This fanfic basically adds more characters to the dynamic of the ToAru universe, but also changes some canon characters to be wildly different due to the changes the new characters add. Consenquences are real, and fate can't be changed.
Enjoy!
Prologue: Lost Hopes And A Start [Upside_Down_World.]
"How many times do I have to remind you? Upholding public order in Academy City is the job of us in Judgement. It's problematic if someone else does the job first," The twin-tailed girl turned around. "Are you listening, Onee-sama?"
"As I said, I couldn't help it. It was over by the time you arrived," said Misaka Mikoto, giving a huff. Seriously, why does her friend care so much about this when she could defend herself just fine? She was a level 5 for a reason, and yet Kuroko got defensive every time.
"A student causing a ruckus without permission…" A group of security robots strolled past them. "You'll attract the attention of authorities."
"In that case, get to the scene faster next time." She walked past Kuroko and the girl followed. A small sigh escaped her lips as her thoughts drifted. Hacking was her forte, thanks to her ability, so the security robots were just minor nuisances for her. She could hack the Bank if she really wanted to, but she understood that would be going against the law…
Oh, Kuroko was just looking out for her...
"…alright, fine. But don't blame me if they were trying to get a rise out of me. I could really test out my ability, so I don't hurt anyone more than they deserve to."
Her gait stopped. They had paused in front of a vending machine, and it was being used by someone...well, she was familiar with them, but some part of her just felt like she was looking at a stranger, and that was quite a bold statement when she used to absolutely despise them long ago...
"Shokuhou…?"
She knew her eyes didn't betray her, but she still wasn't used to this kind of girl who had the name Shokuhou Misaki and had been banging her hands against the vending machine like some feral animal. The girl's face didn't betray her statement either. She had tears in her eyes, and her face was twisted in a hateful snarl. Where did her manners go!?
Upon hearing her name, the girl flinched. She was seriously starting to feel sorry for the girl, but she didn't know what she should feel sorry for. Many things could be said about the girl with the name Shokuhou Misaki, but to sum it up; she was an almost-mute girl who had too many problems but didn't know how to deal with them so she broke rules and skipped school all the time, so she settled on looking at the girl with the most pitiful eyes ever.
Like their every interaction outside of school, Shokuhou instantly tried to flee like a scared lamb, but this time was instantly caught by Kuroko's teleportation. "Geez, if we didn't run into you here, you would have gotten supplementary lessons instead of detention." Kuroko chastised the girl who had fallen to the ground due to the abrupt teleportation.
Oh yeah, her friend was in charge of bringing the girl back to school every time she was found skipping class, or even worse, wandering around the city at midnight and that wasn't even a joke. And well, during those times, Kuroko would find Shokuhou in someone else's apartment, or somehow passed out in an alley, once.
Ah, that last topic was rather sensitive so she decided to bring her attention to the girl lying on the dusty floor with a shadow on her face. Shokuhou looked like she was really refraining hard from lashing out at them, probably because they had stopped her delinquent-like actions. She would too, if Kuroko was some arrogant stranger on a power trip.
But…
Unlike her, Shokuhou was essentially powerless. There were no remotes in her signature bag so she couldn't activate her ability. If she had managed to overcome that limitation, she would have brainwashed Kuroko and used her to run away. Looking at the girl's state, she couldn't see it happening soon.
That girl was at fault for this.
"C'mon, let's get you back to school. If I remember correctly, today is System Scan day, so you really shouldn't skip unless you want to give up on becoming a level 5 again."
Kuroko looked at her with a raised brow but otherwise didn't voice anything out loud. The girl really didn't need to. Misaka knew it was a useless venture to talk about, and even more pointless when that girl had brainwashed the school to think otherwise.
She sighed. Sighing this much was probably a sign she really needed to stop being in her head, but her world had been flipped upside down for her not to. A senior was gone, but the school didn't allow any investigation about it, kept denying it, and was also trying to cover it up from getting out. She had asked the only person she could connect those facts with, but that girl refused to answer. (What the hell happened in September of last year...?)
"…Akaru-kun?"
PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE LAST -
"H-hey, hey! You there!?"
SOMETHING FLEW AND SLICED HIS NECK OFF-
"AARRGGHHH!"
"WOAH!?"
He blinked. Twice. And realized he couldn't fucking breathe-
(No no NO!) He couldn't- he couldn't act like this! He was supposed to be strong and capable of protecting his friends, but if he couldn't fucking to do that, then what was he!? If he was useless in protecting those two, he'd rather die-
He shut his eyelids and focused on his breaths. A panic attack wasn't exactly a stranger to him, so he slowly relaxed his stiff body, took exponentially longer breaths, and released those. It took him a minute before he was able to calm his lungs down. (Think of something...something happy, like those pictures of Azumi I'd taken long ago.)
(Man, I really am a stalker, huh?) he chuckled at the thought and finally allowed himself to view the world. His navy-blue orbs met with worried dark blue eyes.
"Saten-san," he acknowledged the girl, running a hand through his slicked-back, navy-blue hair. It was full of sweat, and he wrinkled his eyebrows in distaste. "I am sorry...about that. You know, it's that thing I told you about when we first met... And I just kinda relapsed, yeah," He chuckled nervously under her increasingly concerned gaze.
Saten Ruiko stared at him for a moment, before sighing. If anything, it was more in exasperation rather than resignation. "Fine," Then, she frowned. "I respect your boundaries, Akaru-kun, but please, you have me and Uiharu; we can listen to you, and there's nothing wrong with confiding with us. We've been friends for almost a year now, and I admit it was a rocky start in the beginning, but now, you've relaxed around us, and Uiharu likes that and wants to keep it that way. I've been meaning to tell you this long ago, and I see that it's the best time to say it: I really hate seeing you being bogged down like this, so please, work out the courage to tell us; we'll be waiting for you."
