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)

2. Miracles Astray

Chapter 2: Miracles Astray

Flashback Arc - Arc 0

1 year before the main story

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

"Azumi? You have been awfully silent for some time now… Is everything alright?" He asked, a concerned frown pulling at his lips.

The boy with a short-brimmed, perfectly round crown and dark purple hat which settled on top of his rosy-red hair styled in a bob cut that kept swinging around whenever he walked, didn't respond, but he did perk up at his words as they got off they strolled into District 7 after taking the monorail.

It was a sort of ritual for them to go to District 7 right after school as they weren't just little kids anymore. Their randoseru bags that bounced up and down were proof of their unbounded wills. Kirishima (who didn't bother getting a randoseru bag or hat) had gone off to god knows where though.

However, he didn't even know where they were going. Following Azumi around who refused to talk and was paying the absolute minimum of attention to their surroundings definitely wasn't a good idea.

The sidewalk was relatively empty when Azumi's glazed black, round eyes had become slits and regained its life. Then, the boy finally decided to turn to him. Glowing red eyes bored into his golden eyes and he found himself slightly surprised at the sight. Azumi's research facility had been abandoned last year due to an incident so how the fuck did Azumi get those red irises!? Another memory wipe? Azumi's lips were pulled into a thin, crescent line as he spoke, "Ah, sorry about that... I was just thinking about something..."

"About what?" He asked without a pause.

And suddenly, Azumi snorted, those red eyes redirecting its attention to the sidewalk once more. (Shit, did I say that too bluntly!? Should I have respected Azumi's privacy!? Ahh! Senpai, what should I do!?)

After seeing his injuries, senpai had forced him to take a day off while grumbling something about bone dislocation patients flooding a hospital. Not wanting to get his Judgement membership removed, he had reluctantly went with the flow. He could easily beat up thugs with just three limbs... Also, he still hadn't gotten a clear answer about yesterday from senpai.

Azumi smiled wholeheartedly, looked into his eyes with his red, and spoke, his fangs glinting in the sunlight. Azumi had always hated his fangs so why was he showing him them?

"Hadi, am I being myself?"

It was a sudden question that left him speechless. He stopped without thinking but instantly came out of his daze the moment he saw the hurtful frown on his face. He immediately tried to catch up with the boy while trying to stumble out apologies when Azumi cut him off.

"Forget I ever said that!" Then, in a dash, he sprinted away from the messy-haired boy. Wait, why was he so impulsively running away so suddenly...? He tried taking back control of his legs but failed. It was like his entire being was protesting the whole idea of listening to what Hadi had to say. Then, feeling lost, he focused his eyes on the front.

Feeling the wind blowing on his face as the surroundings went by and the people being startled by his presence bloomed an odd feeling in his chest. He then heard Hadi yell at him to stop, and he immediately recognized what it was.

Freedom.

In an instant, he felt adrenaline starting to enter his veins with vigor. Once the pathway was empty, he closed his eyes, zeroing in on the feeling of air brushing against his skin. A smile slowly made his way to his face as he reopened them. What had once been red slitted eyes had now been replaced with round glowing red eyes with each eye adorning a bright white, stilled swirl that overlaid both the red irises and black pupils.

He saw them. Everyone else's AIM diffusion fields couldn't escape from his grasp anymore.

He couldn't help the bout of laughter that escaped his mouth nor the wide, genuine smile that stretched across his face.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"AZUMIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

A certain redhead's tear fell onto the sidewalk.

---

"Take care of the store, new rookie! I rarely leave the store, but I am busy with something today. Don't worry, I will be back just before curfew."

She sighed upon remembering what her boss said while checking out the cupcakes on the counter using the barcode scanner. (How unlucky am I?! I am just a shy little girl with no friends! What can this little assistant do!?)

She finished, clumsily handed over the bill to the young girl, and received the cash with shaking and sweaty hands.

With her smile twitching and beads of sweat dripping from her nape, she opened her mouth with great effort and said "T-t-thank you, p-p please come again!" to the last customer. But by the time she opened her eyes, there was the sound of a bell's short dinging. The young girl had already left the store without sparing her another glance.

The 14 year old girl with parts of her long black hair tied in two pigtails and yellow eyes slumped over and sighed tiredly once again. She knew being an assistant meant she had to take over the counter someday, but it was too early for that! Her duties as an assistant were to keep the shop clean, stock the shelves, help with the baking, and sometimes promote the store out front. It was exhausting but she needed the money for her expenses. Plus, the pay was really good.

But...she was starting to lose hope in herself and her luck. She could already imagine her boss kicking her out of the store just because she couldn't speak right...

(No, no, no, I can't just give up like this…! I-I need to prove them wrong!)

And so.

With a flame burning in her eyes, she planted her feet on the ground with unrivaled strength, straightened her back, snatched a towel from her pocket, swiped off her sweat, and glared at the door.

And that was when a red-haired girl(?) dashed frantically into the fancy, wooden door with a loud ding. The breathless girl didn't even notice her intense, predator-like glare and continued without stopping. Wait, wait, wait, where was she going? She sweatdropped, blinking repeatedly as if to dispel whatever illusion she was having.

"Shh! Don't tell anyone I am here..!" With her eyes oddly blank, she complied with his—yep, that's a boy's voice—request, directing her attention forward. (Ah...) A contemplative look naturally fell on her face. A river of sweat had pooled in the back of her neck at the absurdity of it all. She truly didn't know how to deal with this.

As if it was all second nature to him, the boy had gone to the back of the counter and quickly hid himself beside her feet. She wasn't even able to greet him. Perhaps the kid had gotten her boss's approval because how the hell did he not trip any alarms? She was still new and hadn't gotten to know any regular customers yet.

As if on cue, a messy-haired boy opened the still-wobbling door and dashed inside, clearly out of breath. The child stopped in front of the counter and looked around before immediately going up to her once he panned his head her way.

"Is…is someone with red hair nearby?" The boy asked, placing his arms on the counter.

She looked down at the boy, with an unusually blank face and responded, "No."

The stylish messy-haired boy's eyes briefly glazed over while staring at her. Then, a grin twisted his lips as the boy's eyes shifted towards a specific point of the counter. He seemed to stare at it, mulling over what to do, and spoke without pulling his eyes from the spot, "Alright, get some rest. I'll be outside. "

True to his word, the boy calmly walked out of the store without sparing her another glance. Once the boy left the bakery with a ding, she slumped forward and sighed. (All that resolve and preparation down the drain…)

Her yellow eyes focused on the boy and something in her just wanted to bully him until he was a snivelling mess. The boy in question had, for some reason, stiffened like a deer in headlights while leaning with his randoseru against the counter and his knees to his chest when she bent down with her hands on her knees. Also, the redhead wasn't trying to look at her.

But she brushed it off to the feeling of being almost caught, and smiled darkly. "Hey kid, what's your name?"

The hatted boy turned his head towards her and what she laid eyes on set off alarm bells in her head.

She needed to run.

Her dream of a collapsible sniper rifle wasn't finished yet!

She felt her legs buckle. She was the prey, and the thing was the predator. No matter what she did, her life simply remained at its whim. Pleasing the creature was her best bet at getting out alive, and one wrong move could send her head rolling.

It was a completely instinctual feeling.

"Your face just before looks like Hadi." The thing cocked her head to the side. "Are you perhaps from Hadi's missing family?"

The thing's doll-like face was blank.

The question was impulsive. The words seemed to flow freely out of his mouth so the thing must have acted on it without a thought the moment it entered its head.

Hearing a ding, she didn't even bother to welcome the new customer and kept her wide eyes focused on the thing.

She didn't know what to answer. Answering "yes" seemed like the best option but it meant that she would be lying, and on the other hand, answering "no" could displease the monster in front of her.

She gulped.

After carefully but speedily weighing her chances, she answered.

"N-no."

The world seemed to freeze the moment those words slipped out of her mouth.

"I see." The thing mulled over her words. Then, those red, and white swirl eyes seemed to regain some semblance of cognition as it suddenly brightened. However, its lips were still pulled in a tight line, and spoke monotonously, "Ah, sorry, my name is Shiroki Azumi, Yumiya Rakko-kun."

Despite the apology, there wasn't even a sliver of sincerity in those words, but that wasn't what she had focused on.

Her perception of the world seemed to blur.

(H-h-h-how does that monster know my name…!?)

No matter how innocent it sounded, she couldn't help but think it was a threat.

Every pore of her skin was sweating.

She wasn't out of the woods yet. The monster was still an arm away from her.

"I think you should do your job, a customer is coming."

Surprised, her hands left her trembling knees and stood ramrod straight. True to the monster's word, a girl was coming to get their strawberry shortcake checked out.

Still. The monster's gaze hadn't even shifted away from her before or after he said that, and there was no way for him to even see the customer from that low angle.

The girl placed her two strawberry shortcakes on the counter, and she just stared at it. She didn't have the strength to bring up her arms. That monster—no, that helpless child—had taken her soul and thoroughly played with it.

"Excuse me... uh, senpai, are you sick? You look like you have seen a ghost and are completely soaked with sweat. You aren't being overworked, are you?" Her bleary eyes gazed at the girl. She had her long black hair accessorized with a single flower and seemed to be elementary school-aged, judging from the randoseru bag on her back. She was gazing at her with obvious concern and a frown tugging at her lips.

With the girl's evident worry at the forefront of her mind, it became easier to take her mind away and simply go through the motions.

Just for the sake of the girl, she put on her best fake smile. It was wobbly. "Ah, no, I am fine. The store isn't working me to the bone." She pulled out the barcode scanner with shaky hands. "I was just... I was just tired, that's all."

She was surprised at herself for suddenly not making a fool of herself during a social interaction. She must truly be really tired.

The black-haired girl looked at her thoughtfully. "Alright, then... I think you should ask your manager for some rest, you clearly need it."

"Thanks, I will think about it."

She watched as the pigtailed girl worked with apparent difficulty, failing to suppress her intense shaking as she tried to scan the barcode. The girl had even flinched once as if something had touched her leg, and then the trembling got worse. It took her about half a minute, and by that time, she had tears in her eyes and was blushing profusely as sweat repeatedly poured down her face. If it had taken a second longer, she wouldn't be surprised if the older girl had a mental breakdown right there and then.

Some part of her just wanted to cheer the older girl up. Part-time jobs were usually meant for high schoolers, but this girl was definitely a middle schooler. (Where's the usual manager onee-san?)

"I hate to bother you but..." Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long for the pale girl to perk up. "For strawberry shortcakes, do you eat the strawberry first or do you leave it for last?"

"H-huh?"

"For me, it depends on the situation. I always eat it last, but If I am eating with my friend, I eat it first so she won't steal it the moment I look away, you know? I swear, she always manages to steal it and then acts like there isn't a strawberry-shaped bump in her cheek." She sighed, but a soft smile graced her lips as she locked eyes with her and leaned against the counter. "So, what about you?"

"Uhh…" (She's too close!) "I-I-I always eat it along with the sponge cake s-so I could taste it all at once..!"

"Ohh! I never thought of that! Do you scoop the strawberry into the cake or do you swallow the strawberry first and then eat the cake?" The younger girl clapped both her hands together excitedly. "Maybe I should try your style after this!"

"I-I scoop it up... H-here… It's 600 yen." She handed the girl the receipt after she paid for it.

She looked at the strawberry shortcake inside the plastic bag with a frown. "I wish I could share it with you, but you still need to work, don't you? I don't see the manager anywhere."

"Yeah... The b-boss said something came up. B-b-but I appreciate the thought, though!"

The bell dinged and the both of them turned towards it, but no one came in. Instead, she saw a dark blue hat beyond the door panel. Wide-eyed, she instantly glanced down at her feet with a sliver of hope in her heart.

That helpless child (who had tapped against her knee which felt like a knife's edge scrapping against her) wasn't there.

Feeling a weight lift from her shoulders, she released the loudest relieved sigh she ever had. She slumped forward in victory and muttered, "Finally…"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"O-oh, It's-it's nothing…"

"Ah! I just remembered! I gotta go or else Uiharu will be mad at me if I stay here any longer!" The younger girl dashed towards the door, however, the moment she made it to the door, she glanced back. "Maybe we will meet each other again and I'll invite you to a sleepover with her! I am sure we will be great friends!"

And with that, the black-haired girl adorned with a single flower at the side of her head left the store in a hurry.

(F-friends…? But…we didn't even introduce ourselves to each other…)

However, she had more important matters at hand rather than dwell on them. The helpless child who went to the back of the counter could've stolen something without her looking, and that meant she could be fired by her boss, Yuuka Miori. And to top it off, she hadn't even scolded the boy for entering that employee-only area!

She got fired the next day for being a nervous wreck. Her former boss seemed unnaturally frustrated too.

---

Ding

Black slits viewed the blue sky for a moment before following the sidewalk with a sigh.

This was probably it. The black slits were 'me' and the others were just an imitation, besides sea blue. Or at least they were suited for certain situations. Just like the other girl had said she ate her strawberry last but ate it first if her friend was there. He truly didn't mean the scare the rookie like that.

(Where is Hadi…?) The walking lie detector had said he was waiting outside so he tried to expand his AIM diffusion field, but he couldn't even detect or see his AIM diffusion field which meant he couldn't pinpoint where he was.

His head went swish, swish as he swiveled his head to look around him, and found a bunch of faceless people meandering. And he was suddenly self-aware of himself, being a potential threat and all. Was Mom a helicopter parent? And that was why she made-

"Boo."

"AHHHHH!"

He was timidly walking beside an alleyway when he embarrassingly yelped in utter terror and almost fell to his knees before embarrassed Hadi had practically threw him into the alleyway. It looked like a kidnapping and it probably was.

He leaned against the wall and took deep breaths to calm himself. His heart felt like it was threatening to burst through his ribs.

He really shouldn't have been that scared, but the face Hadi was making was horribly similar to the rookie's face that if he didn't know any better, he would have thought Hadi was the copycat!

