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Chapter 2: Gravitation Whirlpool

Three_Opposite_Poles

Part 1

To better understand the facts, let's go back two days before the invasion. July 17.

There was a commotion in front of Green Mart. Two people were injured in an explosion that happened inside the shop a few minutes ago. One of the victims was a member of Judgement and it seemed that she was in a serious condition. Several members of Anti-Skill and Judgement were running an investigation on the cause of the explosion and they had captured a suspect - which happened to be Hishiro.

He was actually caught in the whole incident by pure coincidence. During an operation, he bumped into a boy with goggles called Banka, a member of another faction of the dark side of the city. Their goal was the same: attain a small USB drive that contained classified information. Banka used psychokinesis to steal the device from Hishiro's grasp and the situation soon escalated into a battle. Once Hishiro had the upper hand, the other boy tried to escape by running to a busy street and as he was about to get caught, the store exploded. Banka used the confusion to run away and Hishiro was held under custody of Judgement while he tried to look for him. Now he was handcuffed, and being questioned by a girl from Tokiwadai that introduced herself as Shirai Kuroko in a provisional space settled by Anti-Skill (that just had a plastic table and 2 plastic chairs) and without being able to call for help because his belongings were confiscated.

"So, are you going to confess?" Said the Tokiwadai lady with twin pigtails with a tone of arrogance.

"Aren't you jumping a few important steps? And by that I mean a LOT of them."

"I'm certainly not. It's your own fault for not having your ID in hands and refusing to give your name. Who else would do that besides the culprit?"

"I dunno. Me perhaps?"

The girl closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. She hated dealing with this kind of people the most. "Fine then. You will soon be taken to an Anti Skill station. They can confirm your identity by taking a sample of your DNA and matching it with the database, so let's put this aside for now…" Opening a single eye, she gave him a side look before continuing. "If you are not the culprit, then what exactly were you doing when the explosion occurred?"

With a straight look in his eyes, he answered coldly "I was just passing by."

"Just passing by?" There was clear doubt in her voice.

"Just passing by indeed."

"And why a passer by would be witnessed standing there right after the blast without running away nor calling for help?"

"...I was looking for someone."

"And who this person might be?"

Hishiro couldn't answer that one and looked down in silence. Kuroko got seriously mad as she struck both hands on the table and stood up "And you expect me to believe that you were looking for someone without saying who it is?! What now, are you going to tell me you don't know their name either?!"

I never said I expected you to believe it, idiot… Hishiro thought but didn't had the courage to say it out loud. The situation was bad enough as it was. Rolling his eyes, he quickly thought of a retort. "And you really believe that the culprit would be standing there near to the crime scene to appreciate the scenery and wait for the Anti-Skill to arrive?"

That was a good point, she thought. No, that's actually pretty obvious. Since he started to refuse to answer, she decided to assume that he was the culprit out of irritation and didn't thought the whole thing thoroughly. Before she could decide whether to apologize or press the matter further, two other female Judgement members came in. "Shirai-san, don't you think you are going too far? We just need to get information from witnesses, not to accuse them."

"Konori-sempai? Uiharu?" Kuroko panicked on being scolded by the older female. "B-but, you see… Anti-Skill had taken him as a suspect, and he refused to cooperate, and-"

"They took him in because YOU convinced them that he was dangerous, isn't that right? Anyone would think the same if they saw him restrained like that." The Tokiwadai lady bowed apologetically, but Hishiro only felt more angry for being reminded how he got shamefully defeated by a girl younger than him. Konori then turned to him and said with a smile as she took the handcuffs off. "Please forgive us. Everyone is agitated because our colleague got hurt in the incident."

"Are you going to let him go?" Kuroko asked dumbfounded.

This time, the smaller girl named Uiharu spoke. "I checked the recordings of nearby security cameras. He was just running towards the store when the explosion happened. The real culprit would never be so reckless to run right into the explosion he himself armed, so we and Anti-Skill concluded that he was innocent." That last sentence caught Hishiro's attention.

"The cameras… Excuse me, but do you mind if I take a look on these recordings?" The three judgment members looked at each other with a wry smile, expecting someone to answer. The one who did was Konori. "Well… it's not like it's confidential or anything, and it will probably be on the news tomorrow anyway, so I don't think there is a problem."

Uiharu placed the tablet-like device she was carrying on the table and touched the screen to display the video. As she said, Hishiro could be seen running on the sidewalk when the explosion happened, but that's was not what he was looking for. Just like he expected, the other boy could also been seen there. Bingo! Seems like trying to escape to where the eyes of society could see you was a terrible mistake!

"That's enough, thanks. Oh, could you please give my phone and earphones back? I need to make a call."