(Oh...) All this time, he had been hanging out with Uiharu and Saten at Hadi's request, cause it could heal his mental and emotional wounds, but he never thought that these two would be so worried about him. (Right...what am I doubting myself for? These two would definitely help me, even if I was some random stranger.)
"Thank you." He gave a genuine smile. "I promise I will tell you about it soon."
"Alright!" The girl yelled excitedly, bringing out her hand. "Pinky promise, okay?"
"Pinky promise." He looped his pinky finger around hers.
Then, the teacher overseeing the System Scan called Saten and 2 more students in, and she excused herself before leaving, "Let's meet in front of the gate after school, okay!?"
He nodded, and the girl went inside the testing room. (Haah...)
He looked left and right, and sure enough, he was the last person to be doing the System Scan.
But the smile never left his face, even amidst the confirmation that that vision was true. He leaned on his seat, placed his hands on the back of his head, and said, "Man, what a pain."
(If I am alive then, I will tell you everything. That's the least of what I could do to repay your kindness.)
And the least of what he could do for Shokuhou.
Soon, he was called in, and the other two teachers left as they completed their tasks. (Such good co-workers…) He thought with a pitiful look in his eyes as he sat at the only table with a teacher.
He didn't acknowledge it in the vision, but when you were looking for someone that could connect to the events that happened in the 'future', he quickly realized the teacher before him was actually someone new here.
His gut churned uncomfortably at the second proof it was real, but he suppressed it and kept facing forward. Upon being asked, he gave the teacher last year's System Scan card which told the teacher exactly what the man needed. He was a level 0 and had always been one, even though he was sure he had the ability to see into the future.
He sighed resignedly.
(Am I a gemstone esper? But if I am, wouldn't they be able to detect it?) Asking those questions led him to nothing in the past so he took the pill that the man gave him.
"W-wait, that's the wrong one!" The teacher shouted, eyes darting towards his System Scan card in alarm.
"Huh?" The pill was a slight push away from entering his mouth, but the sudden interruption pushed it, and he swallowed, gulping down the pill without water.
The world froze.
"Oh, am I going to die…?" he said with a completely blank look on his face, and eyes staring into the distance. (Sorry for lying to you, Saten-san…)
"No no! You'd be fine, but it's me that's going to die!" The teacher was outright panicking at this point. Couldn't blame him, honestly. If he was a new teacher, the first thing he would focus on was not messing up anything.
Akaru Kirishima then spoke in an oddly calm voice.
"Alright so…what exactly did I just eat?" He took a sip from his water bottle and felt his stomach ache, but he ignored it. (Did this happen before the vision played? But for all that I remember (which includes every little detail), that vision never mentioned it…)
It took a moment before the man regained some resemblance of sanity. "It's the pill that everyone gets, but you- Never mind, it won't affect you either way so let's just get this over with."
The man then stood up and brought back a spoon, placing it on the table.
"Don't close your eyes as you focus on the spoon. Try to imagine the atoms bending and going along with your will. Moving your hands in accordance with your visualization works best, but that could have the side effect of your hands being the sole activation factor of your ability so it's highly frowned upon amongst researchers due to its lack of flexibility—
The man's voice was tuned out, and the world focused on a single point. He stared at the teacher with his eyes widening, his gut twisting very uncomfortably. That teacher was saying the exact same thing as that vision-
His body lurched forward and he hurled all the contents of his stomach onto the table.
"Ah-hah-hah-s-sor-" Upon seeing the mess on the table, he reflexively backed away and tried standing up. However, in the middle of trying to stand up, the leg of his chair hit something and he fell backwards along with the chair, the back of his head hitting the floor with a resounding thud.
A blackness seemed to encroach the ceiling, and he belatedly realized there were hurried footsteps and voices approaching him. It was all a jumbled mess of sound that seemed distant to his ears, yet they were so close.
In his blurred vision, there was a redness that stood out more than the other silhouettes. Its colour was akin to a luscious cherry after a late-night drizzle, outshining all others thanks to the warm morning's glare.
Its voice seemed to seep through the ringing in his head, and all he wanted was to respond to that worried cry, but his mouth refused to work properly.
(Azumi—
They were on a cliffside overlooking the massive courtyard when water suddenly rose 10 meters into the air along with an explosive boom that shook the ground, causing an obnoxious girl to stumble on her butt shamelessly.
The noise was so loud that she felt her heart rattle.
Or maybe it was because her Onee-sama had caused that.
"What is going on?" Kongou Mitsuko rubbed her forehead, still disoriented.
"You might not be aware since you only just transferred in this year, but the person whose abilities are being measured at that pool is Tokiwadai's ace."
With a boom, the pool's water went skyward and fell once again.
"She has so much destructive power that they can't properly measure it without dampening it using the pool. Now, are you prepared to take that hit head-on?" She finished as a smug smile crossed her face, looking at Kongou expectedly.
However, that girl wasn't looking in the direction of the pool anymore. There were girls playing volleyball down in the courtyard and there was one girl who stood out most in that group. That girl with long, wavy, chocolate-coloured hair was holding a smartphone up in the air as she watched the girls play from her viewpoint right on top of her net.
Yes, there was a small, fenced platform stretching across the net from one side to the other and she was walking on it with a confident smirk, not even taking the time to look at the balls being tossed from the two teams. The modified volleyball net was equipped with two ladders on each end to allow access.
(Who built that platform? I swear, someone kept modifying everything in the school and no one knows who did it.)
A group of curious girls had surrounded the court, shouting praises upon praises at the girl atop the customized platform on top of the net.
"If she's Tokiwadai's ace…then who's that?"