After checking that no bystander decided to busy themselves with their humiliating display, he glared at Hadi from the corner of his eye, but the boy had somehow answered his question before he got a word out. "I-I was just checking if you were a doppelganger or not!"

(Well, that's a blunt way to put it.) He couldn't help but pout despite himself. Hadi seemed to realize his mistake as he tried to rebuke, but a raised hand put a stop to it. Smiling softly, he channeled his inner Mom and scolded the boy, "Listen, that trait of yours will probably get you slapped or a girlfriend or both so don't even correct it."

"Eh…?"

He sighed. "Not that you will get it." Grasping the other boy's unbandaged hand, he took a peek from the alleyway to watch for any big crowd, found none, and then took the both of them onto the sidewalk gracefully. He let go of his hand. "Anyway, what should we do? Kirishima isn't here, and I don't really feel like playing anything."

"Hmm…" As they walked along the sidewalk paved with square tiles of different shades of brown in an aesthetically pleasing way, Hadi put a hand to his chin and mulled over what they would do. A car passed by, and the breeze it carried caused both of their hairs to flutter and wobble slightly. Then, a scary grin crossed Hadi's face, and he immediately knew what he was going to say.

"Let's beat up some bad guys." said Hadi, because apparently, the only thing that got him going was punching people which he didn't reciprocate.

"But you are injured," He stated plainly. Then, a word entered his head and it rolled off his tongue without a second thought. It felt a bit foreign, though. "Meathead." He said with a teasing grin.

"M-meathead!?" Hadi's face scrunched up at the name-calling, his eyes widening. "I-I am not a meathead! And when did you learn a word like that!?"

The teasing grin was teetering into a shit-eating grin as he expertly ignored the question. Was he possessed or something? Because words that he hadn't known before had started worming their way into his brain and given explanations. But he won't pass off on the opportunity, though. However, he did cover his grin with one hand as that wasn't a good look. "Actually, aren't you more of an adrenaline junky or a sadistic psychopath? Maybe what you really need is constant, in-depth replays of blood and gore to keep your brain going. Twists of a bone won't work. And maybe then you will finally understand what I was saying before."

As it turned out, covering his grin with one hand made him look more evil and teasing rather than less unhinged.

He didn't even notice his irises slowly glowing red as he spoke words that no 12 year old should say.

Hadi stared at his face, absolutely horrified.

"Ah-ah...AHHHHH!" And as every 12 year old boy would do when they suddenly find out that their friend was possessed by a demon, Hadi Kuroi ran away screaming. His usual bravado when he was up against Hokaze Junko or the man-killing, mindless monster in the school restroom had been completely shattered by mere words spoken through the soft lips of his best friend.

Or perhaps it was because of the lack of threat, or 'blood and gore' as Shiroki Azumi had previously stated.

"Hadi...?" He raised his hand as if to reach over and grab the boy's back, but Hadi kept running as his randoseru bag wobbled up and down, skillfully zig-zagging to avoid passersby. He was confused. He didn't do anything wrong or different from 'me' so why did Hadi had looked at him like that?

Tilting his head, he glanced at a middle school girl—who was watching the scene with curiosity—in the eye. Once their eyes met, the girl's green eyes widened as she stumbled backward before suddenly speeding away.

(What...?)

He didn't do anything different?

There were no Mental Out calculations so why were they scared of him?

Of 'me'?

The boy frowned, a truly genuine and confused frown marring his face. But there was no time to linger on that right now. Hadi was gaining distance and he needed to be fast before he could catch up. And if he couldn't, he knew a place Hadi would always go to to clear his mind.

And so, he took off in a speedy walk as Hadi's figure blurred behind the crowd of innocent passersby.

Unbeknownst to him, a group of 2 high-class girls and a boy with navy blue hair were trailing the boy from behind, carefully keeping their distance from him.

"Ugh, where are they going!?" She grumbled in frustration.

They had just gotten to the boy's trail, and now Shiroki was getting away. At least, he didn't look like he was trying to kill someone. She still couldn't wrap her head around Hadi being a part of the boys' friend group. Was it a coincidence or was it the higher-ups' doing that she had met all three of them?

Was she playing in the hands of those bastards?

"Misaki-san, shall I use my ability to assist you?" offered Hokaze, smiling as always, but there was a bit of sweat on her cheek. The lavender-haired girl was currently focusing on trying to forcibly discharge lightning externally by increasing the voltage on top of her skin and sending it into the air. Although Rampage Dress did have minor external charges when activated, this was different as she was trying to direct her lightning on fixed spots and send it in a concentrated burst of lightning.

It was her counter against Blood Manipulation in case everything went south.

She looked around. "T-thank you, but I think I will pass on that."

"Hold up, you guys were about to leave me alone, weren't you?" questioned Akaru, glaring at her suspiciously. Hokaze was the one who brought it up so why was he only glaring at her!?

"You are a boy, and I am a young maiden so it's clear to me who should we prioritize." She huffed.

"That's misandry." He pointed out. "And I am younger than you two."

"Very well," She smirked. "Want to get princess carried like the small boy you are then?"

And suddenly, he felt his cheek heat, both at the mental image and the possible public embarrassment. Hokaze was the same height as him, and elementary school students didn't normally have a height of 160 cm. Not having a randoseru really didn't help either. "O-of course not!"

At the boy's embarrassment, she laughed, feeling a bit lighter. (Right…, why am I being so tense when nothing has happened yet.)

She smiled and nudged the boy with her elbow. "Got any ideas on where he's going?"

Still feeling embarrassed, he coughed into his hand. "Ah, well, considering that Azumi's going to go find Hadi, he'd probably search for the boy at his favourite spot. The place is pretty nice and people rarely go there so it's for the best that we just follow Azumi for the time being and hope he's going that way."

"Ah...so more walking it is..." She sighed, feeling both dejected and slightly tired. "Where is it at?"

"District 10."

Shokuhou's face twisted with displeasure, and she groaned. "That unwanted district?"

"Oh, look. Azumi's taking a left there so he's 100% going to that place."

They ended up leisurely walking while making chatter with each other on the way there.

---

District 10.

It was infamous for being a forbidden zone amongst Academy City students, or more specifically, students who hadn't given up. Rumors would go around saying those who venture into the district would come out completely changed or something similar.

However, rumors have a way of sometimes being mostly true or just straight-up fantasies made up to scare others. While that particular rumor about District 10 was more-or-less false, there were some truths to it.

For example, if you were a delinquent or a gang member in the district before the rumor became widespread, the moment you leave, you would certainly warn others like a crazed madman to never step foot if they had dreams of becoming one of the numerous delinquents in the district like them.

As 6 months passed by, Academy City's Area G inside District 10, also known as Strange, which was a completely rundown area and filled with Anti-Skill gangs like Big Spider, was getting smaller and smaller, and the delinquent activity inside the district had dropped drastically. Far away from the public, there were even some talks of renovating and upgrading the outskirts of the district to allow for schools and public institutions to open up as a way of a slow popularization of the district.

He found the instigator of the event seated on a bench at the end of a T-junction, staring at the sky as his chest rose and fell in tune with his breath. He smiled, walked to the boy, and plopped onto the seat next to him. Hadi didn't glance in his direction, but he was sure he had already sensed his arrival.

It was Hadi's favourite spot. The area was clean and barely anyone wandered here. Buildings towered behind them and the horizon upfront was clear. The spot was on a slightly elevated flat land like the top of a mini mountain on the edge of the district and oversaw parts of it so it was pretty windy. You could even see a small sliver of the giant wall surrounding Academy City from the bench.

"Here," He handed the boy his favourite (and only) coffee, a cold brew black coffee with no sugar. The boy took it without a word or a glance, pried open the lid, and chugged it before releasing a satisfied sigh. He took a sip from his coffee of the same type and joined Hadi in watching the cloudy sky. The city looked better when it was dark and illuminated by the glow of indoor lights filtering through windows. An airship flew by and he noted it was 6:00 PM, and the prediction was right as always. "I…I am sorry."

He didn't know what he was being sorry for.

"W-What? Azumi, what are you being sorry for? I should be the one apologizing for overreacting." He sighed, turning to the boy, and looked deep into those unnerving red eyes. "Look, I don't think it's bad that you are saying all that stuff to me, but please tell me what is going on. I want to help, but…" He gritted his teeth. "What is going on with you and Kirishima, and why are you all avoiding each other?" He really tried to hold off his frustration, but his voice still came out with a slight edge to it.

Azumi flinched, and a frown made his way to his face, briefly staring at him before turning towards the horizon. The boy shifted into his seat, clearly uncomfortable, and finished his coffee before finally beginning to speak his heart out.

"At first, Kirishima accepted me. I was overjoyed when I heard that, because with these 'red eyes', I can control myself better as to not kill random people like in the restroom before. But then, I don't know w-why but..." A single tear fell onto his lap. "He just...he just decided to go back on his word and t-told me to isolate myself...! I don't get it! He's always like this, isn't he!? He keeps spouting some bullshit about trying to 'keep up the daily normal life' and then goes on to do something without explaining it to us..! If he really does want a normal life then why befriend us in the first place!? I bet he has some self-righteous reason as to not to tell me why he suddenly changed his mind like that! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! I AM NOT WEAK! YOU DON'T HAVE TO PROTECT ME!"

By the end of his spiel, Azumi was a sobbing mess as he desperately tried to swipe the tears, but the dam had already been broken.

At first, he didn't know what to do, but something deep inside him moved before he could think, and he ended up letting the small boy cry into his chest as he reluctantly rubbed comforting circles behind him. His back shook with his sobs as Azumi clutched his white shirt with a white-knuckled grip as if it were his only lifeline.

All things considered, it was, wasn't it?

They stayed like that for some time before Azumi finally released his grip and rubbed his red eyes, revealing dried tear tracks going down his cheek.

Azumi backed away, and leaned into the bench awkwardly, failing to meet his eyes. Then, the boy mumbled in a quiet voice, "T-Thank you."

He gave a blinding smile. "No problem."

"!"

"AZUMI—

His red eyes widened.

The moisture in the air was warped and shifted. Something translucent and gold phased through his small body into the seat right next to him. Whispers slipped into his ears from the side.

In a panic, he swished his head towards Hadi and saw stars inside his golden eyes.

And he had caught something else besides that external change with his AIM-seeing eyes.

A halo of translucent, milky white flower petals that were emitting radio-like waves ranging from spouting sweet literal nothings to demeaning and manipulative threats at random intervals was on top of his messy black hair. A sea of translucent gold surrounded his silhouette and took up most of the air around him.

Shokuhou Misaki's AIM diffusion field.

From his perspective, It looked like Hadi had turned into an angel, but that was exactly the opposite of what had occurred.

He had gained the ability to see other's AIM diffusion fields after breaking through that last bit of subconscious mental preservation. That bright swirly white and red orbs weren't needed for it to work.

But he hadn't yet caught a glimpse of Hadi Kuroi's AIM diffusion field.

And now, thanks to Shokuhou Misaki's AIM interference, Hadi's AIM diffusion field was laid bare for him to see, however, he'd rather not focus on that right now.

But...

(W-What is that..?)

A translucent blackness had formed into the shape of a hand had appeared through Hadi's chest and it was coming straight at him. It was distinctly an AIM diffusion field, but it felt different from all that he had ever observed.

It looked like the void was coming to swallow him whole, but...it somehow made him feel calm. It was the same kind of calm and comfort he felt while Hadi rubbed his back and held him close. He didn't know if he was imagining things, but there was a tiny little bit of light deep inside that darkness that refused to be swallowed up.

However, he didn't have time to gather his thoughts as someone had made their appearance in the distance.

A small girl with blonde hair, a handbag worn over her shoulder to her side, and stars in her eyes. Her name was Shokuhou Misaki, also known as the #5 Level 5, Mental Out.

"Y-you!" He was fully prepared to stab her throat, however, the girl who was located on the left side of the T-junction simply winked and clicked a button on her remote.

Shokuhou Misaki's AIM diffusion field and Hadi Kuroi's translucent blackness of a hand reached his head at the same time.

---

And then it happened.

"ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Jerking up from his seat, the redhead clutched his head and screamed in complete agony. A gut-wrenching scream that was accompanied by brief and labored breaths as he inhaled air and screamed again.

"H-huh?!"

His wide cat-like eyes took on a glowing red color.

Kirishima and Junko ran out of the alleyway right beside her in a panic upon hearing the nightmarish sound.

"AZUMI! Hey, stop Mental Out!"

Shiroki staggered, one knee to the floor. The screams seemed to windle down in intensity, but a splitting headache was still a headache.

(N-no way..! Is he trying to fight it by using his copied Mental Out!? But a copy is still a copy, it can't defeat the original ability! That will only destroy the brain with its conflicting commands!)

But this wasn't the time to dwell on such things.

She clicked another button and the screams stopped. Only the heavy breaths remained along with a deadly glare directed at her.

Kirishima wanted to come help his friend but a hand on the shoulder stopped him. It was Junko's firm hand. (Ah.)

"Shokuhou, what went wrong!?"

"H-he's resisting by using my ability against me!"

The navy-blue-haired boy looked closely at Azumi. He had glowing red irises and black pupils and was glaring at him, which he didn't mind; actually, he deserved it. How could he hurt his friend like that!? He thought it was supposed to be an easy and painless click of a button and boom! Everything fixed!

"I don't care if he has red eyes or black eyes! My friend is still my friend! Nothing changed about him!" And so, he rejected everything that had led up to this moment. (Maybe that vision is false, and someone's playing a cruel trick on me!? I can't let Azumi get hurt! Maybe they can find another way!?)

He knew that cooperating with Azumi would be the trick, but he didn't want Azumi to know he was a monster, a threat to himself and everyone around him, and would kill his friends in the future. Azumi was already avoiding others and this would simply make it worse.

(Wait...)

"Shokuhou! Can't we just make him forget about it after we tell him!?"

"Too late."

