If you guys have read the original chapter, then you might have been confused as to why I reposted this.
Please read till the end as to why I republished this.
Touma Kamijou removed the mask off his head, breathing in the stale air of the alley in his lungs. "Never thought I'd enjoy inhaling the smell of piss."
He removed the hoodie, but as he pulled over him he heard what he thought was torn fabric. He took his arms out of the sleeves, and did a once-over on his jacket.
A large gash had been made as he took it off him, going down from his left side. "I might have to patch this up later, otherwise people are probably gonna see what is inside this Vigilante's shell the whole time."
Taking the hoodie on his hands he knelt down to the ground, folding it as proper as possible, and placed it inside his bag.
His Instinct flared at that moment. Kamijou expected this could happen, and turned around, alert of any possible danger. He swiftly grabbed the mask inside his bag, and put it on his head, got on his battle stance right away.
Nothing. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. No attack by delinquents, no endangered teens, nothing.
Kamijou was rather puzzled by this. Something bad usually was gonna happen when his Instinct goes off. "What the...? Hmmm, Instinct goes off but nothing is happening yet? This sounds fishy as hell."
As he thought about all of it his stomach grumbled. "Maybe I'll think about all of it once I get a snack in my stomach, I'm starving as hell," Kamijou said.
Grabbing his bag he left the alley, although he realized something that he had almost forgotten the mask in his face.
'Oh shit. Almost forgot about the mask, because if everyone saw it, then goodbye next semester.'
-
'All things considered, this is some pretty good fucking sandwich,' Kamijou thought. 'And at a very low price like that I'm surprised. I'll go back for another one next time when I want a quick meal.'
He waved at the vendor goodbye (which the man accepted with his own), got up from his table and walked over a nearby trash can, plastic wrapper in tow. He hovered his hand, the one holding the wrapper, and dropped it in the trash.
"Okay, time to go home and deal with my homework-"
"This is so cool! I think I've gotten the hang of this after 3 days! I don't even feel any effort with lifting this heavy thing up!"
"Try doing this for a change, then we'll see who's doing less effort!"
"Oh, is that a challenge! It's on!"
Kamijou turned his attention to the banter between two friends from the park. A taller, older girl wearing overalls, and a younger girl, with blue jeans and a green t-shirt, and a single fang in their upper lip, were both levitating a bunch of objects off the ground with PK. Who he assumed to be their friend, another girl with twin braids was watching them both with amusement and curiosity in their eyes. He also saw another girl a bit far away from them, who looked to be on their phone, texting somebody. He couldn't see them clearly as they were far away, so that was what he thought she was doing.
"Check this out!" He heard the fanged girl cry out before he saw her levitate a couple more crates. She was clearly straining herself doing so, but he saw the glee within her eyes.
"Getting tired Muu-chan? Unlike you I can do this all day!" The older girl said before lifting the moderately-sized cylinder on the air, which Kamijou realized to be a cleaning robot, several meters into the air.
"Uh, Akemi, I don't think that's a good idea. We might get in trouble if you drop it."
"Relax Mako, besides unlike Mrs. Tryhard over there I can keep levitating this robot for more than 3 hours! I'm clearly winning!"
"You're only winning cuz you've been listening to it a lot more than me!"
"Ah, sore loser, you can't seriously think that's enough to scare me!"
"I hate you so much!" Who he figured out was Muu, the fanged girl, had cried out towards Akemi, the older one, as she and Mako the braided girl giggled at Muu's tantrum.
Kamijou couldn't help but give an amused smile at these girls' antics.
This. This was the peace he wanted to protect. Where everyone can smile and play. Where no one suffers unfairly due to external circumstances.
He swore. He swore to himself, to never abandon anyone in need, regardless of their actions. And the powers he gained thay day, made it a lot easier for him to do so.
And maybe, maybe he can make up for his past failures and mistakes along the way. But only time will tell if it will come to pass.
Kamijou, with a small, slightly melancholic smile, turned to the other side of the road, ready to take his leave and not disturb their funtimes.
