Arc 1: The American Psycho [XIII]

Chapter: A Kid Without A Birthday.

By the time Anya was finished with her ice-cream, he still hadn't gone anywhere with her, no real answers to any of the burning questions, no solution at sight, the world still a mystery. Really bad form Hick, he mentally chided himself. You are letting a snot nosed brat get the better of you. You are working on a deadline here, you have a serial killer to catch, possible lives to save, and here you were having ice-cream without a care in the world. This simply won't do. It was time to get some real answers, and if the kid didn't respond well to the subtle nuances of manipulation, well it was time to use the direct method and ask proper questions.

"Anya-chan, tell me about your powers." Hikigaya asked.

Anya's eyes widened in shock and she quickly looked around their immediate surrounding as if she was searching for people who were eavesdropping on their conversation. Couldn't she use her powers to figure it out, Hikigaya wondered. Probably haven't thought about it. Or more likely, she can't do it yet.

"You can't talk about Anya's powers like that in the open!" Anya remarked in a hushed whisper. "It's supposed to be a big secret."

"But why though?" Hikigaya countered. "We are in Japan. In this country, having powers isn't that much of a big deal. Besides, you are in Ikebukuro. The city is literally full of the weird, the strange and the extraordinary. With your powers, you will fit just right in."

"Anya isn't from Ike-Ike…Buro." The kid was really trying, but you have to admit, the city had a difficult name. It was hard to pronounce, especially for little kids, who happened to be foreigners. "Anya is from Berlint."

Berlint. Huh. "That's the capital of Ostania, right?" Hikigaya asked.

Anya's eyes sparkled. "Wow! Hikki is super smart. No one from Anya's school have heard of Berlint. When I mention Berlint, the kids from school just blink and look confused. Kota Izumi-kun said I was stupid and I was saying the name wrong, that I was from some place named Berlin in Germany."

"Well, he's your classmate, so he's just a kid who doesn't know any better." Hikigaya reasoned. "From what I remember Ostania and Westalis were a part of the Prussian Empire. When the empire collapsed, it gave birth to the three nations – Germany, Ostania and Westalis."

"Wait a sec! Germany is a real place!" Anya asked.

"Not a place." Hikigaya corrected. "It's a country."

The brat looked cross. "Anya doesn't believe you. What kinda name is Germany? You think Anya is stoopid! But Anya is smort. Anya figured it out."

Despite himself, he decided to indulge her. "Figured out what exactly?"

Anya Forger stuck out her chin, real proud. "Germany can't be a real country, because if it was real, then its people would be called, Germs and germs are bad for you, because Papa told Anya to always wash her hands before eating food, because of the germs, so Germs can't be real people, so Germany can't be real." The little girl waggled her eyebrows. "You see, if so fact hoe, the country you are talking about isn't real. It's made up."

Hikigaya blinked. "…Please tell me you don't have a reality manipulation power, because I can't live in a world where the Latin phrase 'Ipso Facto' becomes 'if so fact hoe'."

Anya looked confused. "Anya doesn't know what Hikki is talking about, but I don't have that power. I am a telepath." The kid explained. "I can only read minds."

"But here's the thing, Anya-chan, a telepath can do a lot more than just read minds." Hikigaya explained. A dark look came over his eyes. "A really powerful telepath can control people. By controlling their minds." He added.

When he said those words, the kid became real silent. It was unusual, it felt unnatural, wrong in some way or another. Hikigaya couldn't shake the feeling, that he had crossed some invisible line on the sand.

There was a reason people didn't like messing around with telepaths. They were dangerous. Others came at you in a physical sense and in a way you could always fight back. But telepaths, they went after your mind, the most sacred place in the entire human body. And they fought dirty.

Hikigaya had to tread carefully. "…How about I order some cake?"

