*A/N - Hey everyone, along with working on Key of Teyvat and Azur Key I've been wanting to work on another story. A couple of stories all have to do with the Toaru series. This one is centered around Shizuri Mugino being shown dreams. Dreams of a certain misfortunate boy and his adventures. This may be a one-shot or expanding story not sure yet, I still have other Toaru stories I wish to write about also including Touma and Mugino since there are not a lot of stories around her. I wish to change that.
Either way, hope you enjoy the story and look forward to my other stories.
*I DO NOT OWN THE COPYRIGHT OF THE TOARU FRANCHISE OR CHARACTERS
Dreams.
Such a mysterious phenomenon that everyone experiences once throughout their lives. The sensation of experiencing stories or images created by our mind while we sleep. Many different elements create the sequence of dreams whether it be from sensory, cognitive, or emotional occurrences during sleep.
However, in the case of Mugino Shizuri things were not so clear-cut for her since she has been having trouble during her time of sleep. The young woman was beginning to become beyond irritated since she was beginning to have bags under her eyes. Before the restless nights, Mugino held the appearance of a tall yet slender figure with brown-colored hair with brown blissful eyes. She also had quite a taste for fashion and stylish attire which attributed to the fact that she was very beautiful and well-endowed with style and grace leaving many to be baffled by her beauty.
Consequently, Mugino's beauty sleep was something she greatly enjoyed and would practically terminate anyone who got in the way of her sleep. However, thanks to experiencing an array of strange dreams for a few nights now, Mugino was forced to wake up in an exasperate and confused state of mind which led to her taking her frustration out on her team members in ITEM. The girls in Item had to deal with Mugino shouting louder and blasting out vulgar language more than usual.
Mugino had been swamped for the past several days with nonstop work being tasked to clean up any targets assigned to her group from the Dark Side of Academy City. Nothing out of the usual for her as this had become her lifestyle for quite some time now ever since she had been identified as one of the Level 5's in Academy City.
Once she and her team, ITEM, finished completing their assignment the girls usually tended to hang around the apartment they were using at the moment or go off and mind their own business in the city. Takitsubou would usually take off with Kinuhata somewhere while Frenda would sneak away and stuff her face with mackerel at the supermarket. Sure, it was concerning at first to let the girls roam out in public, but Mugino figured that if each member wished to continue reaping the benefits and getting paid along with living in high-class hideouts then there would be no reason for concern.
Besides, if any of them tried to betray Item, that would be the last thing they ever do.
Hence, Mugino would spend her downtime strolling around Academy City while shopping for anything that piqued her interest. School was not a worry since her connections with the Dark Side of Academy City managed to excuse her from class majority of time, and not to mention, beauty wasn't the only thing she excelled at since being a Level 5 required a great deal of knowledge and intelligence to use her Meltdowner ability which made school a breeze.
Money was not a concern either given that the Dark Side paid quite handsomely. Whether it was a target to be eliminated or supply cache protected or even a delivery of sorts, the pay was very good. Overall, the benefits that the Dark Side of Academy City had to offer were very pleasing but not just any bloke off the street could deal with the travesties and evil that Academy City hid behind its all so marvelous and outstanding accomplishments.
Therefore, Mugino tended to spend most of her free time either shopping at ridiculously expensive stores or treating herself to sweets. Ordinary behavior for a girl with money to spare and yet she was also one of the deadliest women in all of Academy City.
Finishing up her day of shopping, Mugino ultimately made her way back to her group's current apartment with over a dozen bags filled with stylish clothing that she thought looked cute and boosted her feminine appeal at the same time. A trait that Mugino was well aware of since many of the times she was out shopping, men would stop to gawk at her supermodel esque beauty, and women would yearn to have her alluring facial features and elegant hair, and curvy proportions.
Something amusing to note was that while Mugino gave off the cold shoulder to anyone even her teammates at times. She was a romantic at heart. Taking the time to learn how to cook and even sew which could come in handy if she were to have needed an injury patched up. Mugino also really enjoyed reading romance novels and had a maiden's heart when it came to the scenarios that a romance novel tended to have. Mugino had even agreed on the principal desire of wanting to marry early in her life.