Blood slithered through a small hole in his silky skin and launched forward at an instant acceleration of 108 km/h. Like a goo, the shape of the deep red liquid started morphing mid-flight. It was heading straight for Misaki's head.

However, before it could fully take shape, a flash of light blue intercepted the blood mid-way and slammed it onto the ground, creating a spider-webbed crack into the paver sidewalk. Seeing parts of blood coating her fist, the electricity arcing from Hokaze's body reduced in intensity for a moment as she forcefully redirected them into her fist and the tiny blood pool.

The blood had undergone extreme electrolysis, completely changing the blood's properties and preventing Shiroki from having good control of the blood—if her theory was correct, that was. The document stated that diluted blood had decreased the effectiveness of Blood Manipulation so it should follow the same principle if the components of blood itself had been altered.

Apparently, It did.

"Tch!" The disdain contorting his doll-like face was unsightly. "What are you all even here for? To fix me? To bully me? Why'd you even go along with whatever Kirishima's doing?" The hatted boy groaned, his glowing red eyes boring into her. Two blood constructs in the shape of kitchen knives formed from each of the boy's wrists and floated vertically. The blood making up the knives looked to be vibrating intensely.

"Whatever, I can ask that when you girls are dead."

(Wow, this boy is really snarky.)

"P-please don't hurt Azumi too much…"

And so.

(First priority, get him away from the others.)

The distance between the boy and her was 30 meters away. Her speed was faster than the speed of his blood.

With the most Rampage Dress output she could manage with Mental Out, she dashed across the pavement.

However, what she didn't account for was the blood knives having a head start as in they were fired before she had even sprinted. The two knives were approaching her trajectory, and she was forced to slide on the ground before quickly spinning on her feet and dashing to the left onto the street.

The knives didn't give up on the chase and continued following her close behind even after being dodged, making a sharp U-turn as if it wasn't going at 30 m/s. At least, he didn't seem to want to target Misaki or Akaru.

But that was only when she was around.

Their goal was incapacitation, but she honestly doubted if she could hand chop him in the back of the neck before a thin string of blood slashed her fingers away.

She also noticed something odd. Why hadn't Mental Out-controlled Hadi move a single muscle yet?

She crossed that 20-meter gap in an instant and reappeared right in front of him in a flash. Clenching her right fist, she aimed for his solar plexus to deliver an extremely painful blow that could even knock out seasoned heavyweight boxers before the fight even started. No, combined with Rampage Dress, it would literally be overkill. Of course, hitting with that much force would pierce straight through his small chest. So, she deactivated her Rampage Dress in her hands and slowed down her momentum considerably when she was right in front of him.

But there was something amiss.

His glowing serpentine red eyes were boring right into hers the moment she was in front of him. He knew she was going there to begin with.

And then it happened.

Something tore through his school uniform from the solar plexus. It was a small but razor-sharp red needle. Blood.

Her punch still had the momentum to knock out rookie boxers so her momentum combined with that needle that was traveling at 30 m/s could very well pierce through her knuckle and come out of her shoulder like butter. It was like getting run over by a car, but if that car had spikes for its bumper. In short, you would die.

Time resumed its pace.

Groaning as she felt her skin tear, she steadied her footing and backflipped into the air in an instant, narrowly dodging the two blood knives and landing gracefully 10 meters away.

Upon landing, she went straight into offense as electricity crackled at her fingertips, burning away the blood. She dashed towards her opponent, who now had two blood-shaped combat knives flying in a circle behind his back like a fan, probably to make them unpredictable with all the afterimages, however, it was useless against her enhanced senses.

This time, she focused on calming down her torrent of emotions disrupting her calculations, allowing her electricity to crackle through her body with tranquility, like the sea but still as devastating as the waves. She couldn't let herself be vulnerable and accidentally caused herself to be a burden.

It had already happened once.

The redhead too made a move forward.

And they clashed.

---

Hokaze Junko's AIM diffusion field was like a raging lightning storm, but the rain pouring on the ground felt soft and could lull you to sleep with its sound. It would have felt weirdly comforting if it wasn't emitting such intent to destroy him.

The girl had calmed down her AIM diffusion field, but he could still anticipate her movements by tracing the slowly thickening field, albeit a bit later than the first time.

He truly truly truly hated using his own blood, but he couldn't fight without one. Stealing the #5's blood crossed his mind, but he couldn't afford to take risks like that. Hokaze would literally kill him if he did.

The braided girl dashed towards him in a blur and her AIM diffusion field was taking shape on the left.

He smiled broadly, revealing his fangs as he sent his two blood knives to the left.

Her speed was too much and the AIM diffusion field was too late. So, she, of course, dodged and went straight for a right hook on his face to knock him out. She was literally only a blur and he could only see her AIM diffusion field. Wasn't really fair, was it?

But no matter how her AIM diffusion field was concentrated inside her body and didn't leave it. He could read what it's gonna do even when it slightly grazed or dodged his blood by using his own AIM diffusion field surrounding his blood.

He moved to the side and planted his leg forward, putting his weight behind his small but firmly raised clenched right hand. The hand was covered with coagulated blood, circulating at high speeds both externally and internally to increase its strength. The blood covered all of his fists, wrists, and arm joints. At the joints, his blood was pushing inward, coagulating massively to keep his bones from dislocating. To top it off, the blood covering it was directly connected to his blood vessels through a gap he had created, so he didn't need to mind overusing his blood.

The moment his pulled-back fist was within striking range from her hand, he meticulously used his Blood Manipulation and used it to force his hand forward like a bullet. It was a risky move as he could receive thrombosis and his muscles could have been torn but he got his Regeneration to back on.

His red-covered hand clashed with her electricity-crackling hand for a good second before his hand got pushed back. However, hers still maintained its standing but massively lost its momentum. She lost the opportunity to finish him off just before the two blood knives, traveling at 30 m/s, were going to make a U-turn. She was forced to jump away as they came from behind.

"You know… it's really boring when you just want to incapacitate me, Hokaze Junko-kun" The two knives flew back to his side and began spinning on top of his hat like a ceiling fan, creating the image of a red halo.

"..."

"You do realize that the longer this goes on, I will have your ability, right?"

Her thinking was put on hold in that instant.

(…What?) Alongside Misaki and Akaru, she gasped, their eyes widening in horror. They had thought the only condition for him to copy was by trying to access his brain, but they were completely and absolutely wrong.

A sharp breeze flew by the area, making skirts and hair respective hair to flutter at once.

She realized that their plan had failed the moment she had intervened.

There was no time to waste before it truly went south. She needed to implement her new plan now. And so, she dashed again, closing that 9 meter distance in a single leap. Electricity flickered into the air from open right hand as she focused on externally channeling Rampage Dress.

But she was missing one thing. Why would the enemy reveal their trump card in the first place?

As soon as that girl showed signs of moving, his red eyes were electrified as they shone, turning the sweet colour into an intense deep hue.

His sight was enhanced massively and he felt like everything was new like he had just gotten his light bulb replaced and turned it on. Everything just felt suddenly bright. He could now actually see how the girl moved, but she was still super fast.

Probably to catch him off-guard; the girl's movements were straightforward so he really didn't need to rely on his AIM-seeing eyes to know where she was going. That palm was directed at his head once again, and it seemed dangerous too. Was she trying to electrify his brain?

Increasing blood flow to the upper half of his body, he barely missed the open palm, however, the brim of his hat was hit and sent flying, causing him to slightly stumble back. The girl's electrified lavender eyes widened with surprise. His knees were kicked, but before he fell on his butt, he frantically shot out one of his blood knives towards the girl and managed to slice the girl's chest from her collarbone to her left upper stomach as she tried to get away.

However, the cut wasn't quite deep as to reach her organs and went just between her prized possessions. Her school vest, white undershirt, and the bridge of her bra were cut down as blood splattered and seeped into her clothes. The remaining blood splashed onto his face and shirt.

He fell on his butt with a yelp as soon as the girl jumped to the left, sprinting to the buildings on his right as a different blood knife trailed behind the girl. He watched as the girl ran into a nearby alleyway, and he was forced to call his blood knife back, returning its spin above him.

Sensing the girl's AIM diffusion field coming from back, he watched as the girl exited from an alleyway, completely healed. (Regeneration too, huh?)

"A-Azumi?"

Standing up, he allowed himself to perk up at the voice as he kept track of the girl's movements by expanding his AIM diffusion field range.

"What, Ki-ri-shi-ma?" He scoffed.

"How's your blood getting faster above you…?"

"Eh?" Confused, he looked up and saw that, yes, even though it was barely noticeable given the speed of his blood, it definitely was creating more afterimages as he couldn't even tell it was 2 blood knives spinning in the first place.

And he didn't have any extra or Rampage Dress's calculations happening.

Suddenly, a black mist swallowed him whole and he felt himself slipping away, but it was not the same as before in the school restroom, it felt like his ability was alive and going against him.

And at that moment, he realized this was what Kirishima was trying to fix.

(Sorry, Kirishima—

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

It started with two knives.

Two glowing blood-colored knives spun in a horizontal arc at intermittent speeds ranging from 30 to 35 m/s.

No, that was not it.

It was two knives sizzling with dark red electricity.

(N-)

Junko couldn't finish that thought.

Because...

One of those impossible objects exited from the halo and shot toward Akaru's face at 35 meters per second equivalent to 128 kilometers per hour or 78 miles per hour without hesitation.

In that brief moment, time seemed to stretch in her electrifying purple eyes.

Akaru Kirishima was about 60 meters away from Azumi, but it had gotten a head start and was now about 40 meters away from Akaru, completely passing by her head.

The distance between her and the monster was 10 meters.

To cover that 50-meter distance before the knife hit Akaru was...possible. But she risked getting stabbed herself afterward. She needed to be fast.

And so, she did the next most logical thing.

A bright flash of electricity swallowed her up and she rushed like a human bullet towards…

The redhead.

She pulled her brightly crackling hand back and decked him across the face with a fierce right hook. She felt her knuckles breaking his nose and blood splattered on her fist. The redhead was sent flying across the street and his body slid across the asphalt 14 meters away. The blood knife that had floated above him gave in to gravity and fell on the asphalt in front of her feet.

Suddenly, memories flashed inside her head as her fist hit his.

Memories that belonged to Shiroki Azumi.

And memories that didn't belong to Shiroki Azumi.

"Alright, last experiment of the day. Begin." A male colleague said into a mic.

On the other side of the observatory doom, behind the tempered one-way glass wall, a metal door slid open inside the pure white test chamber. In came a small 8 year old red-haired boy into the chamber.

That 8 year old boy froze after seeing what was inside the room. It was a tiny white and yellow-furred cat. The feline was sitting in the middle of the white room, innocently licking its body. The boy's big round eyes lit up with curiosity and confusion.

Voices inside the observatory room murmured as they watched the scene.

"Are we really gonna make him kill that cute little thing?" A female colleague asked. She was looking at the room with disapproving eyes. She wasn't alone though, multiple other researchers were also looking at the room with the same disdain.

"It's all for the sake of science. Unless we find another more effective way to increase his abilities, this will be the best course of action." He replied, without taking his eyes off the test chamber.

(They really are cowards aren't they?) He thought with a sneer. (Afraid of taking things to another level just because they are scared that they are going to be in that cat's shoes after it.)

He had the second highest authority in the facility behind only Yuuka Miori, the head researcher. Speaking of Yuuka, she was watching the chamber with a blank expression and crossed arms. They had discussed this experiment in secret and hadn't told anyone what it was really for but... (Will this really work? Similar thought patterns equal similar esper ability, but what if it changed his own esper ability?)

Then, something absolutely miraculous happened.

. . .

Shiroki Azumi entered the room with caution. These scientists are really sick if they want him to kill this cute little thing. (I mean, just look at it tilting his head at me!)

After going through numerous types of experiments, he had killed a number of animals so far but why would they send a cat here? (Cats only have about 66 ml/kg of blood and the cat I am looking at here weighs about 4 kg. So it only has 264 milliliters. Cats are also pretty fast so are they asking me to try and kill it while its running?)

He sighed and stopped. Confused at the lack of noise, he looked towards the observatory chamber above. He could only make up their silhouettes and that was for people who were the closest to the one-way glass. The others even deeper were invisible to him.

One minute went by and they hadn't said anything. (W-what was going on? Why aren't they instructing me to do stuff?)

"H-hey! What am I supposed to do here!?" He shouted and it echoed throughout the room.

He was met with silence.

There were some movements behind the one-way glass but that was about it.

They weren't responding to him which was very unusual even if it was the same schedule.

He spun his head towards the cat. It was done licking its body and now lay on the ground, probably trying to sleep. (D-do I really need to kill it!?)

The door behind him was closed so he needed to do whatever the scientists wanted to get out and go to a dreamless slumber.

The thought of making it a pet never crossed Shiroki Azumi's head nor did the thought of not killing it.

(Do they want me to play it, then kill it?) He thought with confusion. He wasn't really friendly with the scientists and frequently rebelled so maybe this was a way to get him back into their grasp?

If so, it was working.

He had sneaked out once a year ago and ran into a nice boy named Akaru Kirishima. The city's air was also nice. On the redhead's insistence, they sometimes allowed him to go outside. He searched and searched for that nice boy but never ran into him again.

(W-well then, let's get this over with.) Shiroki Azumi thought. (Or else, I'd have to go to sleep late and then wake up late for tomorrow's experiment.)

And so, he approached it.

The cat has noticed his slow approach by now.

He put on a small smile, trying to look as friendly as possible.

The cat didn't move, it merely watched him with caution.

Two more steps closer, and the cat uncurled from its spot.

1 more step.

With a soft smile, he reached out a small, harmless, clean left hand towards it.

Only for it to reveal its paws and scratched him. He flinched, pulling his hand away from it. The cat ran away instantly after.

(Ah.) Inspecting his hand, he watched as blood fell from the wound. His arms were quite bony and lacked actual muscle so the claws actually managed to dig into his skin.