For her part, she only knew the answer to that question because Onee-sama was suspicious of the girl for some odd reason.
"That's the #5 Level 5," But Shirai Kuroko didn't care about that as it was and had always been the truth.
"Mental Stinger, also known as Queen Ant of Tokiwadai."
Kirishima's chest rose up and down in sync with his breaths in a melody soothing to his ears. His face looked so peaceful like this. There was no longer any hidden weight in his expression ever since that day he woke up in a hospital.
The boy had once been the world's biggest confusion to him, but now, if it was like this, he wanted the world to be stuck in this moment forever.
But that was selfish, and he wasn't worthy of such thoughts; Kirishima was.
The nurse told him that Kirishima was fine and that he just needed some rest and water. So, she tried to shoo him out of the room, saying classes were still going. But of course, someone trying to tell him what to do never sat right with him so he just glared at her while showing his fangs and said "Wanna die?"; that shut the nurse quickly and she just awkwardly gave excuses, and left the room, leaving him to his own destiny.
All of those what was what Mom had taught him when dealing with authority figures. As expected, if it was Mom's, it always worked—
"ARRGGHHHHH!"
He winced as Kirishima screamed, jerking upward and immediately placing his hands on his neck and head with a desperation akin to a drowning man gasping for air. His face was soaked with sweat and short breaths rapidly shot out of his mouth. Navy blue eyes were frantic with panic, flickering across the room as if searching for an unseen threat.
Until they met his.
(Huh..?)
His heart dropped as he saw those kind navy blue eyes shake as they shrunk, looking at him with utter fear. The navy-blue-haired boy was slowly backing away from him while on the bed. Troubled, he tried putting on a smile and reached out his left hand.
"K-Kirish-"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
He flinched, his entire body repulsing. The way Kirishima screamed at him with so much fear and desperation made some part of himself he couldn't tell feel a sense of resignation.
He wanted to follow what Kirishima said as that was what every good friend would do. But he knew that was the wrong answer. Some part of him wanted to protest, or even let himself be hurt by Kirishima's outburst, but none of those were what a good friend would do.
So instead…
The protesting muscles in his face were forcibly stretched into a soft smile.
"Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Kirishima, everything is fine and no one is going to hurt you." His face went through a tumultuous of emotions before settling on a solemn gaze and a bittersweet smile. "I am sorry, so I will leave once you calm down."
He wanted to do this because this what what he wished someone would do if they were in his situation as it was only fair.
At those words, he rested his hands on his lap, content with watching Kirishima like a hawk. The boy wanted to protest but he simply told him to breathe before trying to speak. Once his breathing had calmed down and was okay enough, he handed him a glass of water by the bedside and stood up from his seat.
"S-sorry-! Wh-what!? A-Azumi, w-where are you going!?" Kirishima's eyes and voice were clearer, but he didn't respond and instead showed his back to him, walking away from the room.
He didn't turn back on his word. Kirishima wouldn't chase after him anyway because, for the past few months, he had been acting strangely distant. And he had suspicions that Kirishima had made new friends since Hadi and Kirishima weren't in the same class as him anymore.
Well, he guessed he was busy with Mom too so he didn't have time for some more stalking. Hadi had also started going with him whenever Kirishima wasn't around and whenever Mom didn't call him to spend time at home or at the bakery.
(…Good for him…) A bittersweet smile formed as he tried to suppress the tears from welling up in his eyes.
But someone grabbed his hand and pushed him away just before he arrived at the door.
He looked behind him.
"K-Kirishima!?"
The boy's eyes were full of desperation and his teeth were gritted as he spoke his heart out.
"…I am…I am sorry…! I never- I should've told this- to you a while ago but I was…I was too scared to hurt your feelings. You don't remember about it—or at least I think so—but there was an accident- an accident that involved the #5 and that caused you to copy her ability but there was a twist. You couldn't handle it. Your brain can't. And because of that, I saw a future where you went berserk and killed everyone. And even me. And that future takes place today, b-but don't freak out. It's already past the time it happened or at least I think it's not going to-shit, j-just don't freak out! M-me? I am-I am not freaking out! I J-just…" He sank to his knees with his arms clutching onto Azumi as if seeking forgiveness, while his eyes remained fixed on the ground. "Can you promise me not to use Mental Out at the same time as Vampire or any other power? Or-or at least don't use Rampage Dress at the same time as Vampire if you really want to use Mental Out. 11 months was what it takes for Mental Out and Vampire combination to cause you to go berserk in that future so if you only use Mental Out, nothing's bad gonna happen. And- and you can finally be yourself."
Shame and guilt coiled around his gut at his audacity in requesting someone he had hurt do a favor for him. Pathetic. That was what he was. Just utterly pathetic and couldn't do anything right. Since Shokuhou didn't seem to be here, he had to resort to selfish demands in an attempt to fix his long-overdue mistakes. And he didn't even tell the full story of when he had gone off on his own with Hokaze and Shokuhou to try to prevent it just so that Azumi didn't absolutely despise him forever. God, he was so pathetic —
A small hand to his fist blinked him out of his thoughts. He stood, stiff and tense, as he watched that slender hand brought down his fist to his side. Wait-did he just try to punch himself!?
"Kirishima, you are crying."
"Huh?" He let go of Azumi and brought a hand to his blurry eyes and felt something wet like water. "Oh…" He was crying in front of Azumi. That vow of his had been broken because he couldn't keep his armor intact, and now Azumi was free to look at his ugly side.
The dam had been broken and tears flowed freely as he pathetically laid on the ground.
Shiroki Azumi crouched with his legs open and stared at that crying 172 cm (5'8) navy-blue-haired boy in total resignation.