Anya gave him a look. It was a look he had never seen on her face before. It was a look that should never be on the face of a six year old child. But he knew that look quite well. Because sometimes he caught the same look staring back at him from the mirror. "I don't know. Next thing you know, Hikki is gonna accuse me of mind controlling him into buying us some cake."

Red flag. A couple of red flags. She was talking in a different way. It was more proper, more adult like, less cute, less like that of a child. She hadn't mentioned her name in a sentence even once. And what did she mean by 'us'? Was this the real her, was the cute little kid bit a whole act, did the kid suffer from a multiple personality disorder, he had so many questions.

"I don't make baseless accusations, Anya-chan." Hikigaya reminded her. "I know you can read minds. I figured that bit out by myself. Now when I asked about your powers, you said you are a telepath. You didn't say you are a mind reader. It's an interesting distinction. Now I don't know if you know this, but a telepath can do a lot more than read minds."

"A telepath can mind control people." Anya stated.

Hikigaya looked grave. "Yes." A beat. "Can you do that, Anya-chan?"

Anya Forger looked sullen as she slumped back against her chair. The proud, smug looking girl was gone. It was replaced with someone totally new, someone he was seeing for the first time. "Can we order a birthday cake?"

It was an odd request. "Why? Is today your birthday?"

The little girl shook her head. "It could be. I don't know." And then she looked at him with teary eyes. "Do people without birthdays don't get to have birthday cake, Unkle Hikki?"

And suddenly, something clicked into place.

"…I will see what I can do." Hikigaya murmured.

Author's Note: I am really, really, really extremely sorry for vanishing without a trace for over a month. But in my defense life threw me a curve ball and I wasn't prepared for it. I just listened to the people around me who thought they knew better than me, about what I want and what I need and for over a month I was trapped in a hell of my own making. It was a living nightmare. I'm still dealing with the ramification and the fallout of my stupid decision, but I think I will be okay for the moment. But I still have this sword dangling over my head and it's really a very shitty feeling. But I wanted to feel a little better, so I decided to publish something.

Also, I have decided to break the different arcs of this story into their own separate novels. So, this story will be concluded with 'The American Psycho Arc.' The next part, 'Breaking into Alchemax' will be published in the 'Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse' fandom, and the last arc, "Lost in Sunshine" will be published in, well, I'm not sure of the fandom yet, because it has like a ton of characters and there is like no main character, so yeah, I will think of it later.

Now it's time for a poll:

Poll#1: Do You Want Me To Start Writing "Breaking Into Alchemax" right now?

Option 1: Yes.

Option 2: No.

Now, Poll#2 is a bit different in the sense that it is not gonna be a poll, but a question. The whole reason I started writing the fics in the "Ikebukuro Universe" was so that I could write about a shared universe like the MCU. But now I got a bit more ambitious and now I want to write a ton of fics in different fandoms and make them the most reviewed fics in the fandom. I know it's a lofty goal, but with your help, I think it's achievable. Now don't worry, at the moment my focus will be on "Ikebukuro: A Bohemian Hikigaya's Rhapsody" and "Ikebukuro: A Rhapsody of Twilight and Thorn". But I was hoping to start another new fic in the Ikebukuro universe. And I was kinda hoping you would suggest some new fandoms for me. So yeah, that's that.

Question: In Which Fandom Should I Write My Next 'Ikebukuro Fic'?

Finally,

Okay, now Poll#3 is kinda sad. I don't like doing this, but sometimes it feels like I have no choice. Okay, so 'OreGairu' is really old and the fandom is really old. But comparatively speaking 'Spy X Family' is new. So, now at the beginning, I said the Hikigaya will be the Iron Man of the 'Ikebukuro Universe'. But now I am wondering, should I change it and make 'Loid Forger' the new Iron Man of the 'Ikebukuro Universe.'? What do you think?

Poll#3: Who Should Be The Iron Man of The Ikebukuro Universe?

Option 1: Hachiman Hikigaya.

Option 2: Loid Forger.

Please pick accordingly

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.