Blood fell from his hand. Seeing the claw marks, a snarl made its way to his face. His left hand was the only part of his body that didn't have bandages layering it and that stupid cat had ruined it.

(Better end this experiment faster.) He thought coldly.

With precise calculations, he reached out his right hand and manipulated the fallen blood into a needle, shooting it towards that cat's head in an instant. The cat tried frantically running away, but with his 15 m/s blood speed, the needle quickly pierced the cat's eye in a bullseye, stabbing deep and coming out of the other end.

Seeing the lifeless bleeding corpse of a formerly cute cat, he felt something fragile inside him crack even further.

He felt tears prick in his eyes at the absurdity of it all and at the world that forced him here.

(…So unfair…)

. . .

"Oh… that was expected. W-well, let's end the experiment now and we can go back home."

But before his colleague could announce it. He pushed him away and took control of the mic with a manic grin.

"Hisaki Okitada!?" His colleague yelped, surprised, and he responded with a finger to his lips, shushing him up. The colleague reluctantly obliged.

Taking a deep breath, Hisaki Okitada channeled his failed acting career into the mic.

"W-why did you kill it!?" He mentally congratulated himself for stuttering and sounding surprised. "The cat was supposed to be your new pet! This experiment was us gifting it to you, but now you killed it!"

Yuuka Miori was sporting a maniacal grin and gave him an approving nod.

And now, for the chef's kiss.

"YOU MONSTER!"

(Huh? Did the electrical current from my Rampage Dress connect with him? But, the amount of energy required for that greatly exceeds Rampage Dress's output! …Maybe he had copied her Rampage Dress AIM and managed to connect to the two of us when he used it to defend against that head strike?)

She swallowed a bile at the image of that poor cat.

Striking the head may seem brutish and violent but it was actually the best way to take down an esper as it could disrupt calculations from happening.

(…But how did I get the other person's memories? And where were his slitted pure black eyes and fangs?) She shook her head at that thought. There was no point in thinking about it right now. She had other matters to deal with.

She glared at the blood staining the ground and stomped it. She focused her electricity on her foot and forcibly discharged it externally by increasing the voltage in her skin.

Worried, she frantically looked back.

The knife 'melted' 20 centimeters away from Akaru and it fell to the pavement with a red splat.

Akaru's brain seemed to catch up a second later and he staggered backward and soon fell on his butt in a cold sweat.

(…How far can he control blood from..?)

There was no time to think nor a time for optimism. She blazed over as electricity trailed her, creating a light blue afterimage of a line and stomping it. She did the same thing as before but with greater control.

The effect was imminent as it burned away into ashes and smoke.

"W-w-w-w-hah-hah-?" Akaru trembled while out of breath and his eyes contained absolute fear. Now that she noticed it, there was not a single trace of fear in his eyes until now. His life seemed to be flashing in those eyes.

She redirected her attention elsewhere and shouted without leaving her eyes off that black mist.

"Misaki, Akaru! Get back!" (Wait, isn't she forgetting somebody here? Oh right, Hadi.) "And get Hadi away from here!" She pointed towards Hadi who was still sitting on the bench, unmoving except for the up and down of his chest.

"Hadi's isn't moving!"

"What!?"

Shiroki—(wait, is that really Shiroki? No, no, no, I refuse to call him a monster.)—was standing back up. He hadn't lost consciousness from her punch. She, of course, held herself back during it because if she hadn't, his head would have been wrung out of his neck.

That black mist covering all of his drooped head seemed to increase in density and now all she saw was two red lights beyond it. He stood with his back hunched forwards, hands swinging limply and head staring at the ground but she knew he was glaring at her due to the killing intent emanating from him like a red wave filled with snakes.

Something fell from that mist. It was a drool. He had completely lost control of his ability and his brain was getting overloaded from the Dual Skill, she guessed.

Also, no blood had fallen from the mist. He had probably kept it from spilling out using that strange and creepy ability of his. (Vampires? What did the scientist do to him!?) She thought with unrestrained disdain but not towards Shiroki—towards those white coat-wearing people that made him this way.

(Are they the same scientists from before? But that can't be possible. The project lost its funding and was canceled after what happened back then so that can't be it, right!?) It was true she hadn't seen any familiar faces, but she couldn't help but compare his facility with hers.

Since he had withstood that punch, she could guess that he was now a complete puppet of his ability and that also meant Mental Out won't work on him anymore since he wasn't conscious anymore—Mental Out wasn't able to control him the first time and now that he was at the complete mercy of his own ability, the copied Mental Out was probably strengthened by tenfolds.

Electricity swirled around her body. Sparks arced and leaped from her, electrifying the air in a light blue glow. It pulsed with power, threatening to destroy anything it touched but was repelled by her will. Everything in her field of vision became clearer like a fog had been lifted from both her mind and eyes.

Misaki and Kirishima backed away from her. Hadi, however, was still sitting motionlessly and stiffly. But he didn't seem to want to target him and seemed to be only focused on her.

Only her hands and legs needed holding back. Everything else? There was no need to. If she wanted to be fast, she'd have to up her Rampage Dress output on her legs which means she'd have to do more calculations, but nothing she can't handle. She's a level 4 after all.

But, as it turns out. Her suspicions were correct. She wasn't the only one who had Rampage Dress.

The puppet's body was emanating a light red glow. Sparks of light red lightning arced and leaped from his body. His electric output was much lower than her but it still chilled her that her own ability was going to be used against her. Blood covered both of his legs and arms and they solidified, reinforcing them and reaching under his uniform. Light red electricity congregated around those red-coloured limbs.

The atmosphere smelt of dust, the air felt staticky and the sun was blocked out by the clouds. In that T-junction atop a mini mountain on the outskirts of District 10, two humans stood on opposite sides of each other.

One of them was a middle-school girl who wanted to prevent the past from happening again.

And the other was an elementary school boy who was the past, the present, and the future itself.

Red and Blue.

Those two 'opposites' streaked toward each other and met in the middle of the conjunction.

"Too slow." She whispered.

Hokaze Junko twisted her body and dodged a preemptive blow from that outstretched red right hand. She grabbed the arm with her left and blocked another blow coming from the right. She gripped the red right arm with strength, holding him in place, and performed a knee strike into his gut.

"Ugh!" Spit came out of that black mist as she released her hold. She then kicked his side and he went barreling into the middle road, concealing him from the Misaki's and Akaru's view. She needed to get him away from them and anyone she came across. Imagining what would happen if a bystander were to be involved in the fight made all the hair on her body stand on end.

She unhesitatingly followed after the redhead as he was flung. He seemed to have controlled the blood covering his limbs to get back his footing and had one knee on the ground and the other almost up, but she was on him in an instant. The moment she prepared for a stomp to the fallen knee, her eyes caught a red object appearing on one of his hands. It was a flat blade that resembled a spike created from reassembling the blood covering his left hand and it sprouted from his wrist.

He swung it horizontally and she was forced to jump to the right but it managed to scrape her thigh. Blood dripped from the wound before it could close up and it formed into a needle but before it could gain momentum she struck it with her hand. But before her hand could reach it, he turned the tip towards it.

Searing pain flared in her left hand as she desperately tried up her Rampage Dress output and redirected it externally. 80%. No change. 90- "ARGHH!"

(Ah.) She should have realized it sooner. Electricity does nothing to it since he absorbed a portion of her Rampage Dress, and her Rampage Dress was simply useless when it came to discharging electricity.

That needle the size of a sewing needle was desperately trying to dig into her knucklebone.

---

She clicked another button and for some reason, it finally worked.

Finally not being as stiff as a board and inexplicably stubborn, Hadi stood up and walked up to them with stars in his golden eyes. Those eyes, slightly hidden by bangs that reached his eyebrows, looked eerily similar to her own due to the stars adorning them.

"Sit. Stand up. Wiggle your fingers."

And the messy-haired boy did exactly that.

Feeling the world fall off her shoulders, she sighed tiredly. (If Hadi was like Shiroki, I seriously don't know what to do then…)

Still on the ground, Akaru Kirishima felt like the world was ending. 1. He had failed Azumi, 2. He had failed Azumi twice, 3. He had failed Azumi thrice, and 4. He should've told Azumi about all of it, instead of going off on his own. Those eyes full of hatred had come from deep within Azumi, and none of it had been from Mental Out had made him realize that.

(Maybe that knife should have stabbed me.)

At that thought, he felt something hot caress his cheeks and it fell on the asphalt. Feeling ashamed, he brought his knees to his chest and curled up.

He couldn't do anything right and even let his dear friend get hurt because of it and yet…here he was…crying. Why wasn't he going there to stop it? Why was he here on the ground wallowing in despair when he should be helping Azumi? Why did he try to fight those bastards when he should have been fleeing and calling for help? …Why did he get such a useless power? Why? Why was he so…so weak…?

Suddenly, he felt something hot caress his cold back followed by a serene voice. It reminded him of his mother and…he realized he wanted her here right now. He felt his cries grow louder, escalating from a soft whimper to an audible sob.

"There… There… It's not your own fault so, don't take it all on yourself, okay?" She didn't know why she did it, but she had felt like she was looking at herself when she saw Akaru. So, as what had been given to her, she gave the boy those same things.

Without looking up, he replied; "It's all my fault! T-This whole situation happened because of me! ME!" And the next thing he said was truly foolish, "If only I didn't get this power…" And then let Azumi kill him, because at least, Azumi was still alive, and had Hadi as he had a System Scan at his facility.

Those parts went unsaid, but he was eerily aware of them.

"Akaru, you wanna know why I came out late and made you wait outside the gate? It's because, last night, Junko broke into a Judgement office to gather information on Azumi so we got scolded because of it. And you know what I did? I took all the blame. I didn't tell Junko to break in or do anything in particular but she did that because she was worried about me and wanted to truly know what happened last night. I wanted to know that too. Junko wanted to take all the blame but I refused and took it instead. So, what I am getting at is,—"

That serene and sweet voice closed the distance between his ears as he felt her hot breath tickle his skin.

"—don't you think Shiroki is blaming it all on himself too?"

In a sudden rush of clarity, he jerked his head towards Shokuhou, his tears slung from his face, and fell on the ground below. He rubbed his blurry eyes and laid his gaze on the girl who now pulled her hands away from him. She moved and stood beside him, her cheeks tinted red with embarrassment, and smiled at him.

That golden visage looked angelic in his eyes.

Ah, how self-centered he was... How could he have forgotten? That face filled with guilt wasn't something he wanted to see again. Not in a million years. Not ever.

He wanted to scream at Azumi. He wanted to scream in his face and tell him that it was all his fault and that he shouldn't be blaming himself for it.

He wanted to stand up and run towards them. Towards Azumi. He didn't care if Azumi wasn't himself anymore. He knew this wasn't a fairy tale. But. He wanted to believe that somewhere in that oppressive black mist, Azumi was crying in a white void with no one to comfort him. He wanted Azumi to hear his pleading and anguished shout so he wouldn't have to bear that burden.

Only Kirishima, your dear friend needed to hold that burden.

He knew it was selfish. He knew it wasn't going to help anyone. He knew it would only make him a liability. But. He didn't care. Not when his friend was suffering. When he should have been the only one suffering.

He only wanted to repay that thankless debt that Azumi never asked for.

(I should be the only one to hold this guilt...!)

But his crazy monologue ended as a fist found its way to Shokuhou's face. The girl was flung and landed on the ground motionlessly. The star handbag on her arm slid off and fell a meter away from her. A TV remote that she had used came out of the bag's opening when the fist hit and fell on the pavement in front of that fist.

"…Huh?" He made a confused noise.

With wide eyes, he looked towards the owner of that fist.

"W-w-w-what are you doing…

"HADI!?"

His world was turned upside down.

That friend of his that had punched an angel cranked his head towards him.

His right eye had a star in it—proof of Misaki's brainwashing—but his left didn't, instead, it glowed bright gold. There was no star in it and that eye seemed to bore into his soul.

When he looked into those eyes, his instincts told him those eyes weren't Hadi's.

That wasn't his friend. That was a demon in the flesh.

That demon scrutinized him for a second before looking to the front. He followed his gaze and his eyes fell on the girl lying on the ground. Her brainwashing should have been canceled when she was knocked out so why was he still under her control? That could only mean one thing, she wasn't unconscious.

"Ughh..." A groan escaped the girl's mouth, confirming his suspicion. But, why was that demon staring at that collapsed girl with killing intent?

And then, that demon's gaze turned downwards. The remote. It was one hand and a half away from Kirishima. That demon didn't utter a single word as he stared at it with a single cold and calculating eye and...walked toward it.

No, 'walking' was being generous. With the exception of his arms, his entire body moved as if they were being restrained by an invisible chain jutting out from the ground. But, he was still able to move albeit slowly and with great effort. Each step resounded with a booming thud as his muscles strained against those invisible restraints. That demon's one glowing eye never wandered off that remote.

Kirishima quickly realized what was going on. He was going to crush it.

He couldn't let that happen.

Kirishima pushed his legs against the ground and stood up. With a determined glare, he propelled himself towards the demon, thrusting his shoulder forward. fake Hadi Kuroi tried to dodge but with his slow movements, his shoulder slammed into his chest.

The impact, combined with his large body weight, sent fake Hadi tumbling onto the ground. His shoulder throbbed slightly and he clutched it with ragged breaths. (If 'Hadi' isn't being held back by Mental Out, I wouldn't even manage to graze him there…)

He looked to the side—towards Misaki lying on the ground. Her cheek was bruised badly and she seemed to still be disoriented. He offered her a shallow smile and gave a light kick to the TV remote, sending it towards her.

She picked up the remote and clicked it again.

"Sleep." She said, a little bit more awake. How did she not get knocked out by that punch was a mystery to him. Nevertheless, Mental Out should be able to retake full control of that body.

Fake Hadi Kuroi seemed to blink sleepily, and his head and legs bobbled, but those signs disappeared as he flinched at an invisible force. The demon continued putting strength in those powerful legs as he slowly raised his body. One glowing golden eye glared at him from between his messy hair.