He had been battling a part of him that just screamed at him to kill, kill and kill since he could remember and he was horribly aware of the fact that if he ever let go of that rope, everything would fall apart. Hadi was the only one capable of stopping him due to their relationship and his ability. Kirishima was a hard case since he couldn't dodge his 67 miles per hour blood control which was why he never told the boy his struggles. He'd get sliced before he could speak.
Clearly, that was a mistake on his part. It made Kirishima cry too which he never once saw him doing before. …He didn't know what to think about that.
The 160 (5'3) cm petite boy with long red hair mellowed his face into a small smile and spoke in a soft voice. A normal person might have comforted him, but he was a monster. "Kirishima-chan, you really are stupid."
A gunshot rang out. He clutched his chest, mouth hanging open and tears pausing. It hurt. This was exactly why Azumi was so dangerous. People will comfort him when they see him crying beside an ice cream stall, but he will eat away their wallets with a skyscraper-high ice cream while genuinely not knowing what he did wrong until he realizes he had spent too much money.
It felt like his heart had turned into lead for a moment before time continued. He gasped. "W-What was that for!?" and why aren't you mad at me?
Moving a hand to his chin, Azumi thought for a moment. "Hmm, I mean, I have never once told you this, but…wait, no-did I? Did the future me tell you about that?"
"…about what?"
"Ah... you couldn't exactly know about it unless I tell you." The redhead blushed and laughed awkwardly, pointedly avoiding eye contact. "But that proved to me that you don't know anything about those scientists making me have thoughts of killing people just because it would level up my esper ability, and how I have been battling those thoughts since I could remember, so me killing you have always crossed my mind, so much so that I am desensitized by it."
With how the boy was speaking, it would be completely normal to think he was talking about the weather.
"...what...?" Azumi's words repeatedly reverberated through his skull as they echoed endlessly, overlapping against each other and completely replacing his own thoughts.
"Ah! Ahh! Don't be alarmed! I... It's nothing to worry about! Also, it never happened before so we are completely and utterly safe!" With his eyes in a swirl, he frantically waved his hand around in an attempt to defuse Kirishima's mental breakdown, but that seemed to exacerbate it even further.
(Please don't...!)
"Eek!" A truly pitiful noise shot out of his mouth as Kirishima's large hands latched onto his shoulders with the strength of a giant. A shudder ran through his body when Kirishima's navy blues stared into him with dead eyes radiating an intensity only akin to staring at the one who killed their dog.
(It's- it's different from normal!?)
"Shiroki Azumi-kun, why didn't you tell me about this? You know full well that it's a threat to our happy normal life. I could've even made things easier for you if I knew your triggers. Heck, if you have told me this from the beginning, everything would've been fine and dandy but you just have to ruin it. Oh I know, this is the real reason why you dislike large crowds, huh? There's so much I could've done right that if I were to acknowledge them all, I would go insane. Actually, have I already gone insane? I can't tell. How about we make a promise? A promise to not hide anything from each other ever again. That would be great, wouldn't it?"
Feeling the grip tightening, he nodded vigorously, a wide nervous smile on his face. When Kirishima was like this, he truly didn't know how to act and that caused him to the become the world's biggest confusion again. But this time, it was fear that became more prominent.
"Good. Glad we are on the same page after such a long time. Well, next, how about you tell me why were you in my class during lunch break yesterday?" Seeing the confusion in the boy's eyes, he continued, "Or do you not remember anything at all?"
He couldn't trust his mouth right now so he shook his head frantically.
"Oh well. I guess life just refuses to give away anything for free off charge." He sighed. "Well then Shiroki Azumi, let's get back to class."
"Y-y-yeah..." Should he walk back and exit the room, or should he wait for Kirishima to take the lead? Given that he was the closest to the door he should, but he didn't have a mind-reading ability.
After calculating the two options in no little more than a second, he stood up, turned back on his feet, and began walking, however, he noticed something odd. He looked down.
His legs were trembling under his own weight and looked like they would fall under the slightest bit of wind.
"Ah." A breeze flew through a window and he fell on his butt, legs sprawling out in a W. He groaned, massaging his butt before immediately trying to stand back up and falling down once again; his muscles refusing to work.
Frustrated, he looked back at Kirishima and stared at him with his best imitation of puppy eyes, completed with a set of tears. "I think you need to carry me."
He didn't know why but Kirishima's face turned bright red at those words, eventually nodding with a sort of hesitant eagerness in his eyes. "S-sorry... I guess I went a little too far with that..."
Soon, he was being gently carried off under the boy's arms with his side to Kirishima's chest.
The boy with slicked-back navy-blue hair had the face of a tomato at this point. "Hey, your face is all red. Are you okay?"
"O-oh, I am fine! It's just so hot in here..." The bigger boy trailed off with wide eyes, steam coming out of the boy's head.
Opening the door, Akaru Kirishima stood at the threshold for a second before taking a breath and began walking out into the hallway. Azumi was quite light and that might because he was much bigger than him, but he digressed. It was probably because Azumi was, in his opinion, suggestively feminine.
"Okay, but if I see you acting off, I will not hesitate to call a teacher."
"Alright," he responded, looking around for any heads.
Thankfully, the hallway was empty since classes were still ongoing so there was none to see to see this embarrassing scene of Azumi in a princess carry by him. God knows how that will turn out, especially if Hadi saw them.
Or at least, that was what he thought after he closed the door behind them.
Turning around, He froze, standing shell-shocked at the person before them. The boy was familiar, but that was only because he knew him for 3 years now.
Messy black hair, golden eyes, 163 (5'4) cm, and a lean but toned physique.
Hadi Kuroi.
The trio of friends had been assembled at the worst moment possible, in Kirishima's opinion.