After spending most of the day shopping and free from any nuances, she walked through the apartment door and noticed that no one was currently in the apartment. This pleased Mugino since she could have a moment to herself away from her group members. Once she opened her room door, she placed the dozens of shopping bags she held in the corner which was already filled with other bags of clothing from her previous shopping trips.
Taking some time to shower and release any leftover stress on her body, she exited the shower with her hair wrapped in a towel while wearing a comfy oversized shirt and shorts to help her relax.
However, Mugino knew that her night was about to become irritating real soon. For the past few nights, she had been having strange dreams about some plain-looking guy with spiky hair. She figured that she might have spotted the guy while shopping some time ago but for the life of her she could not pinpoint who the plain-looking boy was or why he kept reappearing in her dreams.
The first night she dreamed of the boy, the dream took place in a classroom of all places. In the dream, Mugino herself was physically there but it seemed that no one else took notice of her presence. Which did not bother Mugino since she wouldn't have wanted to mingle with anyone. Moreover, the dream mainly focused on the spiky-haired boy getting yelled at by a small pink-haired girl for not showing up to class the day before.
Several of the spiky-haired boy's classmates were ridiculing the boy for ditching class while throwing the bastard under the bus. An amusing sight sure but not one that Mugino would want to spend most of her time in the dream listening to. Before Mugino could think of anything else, a girl appeared to march up to the spiky-haired boy and start asking him 20 questions about where he was or why he ditched class.
Taking a good look at the demanding girl, Mugino let out a whistle. The girl had a slender yet solid build and black hair that went down past her neck with a huge forehead. But holy shit, this girl was carrying some cannons. Mugino was well aware of her model-like and well-endowed body, but the huge forehead girl had some massive breasts that overshadowed hers.
After taking another moment to compare the demanding forehead girl's chest to her own, Mugino then let out an exasperated sigh while shaking her head. She decided to tone out the girl reprimanding the spiky-haired boy while looking around the plain-looking classroom.
Mugino then took a seat in the back of the classroom listening to the varying conversations that were going on and was growing bored of the useless noise. She did notice that the spiky-haired boy was not much to at first glance other than the boy seemed to be getting shit on for ditching class so many times. The dumbass would probably have to attend remedial classes.
Without a doubt, the dream was generic and boring to the point that Mugino got up out of her seat and left the class to wander out into the school halls. That was until she woke up the next day in an irritated mood. She tried putting it together on why in the hell she would dream about some random boring-looking guy and his school troubles. Mugino concluded that she must've noticed something in a magazine dealing with spiky hairstyles which lead to the spiky-haired boy appearing in her dream. It still didn't explain why the plain-looking boy appeared in her dream, so she played it off thinking it was just a random dream.
The next night, however, she dreamed of the spiky boy again only this time he was fighting a group of thugs in a sketchy ass alleyway that was trying to hit on a Tokiwadai student. The Tokiwadai girl must've been naive to listen to the group given that most of the girls in Tokiwadai were utterly clueless about the dangers outside their prestigious school. Stupid high-class idiot.
Mugino was once again invisible to everyone in the dream and was standing behind the spiky-haired boy watching him knock back one thug that tried to rush the plain-looking teen. Mugino glanced at the thug who got knocked on his ass and crossed her arms under her ample chest slowly starting to become interested in the dream. She cocked her eyebrow taking notice of the spiky-haired boy's posture and his ability to remain calm while fighting an uneven fight.
Moreover, the spiky-haired boy was doing his best while standing up for the girl while fighting back against the group of thugs who looked to be Level 0's given that none of them even used an Esper ability to fight the boy. Not to mention, a couple of the thugs were carrying knives and switchblades.