However, that glare had come at a cost as Kirishima scorned and promptly kicked his head with as much strength as he could muster. The impact knocked Hadi down and forced his elbows to press against the ground to support himself.

(Ah, this must be a Skill Out's wet dream…) Kirishima thought as a thin smile graced his lips. (Wait... Why am I smiling? No way... Is this what happens when you have a friend who's a sadist?!)

The thought made him shiver as he brought himself back to reality. He looked down at fake Hadi Kuroi, who was coughing on the ground. Truthfully, he felt very bad for abusing his friend's body like this. But when he thought back to that horrifying alleyway filled with the pained and resigned groans of high schoolers, their limbs bent at unnatural angles, and a boy and a bespectacled girl who each wore a Judgment armband—with the boy looking up at the sky while laughing with a manic grin on his face—all of his hesitations quickly turned into fuel for his rage and empathy.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard Misaki's voice from behind him. However, instead of the serenity, it was filled with desperation, as if she was scared.

"Exterior, c-commence voluntary will reversal past the 13th pair..!"

Followed by a hesitant click of the remote.

Fake Hadi Kuroi's limbs gave up, unceremoniously falling to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

"W-what did you just do, Misaki-san...?"

"I… I don't have to answer that." She turned her head away.

"Fine, then why didn't you use that on Azumi?"

"That will only make things worse for him."

Truthfully, she was scared. Really scared. Terrified that her Mental Out had been weakened and absorbed by Azumi's 'Distorted Personal Reality' or whatever unexplainable nonsense occurred when he came into contact with Mental Out. Still, she was uncertain if that had truly happened. That single fact gnawed at her mind ever since and it only strengthened after Hadi Kuroi had resisted Mental Out twice. That's what made her use Exterior.

"Ugh… Anyway, what's with that boy's deal..!" said Shokuhou, frustration lacing her voice as she hesitantly brought her finger towards her swollen cheek and promptly flinched, eliciting another groan of resignation.

"Sorry… should have realized Sixth Sense would have tried to fight back too…" He tried to rub the back of his head but flinched as another torrent of pain came at him from his shoulder. "You know what Skill Out calls him?"

"Hmm?" She made a cute sound and prompted him to continue.

"The Judgement Demon."

He snorted.

Misaki, on the other hand, was trying her hardest to keep her lips pressed tightly together, eyes filled with mirth. But then, like a dam bursting, a chuckle escaped, quickly followed by an infectious laughter that she couldn't contain any longer.

He too joined in on the laughter.

And they both laughed together on that shortcut.

They laughed with amusement and their eyes began to water from all of their intense emotions being released.

Their earlier struggle and tension—they simply let it out like a balloon being popped by a needle.

"ahaha… Anyway, I have something I need to do." Kirishima said, his voice completely serious.

"What is it, …Akaru?" (Why did she suddenly drop the honorifics?) She thought nonchalantly. (I indeed said it first but that was only to connect to him…)

"Something that needs to be done." And so, he ran.

"W-wait up! Don't leave this fine young girl alone in the middle of an apocalypse!" …Followed by Shokuhou.

---

A throbbing pain reached Hokaze Junko's brain nerves. It felt as if her hand was trying to split apart from the inside, the agony growing stronger by the second. SHE COULDN'T PULL IT OUT!

In her panic, she was forced to dodge as a blade of blood and red electricity made its way to her head, horizontally. Her movements were too erratic due to the pain distracting her which caused her cheek to get a cut and blood revealed itself from the wound.

More memories entered her head, but this time, they only belonged to Shiroki Azumi.

"Mom!"

He ran towards the bespectacled researcher with tears in his eyes. Although he probably felt really vulnerable and couldn't really trust anyone in this damn facility, she was the only person he had that actually understood him. She was kind and affectionate, and she was also the one who allowed him to go outside sometimes.

The chair spun as he jumped on her lap. "What's wrong, Azumi? Did the scientists hurt you again?" The way she said it was so motherly and comforting, and that's why he called her 'Mom'. Or at least, that was what he said to her. To be honest, he just wanted someone to call a 'parent', and she seemed to be the perfect fit.

"A-am I monster? Those scientists told me I was a monster…" He looked up to her bespectacled face. Mom had jet-black messy hair and it was tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a black suit and below it was a white blouse. To top of the researcher's look, she was wearing a white lab coat above them.

"Well, what did you do to make them think that?" Mom asked.

"I killed a cat that was supposed to be my pet. But..! They didn't tell me it! Those people just placed it in the middle of the test room and didn't even say anything! They even called it an experiment! If-if it was an experiment, then wouldn't I need to kill it?" He asked, more desperate than what he would have liked, and looked up at her with hope that she understood and agreed with him.

In turn, Mom smiled. "Well, Azumi. How about I answer your question with another question?"

"Hm?" He reluctantly nodded.

"If I was in the middle of that room instead of the cat, would you still kill me?" Mom asked, still smiling.

"Uh, of course not…?" His eyes narrowed and his face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to tell where she was going with this.

"Then, why did you kill the cat?"

"…"

(Ah.) His thoughts came to a halt, and his tears flowed unabated down his cheek.

Mom opened her half-lidded eyes beyond the glasses and looked at him with fond dark blue eyes. But he was too inside his head to notice that.

"Azumi, please stop calling me 'Mom'. The other researchers kinda think I am adopting you now." She sighed but the smile never left her face. "I have a name too you know…

"Its Yuuka Miori."

(I…I am really a monster…?)

That fractured piece of him broke that same day.

(That was the same person who'd joined Hisaki in manipulating Shiroki…!)

Her body surged with electricity to the maximum and reared her non-painfully throbbing arm for an uppercut to his gut. The boy's arms—which were back into their fist form—swiftly moved and guarded his stomach. The air trembled. Red and blue electricity converged on one another, fighting for dominance.

That devastating wall-breaking punch hit Shiroki's arm.

Crack

Shiroki Azumi was figuratively shot into an alleyway and over the roofs of the 3-story high buildings as he coughed up whatever poor thing was left in his stomach.

But she didn't stop there.

She won't give him another chance to act.

A tragedy still wasn't her goal here.

She blitzed into the alleyway below him and jumped from one air conditioner to another, sparks of electricity trailing her in a zig-zagging pattern, giving off afterimages. She reached the redhead below that clouded sky, in the air and above the rooftops, the adrenaline dulled her throbbing pain.

She reared her arm again as it created a light blue glow, with sparks flickering and arcing, outlining the contours of the arm. The air sizzled as the electricity was condensed. The black mist turned and gazed at that arm with apparent fear as red electricity began to increase in density at his head.

"I am sorry for this."

And so, she shot her hand forward and crashed it into his face.

Crack

…And broke his nose again. (He must have absorbed her Rampage Dress's Regeneration too but combined with his ability's regeneration… How strong was it now? Well, time for another bout of his memories.)

(Yay! I can go to sleep now!) An 11-year-old Shiroki Azumi thought as he skipped down the hallway. (Hadi and Kirishima, wait for me at school!)

. . .

Hisaki Okitada sighed, dissatisfied. (The plan had worked with tremendous success, but my colleagues are still cowards. There is something missing…)

He paced around the observatory chamber in a circle. Everyone else had already left after the last experiment of the day ended, including Yuuka. By now, Shiroki was probably going back to his dorm too since he needed to do a blood transfusion first. Yuuka so generously paid for the boy's personal dorm and the school necessities.

It was to get him familiar with the outside of the city and a chance for him to be a normal boy and not some lab rat. Yuuka had suggested it and put it into action after everyone agreed. Well, they had agreed because all the other branch facilities had also done the same. (Can't really lose in terms of human rights, can we?) He thought with a chuckle.

As it turns out, the Vampire's ability most efficient way of developing it was aligning his thought patterns with the former user. It was something Yuuka and he theorized and put together after her many interactions with him. It was still terrifying to see fangs and slitted eyes on such an 'innocent' boy. His eye color had also changed. For all he knew, it was only for appearances and did absolutely nothing. It was surprisingly easy to change someone's view of themselves into a monster using drugs, hypnotherapy, sleep-learning, and experiments.

Surprisingly, the boy was easily moldable.

Well, that was expected when they had erased certain memories that posed a threat to the boy's esper ability growth.

But still…he was scared that the ability was gonna start stagnating soon, and someone needed to be brave and jump the bridge. They weren't going to lose to the second branch's Sixth Sense or the third branch's Momentum Manipulator. (Oh, right. They hadn't tested if his newly acquired regeneration could heal broken bones because of that kid's disapproval, friends this school that.)

(…Well, it seems like I need to be the one to jump that bridge.)

He rushed out of the room, making his way to the facility's exit.

. . .

Almost there…

An orange light was beaming from that door. It was dusk. He'd have to go home fast or Anti-Skill was gonna catch him again. (Who decided it was a good idea to start a facility in the middle of a district brimming with Anti-Skill? Don't they know it's kinda illegal?)

He was on his way to the door... until someone came out of the hallway beside it and blocked his exit.

"Huh?" He instinctively took a step back.

"Relax. The experiments for today hadn't finished yet." That scientist tried to be soothing but it failed on him.

"W-w-what do you mean? Didn't we just complete the last experiment of the day..!"

"Now, now. Don't be alarmed, it's just gonna be a 3-minute venture if we get it done quickly so come." The man in a lab coat took him by the arm. He tried to resist but found that his arm was too weak. What kind of child can fight an adult though? But still... (Curse my small body…)

He hesitantly followed the scientist as the man took him by his hand, going deeper into the building.

"H-hey can you tell me what the experiment is about first…?"

The man was silent.

Then, he finally spoke.

"Testing your regeneration. We need to see if your regeneration can heal bone injuries. Don't worry, I am not going to be breaking your arm. I am just going to dislocate your finger and then put it back in place if it doesn't regenerate. Then, it's over."

"O-okay… Is it painful?"

"Don't worry, I got painkillers right here." The man fished out a bottle of painkillers inside his pocket and showed it to him. It read 'Paracetamol'. (Whew, it was a good thing I came prepared, this boy is always scared and is very sensitive to pain.) Hisaki thought.

The man took him through winding hallways. There was nothing special about it. He lived here for as long as he can remember. The only special room was his own room, but it was now barren since they moved it all to his dorm. Actually, today marked the 1st anniversary of him leaving this place.

To be honest, he did feel a sense of nostalgia when they passed his room. The sign saying his name was still there but dust littered it. The door was closed and it didn't look any different. However, he felt that it hadn't been opened in ages.

After taking a glass of water from the small kitchen, the redhead drank it with the painkillers, taking a safe dosage of it according to the man. Then, they continued their walk and soon reached a room. He had never gone to this room and had only walked past it. There was no sign indicating what was inside and he had never questioned what the room was for in his years here. Probably because he had forgotten to ask them about it every time.

The man inputted a code and it opened. They both entered the room. The walls of the space were encompassed with blue tiles. The floor was just one giant water drain. It was small and had no observatory chamber. If you put a three-seat couch in it, it would take up almost half of the room—there was just enough space for it to not reach both walls. There was nothing in that rectangular room, except for a single rectangular oversized shower head taking up the entire ceiling and a small button on the wall. Now that he looked at the shower head closely, it also had a tiny button in the middle of it but unlike the button on the wall, Azumi found he couldn't reach it. The room reminded him of a shower.

It made him feel uneasy. (Isn't water my ultimate weakness..!?)

The man closed the door and they both stood inside the room alone. (W-why aren't I killing him...? W-wait Kirishima said killing is bad and it is never a good thing to do...)

Suddenly, the man began to take off his clothes. "Boy, take off your clothes."

"W-w-w-what are you doing...!" The unexpectedness of his action caused Azumi to turn into a stuttering mess. (Are we gonna shower together? What the hell is he doing?!)

The man looked at him as if what he was doing was completely normal.

"What else? Do you wanna get your clothes drenched after this? It's obvious I am gonna turn on the fire sprinkler above."

"O-oh... Okay then.."

As the redhead reluctantly began to take off his clothes, he asked the man. "A-are you scared that I am gonna kill you...?"

"Yep, that's about it." The man replied nonchalantly.

The way he said it so nonchalantly made him wonder... (Just how many people thought I was gonna kill them when they did something bad to me?)

The thought somehow created a thin smile on his face. (Is that why they looked at him like that?)

As the man finished, he took the lab coat and went up to the button on the wall. He pressed it and a rectangular-shaped box came out of the wall like a drawer. The man then haphazardly put his clothes in it. Afterward, the man broke the silence.

"It cost a lot to install all of this but I can't believe we never used it before." He muttered with resignation. The 'we' was probably referring to the other scientists.

Shiroki didn't respond. He took his clothes and put them inside the box. He then clicked the button and it closed. (So cool.)

They were completely naked. Due to his short height, he could literally see the man's penis if he slightly looked down. But not that he cared. It was big and the man's body was fit.

The man stood on his toes and reached out for the sprinkler's button. With a click, water poured on them, akin to rain. "Wow, I should have used showered here instead!" The man shouted as he rubbed his black hair back with one hand.

With his red hair now sticking to his forehead, he asked exasperatedly, "Hmph, are we here for the '3-minute venture' or are we here to shower?"

"Thought you might need some time to cool off first... But you are as impatient as always..." The man sighed. Was he really that impatient? Anti-Skill was 100% going to catch him at this rate! Though maybe it was a good thing? He'd get a ride home if that happened. But...

(I need to work on my legs so I can be faster! Having a small and lean body has its downsides and upsides. With my low weight, I can run faster than normal people! Leveling up isn't all that matters, improving your physical abilities counts too!)

It was the little things that mattered.

"Have the painkillers taken hold yet?"

"Yeah, I feel a little light-headed now."

"Good. Now, stretch out your hand."

He did as he was told and the man crouched. He clasped his small pinky finger one at the joint and another to keep his finger arm in place. He then proceeded to move his big fingers and pulled his small pinky finger up like a lever. Crack. His finger had just been broken but... He felt a tingle but no pain. Shiroki breathed a sigh of relief.