...

The only sound that came from the other side of the call was… a laugher. Asuka was laughing at him for five minutes non stop after he explained the situation to her. "You know… we are kind of wasting time here..."

"AHAHAHAHA, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, AHAHA, AHhhhhhh… Sorry sorry, but just to think that you were arrested… pff.. AHAHAHAHAHA!" Hishiro literally started to growl at that point. "Okay okay, sorry for that. Let's get down to business then. I'll check the cameras around the area you told me, just gimme a sec." And just as she said, the answer he was waiting for came fifteen seconds later. "Found him. After the blast, he turned 180 and headed to District 8… no wonder you lost him so quick, those are some evasive skills. He managed to pass through your blind spots and escaped to right where you both came from. This Banka is definitely a pro. I'll run a search on him right away after I send you the coordinates."

"Thanks Asuka." Frankly, you could be so efficient if you weren't so annoying… As Hishiro was about to leave, the twin pig-tailed girl blocked his path.

"You are going after that boy with goggles, aren't you?"

"... How much you heard of my call just now?"

"Not much… but I saw enough in the recordings. You were pursuing him when the explosion happened."

"So… what about it?"

"Since you probably won't just give me the details, I'm coming with you."

The suggestion was so sudden and stupid that he couldn't help but frown. "Why do you even want that?"

"The timing of the explosion was just perfect to delay you and give him an opening. The others believe I'm thinking too much, but he is clearly a suspect."

The possibility not even crossed his mind up until now. Come to think of it, that blast was really too convenient. Banka is a user of Psychokinesis… can he really do that? Perhaps with the help of some device… or some kind of bomb planted beforehand that he can trigger with his ability. But if that's the case...

Several of these explosions have been happening around the city lately. Those incidents seemed too small to be considered some work of the dark side, but tracing back to when they started, the date seems to be just a week after the Breakdown that Hishiro was investigating had started as well.

Yes, the Breakdown. It's how the phenomenon that was currently happening in the dark side of the city was being called. It all began when a rumor about a crack in the system that runs behind the curtains of the city being discovered that could lead to the famous Imaginary Number District got spread. These rumors were kinda common every now and then and most of them were baseless, but this one had consistency. Because it was based on a report recently released by no other than Kihara Gensei, someone with heavy influence in the dark side that was supposed to be disappeared.

Since then, several mucky factions started to crawl away from the shadows where they normally hide, trying their luck on finding the Five Elements Institute in order to accomplish several goals. The most common one was to use destroy the Institute or use it in order to break the political structure that currently ruled the city. With so many criminals seeking the same thing, the dark side broke into complete chaos. Some are so desperate that they even forgot to keep their appearances and took more explicit actions, worsening the situation.

Are these blasts also part of it? If Banka really used it to escape just now, or have been using them for this long, it could mean that I'm not the only one after him… So it's possible that he got hold of something valuable that several factions are drooling to get their hands on.

"...hey, are you listening?"

"Huh? S-sure."

She wasn't convinced, as she summarized her point. "I'm just saying whatever all that was about, you seem to be a potential target of this incident and needs to be under protection for now. And I want to go after the suspect. So if we go together, I'll be killing two birds with one shot."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then Anti-Skill is going to escort you home and I'll go to District 8 alone. With Uiharu's help, I can track down exactly where he is hiding."

What a pain… As he thought that, he came up with an idea. Though it may not be bad to let her restrain him just like she did to me. It was all his fault, after all. I can just ask what I want later and then kill him. Besides, Asuka will have to give some explanations later for the involvement of Judgement in the case. Yeah, that sounds satisfying. His desire for this childish revenge made him reconsider her suggestion.

"I can't go home until I settle the score with that guy. And it's not like I can stop someone from Judgement from doing their work, right?"

Kuroko smiled and nodded. "Yes, that's a wise decision."

And so, they both dashed towards District 8 as the sunset slowly turned into evening.

Part 2

"This seems to be the place..." Hishiro and Kuroko had arrived their destination. It looked like a shed that was located in the gap between hotels and could only be reached by going deep into a back alley. "Heh… so many luxurious buildings around and he had to be on the trashiest looking one. Fits him right, I guess."

"I wonder if we can break in without problem? I mean, it looks like illegal occupation instead of private property… By the way," Kuroko turned to Hishiro with a questioning tone "Why were you after him in the first place?"

"Huh, well… he stole something from a friend of mine. I just want it back." This was actually half truth.

"Is that so?" She didn't seemed suspicious this time. "Well then. I'll teleport inside and drag him out here. After tha- Hey, wait!"