And the first to light the fuse would be the new arrival.
"Ohhhhh~?" A hand hovered flat on his chin vertically, enhancing the wide teasing grin on the boy's face. "What were you two doing inside the nurse's office~? You didn't do anything weird, did you?" said Hadi, pointedly looking at him.
"..." Honestly, Hadi being friends with Saten should have never happened. She was a bad influence in all sort of ways so the Hadi he had been friends with a year ago had basically became dumber.
"You know, Saten-san is really rubbing off on you, huh? I am simply carrying Azumi back to his class and now you're making some sort of unearthly connection just from that sole fact. Don't be a hypocrite and respect my privacy, tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Ahh…" Disappointed Hadi redirected his attention on the redhead, who was tilting his head in confusion at the unknown name being said. He grinned, his eyes glinting mischievously. "Azumi~, mind if you tell me why you can't walk? Did Kirishima hurt you?"
His heart dropped. No no no no! He wouldn't...! He wouldn't manipulate Azumi...!
"Kirishima lectur- I mean, bullied me until I can't walk." Azumi grumbled, crossing his arms and looking off the side.
(Ah.)
A shadow loomed over Kirishima's face as Hadi was trying his hardest not to laugh, but failing so as short chuckles still escaped. Azumi squirmed awkwardly under the sudden change in mood.
"YOU DEMON—!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"W-wh-what's going on!?"
He ran after the laughing boy with his face in a blushing mess and also with an increasingly frustrated Azumi in his hands.
However, the messy-haired boy didn't take something into account.
"W-wait Hadi watch OUT—!"
"Eh?" He opened his eyes and immediately saw his cute female homeroom teacher holding a stack of notebooks, her shocked eyes boring into his. Aiko-sensei was coming this way and he was going to crash into her, and even if he stopped right now, he would still hit those books. He couldn't let that happen, Mii-sensei would absolutely kill him then.
And so, he slid on the ground to slow his momentum, threw a flat palm to the underside of the stack of books, and pushed it flying into the air. "Ah!?" The teacher let out a shocked noise as her students' books freely shot upwards.
The world came to a crawl as he calculated Sixth Sense to its fullest potential like his life depended on it (it did).
The distance. The trajectory of every book. The teacher's pantie—FOCUS!
He reached both of his palms out, raised his leg to his side, bent his body forward, and face planted into the teacher's breast to catch those books-
(…) (…) (…!?) (…)
Their faces were flat with disappointment.
He slowly but surely pulled his head from the medium-sized mounts with his face naturally on his best apologetic smile possible to soothe the teacher's raging glare.
"Sensei, please forgiv-"
Sure, she was cute, but like Azumi, appearances could be so deceiving.
"!" A wide ruler slapped against his forehead and sent his body flying, immediately knocking him out with foam bubbling out of his mouth.
Hadi Kuroi was dead that day.
"And you two?" The duo flinched, and Kirishima subconsciously backed away, inexplicable fear flashing through their faces.
"S-s-sensei I-I did your homewo-ACK!" The ruler slapped against her palm with a strength capable of silencing even the toughest military generals. Kirishima felt the world bent around Aiko-sensei's steps as she neared them with flashing red eyes.
So he did the next best thing; run.
"AHHH!"
"No running in the halls." An intense pressure materialized from the side of his head was all the warning before a ruler slapped against the top of his head and knocked him out cold, body falling forward and crushing Azumi.
With Kirishima's chest over his back, his nails desperately scraped along the floor to crawl away, but someone's shoe stepped in his path. A nervous and fearful smile was plastered on his face as he looked up at the assailant.
"Shiroki Azumi, your empty threats won't work on me like they did with the other staff, but since Kirishima was the one that consequentially brought you here without your feedback, this past teacher of yours will give you the pass." was all he heard before he blacked out, and was forced to write a 500-word self-reflection essay while the other two were taken away to assist their teacher in marking a butt-load of schoolwork.
"U..I…Ha…RU!" she shouted with a playful energy, flipping up her friend's skirt right in front of the school gate where students were still filing out.
"Huh…!?"
"Oh! Today is light pink polkadots, huh?"
A deafening shriek erupted into the bright sky.
"What- what on earth are you doing, Saten-san!?" Bobbing her upper body up and down angrily, the girl wearing a flower headband shouted at her face, blushing profusely. The other students, especially male ones, were respectfully averting their eyes from the commotion, but their red-coloured cheeks betrayed them.
"Sorry sorry. I was just checking your taste in panties! I will show mine so we are even!"
"Nooo!"
"That's enough, Saten." A hand to her shoulder broke her out of her musings. It belonged to a certain messy-haired boy: Hadi Kuroi. "Your skills in teasing are inferior. I will teach you the true ways of teasing."
Uiharu shuddered. Her whole body felt like it was being crawled over by hands!
"I see." Hadi then pointed at her, smiling smugly. "Uiharu, you are wearing a white, flower-embroidery br-bwghhhhhhh!-"
(Chloroform him.) Like a kidnapping, Uiharu swiped a specially coated cloth from her skirt pocket and brought it to his mouth at lightning speeds, not giving time for him to dodge. After a struggle, the boy went unconscious and was lying on the ground like a foot carpet.
"U-Uiharu… what did you just do…?
"..Eh?" The light in the Uiharu's eyes returned, followed by a startling clarity of the body at her feet.
"AHHHHH! HADIIII!?" A boy with navy blue hair came running in, face horrified as he shook the messy-haired boy's shoulders, but no reaction came out of that sleepy face except the occasional breaths. With his mouth agape, he swished his head towards the possible murderer at the root of it all. "W-what did you do, U-Uiharu!?"