The man released his hold and watched the drenched finger closely.

Suddenly, with a cracking sound, the finger fixed itself back in place a second later.

"Hah! Would you look at that? It just popped itself back in!"

"N-now that's done, I am going back home now…" He moved towards the button.

But was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. It sent shivers down his spine and his breath hitched.

He slowly creaked his head to the side and saw a maniacal grin on the man's face. (Ah.)

Suddenly, he felt much more dizzier than he had before as he supported his body on the blue-tiled wall. While his vision was slowly spinning, he heard the man's terrifying words.

"Why should I give up on this opportunity? I mean, why shouldn't I break your bones while I'm at it? I'm tired of your little rebels every time we want to do something that displeases you. And I'm tired of my own colleague's cowardice. It's time I teach you a lesson," The man got closer and whispered in front of his terrified face with an insane grin. The proximity of the man's face and the threats he said, left him paralyzed with fear. …He was powerless with the water raining around them. (Why didn't he kill him when he had the chance?)

"Know your place, you little brat."

"H-h-h-h-help-"

The child's cry for help went unheard.

The man's hands moved and clasped his head. He performed a knee strike to his head and he fell back, slipping across the wet floor. His head hit the wall and all he could hear was the incessant ringing and the sound of rain hitting his body. His back slid across the wall and felt his butt hit the floor. The man was approaching him but all he saw was a giant blurry figure.

"Did you know? A secondary effect of your regeneration is that blood flows through your body as if you are always on half an adrenaline. So, when the adrenaline actually gets pumped into your bloodstream, all your senses will triple in an instant but your pain tolerance gets so high that you almost feel nothing, making you basically unable to lose consciousness through pain. And because of that, torturing you won't ever work. The only reason your vision is spinning is because your brain made an impact on your skull and the painkillers I slightly overdosed you."

The man kicked his stomach and he felt all the air leave his lungs. Then, the man crouched and looked at him, still with the maniacal grin. "Well, let's break the bones in your fingers first. Oh, wait! I don't have anything to use! Oh, poor me!"

The man's expression didn't change. Actually, it somehow became wider. The man's pure white teeth were filled with thin threads of saliva.

The man took his limp arm and proceeded to snap another one of his fingers.

Then another and another and another and another and another and another and another and another and another. The man had broken all of his fingers but they all fixed themselves back in place as if nothing serious happened.

…He felt nothing.

"W-why are you doing this..!?"

A jab to the head left him disoriented again.

The man moved closer to his spinning vision. (Are there two of him…?) The man's breath hit his face as he said. "It's for my own enjoymeeeent!~"

(This bastard…!)

Suddenly, clarity returned to him in his rage. For some reason, his eyes were focusing on one thing and one thing only. It was the man's neck. It looked… vulnerable.

He swiftly moved his head in a flash and bit on it with his fangs as it sank into the flesh. The man grunted. He could feel his fangs touch the man's blood vessels. But there was something strange. He could feel a pull so he tugged on it.

The man tried to throw him away, but the man stiffened. His whole body went stiff as if someone was controlling him. His muscles twitched but he didn't move. He tugged on the familiar sensation again.

"Wha- ARGHH-" The man's screams were cut off as blood came gushing out of his mouth like a waterfall and it mixed with the water raining down above. His whole body screamed in protest as little lines of blood spewed out of his skin like a faulty turned-on faucet. His bloodshot eyes cried out blood. The man peed blood. Blood came out of his nose and butt. Every single orifice of the man had been turned into a blood faucet.

Suddenly, Shiroki was punched to the side and his grip on the man was loosened. Shiroki slid on the wet ground and looked back. Plastered on the man's face were agony, despair, and regret. The man was desperately reaching out a hand to him, but it wasn't to stop him. The man's eyes told him he wanted to die. The man wanted the unbearable agony to end.

Suddenly, he could feel a thug on the man again. He had lost contact with the man so why could he still control his blood? Then, it clicked. The man was permitting him to use his blood. That had never happened before…

The way the man looked at him. The way the man's expression was full of despair. The way the man was begging to die at his hand. It-it-it-it-it-

The boy's black irises shone with red and he tilted his head like a puppet on its strings, innocently. He gave the suffering man—who couldn't speak due to the excess blood in his throat—an innocent smile. He stood up and raised a harmless hand towards the man. The man's expression turned into a full-on fear, replacing the other expressions.

His innocent smile widens. The connection between the man hadn't been lost contrary to his expression. (You can't regret it now. The fun hasn't started yet.)

Then, he innocently activated Vampire.

He raised the man up in the air by manipulating some of his blood to basically burst through the man's blood vessels and raise the man by pushing against the skin from the inside. The man desperately tried to scream but still found his throat clogged with blood. No blood came out of his mouth, it stayed stuck inside him.

The man's blood-shot eyeballs cried rivers of red blood as he redirected them all to the orifice. The rain mixed in with the blood, creating red-colored tears. Then, both the man's despair-filled eyes were pushed out by the blood as it fell into the water drain.

An innocent chuckle escaped his mouth. The man was now blind to the harmless horrors he had created. (Time's almost up. It's time to end this.)

And so, he proceeded to pull all of the man's blood forcibly through his skin. The man's skin became bloated as the blood threatened to break through.

SPLAT

The man's body exploded. His brain and brain matter flew right past his head, splattering against the blue-tiled walls. The man's bones fell to the ground, his organs flung across the room and splattered against the walls with a splat. Blood stained the room's walls, but it was washed away by the water soon after. Some of the blood escaped the sprinkler's constant drizzle by sticking to the blue ceiling, creating one big, red circle.

He moved his eyes towards the splattered brain and stretched his palm towards it.

He consciously ordered his AIM diffusion field to move and envelop the brain.

Immediately after, memories of the man's life flashed inside his head. But because the brain had been thoroughly smushed, only tidbits of the memories had been deciphered.

(Mom… You really are messed up, you know?) He thought with a frown. (And…did I always had those blue-)

The boy's pupils lost the red glow and returned to black, taking in the scene around him mesmerizingly. That circle of blood kinda looked like a halo.

A normal boy would have felt shocked. A normal boy would have fainted. A normal boy would have screamed in terror. A normal boy would have felt unbearable guilt. A normal boy would have run away.

But this 'innocent' 'boy' did not feel or do any of that.

Instead.

Laughter came out of his small throat. It started with a chuckle. Then, a full-on maniacal laughter. The boy truly didn't know why he laughed that day. But he did do something to put a stop to it. He put his small hand on his mouth in an attempt to muffle out the laughter. It worked, but uncontrollable laughter still spilled from his small mouth in waves and echoed alongside the rain. His wide eyes were watering from the sheer emotion rocking his body and he pulled his head up, shouting, "…I am innocent… RIGHT!?"

The impact cut through the wind, and Shiroki Azumi once again shot forward above the rooftops, his back crashing onto the edge of a building. The red lights behind the mist were flickering, and its glow was diminishing. He slid down onto another street and went out of her bird's eye view.

As the memory completed, she felt like vomiting right there and then.

The blood covering his limbs gave way, but much to her dismay, her punch forced the blood's course to instead fly towards her, splattering on her clothes. It stained her skin alongside her torn white short-sleeved blouse with the light brown vest worn under it, a black skirt, and black stockings with a deep red, including her exposed thigh. The throbbing pain suddenly ceased in intensity but she could still feel the lingering and throbbing pain emitting from her left hand. Her regeneration closed the small hole up as if it never happened.

She landed back into the alleyway with gracefulness and promptly vomited on the ground. Bile stained the dusty alleyway, mixing with the other putrid smells. (Get that image out of my head!)

Afterward, she examined herself swiftly. The blood almost covered her entire body, creating an image reminiscent of a painting. She couldn't help but acknowledge that she looked just like Shiroki Azumi in that memory. (...They made him a monster...!) She thought, anger flashing inside her eyes.

She amped her electricity externally and realized something. (His blood loses its electric resistance after he loses control of it. That's certainly a good thing to know.)

Unfortunately, she still needed to get new clothes. She didn't need to go to school with the smell of blood. Even the best of Academy City's cleaning products weren't going to be able to get rid of this deep rusty stench.

But something was bugging her.

(Why do I feel like I can discharge electricity outside my body much better now…?)

Anyhow, that boy must have lost consciousness by now according to the memories and she didn't want him waking up anytime soon. Even if he did, there wasn't anyone here since Akaru told them that Hadi Kuroi scared every Skill Out from this area and basically claimed it as his territory.

She dashed across that alleyway. Making a turn to the left when she met a wall, and then another to the right, she emerged from the alleyway into a street. What she saw there was…

---

"Are you sure this isn't a little too much for one measly little brat?" asked Harue Ichigo, a 17-year-old Skill Out delinquent with dark brown hair and matching eyes. Between his belt was a pistol as his Smart Weapon was taken by Komaba Ritoku as a punishment for accidentally killing a kid. Truthfully, he felt guilty about it but no one believed him.

He was a skilled self-thought sharpshooter and former Komaba Ritoku's Skill Out faction member. Now, he's in Big Spider.

"Oh, new guy… This isn't one 'measly little brat'. It's the Judgement kid with a screw loose who's been going around lately, beating up our guys as if taking a walk in the park! Even mentioning his nickname causes people to physically wilt in fear!"

"Brother, is he really that strong!?"

The ones who respectively said that were Ken Saito and Ken Kaito. They were both twins and skilled fighters who worked in sync with one another to win fights. Both had brown hair and black eyes, and their only discernible difference was their hairstyle. Saito had neatly combed hair, while Kaito's hair was unkempt and messy. They were wearing brass knuckles on both of their hands.

The twins were 17, and the other person was 18.

They were currently walking in their prey's domain, a high ground or favourite spot of sorts. It was common knowledge for all Skill Outs that it was a no-go zone yet they were here anyway, to avenge their hospitalized comrades.

"Yes, brother. He is that strong and that's why we must work in sync. He uses openings that we don't even realize and uses it to his advantage so we need to watch our backs. He's also skilled at acrobatics and sometimes uses seemingly impossible maneuvers to dodge our attacks. Even if we gang up or surround him with 20 of our guys, he'd run away and pick us off one by one like he knew the city's layout at the back of his hand." Kaito explained. "And you, new guy, you need to be the wild card in this fight and try to attract as much attention as possible from him. And when he's open, you shoot his leg. No matter how skilled he is, he can't dodge a bullet at close range."

"Alright. But don't call me a new guy! I have a name, you know. It's Harue, and I've got the experience."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Remember, we're only here to teach him a lesson and not kill him."

While they were idly chatting, they heard a thud from above and then someone fell in front of them. It was a small boy who looked no older than 12 but what was odd was the black mist surrounding his head. The black mist was slowly growing less in density and he could make out the boy had bobbed red hair. He also looked deathly pale as if his blood had been sapped from his body. Saito raised his arms above his shoulder and the group stopped in their tracks. (Didn't they say to watch out for the two of his friends who each have navy blue hair and red hair? And to especially avoid a fight if the one with the red hair was with him?)

The lean boy was limp on the ground, unmoving, but his muscles were twitching. Suddenly, like a horror movie, the boy turned his head towards the trio. There were diminishing red lights coming from the receding mist, like eyes that were slowly losing their light. (Oh, wait. Those are eyes.)

Three silent screams never left their throat.

However, Shiroki Azumi didn't move an inch as he had truly passed out, the black mist and red eyes disappearing.

---

Hokaze Junko rounded the corner and was met with…

The barrel of a gun at her forehead.

(Ah.)

The finger at the gun's trigger moved.

The world appeared frozen in that indivisible second.

She didn't have time to dodge or to reposition herself. Her eyes were fixed on that gun and all else didn't matter. She didn't know who it was that was holding the gun, but it couldn't be Shiroki as that hand was big, too rough, and callous.

However, what she also didn't know was that if she were to catch sight of the assailant, her mind might need a restart after being blue-screened. The gunned man was Harue Ichigo, but was that really him?

The man named Harue Ichigo was already dead. A blood knife had stabbed into his forehead and pierced deep into his brain. It was a reanimated corpse controlled by Shiroki Azumi's AIM.

It was truly game over. All she could do was increase her Rampage Dress's output to the maximum in her forehead's skin cells, and hope the oncoming force didn't turn her brain into paste from the point-blank blast.

Her life flashed before her and a single tear bubbled in the corner of her eyes.

She offered her last condolences.

(Sorry, Misaki-san—

Epilogue: Beyond The Door [Choking_On_Air.]

They rounded the corner.

And a terrifying sound reverberated in their skulls.

BANG

Lavender twin braids fluttered as a girl's athletic body flew off the ground and fell back first with a thud. A big gash of blood sputtered from the hole in her forehead and rained down her pale skin. A blood poodle was slowly forming around the ground.

Two pairs of wide eyes stared, horrified at the scene before them.

It took a millisecond before her brain finally realized what had occurred.

That teenager who had dark brown hair and red glowing eyes whose brain had been embedded with a blood knife had shot Junko's head.

The scene closed in on her, and it took a second to realize her legs were moving on its own.

She had broken her fatigued and weak legs into a run out of sheer willpower. Her Achilles heel was being strained and pummeled like a ragdoll.

With tears in her eyes, she fished out a remote from her bag and raised it into the heavens as she skidded on the ground, stopping.

For a mere one second, she muttered something completely intelligible under her breath.

It was the limiter unlock code for Exterior.

Her slightly opened mouth didn't even move.

Only her lips did.

She wasn't even a ventriloquist and had never touched the subject. And yet, during that everlasting second, she became the world's best ventriloquist.

She needed all the miracles she could get right now, or use up whatever miracles her future had.

And then, she shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking.

"EXTERIOR! COMMENCE VOLUNTARY WILL REVERSAL PAST THE 13TH PAIR!"

And she clicked.