Coincidentally, the boy was handling himself rather well managing to dodge a jab here and there while throwing an uppercut at one of the thugs. The boy also appeared to be very nimble and quick on his feet taking into account his surroundings while analyzing his opponent's movement. Noticing an advantage in his foes' lack of fighting experience, the spiky-haired boy managed to knock most of the thugs on their asses while beating them to a pulp.
All in all, the spiky-haired boy knew how to throw a punch and take one as well. Maneuvering the thugs to lash out in anger right before they would get decked in the face. And that right hook the boy used had been something else. Dropping several thugs all in one hit.
Mugino had to admit, even if the plain-looking teen was nothing to be impressed about appearance-wise, she couldn't deny that he knew how to handle himself in a street fight.
The dream then came to a close with the boy beating all the thugs up and taking notice of the mess he had been involved in. The spiky-haired boy then turned to look at the girl who was being hit on by the thugs and noticed she was gone. Out of sight without anyone noticing that she left. The boy merely sighed and observed all the beaten thugs sprawled throughout the alley. The spiky-haired boy then heard sirens coming his way which forced him to mutter a few words, "Such misfortune".
After the spiky-haired boy said those words, he then started to run off before Anti-Skill could arrive which was how the second dream ended. Leaving Mugino with little information to use on determining who the hell the boy was.
At this point, Mugino was getting irritated with having dreamt of this boy she has never encountered in her life. Figuring that she was probably just tired from her line of work, Mugino decided to push away any thoughts of the boy from her dreams. Busying herself with some things would probably cause her to dream about something else entirely or hopefully not even dream at all the next time sleep consumes her.
On the third night, Mugino had appeared near an old run-down dorm of sorts and was standing on the outside with a clear view of the different levels of the dorm. However, before Mugino could take into account her surroundings, an explosion suddenly happened. Unclear on what the hell was going on, Mugino tried to get a better look at the situation only to be met with surprise.
The spiky-haired boy was seen yelling at someone, but she had no idea who since she couldn't see the figure being yelled at. All around the boy, the fire was beginning to spread on the outside of the dorms seemingly directed at him alone. Mugino thought she was imagining things and shook her head trying to get a better look at the fire entrapping the boy but what she saw made no sense.
A tall-looking guy with red hair and was wearing a black priest robe and with earrings on both ears, and what looked to be a barcode tattoo under his right eye. Mugino let out a laugh coming up with a joke on how this dumbass was trying to sell himself at some supermarket. Probably on clearance.
The red-haired priest freak appeared to be the one that the spiky-haired boy was yelling at or having some sort of disagreement. Not even a second later, the priest threw his right hand in the air was igniting it with fire that was increasing by the second. His Esper ability must've been related to the fire of some sort. But the priest shouted something and threw his right arm back while building up the size of the fire on his hand which now looked like a fireball of sorts.
However, in a matter of seconds the priest shot a blast of fire straight at the boy who held both of his hands to try and protect himself only to be engulfed by the flames. Nothing could be seen behind the fire engulfing the boy and tarnishing the dorm hallway.
Mugino had a frown on her face as she just watched the boy get scorched alive leaving nothing left. After having experienced several dreams revolving around the boy, she was joyful that she wouldn't have to dream about him. But truth be told, she was lying to herself. Mugino may have acted like a cold heartless bitch at times but even she had a heart. Though she wouldn't say that she grew to have an attachment towards the boy, she did find that this new dream did divert her expectations and even got her interested in the spiky-haired boy's circumstances. Now, however, the boy was nothing but ashes.
Realizing that the boy was all but gone, Mugino could only grimace at how fast the boy was scorched. Deciding that that was the end of the boy, Mugino started to walk off giving the priest a second look-over before noticing that he stood with his back towards where the boy was and appeared to be frozen in place. Bewilderment was plastered over Mugino's face as the smoke started to fade away and there in all plainness stood the spiky-haired boy.
The spiky-haired boy still had his arms held out in front of him and looked scared shitless at what just happened. The priest on the other hand looked like he had just seen a ghost. That wave of fire for sure should've burned the boy but here he stood with not even a burn covering his body.