Uiharu Kazari, in all her wisdom and smarts, brought a fist to her forehead, tilted her head, and spoke, "He deserves it." she finished, winking and sticking her tongue out cutely, all the while a load of nervous sweat coated her face.
Suffice it to say, their next actions didn't bring forgiveness to the flower headband-wearing girl.
"Good evening, Shokuhou-san. Might I assume the usual?"
She nodded, eyes looking off to the side, and one hand clutching the white scarf around her neck like a lifeline; her perfect act. Becoming a regular here was probably not a good idea so she needed to be careful.
"I see." The receptionist typed into a keyboard. "Take all the time you need. If there's anything else I can assist you with, just say the word."
She nodded, and made her way to the room, the familiar hallways blurring past her and the doctors walking past her without a word, except pitiful glances.
Not that she cared to pay attention to any of them.
Soon, she found herself in front of that same, overly familiar door. She didn't need to look at the nameplate to know what room this was and slid the door open. The short steps to the cot still felt like spikes on her foot, but she endured it, for her own sake.
Her eyes laid upon the cot occupant on accident, and she quickly flickered her eyes back to the ground, mentally berating herself for even giving herself a chance to look at the tool when she wasn't even deserving of it. She was already committing two sins so any more weren't welcome.
She sat down at the bedside chair already facing the window and finally allowed herself to look up. The blue sky was beautiful today with clouds drifting, and airships showing the latest news.
Her throat felt tighter when she was here and this close to the object of her failure, but she had adjusted to it after her numerous visits. So, she spoke to that tool while viewing the sky,
"To-day…" Her voice came out lagging. She sighed and tried again, "…today was an especially bad day. I was distracted by a vending machine while I was making my way to Kirishima's school and tried to use it as I had reasoned with myself that it wouldn't take long. But you know my luck ability. The vending machine ate my poor money over and over again without giving me any drinks," She clenched her fist, face twisting in anger that was barely covered by her scarf. "And while I was busy releasing my anger on that junk box, you can guess what happened. Shirai Kuroko and thAT BITCH MISAKA MIKOTO FUCKING CAME IN AND! AND!"
She aimed a finger gun to her head and was about to shoot herself-
No no no calm down CALM DOWN! She couldn't snap. Not now. Not YET—!
She slowly but surely lowered her trembling hand, closed her eyes, released the death grip on her teeth, and took a really deep breath. Release. And another. Relea-
The door slid open with a bang and she winced, coughing and almost choking on her own breath. A doctor with a balding hairline and a face that reminded her of a frog came into view; looking frantic.
"Shokuhou-san?" Heaven Canceller seemed to scrutinize her and the tool for a moment before sighing in relief, then stared at her with a solemn gaze. "I heard some screaming down the hallway and came to check it out. Was it you by any chance?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but the shock hadn't fully dissipated so her throat refused to loosen up. So, she put a hand to her chest, then took a deep breath and released, leaving her emotions to writhe on the back burner. "As embarrassing as it is to admit it, it was me, frog-san. I was practicing my voice ability here since the ICU is, unsurprisingly, a silent and peaceful place, after all. Barely speaking for almost a year really does wonders for my health ability." Dry sarcasm seeped into her tone at the end.
Heaven Canceller seemed unconvinced, but the physician nodded regardless. "…If you have any problems Shokuhou-san, do let me know. You are my patient too, even if you refuse to make any appointments between us." The doctor's gaze lingered on the cot's occupant before switching back to her. "I wish I could stay here longer and confirm that everything is alright with you, but I am in the middle of attending to my patient so I will take my leave now."
And with that, he began retracing his steps, but before he disappeared, she called out, "W-when!?"
She wasn't asking for when he would come back, and he understood it. "...soon."
Heaven Canceller left without another word, leaving her alone in the room with the tool.
(Soon!? Soon what!?)
Those infuriating, ambiguous words would probably fully register when she got back to her dorm.
But right now, she mentally switched her attention to the tool. "S-sorry about that, I really am pathetic, aren't I? No matter how many times I deny it to others and to myself, it's the truth, right? I can't even experience most of my feelings in real time just because my brain said it's a 'self-defense mechanism'… ahaha. Isn't, I, so pitiful? Don't you agree too, my helpful tool?" A strong breeze blew from the window and crashed into her smiling face, her white scarf fluttering in tandem with her blonde hair.
"Now where was I?"
The nameplate read; Hokaze Junko.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! I already apologized so stop hand chopping my head!" Uiharu shouted with tears in her eyes as she weakly defended against the hand chops.
They were sitting on a bench a short walk away from school.
"It's not okay to do that! And-and I am pretty sure that's a crime!" The hand chops increased in strength and she yelped; the flowers in her headband splitting in two. "How did you even get the chloroform anyway!?" Saten shouted, her voice raising an octave in disbelief and exasperation.
The hand chops stopped and she gazed down guiltily, unwilling to meet her eyes. "H-Hadi-kun gave them to me after I nearly got assaulted during a patrol…" Her voice dropped into a whisper at the end.
"AND YOU USED IT ON HIM!?" she yelled, voice raising several pitches higher. Suddenly, Saten felt eyes staring into her and she realized they were bystanders watching the scene. Feeling her cheeks flushed, she took a breath, calming her emotions down. "Fine, it's useless to dwell on this, but it's not me that you need to apologize to, but him."
"Hm?" She brought her head up and saw two middle school boys heading towards them, the messy-haired boy waving at them while the navy-blue-haired boy massaged his own shoulder, Hadi Kuroi and Akaru Kirishima. (He's…awake? But it has barely been 20 minutes!?)
20 minutes was the average time for someone to be knocked out after inhaling chloroform, but don't ask her how she knew that.
"Yo! Saten! Uiharu!"