Inside a District 2 facility, two gigantic halves of a brain buzzed with life within two equally massive glass containers filled with an unknown liquid. These ginormous brain halves boosted her Mental Out. That was Exterior, her own brain's cerebral cortex, cultivated, enlarged, and cut into two pieces.

It was originally to be used as a means for others to use her Mental Out ability to brainwash genius minds and make them puppets, but she had kicked those scientists out, and now it was for her own personal use. And now, she released its unrestrained powers into the world for the first time.

An enhanced ability capable of controlling thousands of people in a range of several kilometers was activated across District 10, District 2, District 22, and District 7.

That teenager fell backwards on the ground but the blood knife embedded in its head hadn't lost its shape.

She used her Mental Out and unchained Exterior and focused that unparalleled psychic ability on Shiroki Azumi. However, that proved to be overkill as all of Shiroki's memories entered her brain, causing her to be hit with an information overload, but she gritted her teeth and accessed something she had never tried before.

Someone's AIM.

Shiroki's AIM diffusion field was laid bare before her mind.

The thing was beckoning her, calling out to her with two sets of teeth.

But it wasn't a barking dog with no bite.

That vortex was dragging her slowly fracturing mind into that black-red singularity.

At that moment, a realization slowly sprung from her mind. (His ability isn't copying! It's stealing!)

The thing dwarfed her fickle mind ability as it slowly absorbed them along with Exterior.

It was like trying to stop a freight train; she just couldn't—not with how she in the middle of its cage.

Staring at it with wide eyes, she wondered what would happen if it swallowed her whole. Would she be herself? Would she became another one of its puppets? Would her memories be erased except for Shiroki's memories and she became…

Shiroki Azumi?

All of a sudden, the vortex stopped. (Huh..?)

Time seemed to warp as it stopped and restarted intermittently, slowly becoming more intense. The time dilation was getting smaller by the second.

But she wasn't affected.

As it seemed to reach its climax, the black-red mindscape around her seemed to glitch. It was a true glitch in the matrix. Various parts of the mindscape were jumbled up together in random spots and the vortex swallowing her had disappeared.

There was no longer any voice beckoning her. Only an eerie silence remained.

The nonexistent air felt strangely thick in that dark void.

She didn't know what truly happened, but she could make a guess as it was strangely similar to what had happened to Shiroki before. The combined AIM of Mental Out and Exterior had overloaded Shiroki Azumi's own ever-devouring AIM.

Was that how powerful a level 5's power really was? That even a level 4 such as Shiroki Azumi couldn't comprehend it all and broke.

At her command, an ordinary TV remote from the real world appeared in her hand and she directed it at that void.

She channeled unchained Exterior's ability as she spoke coldly.

"Category 006 / Locate the 'bomb' set in the indicated individual's AIM."

For about 10 seconds, she read Shiroki's AIM as if tracing her hand along shattered glass.

"Category 403 / Return the indicated individual's mind and AIM to their state just before the 'bomb' activated."

But still, even with her tempering, the knife-shaped blood constructs embedded inside the three teenagers' brains had truly become solid matter, refusing to return to their natural state. However, she clicked another button and all of them were under her control, falling asleep before they could make a move against her.

It felt strangely easy that she briefly wondered if something else had intervened when she first tried to control Shiroki Azumi.

Somewhere in a District 7 hospital, a doctor whose face reminded her of a frog was attending a patient.

That frog-faced doctor was Heaven Canceler. He prevailed over any injury or disease. He would do whatever it took, making use of new technologies and theories not even approved for use by the Academy City board of directors, much less by the medical world outside the city. He had only one belief: never to abandon a patient. He walked his own path with only that in his heart.

That doctor abruptly stopped in the middle of an operation and ran out of the operating room in a hurry. No one stopped him, instead, they moved out of his way. That doctor reached the bottom floor and went through a staff-only door to the outside.

What greeted the doctor there was an ambulance truck idling with its engine running, and a fellow doctor occupying the driver's seat. Opening the rear double doors, he found the inside completely stocked with medical equipment. Two doctors sat on the built-in beach, completely motionless and they were noticeably exhausted. He closed the door and took a seat. The sirens blared and they drove off as if they were waiting for him the entire time.

Every car on the road was moving out of its way as the driver drove without a care in the world in the middle of a bustling city. The truck drove through shortcuts the driver didn't even know. When the traffic lights turned green on a different lane, the cars didn't move an inch, allowing the truck to pass through. And when the lights turned green at a zebra crossing, the usually impatient kids didn't budge; instead, they watched as the truck drove by. Even the people idly walking or playing had come to a halt.

They were in perfect sync as if their minds had connected and turned into a huge hive mind.

Somewhere in a District 2 Anti-Skill branch, the same thing happened, but instead of an ambulance, it was an Anti-Skill truck.

Somewhere in a District 2 hospital, the same thing happened, but instead of one, three ambulances drove off.

They all drove off towards a certain street in District 10 at breakneck speeds.

Everyone in the range of approximately 5 kilometers was controlled.

Even the famous Railgun hadn't been able to protect herself from the combined force of Mental Out and Exterior.

Thousands upon thousands of people all had stars in their eyes.

They were all controlled to either provide her with the information she needed or to force them out of her way. All potential risks or individuals that could pose a threat to the trucks or hinder their movements were moved away or controlled. It was an amazing feat befitting of a level 5.

As the numerous trucks reached their destination, Shokuhou Misaki, the fifth level 5, simply offered a weak smile and collapsed on the ground from the unbearable mental strain, deactivating Mental Out and Exterior in the process.

---

He opened his golden eyes and a white ceiling greeted him. (Wow, so that wasn't a dream?)

Unlike what the girl named Shokuhou Misaki had (most likely) thought, he remembered everything.

Though, he couldn't exactly remember how he ended up in a hospital in the first place. (I didn't have any wounds so how..?)

"Oh, you are awake." A girl's voice reached him from beside the bed.

"SENPAI!" He instantly shot upwards and saw Konori Mii sitting on a chair beside the bed, and a basket of apples on the bedside table. "Ugh!" However, he instantly flinched as pain raced behind his back and cheek.

"Careful, careful! Geez, your ability helps eludes harm but not self-harm so be careful about that."

"Ah, right. Sorry about that…I was just excited because you came to visit me." Then, his eyes widened as the words she said fully registered to him. "Wait, you are giving me advice!?"

(Don't say it like I didn't give you a 1-hour lecture once…!) But she kept her cool.

"About that…" The girl's dark blue eyes moved to the side for a moment before returning to his. "What I said before was just an empty threat to give you motivation so you could show me your potential, but due to some complications, I wasn't able to give you a straight answer then."

"So now, you will be…?"

"Yes, I have made up my mind to fully commit myself to helping you, but in return, you will promise me that you will listen to me or else I am going back on my word." She finished.

"THANK YOU, MII-SENSEI!" He wanted to bow but realized he was lying on a hospital bed so it kinda came out awkwardly. He flushed.

"Hey! What's up with the last name!?" (And the 'sensei'!?) She didn't speak that out loud, though. Her pride might be inflated if he continued calling her that, but her ears felt absolutely blessed to decline.

Was she meant to be a teacher all along?

"Sorry!? Konori-sensei then?"

"Uh.." She stammered. The boy was looking at her with such an innocent gaze! "C-call me whatever you want…"

He nodded, a small smile on his face. "Mii-sensei it is." The name felt good on his tongue. All of a sudden, his face turned grave and he asked, "By the way, do you know anything that happened which led me here?"

"Wait, you don't remember?"

"No, no. I do remember, but there's some stuff I don't, like how I ended up with my wounds reopened and somehow got worse."

"Well, unfortunately, I don't have any idea of what happened as the incident was quickly covered up by Academy City. However, using my Judgement connections to access the Anti-Skill database, I found that four people were sent to hospitals across Academy City around the time it happened so that's how I found you when you didn't show up to the Judgement 177th branch."

He nodded, and carefully asked, "Is there anyone else here in this hospital?"

The abrupt sound of a door sliding alerted the teacher and student.

"S-Shiroki-san, p-please return to your ward..! We still need to examine how your bones managed to regenerate themselves overnight…!" A cute female nurse was currently trying to tug the red-haired boy's hand, but he remained stubborn and entered the room albeit with great difficulty.

"Yo! Hadi!" A hatless Azumi waved at him, smiling. Black slits stared into his golden eyes as he spoke, the smile being replaced with confusion and then disgust in just under 5 seconds. "Why the hell are you in a hospital too? This place gives me the creeps."

"Eh?" "Eh?"

Hadi and Konori made confused noises that were in sync.

"I mean, only Kirishima and I got beat up by those thugs so why are you here? Did you fight a high-level esper or something?" The nurse seemed to give up as she released her hold on the boy who was smaller than her.

(…He doesn't remember…) Sensei looked like she was about to open her mouth so he stopped her by holding her hand. As Mii-sensei stared at him with confusion, he shook his head and responded instead.

It would be better if he didn't remember that nightmare.

"Yeah! She was really hard to beat too, but in the end, I won!" He lied through his teeth with a smile. It could've been a half-truth if he hadn't decided to save his pride, though.

"Oh, really? Well, it's good and all that you are fine, but where's Kirishima and my hat?" The way the tone of his voice was slightly off when he said the last two words made it seem like he couldn't care less about the navy-blue-haired boy.

Hell, if the nurse's pleas when he had entered the room were any indication, he had acted and started to sound like an angry mother from the very beginning.

They never did find Azumi's hat which caused him to be both eternally depressed and endlessly angry. It wasn't a pleasant sight to see both a scowl and tears on such a nice face for a whole week—even Kirishima failed to tame him. Actually going back to where he had last remembered seeing Azumi's hat along with Kirishima, they still couldn't find it.

Though, it made them wonder, who had given the boy that flat, short-brimmed hat with a perfectly round shape, a dark purple colour, and a straight, short crown?

---

Harue Ichigo, Ken Saito, and Ken Kaito were pronounced dead. The 3 knife-shaped blood constructs were found to have turned into a solid object, forcing doctors to surgically remove them. The constructs were later sent away for examination. After some paperwork, Anti-Skill contacted their families and informed them of the heartbreaking news. Later, the corpses were sent back to their families for a proper burial.

Far away from Hadi Kuroi's and Shiroki Azumi's District 2 hospital, a certain fallen girl opened her eyes.

---

Her brain ached with a dull pain as she opened her eyes and promptly shielded them from the blaring light with her fingers, gradually adjusting to its brightness. The smell of antiseptics and the sight of a barren white ceiling indicated she was in a hospital room.

She found herself still in her Tokiwadai uniform instead of a hospital gown. The curtain beside her fluttered, stirred by a cold morning breeze that assaulted her nose and ruffled her now-messy hair. Her bag lay haphazardly on the bedside table. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she noted it was 8:12 AM.

Someone else was in the room, sleeping on the side of her hospital bed. That someone looked cute drooling like that. She placed a hand on that sleeper's shoulder to wake them up.

. . .

Akaru Kirishima stirred awake with a yawn and groggily rubbed his eyes.

"You're a heavy sleeper you know that? It took me to pinch your cheek to finally stir you up. You probably wake up to the sound of your door being smashed open every day." The golden-haired girl said with a smile. Her tone didn't contain the annoyance he expected from those words, instead, it was filled with amusement.

"Ah, you know how many times Azumi and Hadi said that to me? The joke's kinda getting old now." He replied with a tired smirk. Talking to her felt like talking to a long-lost old friend, it was weird but nice considering they had only just met yesterday. He saw Hadi and Azumi as his younger brothers that he needed to protect so talking to her felt so refreshing.

She chuckled a little, feeling a bit hollow, and took in the view of the city below. The lush greenery adorned the sidewalks, and she noticed students hurrying to school, running late. Amongst the rushing students, her eyes caught sight of a girl with her long black hair tied in two pigtails—Yumiya Rakko. Living outside of the School Garden was a pa- (W-what!? What am I saying!? Wait…why do I know her name!? Is this why I feel like my brain is trying to split apart!?)

And that was when she realized she recognized almost everything and everyone in her sight. The pain in her head intensified and her breath hitched. (Ugh..! I gotta need to not think about that or else it's gonna get worse.)

Silence filled the room, broken only by the rustling of the wind and the gentle fluttering of the curtains.

Both of them knew what the other party wanted.

However...

He didn't know how to tell her how he truly didn't know anything about what happened to Hokaze Junko without hurting her feelings.

Thankfully…

The door to the room slid open and a balding doctor greeted the duo.

"Oh, you are both awake."

The doctor whose face reminded him of a frog pulled out a note holder and faced Shokuhou. He looked tired like he hadn't gotten the recommended amount of sleep last night. His hands were also slightly twitching. If a doctor like that performed a life-threatening surgery on him, he'd sit up straight and slap him.

"Any constant headaches?"

"Yeah. But enough about me, Heaven Canceller. What about Hokaze Junko?" She said, her voice urgent. (That was reckless… Using Exterior like that could cause me to lose myself.)

"Well, fortunately, it will go away in time. And about Hokaze Junko..." The doctor seemed to stop mid-sentence, his face completely blank. Shokuhou's face clouded over. Kirishima's heartbeat resounded in his ear.

"Which do you wanna hear first, the good news or the bad news?" He continued.

The word 'good news' brought hope to their faces, releasing a breath they hadn't realized they were holding.

"...The good news," said Akaru.

"The bullet they used to shoot Hokaze Junko was able to be removed safely, and she's in stable condition."

"She's alive...?!" muttered Shokuhou in both hope and a slight tinge of disbelief.

"And…w-what about the...the bad news?"

Time came to a crawl.

The duo hold their breaths.

The next words that came out of the blank Heaven Canceller's face almost made them consider slicing his crinkled throat in broad daylight.

"Follow me." He said in a steady voice.

. . .

The duo were silent as they followed the doctor. He could tell Heaven Canceller was acting unusually silent even though he had never met him or heard about him. It made his heart beat so fast that he swore if it got even faster he would have a heart attack and died on the spot. Then, he would make sure as a ghost, to haunt him forever and ruin his life.