The red-haired priest lashed out and started channeling more fire to throw at the boy only for things to take an unexpected turn. The priest was summoning what appeared to be something large and almost human-like.
A puzzled look covered Mugino's face trying to make sense of how the priest was using his Esper ability to summon a fire doll of sorts only to be confused at what she saw sprout out of the fire behind the priest.
A large black humanoid creature stood several feet tall and was touching the top of the hallway. The creature also had its eyes and mouth open where fire was spilling out. If things couldn't get even crazier, the creature shriek out before reappearing behind the boy and formed a large cross in its' right hand. The large cross was now being swung like a mace toward the boy who did nothing but raises his right hand to block the cross. A stupid idea by the boy.
At least, that's what Mugino thought before she was left flabbergasted at what the boy was doing. With his right hand still sticking out, the boy was holding back the large cross with only his right hand while also not being affected by the forceful push from the burning cross.
Mugino's mood had switched from minor interest to now somewhat modest interest in who the hell the boy was. The boy had to have some sort of Esper ability that let him block the flaming cross. Hell, things were getting even more interesting by the minute.
However, the priest started to channel even more fire into the palm of his hand while the boy was holding back the flame creature and large cross inches away from slamming into his face. The priest then shot the stored-up fire in his hand at the boy who was preoccupied and didn't see the burst of fire coming straight at him leaving a large explosion and smoke blocking Mugino's view of the fight.
Before Mugino could see the outcome of what happened to the flame creature and the spiky-haired boy, the environment around her started to become distorted and fade away all within seconds only to have her open her eyes.
Once she opened her eyes, she found herself in the comfort of her bed with a tank top on and short shorts while sprawled out on her bed. Instead of the regular irritation that followed when she awoke from the other dreams, this time Mugino was frustrated for not being able to understand a single damn thing that was going on.
Of course, she wanted to see the outcome of the fight in the dorm hallway along with whoever the hell that priest-looking guy was and how he was able to summon a creature with his fire Esper ability. But most of all, Mugino was furious for still not knowing a damn thing about the boy with spiky hair. The only thing she could narrow down appearance-wise after seeing him for three dreams straight was that he wore a white school uniform along with an orange T-shirt underneath and regular-looking pants.
The other thing Mugino took note of was that the boy had an Esper ability of sorts but didn't seem to use it as often. He never even activated his ability when fighting the group of thugs, but when he was attacked with the fire, he raised his right hand to block the attack. Now to any sane person, blocking a wave of fire with your hand would leave it burnt to a crisp but for the boy, it seemed like he blocked the fire along with the flaming cross.
By trying to piece together the mystery of the spiky-haired boy, Mugino figured that his Esper ability must've been dominant in his right hand and only used it as a last resort. Mugino also figured that his ability must've been related to a shield-like status skill almost akin to Kinuhata's Offensive Armor ability which was able to take a blow and walk it off.
Still lying-in bed, Mugino decided to get up and try to brush off the dreams all revolving around the spiky-haired boy. Making her way to the shower, Mugino realized that the boy had jumped from being a nobody to a person of interest given that the boy went from being an ordinary student to fighting thugs picking on a girl to the point where he was fighting priests that summoned some sort of fire doll with their Esper ability.
Jumping into the shower, Mugino let out an annoyed and disgruntled, "Goddamnit" while letting the warm shower water wash her face. She was becoming so fixated on this random boy who after dreaming about him for three nights straight still had no idea what the hell his name was.
Deciding to push these thoughts to the back of her mind, Mugino focused on the possibility of any missions being assigned to the team by her regular contractor. Hoping that the day would at least be somewhat interesting.
Mugino's day was shit.
ITEM was not tasked with any missions today and all the other girls seemed to have their own things to do. Mugino however was left with nothing to do really which caused her to start thinking about the boy again leaving her frustrated yet again.
Figuring that a distraction would help ease her mind, Mugino decided to take a look at some of her homework that she had left aside. Taking some time to finish her homework, Mugino finished it all with ease and had nothing else left to do.