"Goodness, you guys will be the end of me…"
The duo acted like it was an everyday occurrence, and that made her a little angry, but she digressed. Just like what her friend said, she needed to redirect her apology to the right person, and that person was Hadi.
But she didn't know where to begin with when the boy seemed to not care about it at all-
"Yo! Hadi-kun!" Saten smiled. "Uiharu wants to apologize for earlier! Look! She's even restless and fidgeting just waiting for you!"
"S-Saten-san! That's not it!-"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Uiharu." The boy crouched down to meet her eye-to-eye, her face still embarrassed from the misunderstanding. "It's my fault that I didn't dodge fast enough, after all. Also, you used it perfectly too so I am proud of that."
"B-but..!"
"Ohh~" Mischievous Saten covered her mouth and slid to Akaru's side, whispering into his ear, "Akaru-kun, did you tell him that, or did he figure it out on his own?"
"Nope, I told him that." He whispered back, a shit-eating grin pulling on his muscles despite him. "I wish you had seen the pure confusion on his face!"
They both then chuckled together, too absorbed in their own world to notice Hadi's face slowly blushing in embarrassment.
"I CAN HEAR THAT, YOU KNOW!?" he shouted, standing up.
"H-hey don't ignore m-"
"Don't worry, Hadi-kun." Saten turned to the boy, looking at him as if he was a child. "You still have much to learn, but I will gladly teach you all the ways 100 more times if need be."
"L-listen to me!"
The trio turned towards her in sync, eyes staring down at her and waiting for her to say something. She felt so small under those gazes that she felt her eyes start to spin, the words dying in her throat. (Ahh! Wh-what do I now!? I accidentally made myself their center of attention when I was supposed to only call Hadi! Ahhh! Think! Think! There must be a way out of this!)
A light bulb appeared on top of her head; a revelation occurring to her. (That's right!)
"Today, I am going to meet the one and only Ace of Tokiwadai, the Railgun!" She latched onto Hadi's hands and stood up. "It's getting way past the meet-up time so let's go!"
With a nervous, but desperate smile, she brought Hadi with her and ran. "Where are we g-going!?" Hadi was forced to follow after her lead, but not after close to tripping on the ground.
Akaru and Saten just stood there in awe at Uiharu's resolve before realizing they were getting out of their sight and ran after them.
"Who's the 'Ace of Tokiwadai' exactly?!" Saten asked as the two sprinted side by side.
"From what I heard, it's the #3 level 5!" Akaru replied.
The girl's face suddenly turned sour at the mention of the level 5. However, before he could ask what was wrong, Saten shook her head, eyes focused on the sprinting duo. "Well then, let's see if they are as arrogant and self-serving as I think they are..."
Upon their arrival at Joseph's, the duo of Shirai and Misaka had sat in one of their booths and were ordering their drinks when Misaka felt someone burning holes into her from the side.
From the window like a creep.
(Huh?) She sweatdropped. Kuroko was busy ordering her tea so she couldn't hope for help. Confused and slightly disturbed, she panned her head towards the source.
Her brown eyes met a cat's eyes-(Wait, what?) She unzoomed and was met with a girl around her age with rosy red hair who was wearing a male school- (Oh, a boy…?)
She was, unsurprisingly, confused. However, she wasn't able to vocalize her confusion as the boy's(?) black slits dilated with embarrassment, and then he ran away, long red hair swinging back and forth. He was definitely wearing a white, red-tied shirt alongside gray jeans, and a bag slung diagonally over his shoulder—an average male student.
"Onee-sama?" She was brought out of her thoughts with a voice; turning towards her friend who was staring at her with a raised eyebrow. "What were you looking at?"
"Uhh… a fan of mine?" She tilted her head, unsure of her own conclusion.
"A fan of Onee-sama?" Kuroko mulled over her own words before she came to a realization. "You mean, those annoying fans who can't seem to keep their pants in check!?" She slammed the table, face with a mix of rage and horror. "Just say the word Onee-sama, and I am going to beat that overzealous fan to a pulp and force them to stay at least a kilometer away from you at all times!"
"No, you don't have to do that! He's already ran away! And you are going to get us kicked out!"
That seemed to calm the girl down as Kuroko slowly sat back down, but there was still a stiffness in her movements.
"Alright, Onee-sama." The twin-tailed girl released a breath, face now relaxed. "If you say so."
The waiter came in with their drinks, and she took a sip out of her iced drink while Kuroko took a sip of her tea.
Kuroko spoke up first.
"On the topic of fans, there's someone I would like you to meet."
"Hm?"
"Uiharu Kazari. She's from the 177th Judgement branch, the same one I am in, and also responsible for backing me up." she explained, carefully concealing the fact the Uiharu also sometimes assist a certain ape too. "I couldn't refuse her request to meet you, just once."
She sighed. (More stuff to do…)
Kuroko took a sip from her tea, and continued, "And don't worry, I can vouch that Uiharu is a respectable individual unlike that fan…"
Kuroko would then explain why meeting Uiharu was good, then Mikoto would foil her true, shameless reasons why, and the squad of friends would see this before the two would get kicked out for being too loud.
Unbeknownst to Misaka Mikoto, she would encounter that "fan" once again.
"Yo, Shirai. Didn't know you took a day off today too."
"Tch! Didn't you know you had a life."
"What's up with them..?" Saten asked Uiharu, who was looking at the glaring duo in front of them with a frown and a sigh.
It was after introductions were made and they were walking to a game center under Misaka's suggestion that Shirai and Hadi finally broke the tension they had and somehow made it worse.
"Yeah, I've never seen Kuroko act this way before." Misaka slowed her pace and slid into the group, sweating and looking nervous. She had probably taken the brunt of the tension between the two.