However...
'Instinct... again!? And it's much stronger than before!' Kamijou grasped his head, feeling a slight pain at the back of his head.
Never before had it go this painful. What was going-?
His answer come with the horrible sound of metal crashing into the ground as the cleaner robot dove to the ground, and bounced once, taking damage so severe it must've had its emergency alarm busted. Hence the near-total silence that ensued for the next 4 seconds.
"Akemi, what's wrong?"
"Akemi?"
"Akemi, are you okay? Hey, you're really starting to heat up!"
"AKEMI-CHAN!?"
"HEY AKEMI, STOP SCREWING AROUND! PLEASE WAKE UP!"
"WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!"
"I-I-I don't know, but something is wrong with her. She won't wake up. She's still breathing, but she's not getting up!"
"What's going on? What's happening?" Kamijou was already there the moment those girls screamed.
"W-W-We were p-playing around, a-and then all of as-s-sudden Akemi, just, d-d-dropped on the ground."
"And she's not waking up no matter what we do!"
"Okay, I need you both to calm down. We can get through this. You both have your phones? Called for emergency?"
"I-I forgot to bring mine when I left my dorm." Mako said.
"My phone's here. I'll go call them." Muu offered.
"Good, that's a good thing. We should bring her in the shade, let her cool off before this gets worse. But don't worry, she'll be fine, just need to bring her to the shades." Kamijou calmly explained to the two girls, and with their help brought the older Akemi to a bench, and using his bag to elevate her head, she laid down, unconscious.
"I called for Emergency Services, said they'll be here in a couple minutes."
"Oh, that's great news. Now'll just need to keep her cool and-"
".sorry. .so sorry... this.. is."
"..." All three turned around to see a girl behind them, who Kamijou realized was the girl on the phone.
"...this is... I'm so sorry..."
"Saten what are you-?" Muu started to say before drifting off.
Kamijou quickly grabbed the girl before her back could hit ground. He set her up to another bench near Akemi's.
"W-W-W-What... what's happening..." Mako felt her mind frozen with fear.
"Hey, miss... shit! Same with Akemi-san! Where the hell are they!?"
"I'm so... so sorry! This is... I didn't want this to happen!" The flower girl continued apologizing to no one. Kamijou and Mako were both trying to make sure both girls were taken care of.
By the time Emergency arrived, Mako fell too.
All that was left, was the flowerclip girl.
-
"I used it because I didn't want to feel weak. I wanted to have a power, just like you, and Misaka-san and Shirai-san! But I was afraid, afraid to do it myself. I involved the others into this, and now they might never wake up. Is this karma, for having taken it in the first place? What if I fall and I never wake up? And if I do, would I really recover?
Am I comdemned to be a weakling forever? A worthless, undeserving, defective-"
"STOP IT SATEN! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DID, I WILL MAKE SURE TO SAVE YOU, AND AKEMI, MUU-CHAN, MAKO AND THE OTHERS! AS A MEMBER OF- NO,
AS YOUR FRIEND I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO SAVE YOU ALL! I SWEAR IT!"
"..."
"Also, don't say... you're worthless, or undeserving, or defective. You have helped me so much, you've lifted me up so many times I can't even begin to count. So please, please Saten-san...
Don't say... such sad things..."
"..."
"*sob*... *sob*..."
"Hehehehe..."
"S-Saten-san?"
"Seriously... hehe, when you say "I'll do everything to save you"..."
"W-W-Well, not me, Misaka-san and Shirai-san too! They'll also-"
"I get it. I get it. Thank you.
Sorry for worrying you. I leave it all up to you."
Saten hung up the phone, her heart still in regret and pain. Any moment now, and the side effect will start to settle in.
'Uiharu is really an amazing person, even to a rotten girl like me,' she thought, melancholic. Perhaps this was the universe's way of punishing her for her selfishness.
A thud was heard from behind her, causing her to turn around, hoping it was-
"Oh... It's you. How long have you been standing there?"