With no homework or mission to do for the day, Mugino decided to start experimenting with her Esper ability. Being one of the seven Level 5's of Academy City is a position, not just anyone could land. Mugino recalled all the various tests and experiments they did with her Meltdowner ability to gauge her power level and capability. Of course, others became Level 5's overtime, and with change came the realization.
The realization that Mugino was not the strongest.
Accelerator with this Vector Manipulation.
Kaiken Teitoku and his Dark Matter.
And Miska Mikoto the Railgun.
The first, second, and third-ranked Level 5's.
Thinking about the other Level 5's started to piss Mugino off even more to the point where she shot one of her Meltdowner beams towards the kitchen where it destroyed a glass of water. Letting out an irritated sigh, Mugino got up to clean the broken glass or whatever was left of the glass and clean the water.
Taking a moment to clean the kitchen of any evidence of the broken glass, Mugino then threw the broken glass into the trash and went back into the living room with the boy still in the back of her mind. Realizing that she needed to do something else to keep her mind occupied, Mugino went back into her room and grabbed her laptop to look into something of interest.
Variation in Esper abilities.
Mugino had encountered many different Esper-related powers through her line of work and thinking about the boy led her to a search of sorts into what sort of Esper abilities were similar to defensive or shield-based abilities. Sending a message to her dark side contractor, Mugino waited for a response all while shopping online for anything that caught her interest.
Sometime later, Mugino got a reply from her contractor who was somewhat curious about her sudden interest in defensive Esper abilities. Brushing her contractor to the side, Mugino was gifted with a plethora of files about many different Esper abilities to which she would most likely spend the rest of the day researching and trying to find anything similar to the boy's right hand.
Later in the evening, Mugino had been so invested in her research on defensive abilities and was coming up with nothing similar to the boy's that she did not hear the other girls return to the apartment. She was made aware of the girls when someone knocked on the door asking if she wanted some pizza that Kinuhata brought back. Mugino called out to the voice saying that she would join them in a second. The voice behind the door got her message and must've left to go indulge in some of the pizza.
Putting her laptop to the side, Mugino got up and changed into sleeping nightwear before joining the other girls for dinner. When she got to the living room, she noticed Takitsubo was in the living room watching some soap opera along with Frenda sitting at the counter eating a piece of pizza with mackerel. Kinuhata was on her phone while eating a piece of pizza. Figuring that she would spend some time with her team addressing them about the off chance that a mission would be given to them.
After talking with Kinuhata and listening in on Takitsubo's theory on increasing her AIM ability along with Frenda spouting her little sister. Mugino made her way back to her room getting ready for bed while also preparing herself for another dream. This time she hoped that she could find out something more about who the hell this spiky-haired boy was and hopefully it would be the damn time she has a dream about him.
However, on this night she once again dreamed about the plain spiky-haired boy only this time things went from uninteresting to the most unbelievable thing possible. In this dream, the spiky-haired boy was confronting the 3rd Level 5, Mikoto Misaka on a bridge of all places. It was also nighttime with nobody else around leaving a gloomy yet solemn atmosphere on the bridge.
Mugino wasn't entirely sure what was going on or why the boy was talking with the Railgun, but a few seconds later the Railgun started letting electricity fly around the boy almost as if she was threatening him.
The boy for whatever reason was not backing down from the girl's threat. The Railgun however kept staring at the boy's right hand almost as if she was waiting for him to do something.
This intrigued Mugino given that she didn't know jack shit about the boy and had had several dreams about him ranging from ordinary school life that turned into fighting priests that summoned fire dolls to fight. And now he was standing up to the Railgun, which was something most people, no scratch that everybody would consider crazy.
And yet here the spiky-haired bastard stood. In front of the Railgun who looked like she was losing it and fueled by anger trying to tell the boy to back off. Mugino couldn't clearly hear everything the Railgun was saying to the boy since she was shooting off the electricity that crackled all around the bridge making it hard to hear everything she was saying.