He had already rushed ahead before she could finish and was about to barge in when she teleported right in front of him. The result was almost a magnificent crash as Hishiro managed to stop a few centimeters from her. "Wha- don't do that, dammit! What if I couldn't stop in time?"

"That's my line! What you think you're doing leaving me behind like that?"

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled sarcastically. "Not my fault if you're too slow. And besides, you were about to do the same, weren't you?" The Tokiwadai lady could only stare blankly. Before she had a chance to reply he continued. "This is my business, you got that? He stole me, made me get arrested and probably tried to blow me up. I'm not going to stay quiet waiting for someone else to solve my problems. I was okay with you coming along because that's your job, but don't get in my way."

Kuroko wasn't the kind of person to let a civilian walk into a battlefield, not even if they begged to. But the way he phrased it all made it impossible for her to simply deny him. Was it because of his determination? Did she felt intimidated by his words? Or did he reminded her of a certain roommate that would head into danger without think twice no matter how many times Kuroko warned her to stay away? She couldn't tell. She could only feel at a loss in front of this dilemma until she finally gave in.

"Honestly… why can't people in this city leave those situations to those who should handle it?" Hishiro answered with a 'no idea' like face and she couldn't help but sigh. "Fine… I'll try to keep you safe, but don't blame me if-"

"No need for that. I can handle myself just fine." The girl was starting to get annoyed at his cut-ins. She forcefully grabbed his hand (which made him comically flinch and blush for a second at the sudden action) and teleported them both to inside the hideout.

Part 3

I was expecting to see at least 3 or 4 of them here, but… he is surprisingly alone. How careless can someone be? Hishiro and Kuroko were hiding behind a container inside the shed. The only other person inside was the boy with goggles, crouched down in the middle of the large space looking at the screen of a notebook placed on the floor. He was mumbling something - probably communicating with someone from his faction. I hope he didn't had enough time to analyze the data inside that drive.

"His skill is psychokinesis, at least a level 3. With this many things around for him to use as ammo we can't let our guard down."

Kuroko nodded back at him and left their hiding spot. Hishiro kept hiding and watched as she got slightly far from him.

"Halt!" She yelled and Banka panickedly stood up turning around. "This is Judgement! You are under arrest for being suspect of-" Again, she didn't had the chance to finish. The boy focused on a steel box lying closeby and sent it flying at her.

Yeah, I knew this would happen. As if anyone from the dark side would wait for you to go through your protocols before attacking. Restraining his urge to laugh at her, Hishiro dashed from the opposite side of the container, hoping to get Banka by surprise as Kuroko appeared behind him.

"Really, what a lady has to do to be heard until the end? Now I'm in a bad mood." She sent a kick at his ribs, but he reacted fast enough to jump to the side. Turning around, he threw a few iron plates in her direction. Since it was a sudden action, he didn't had the time to aim. Kuroko didn't needed to teleport away, she avoided them all by simply crouching.

That was enough, she thought. Hishiro jumped high and drop kicked Banka's back. Actually, it would have been easier to simply shot his legs with the pistol he was carrying, but he couldn't do that in front of a member of Judgement. Nor he wanted to go the easier route this time. He wanted to let some steam off in this fight. "Hi there! Remember about me?"

"B-bastard… Can't get me alone so you're getting help? And from Judgement?" The boy, that was sent flying a few meters forward, stood up and stared angrily at Hishiro. Upon closer inspection, he was severely bruised. It couldn't be from that attack just now, nor from the fight they had earlier ago. Did he got hurt during the explosion?

Without waiting for a reply, Banka controlled several small but heavy objects around the room and shot them at the two attackers. Kuroko quickly looked around for a safe spot and teleported to the top of a large steel box. Hishiro, however, didn't moved at all. Kuroko was about to yell at him when she noticed - he was smirking. That smile was almost filled with blood lust. Does he intend to take that attack head on? Is he a masochist or something?

At that moment, Hishiro clenched his eyes and swung his left hand horizontally. The space in front of him became distorted. To Kuroko, it was like looking at the asphalt during a hot day, or the heat effect that could be seen in TV programs when they were showing a desert. As soon as a hammer and a wooden board entered in contact with the phenomenon, they suddenly slowed down and then came to a stop, floating in mid air. She was slightly surprised at the scene and Banka clicked his tongue. "That again… Just what kind of power is that?"

"Null Inertia." Hishiro answered, full of arrogance. "No matter what you throw at me, as soon as it enters the area of effect, it will simply dissipate all its momentum until it stops like this." He relaxed his arm and the weird field disappeared - letting go the objects it had captured to the mercy of gravity, making them fall to the floor with an unpleasant loud sound. "In other words, my power is the worst possible match up for you. Just hand that thing over and surrender yourself to her."