(This evil doctor...!) He cursed in his heart, silently clenching his fists.

Shokuhou wasn't doing any better than him in the slightest. He could literally see that she was emitting and directing an unhealthy amount of killing intent toward that evil bastard of a doctor. He couldn't blame her. He too was also planning on punching him in the face if Hokaze turned out to be alright which he wished she is.

He didn't know how Shokuhou was going to react otherwise.

He also didn't know how he, himself would react otherwise. Though, he would probably blame himself if yesterday was any indication.

But how about Shokuhou?

Would she blame herself? Would she blame Azumi? Would she blame Hadi?

...Would she blame him?

The thought made his heart ache.

. . .

The doctor stopped.

The door was in front of him.

Right beside the door was the name Hokaze Junko.

...It was the ICU ward.

Although, he didn't know what that meant but it sounded very, very serious.

Beyond the door were the answers they desperately desired.

He tried seeing through the glass on the door but found nothing except the edge of a hospital bed.

Heaven Canceller opened the door and let them in first.

They walked with slow strides. Each step became slower the closer they were to the edge of that short hallway.

The hospital bed was right there. He could now make out a pair of legs from below the blanket. It was unmoving.

3 more steps.

2 more steps.

1 more step.

Hokaze Junko was on that bed.

She was unmoving—not even a twitch of a muscle.

She wore a hospital gown and had tubes going through her nose, feeding her who knows what. Her head, arms, and eyes were bandaged extensively. The unbandaged part of her face was deathly pale.

A screen next to her bed showed a visual of her heartbeat accompanied by the rhythmic beeping of her heart. And another screen showed nothing.

She was alive just as the doctor had said.

But he felt something was really, really off.

Shokuhou's legs were trembling, struggling to hold her up.

A sullen but calm voice behind him confirmed his greatest fears.

"I...I wasn't able to save her. The bullet had caused extensive damage to her brain, causing her to lose most of her motor skills. We had to place her in a medically induced coma to stabilize her condition and reduce further damage. Unless we found a solution to treat her, she will be in this state for the rest of her life."

Shokuhou's legs gave up, and Kirishima moved, supporting her.

"W…why…? W-w-why d-did you leave me too? WHYYYY!?"

The voice belonged to the girl in front of him but he didn't recognize it. There was no trace of the pride and dignity. Not even a trace of an elite high-class lady from the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School.

Instead, it belonged to a girl whose heart had been shattered.

Shokuhou Misaki had the strongest psychological power and she was an expert at controlling minds, yet, she couldn't stop the sound of her heart breaking.

The #5 Mental Out who was both feared and envied by her schoolmates couldn't stop herself from revealing her most vulnerable side.

No, it was more than that.

It was a part of her that she had always tried to suppress after realizing the first person she had ever loved, would never remember her. There was no one to blame for that incident except her. She was the one who had dragged that spiky-haired boy into her mess.

There was also Dolly, her first friend, who had died, but never once did that girl see her face for who she truly was.

And now, the only one supporting her since then wasn't by her side. And it was all because she was too stubborn to let go of the girl earlier.

She couldn't hope for two miracles to happen. And she didn't even know if she was still eligible to even receive a miracle. All of them—the past, the future—had already been used so she didn't have blood on her hands.

But...

She slowly brought her trembling palms up.

Why could she still see them!!?

That exact part of her had its shackles broken and now replaced the #5.

Perhaps it was because of the constant pang in her brain. Perhaps it was because of her scrambled-up brain after overusing Exterior. Perhaps it was because of the realization that another friend of hers had left her too. And perhaps it was because of all those reasons that the next words slipped from her lips in such a pathetic manner.

"My heart hurts.."

She complained about the pain in a pained whimper, befitting of a 13-year-old girl but, it wasn't befitting of the Shokuhou Misaki Kirishima knew. It sounded spoiled and childish. Just before, she had placed herself below Hokaze Junko, but now, she selfishly complained about her headache while in the face of someone who was in a coma.

A tear fell to the floor and her vision was turning blurry. But all Shokuhou Misaki truly saw was an indescribable darkness consuming her entire being. As if she was underwater.

A whimper came out of her mouth. Then, it turned into a full-on sob.

She hadn't cried when her prince had lost the ability to remember her.

So why was she crying now, and wasn't looking at the world in a cold manner?

Perhaps it was because Hokaze had rejected such an option in that mall.

...And she wasn't willing to disrespect those last caring actions of hers even if it caused her own death.

Shokuhou cried on his torso as he tried his best to comfort her.

But no voice came out of Kirishima's mouth.

He was too shocked to even give back what she so earnestly gave him.

. . .

Heaven Canceller came out of the room in a barely disguised fury, rushed to an examination room, and tore the phone from the desk. He was going to do something he hadn't done in more than a decade.

He pressed the button for an outside line and then pressed the # button a few times. It seemed random, but there was actually a set rhythm to it which inadvertently caused his fury to skyrocket. Afterward, special numbers, one after another.

When he brought the phone to his ear, he did not hear the usual ring.

He was connected without ringing it even once.

"Aleister. Is this part of your plan too?"

Each word was said with a thinly veiled rage.

"Calm down, this is not part of the plan or any plan for that matter." The Academy City board chairman assured him. "I did not expect Shiroki Azumi's Personal Reality to be capable of such... feats. Future Regret from the outside world and Hadi Kuroi's AIM had activated prematurely which I am quite displeased about."

"Oh, so it wasn't because of you, Aleister." The frog-face doctor almost released a sigh of relief. "I would have turned off your life support system if that was the case."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't plan it then." Aleister Crowley gave a light chuckle. "Though, it was fascinating to witness what a failed Awakening would look like..."

"Anyway, now that you caused my patients harm both mentally and physically, and even made me the blame, you know what my patients meant to me, right?" The frog-faced doctor growled, his expression hidden in the shadows. He hadn't turned on the lights in the room. "This is the first defeat and the worst defeat I've ever experienced. Shokuhou Misaki already has someone who can't even remember her and now her dear friend is in a coma? That pisses me off. I can't even save my patient and made a girl break because of it."

Silence permeated in the dark examination room.

Neither the frog-faced doctor nor Aleister said anything for a bit.

Finally, Aleister spoke.

"...Guess I have to reveal the improved plan now," Aleister stated with a chuckle. "Shokuhou Misaki will be in the care of Future Regret, much as I hate for them to interact. Hokaze Junko, I assure you, will regain consciousness in the future if the main plan goes accordingly. However, if Hokaze Junko is sent outside of Academy City, I can't help you with that."

"...You don't normally tell your plans to anyone."

"Think of it as thanks for saving me back in England and... sorry for what happened." The board chairman said with a hint of guilt.

"..." It left the Heaven Canceller speechless. That person would do literally anything to reach his goal with uncaring and unhesitating eyes. And yet, that person cared about him and sympathized with him. (Maybe it was not a part of his plan after all...?)

Finally, the frog-faced doctor spoke again.

"I truly don't know the extent of what you are planning in the future nor how it can somehow bring back someone whose brain almost turned into mush but," The frog-faced doctor released a breath. "Aleister, people don't just follow the whims of how you set up the situation. There can always be an infinite amount of possibilities that you even you and your 1000 years of time can't predict. Just like the butterfly effect, even the smallest of possibilities and impossibilities can change everything."

"You don't normally start beating around the bush. What are you exactly getting at?"

"Aleister," He released a breath as he continued, "…what exactly is your plan? And what exactly happened that led my patients to end up like that?"

"Heh, so you want to help me now?"

"…If it gets my patient breathing again, then yes."

Inside a windowless building, a silver-haired "human" floating upside down in a tube of red liquid surrounded by countless wires and pipes, smirked. (Well then, things will certainly be easier this way...) That "human" thought as his smirk widened.

The call ended as they revealed everything to each other.

Even the Level 6 Shift project.

The frog-faced doctor placed the receiver down.

He walked out of the dark, unlit examination room and retraced his steps.

With his head high and his eyes brimming with a crazed determination, he thought.

(I never abandon my patients and that includes you, Hokaze Junko.)

He reached her room and paused. Beyond the door, the sound of a broken girl's muffled cries was slowly ceasing.

Heaven Canceller faced his first and worst failure.

(If saving you means I have to work with that madman, then so be it.)

The following day, after a personalized System Scan, Shokuhou Misaki lost the title of level 5, becoming a level 3.

?

A girl was resting her legs on the side of an artificial lake with a metal tower rising from the center, alone. It might seem like an odd sight, but it was currently Sunday so students were free to wander off wherever they wanted so one bothered her.

But that was most likely because it was midnight.

It was the 18th of September.

She was still wearing her school uniform even though she didn't bother attending school anymore.

Even though her lips were pulled in a tight line, her eyes shone with hatred and a quiet anger that blurred her vision. The entire area had given her some bad memories of the past, and someone had ruined it further.

(What am I doing here?)

Although she asked herself that, she already knew the answer.

It was like waiting for a friend or a partner who was an hour late despite agreeing to come to a park or a restaurant.

At least for those situations, texting them was an available option, but what if they never texted back? And what if you still decided to have hope that they will still come despite all of that? And then what if you waited an hour more and you still didn't catch sight of them?

That was what she was feeling.

Was it hope, or plain stupidity? She didn't sort her feelings to that point yet.

But one thing was certain: even if the boy did find her, she would have been too scared to face him and ended up running.

She wondered how long she was gonna stay this way.

She wanted to feel needed, to have an everlasting value to herself, to have something she could be proud of and not be stolen away the moment they found something better.

She had once tried to drown herself in the lake before her and that failed.

Sometimes she wanted to know why the world had rejected her pleas for the umpteenth time.

Maybe she had lived because she had found someone to take her anger upon, and that desire had given her the strength to live as a vengeful spirit for the rest of her life until she had completed her revenge. However, she wasn't strong enough to exact her revenge on that girl yet, or rather, she didn't know how, so she didn't know what to do with her time.

Her last plan of trying to ruin that girl by ruining her reputation had failed miserably.

She sighed.

There was a small slip of paper between her hands.

It contained the picture of a small, petite girl with blonde hair and stars in her eyes, Shokuhou Misaki. That bitch was the one who had taken away her chance of becoming a level 5, and her chance to be saved.

The moment she laid her eyes on that girl, all she saw was white-hot rage. And when she came to, the paper had been thrown into the river, left to drown.

(…That certainly isn't a good look for me.)

She sighed once again.

But this time it was interrupted by the sound of her smartphone's ringing.

"Huh?" No one knew her phone number, except maybe the boy if he had bothered saving her number the last time she had called.

But he thought she was dead.

She took her phone and looked at the screen illuminating the darkness around her. It came from an unknown number, completely and utterly untraceable. Not even a trace of a phone number being used as it was just an 'Unknown Number'.

Could it really be called a phone call if the person on the other end had used some obscure technology that probably didn't even involve phones or even a number? Also, there wasn't even a decline button.

But that crossed off most of the possible callers.

(What does Academy City want with me?)

---

BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP, BE—

(Finally…)

The unforgiving alarm clock welcomed him as he opened his navy-blue eyes.

Today's date was July 16th, and it was the day of the yearly System Scan.

Even though it happened about a year ago, the events of the 15th, 16th, and 17th of September were still fresh in his mind. And never really refused to haunt him.

Still lying in bed, he groggily rubbed his eyes as he thought. (Today is the day I was supposed to die…, right?)

Then, suddenly realizing something that looked like it came from a horror game, he swished his head toward the side of the bed and his eyes widened with horror.

He was going to be late…!

ARC 0 END.

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Author's Note: or A/N :

I have decided to split this fanfic into two fanfics—with this being the prequel and the next being the sequal (aka the start of railgun episode 1). And no, it won't follow follow the canon after that, I will only take the railgun episode 1 as a template.

And yes, there will be snippets explaining the events here so you all won't get lost.

Why did I decide to do two fanfics? Well, people don't wanna read 51k of 3 new characters (4 actually if you count Yuuka Miori (the bakery manager) which is going to be an actual character in the sequel) they never heard of so yeah. And I kinda hate this style of writing I did here and its quite different from my style of writing in the sequel.

Shhhh! It's also to promote this prequel...

And my native language is not English nor I am living in any english-speaking countries. I am just a 17 y/o high schooler with free time in my hands.

I really need to study instead...

And how did I exactly create three new characters into my fanfic? I genuinely don't know how but if it works it works. The idea came to me while thinking of creating this fanfic and while writing chapter 3 (aka chapter 1 of my upcoming sequal) before even writing chapter 1 and 2 of this fic.

So yeah, look forward for that. And no, I won't be uploading an entire arc in two chapters anymore :(

You all clearly didn't like that.

So I will post each chapter and split with certain parts like Prologue, Part 1, Part 2 and so on since those are easier to read when you decide to use the little time you have reading.

Time between uploads? Maybe a week each chapter? Idk, I need some reception to get that started. Though, if its the end of an arc, it gets pretty unpredictable from there.

AND YES, in case you didn't read the light novels or just didn't get the memo, that's Mitsuari Ayu in that last part. The ant is going to be making an appearance in the sequel.

Woooo! Unhinged Heaven Canceller is real.

And Arc 1 is basically complete, story-wise. I just need to write those scenes instead of hogging them all in my head. 1/3 of it is already written.

Also, I didn't give Akaru Kirishima some unexplainable shit. He's just a character I created and he doesn't have schizophrenia, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or anything like that. I will fully explain him in the sequel. Future Regret will also be explained there.

It just got to me now that this fanfic really has characters that have powers created for avoiding deaths and that isn't even my intention. Hadi Kuroi's Sixth Sense and Akaru Kirishima's Future Regret really doesn't fit my this fanfic, does it?

Btw, if you want to imagine Hadi Kuroi's character, just imagine some generic mc's face, i don't really care. Just make him look slightly good though. Black hair too. (did I mention that?)

Self-Insert? What's that?