Things escalated when the girl shot one of her signature railguns at the boy who had stood completely still. Hell, he didn't even flinch at the incoming beam of energy. The boy just stood there ready to take the strike at face value. The balls on this guy.
Once the Railgun realized that the boy would not back down from her threats, she must've lost it and decided to end their confrontation by letting out a large electronic pulse that covered most of the bridge engulfing the boy and leaving nothing to be visible for a short while.
After the blinding pulse attack started to dim down, Mugino was able to see that the boy was definitely engulfed by the Railgun's attack. The boy appeared to be lying on the ground not moving at all.
Figures, given that the electric attack could kill anyone who got hit head-on. Mugino was feeling indifferent about how the boy was taken down. After having had multiple dreams centered around him it was a sort of bittersweet feeling that Mugino might not have another dream involving him.
Mugino snapped out of her thoughts and noticed the Railgun start to slowly walk towards the boy. Fear had covered her face and her body shook with every step she took getting closer to the electrocuted boy. The Railgun slowly checked to see if the boy still had a pulse and based on her reaction it was unclear.
Out of pity or regret, the Railgun hesitantly moved the broken boy around, so he was lying on his back. She then slowly moved so that she was on her knees while pulling the boy's head into her lap.
Just as Mugino was about to call it a done deal, movement could be heard. A shuffling sound was coming from the boy. The Railgun was silently sobbing while shaking and keeping her hands rummaging through the boy's spiky hair.
The boy's hands started moving and twitching around. His eyes slowly opened taking in his surroundings until he spotted a familiar-looking brunette girl hovering over him with her hands flowing through his dirt-covered hair. He let out a pained groan while trying to sit up.
Mugino merely stared at the scene bewildered by what had transpired. The boy took a high voltage attack at face value that should have stopped his heart instantly leaving him dead on the bridge, and yet here the bastard was. Waking up from the electric blast like it was nothing.
Out of nowhere, the dream started to become foggy, and the surrounding area was becoming distorted until everything went back to normal in the dream. However, when Mugino looked back at the Railgun and the boy she noticed that he was sitting up somewhat grimacing in pain from the electric attack.
Mugino started to walk closer to the two since they wouldn't notice her since this was all a dream. Once she was in earshot of the two, she picked up on what the boy was saying.
"I've got an idea, a way to force them to stop. Think about it, the experiments based on the supposition that Accelerator's the strongest Esper. Well, what if he's proven to be incredibly weak."
"For instance, let's say he was handily defeated in a fight with a Level 0. The experiment's basic premise will be flawed." The boy continued.
Bewildered by what the boy was saying, the Railgun hesitantly responded,
"What are you saying? You don't mean..."
"That's right. I'll fight him."
Frightened by the boy's words, the Railgun cried out.
"That's impossible! We're talking about a guy so strong and arrogant he wouldn't even break a sweat if he had to defend himself from an entire army! He'd kill you for sure! Don't do this! I can't drag anyone else into this mess with me the cost has already been too great! Don't you see? This is something I have to do on my own! Please let me!"
Before the Railgun could say anything else, the boy spoke up with a calm yet reassuring voice.
"How about this... work with me. I know you have your own goals. Mine is seeing everybody get through this alive so let's work together maybe we'll both win." The boy reassured the Railgun with a small smile gracing his lips.
"Just let me go. I'll stop the experiment and bring your sisters back."
"That's a promise, ok." The boy finished while giving the Railgun...Misaka...a confident smile.
Taken aback by what the two were talking about, Mugino couldn't believe what she was hearing. A job she took not that long ago involved watching over a research facility with the rest of ITEM had a hiccup when they encountered the Railgun in the middle of destroying the facility. Now after hearing her talk about an experiment, it all made sense. This must've been during the Level 6 Shift Program that the Railgun was involved in.