"...Long enough. That your friend in the phone?"
"Y-Yeah. You uh, you... heard everything... in that call?"
"So and so. Don't worry, it's not in my interest to pry."
The boy from the park. She didn't know him that much. In fact the only interaction they had was when he brought her to her dorm. Come to think of it she didn't really remember her trip from the park to her dorms.
"I nearly got in trouble from the landlady, but I told her about what happened, and that maybe you needed some company. I think she's doubtful about that. By the way, here's your water."
"No, I-I'm not thirsty."
"Really? The voice kinda gives it away."
"Uuugh," Saten felt her throat had dried up. She realized that she hadn't drunk anything after what happened in the park. "T-thank you, but I'm good. To be honest, I don't think it'll do much when it happens."
"What happens?"
"...Oh, nevermind. You might be tired from taking me home, I'll make you something to eat-" she started to say as she got up, however in that moment her legs gave way, and she collapsed.
It was only due to the older boy that she didn't end up falling to the ground. She found herself held in a bridal carry by the boy, however her mind was too numb, too tired, too... drowsy, that she couldn't even blush in embarrasment at the intimacy.
"Whoops... hehe, sorry. I... guess... I'm... gonna be... sleeping... in... aw...hile..."
"There must be something I can do for you. I, I honestly don't know what's going on, but I can call a hospital and make sure you-"
"No. I don't think they can help me at this point. This... disease, I'm now having, it's not something the... doctors could... cure... so... easily... the... y... wo-... n't.. be... able... to..." Saten tried to assure the older boy but she found herself slurring.
"D-Don't worry, I-I-I'll think of something, stay here. I'll be back-"
"Don't!" The boy found the hem of his shirt, grabbed by Saten. He stopped instantly, before looking down at the girl.
She... looked so... sick. Her face, flushed from the heat, droopy eyelids, not enough strength to keep them open. His heart sunk when he realized, there was nothing ge could do to help her.
"Just... just... stay... with... me... don't wanna... drift... off... alone..."
"...Yeah sure."
"Thanks..."
The boy sat on the bed, with the ill girl within his arms. Then he felt the warm touch of the girl in his cheeks.
"You... have... nice... eyes..." was all she could say before she succumbed to the Sandman's spell.
-
Laying her in the bed Kamijou was left alone. Thinking. Puzzled by such... depressing events.
Was... this all a punishment? A wake-up call? Only a few hours ago he was having the best time of his life. Just enjoying. All fun and rainbows.
Then this happened. All under his nose.
Sure. One may say that this was beyond his control, that it wasn't his fault, it was all a stroke of misfortune.
Wait... misfortune?
'Was this... all but misfortune? I spent a day off of fighting street thugs, helping people, and the only thing the world gives me as a reward for my good works, are 3 girls in a fucking coma!?'
This was... this had... to be some sick joke, right?
Whoever was up there, pulling the strings, they must be making fun of him, weren't they?
He... he... he...
"What could I do?"
...
...
...
By the time Uiharu arrived to the dorms, she found Saten laid down into the bed, as if simply asleep.
She failed to notice the slightly ajar window.
-
Are you still reading? Did you see the change?
Yeah, I changed the whole ending.
Reason? I realized in hindsight, just a few hours ago that that ending did not make any sense.
I know, that some of you guys were hyped up, seeing Kamijou be pissed off at what happened and try to find a way to make sure who did it would pay.
If you had been expecting Kamijou going around, kicking ass, taking names and be the one to save the day in the next chapters... well I apologize.
In hindsight it was a bad idea to have Kamijou act like that. For starters, Kamijou at this point DOESN'T know about Level Upper. So for me, it made no sense for him to get angry all of a sudden.
Narratively it didn't make a whole lot of sense for that to happen, and I felt that if I continued writing it out from that moment it would ruin the story going forward and create plotholes.
I'm sorry if I had disappointed some of you guys. If maybe there was a way for me to keep that moment in and have it make sense, I would leave it in. But I can't seem to think any.
Once again, I am very sorry for this.