or at least that's what he would do in her situation. Still, even if the girl did move, his messy bangs were obstructing the girl. (Ugh, just punish me already and stop wasting time.)

"I…I can't even be satisfied about this." She furrowed her brow at the young boy with a frown. Laying on the ground and without his usual bravado, he seemed small and fragile, almost delicate. She gave a dejected sigh.

She gave a light kick and pulled back at the last second, but the boy didn't flinch or take advantage of it. In fact, the boy seemed almost unresponsive if it wasn't for the rhythmic breaths. Her frown deepened.

"Look, kid." She crouched down, careful not to flash him (again) and almost ruffled his hair but decided against it. That would probably make the boy inexplicably mad if his earlier behavior was any indication. "You…you did really great." She paused, trying to gauge his reaction, but the boy didn't move or talk and his eyes were shadowed behind the bangs.

"It was really exhilarating battling someone who could keep up with me! You are just lacking in technique, which I do not." She managed to insert some energy in her voice. "Actually, this is the first time I had a real fight with someone else and I am sure you might've beaten me if we were going all out."

The messy-haired boy brought his head straight and looked at her, raising his eyebrow. "From the way you first fought, I already knew that so, stop talking and just…" He sighed, diverting his eyes and head back to the ground. "Do what you want with me, …winner."

"Then…" As she trailed off, she noticed the boy immediately tense up. "Let's get to know each other better!" Standing up, she shouted with a smile and saw the 12-year-old boy look up at her in an instant.

"Huh?"

"Name's Hokaze Junko. Nice to meet you!" She offered a hand to the boy with an expectant look.

The boy's golden eyes stared at her eyes incredulously and spoke, "Seriously? You aren't going to tell me to make me bow down as you beat me up? Is your pride so full now that you are taking pity on me? Hahaha, girls these days…"

With every word that kid spoke, she felt a vein popped out of her forehead. "Would you prefer if I did exactly that? "

"O-of course not!" He coughed into his left hand, regaining his composure, and continued, "Hadi Kuroi."

"See! It's not that hard to be amiable sometimes. If someone's being nice, you have to reciprocate it in earnest, or else the other person won't like you, especially if you are trying to impress a girl." She gave a smile to the boy, who for some reason had brought a hand to his eyes and squinted.

"What a weird name…" (Is he half-Japanese? However, he still looks Asian.)

"Uh, Junko-san? It's getting late and I can't just keep controlling this many people!" The two turned their heads and saw Misaki clutching her head as sweat dripped from her cheeks.

The sky had been painted with shades of purple and pink, and a sole park lamp was illuminating their figures. But that was not what they had collectively focused on.

"Eh? Are we getting arrested?" Hadi asked as he slowly looked around them in awe.

"Hm, seems like it." She nodded, mimicking him.

In an almost perfect sphere around them, Anti-Skill officers, Judgement officers, civilians, students, and teachers alike were gathered closely together and watching them. They all had stars in their eyes and were motionless. Misaki was running around the crowd as if she was trying to look out for something or someone.

She and Hadi were the center of attention, with Anti-Skill representing the crowd's focal point. During their duel, Anti-Skill probably tried to stop them but got controlled by Misaki. And because of that, it attracted the attention of the normal people which in turn also got controlled by Misaki. It became a domino effect from there.

However, he wondered why she didn't just control them away from here or make them think they were invisible.

"I need to go home now-fuck!" Hadi tried to stand up but jerked forward while grimacing. She caught him by the hand before he could fall and helped him up. The boy stood ramrod straight, gave a heated glare at her, and placed his forefinger firmly against her chest. "What were you thinking before!? That kick could've broken my spine if it had hit 1 cm to the side and I would never walk again!"

"A-ah." (W-What is this mood swing!? I helped him and now he's instantly mad!) Her body was angrily pushed by the finger and she hesitantly bowed. "I am very sorry! I was blinded by pain and anger at that time! I will gladly take you to the nearest hospital as fast as possible!"

"Oh yeah?" The boy's scowl vanished in an instant, replaced by a vicious upturn of his lips as if he had found his prey. His canines seemed to lengthen, and his golden eyes glowed with superiority. "Then, take me there in under 5 minutes. "

For a moment, her guilt clashed with her desire to pummel the absolute living daylight out of the arrogant boy, and the guilt won with an astounding total victory. As Hadi would put it, 'girls these days'.

"Hey! Have you two forgotten about me!?" Misaki asked exasperatedly, running up to them and immediately out of her breath the moment she reached the duo who had both looked at her as if she didn't exist a second ago.

"Oh yeah, what's your name?" Pausing, he felt someone bore holes into his head and he sweatdropped. (What is she? A mother?) "M-Mine's Hadi Kuroi."

"I'll let you know that my name is Shokuhou Misaki." The golden-haired girl (wow, she's so small up close) by the name of Shokuhou Misaki pointed up at him accusingly. "And stop trying to guilt trip Junko-san!"

He tilted his head as she stared at the blonde girl, trying to process what the hell she was saying. It took a moment before it clicked and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, sorry, sorry. Force of habit, hahaha…"

"…What?"

He expertly ignored the girl's confusion and instead hit his own head. "Ow! Anyway, can you release my senpai over there after you two decide to go on your way? And don't mess with her memories of this. I don't want her to get any more mad than she is right now."

"Wait, don't you want me to send you to a hospital? And what about your back!?"

"I can walk just fine so don't worry about it."

Dumbfounded, she and Junko stared at the boy who proceeded to wave them off as if he didn't just pull a 180. She whispered to Junko whilst keeping her eyes on the boy's back, "Do you think he's trying to act cool?"

"Hm, probably not. But then again, he might be trying to act cool because he's uncomfortable." (Just like when he lost…)

"Hey, Hokaze! Can you teach me some of those martial arts someday!? How about we meet up here, on Sunday at 10 AM?"

"I'd gladly take that offer, thank you!"

At 10 AM Sunday, the two weren't at the park nor near it, but they did meet each other. [That scarf is too big, y'know?]