The part that was bothering Mugino was that the boy was planning on fighting Accelerator. What kind of dumbass idea was that? Who in their right mind would challenge that monster and think they could win? Not even Mugino figured she would put up much of a fight when it came to challenging Accelerator.
There was a reason why he was number one as much as Mugino hated the idea of someone being stronger than her. Accelerator was in a league of his own when compared to the other Level 5's.
So, hearing this Level 0 boy boast about his plan to beat Accelerator and save the day was utterly ridiculous. There was no way that the boy would even get close enough to strike at Accelerator. This wannabe hero was going to die before he could even get a foot close to Accelerator.
Without saying anything else, the boy took off away from the Railgun most likely wherever Accelerator was going to be.
Unsure of what was going to happen next, Mugino was tempted to follow the boy to see how he would get his ass kicked and probably end up dead trying to go against the Number One Level 5.
However, before Mugino could make a decision the area around her started to once again become foggy and difficult to see anything. She let out an irritated groan realizing that the dream was about to end, and she'll wake up with no answers.
But something strange happened. The area around her started to distort greatly and the bridge soon changed to somewhere else. Once Mugino readjusted her eyesight, she noticed where she was, and it was the Switchyard in School District 17. Thanks to the cargo containers and train tracks Mugino recognized the spot thanks to having a dark side deal go down here.
Now, however, Mugino took notice of her surroundings and noticed the spiky-haired boy standing there while right across from him stood the Number One Level 5, Accelerator. In addition, Mugino noticed that another person was also present nearby Accelerator and when she got a better look at the other person, she now had a piece of the puzzle behind who the spiky-haired boy was.
The person next to Accelerator was Misaka Mikoto except that Mugino knew it wasn't her. The girl that looked like Misaka Mikoto was actually a clone. The Railgun's clone. Mugino recalled intercepting one of the retreating researchers from the destroyed facility and discovering about the Level 6 Shift Program and the Railgun's involvement. She didn't bother with the Railgun after the facility incident and let her wallow in the dark side of Academy City.
It was all starting to make sense; the boy had involved himself and was trying to defeat Accelerator while trying to save the clones. However, that plan was easier said than done since there was no way the boy would land a hit on Accelerator.
Getting ready to see the spiky-haired boy get his teeth kicked in and most likely die trying to fight Accelerator, the dream sequence around her started to become distorted once more which pissed Mugino off.
In a matter of seconds, Mugino's vision had become distorted, and she wasn't able to see anything in the dream, but the distortion did slow down and allow for her to peek at what was happening in the dream and what she saw shook her to the core.
The spiky-haired boy had knocked Accelerator on his ass. The Number One Level 5 of Academy City got knocked on his ass by some random spiky-haired boy. Mugino was left flabbergasted.
She tried to see more of the dream, but the distortion was growing more and more to the point where she figured the dream was going to end. But by luck's grace, the dream stopped being distorted and showed what appeared to be a destroyed Switchyard with containers sprawled all over the place. And the Railgun appeared to be here now along with her helping her clone up from her injury from fighting Accelerator.
When Mugino tried looking around for Accelerator she spotted him but the Number One was lying on the ground with his face all battered and not moving. Mugino did not know what to believe and looked around for the spiky-haired boy only to find him barely standing up with a content smile on his face before crashing into the ground.
Disbelief was plastered all over Mugino's face while she was letting out strong vulgar language at what she saw. The Number One was beaten. Beaten by the boy that kept appearing in her dream for four nights straight. The boy who she had written off as being nothing special at first had now defeated Accelerator while also keeping his promise to the Railgun.
Unsure of what to think, the dream sequence was slowly distorting while fading to white with the dream coming to a close and Mugino seconds away from waking up in her bed. Mugino had seen many things that would change a person given her line of work, but this dream put all those past experiences to bed.
Just before the dream was on the cusp of ending and waking her up, Mugino stared back at the spiky-haired boy taking a good look and memorizing the boy's sleeping face. When she wakes up, she'll be canceling any upcoming missions that ITEM would be assigned since she has a higher priority.
Mugino had found herself her next target.