Chuckling, Banka took a fews unsteady steps backwards. "Sorry, but I wouldn't be able to do that even if my life depended on it." He then jumped back and placed his two hands forward. Several things happened afterwards:

First, something like a brick came from up left in Hishiro's direction. He noticed it too late and barely had time to avoid getting hit, let alone use his ability. However, the attack wasn't directed at him, but to the notebook that was still on the floor. Then, alongside with the brick, many other objects fell above the notebook, crushing it beyond repair. Finally, a small cylinder fell in the base of the steel box where Kuroko was standing and exploded, sending her off balance and forcing her to teleport away. The explosion triggered several others in a chain reaction, causing some debris to fall from the roof, but it wasn't enough to send the whole building down. Once everything was over, Banka was nowhere to be seen.

"Not good, he was trying to escape all along!" Kuroko then suddenly vanished. Probably teleported outside to look for him. Hishiro ran over to the destroyed equipment but it was pointless. He couldn't even see if the drive was plugged in the notebook or if Banka had took it away, nor if he managed to find out its contents. The main objective of the mission was to not let the information in that drive to fall under other organizations hands. If it got destroyed then great but… I have no proof if he copied it and sent to someone else. Can't count that one as a success.

He picked his phone and remembered he had turned it off - in case Asuka had seen him with Kuroko in the surveillance cameras, she would become all whiny and he didn't wanted to hear her complaints until everything was over. Switching it on, there was about 30 unanswered calls. "Oh crap..." He called Asuka right away.

"FINALLY Shiro! What the heck were you doing! I was trying to call you for so long!"

"Sorry. Couldn't answer you. Things got a bit violent around here." Again, another half truth.

"Anyway, listen up. Banka got intercepted before he got to that back alley. Two females ganged on him and took the target away."

"What?! Who are they?!"

"One was a blond haired girl that was heavily equipped with explosives. The other was using a reddish hood and seemed to be a powerful esper. Both are younger than you and-"

"I'm not interested in that! Get to the point! Which organization are them from and where are they right now?!"

"So harsh, Shirooo! I'm gonna cry..." Though she didn't sound like crying at all. "I couldn't find out about their organization yet. As for their location, they got into a van and went to an private salon in District 3. You're in the alley? It's too far to go by foot, we're deploying a vehicle for you."

He heard footsteps behind him and cut the call. It was Kuroko that just got back with an unsatisfied face. "He got us. I looked all around from above the buildings but there is no sign of him."

"Well, that's a shame..." Hiding his irritation, Hishiro turned to her. "I found what I was looking for lying around here, he probably hadn't the time to pick it up. Thanks for everything. I'm heading home now."

"Really?" He couldn't tell is she was surprised, disappointed or suspicious. "It can't be helped… I'm going to escort you back, just in case he is preparing for an ambush."

Darn… I need to get rid of her somehow… Looking around, trying to find an excuse to get away, his eyes stopped at her uniform. She caught him staring at her and asked. "Is there Something wrong?"

"I was just wondering… is it really okay for you? You're from Judgement and all, but didn't Tokiwadai had a strict curfew or something?"

Kuroko stopped on her tracks with a sudden jump, as if she had got struck by a lightning. He was right, she had completely forgot about that. She had to notify the dorm beforehand that she would be doing Judgement work this night. Hishiro noticed he had struck the head of the nail and grinned. "What is it? You look pale."

"Ah- ahahaha… ehehe… well… I-I'm sorry, but I really need to go now."

"No worries. I can defend myself if he dares to show up."

"I'm really sorry!" She bowed deeply and teleported away. The whole situation was amusing for him. I guess it was worth it doing all that, after all. Still with a stupid smile in his face, he left the building, heading for the next battle. That was going to be another long night.

And I went backwards in the second chapter, even if only for two days. Sorry for that, I promise I won't let the timeline get too confusing. Everything should go back to normal in one or two chapters. I just thought that the gravitation bombing incident (from Railgun Manga/Anime, for those who don't know) was perfect to bring Kuroko into the mix. She is dismissed for now, but this encounter will be important in the future.

Anyway, for those who don't know or don't remember, Banka is a side character from the volume 15 of the light novels (which by the way, is my favorite of the Old Testament). What do you guys think about he suddenly showing up here? I'm not sure if I'm going to use him again in the future, so let me know if you want to see more of him. And at last - sorry if the battle was a bit underwhelming. He was already beaten by the time Hishiro and Kuroko got to him, so he would obviously want to escape quickly. Next chapter will be more action oriented, so stay tuned.

At last, don't forget to review. I would like to know if you guys are enjoying it or if is there anything I should improve.

See you all next time!