"They, um, Shirai-san, uhh…"
Uiharu didn't seem like she was finding the right words so Akaru slid in and responded instead, "Long story short, they hate each other's guts, or more accurately, Shirai-san hates his guts."
"Really?" The chestnut-haired girl turned back to see that the tension Hadi and Shirai had was making people visibly uncomfortable that they avoided their path entirely. Even the flyer distributor didn't offer them a leaflet until Shirai backtracked and swiped it away after realizing what she was doing. "Kuroko can really hold a grudge against people, huh?"
She didn't know what to think of it, honestly.
Just as she took the flyer, Kuroko, and Hadi slowed their pace and joined the group.
"Onee-sama, let's not go to the game center." Kuroko pulled up the flyer and placed her thumb on a certain frog mascot. "I am sure you'd like a crepe and a Gekota instead."
Ehhhh?"
He was right. Kuroko clearly wasn't acting like herself.
"There sure are a lot of people here." said Misaka.
When they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of a plaza bustling with people lining up, families sitting on benches, and kids running about, but even when they each were in their own little stories; they all share one similarity.
They were crepes in their hands.
The group of six lined up, but they instantly realized a problem: there were too many of them, and they were clogging up the line. Kuroko was fully prepared to be the one who'd buy them since he was here and she didn't want him close to Onee-sama, but…
Somehow, he was picked as the group's representative. Of course, she didn't want some primal ape buying her crepes so she decided to line up too.
But…
"Shirai-san…" Uiharu grabbed her hand, speaking in a worried tone. "Didn't you want to relax today? The intensity of your Judgement work has been increasing lately, and I am sure you are exhausted after all of that. So rest, let Misaka-san buy them for you."
Uiharu's worry was genuine, and she had been working her butt off lately, but her short vacation had already been ruined since he arrived. No matter how many times she denied it in her head, some part of her knew Uiharu was trying to ease up her heart, but every time she saw the boy, she just had this feeling that no one was paying attention to her.
"Uiharu, why did you let Kuro buy your crepe?"
She wasn't going to run away from her problems, so she wanted confirmation—no matter how much it may break her. Her parents taught her that. Uiharu knew Kuro; she was his classmate, but the two had met before that.
In that office store robbery.
"Erm," Uiharu squirming in her seat was all it took for her expression to turn sour. "Because Hadi wanted to…?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. If you don't want to tell me to truth then I am going."
She ignored Uiharu calling out for her and kept going.
Meanwhile, Hadi was dealing with an impatient level 5.
Arms crossed, she kept tapping against her elbow while looking like she was going to kill those poor ants on the ground.
Also, he was already helpless in helping the girl out.
With the number of people in line and the amount of Gekota key chains left, he concluded that the person in front of him would get the last Gekota toy, but he was too scared to tell the girl that when she looked like that.
Sometimes, he wished this ability of his would stop giving him spoilers.
"Let's go! I got a Gekota!" A kid passed by them, face breaking into a wide smile as he showed off his Gekota key chain, and he sweatdropped further. He kept his eyes to the front as he felt the girl's aura radiate from impatient to utter restlessness.
(This is a level 5 here! A level 5!) The last time he met a level 5, he could've died at any moment, but the girl spared him, even after punching her in the face. This girl, though? Unfortunately, he doubted it. (Wait…a level 5? Gekota key chain?)
His eyes widened.
This seemed eerily similar to when he first met that blonde girl that his entire body was starting to sweat. Hokaze. Shokuhou. His battle a year ago. Their unfulfilled promise. And that poor little kid. What if -what if fate did decide to get revenge and this was one of their last meetings before someone- someone close to Misaka die-
(Shirai!?)
"Hadi-san.. are you alright?" Misaka tapped his shoulder while voicing out her worries, and he jumped.
"Uh, yeah, yeah. I am alright!" He turned around and smiled at the girl. Noticing the glare aimed at his way, he turned his attention back to the line. (An empty space? Must have frozen up back there…)
"Hm, if you so..."
That girl was lining up a few persons behind the level 5.
He would've still bought Shirai a crepe if she didn't buy one though…
"Here you go. It's the last Gekota!"
"Thanks!"
The girl in front of him rushed back into her little group of friends while a Gekota key chain dangled from her hands, a happy smile on her face.
And so, he gave his final thoughts just before his soul left his body.
(Yep, someone's dying today.)
"Uwah…" Misaka Mikoto was eating her crepe reluctantly and with tears in her eyes while Shirai desperately tried to give the level 5 her crepe but kept getting tearfully ignored and rejected.
Uiharu and Saten were commenting on how they didn't expect the level 5 to be so normal, but so unapproachable at the same time while Akaru was laughing at how Hadi almost got tripped over by some kids while holding the crepes and ended up making ballerina moves to dodge them.
Such were the days of Academy City residents.
But there was a hidden part of Academy City that would soon clash with them.
The start of a story, and the end of a story.
And yet, they were so clueless about it until…
"!" Hadi swished his head towards the bank on the other side of the street in alarm. He pulled out his Judgement armband from his pocket while shouting, "SHIRAI, A BANK ROBBERY!"
Shirai's eyes widened in alarm before mimicking Hadi's actions. Misaka was confused as everyone in the group, except for her, suddenly tensed up, all watching the bank like a hawk. "Wh-what's going on!?"
The bank's closed shutters exploded outwards in a boom, and, in an instant, two figures suddenly flung out of the smoke with blood and fire trailing them as if they were the ones being blasted out. The two figures were all bloodied and injured. One of the figures was a man, and the other one…
Long red hair. Male school uniform. Cat eyes… "!?""!?" "!?"
A/N:
So, uh, how do you like it?
Next:
Part 1: Divert From The Path [And_Never_Look_Back.]