(This is a joint post between
Cinia Pacifica,
BlinkXPoke and
Montacia.)
The three walked out of the room, with Ayane's hands full with the body of the young girl; giving her a piggyback ride. A long sigh of relief escaped Jun's lips.
"Oh, man..." he was grateful, since he'd be able to leave this place alive, especially after nearly putting his life in jeopardy. It was an unpleasant experience seeing everything that he did today.
He paused a moment to examine the young girl they had just rescued.
"So she is the reason you two came in here? Couldn't you have maybe called for backup, so this could have been handled more... cleanly?" it struck Jun as strange, seeing two girls carry out something like this by themselves. He would've thought it was it job for Anti-Skill.
"Anti-Skill can't possibly handle something like this properly, not against BLOCK, anyway. It'd only put more danger on Fuyuko. Besides, I don't trust in the abilites of Anti-Skill anyway."
"Aw, you need to rely on us at least a little bit more, Misaki-san, at least rely on me more, your old friend! Though, I do understand why you think Anti-Skill might not be able to handle this as properly as you did."
Jun was somewhat jealous of the friendly atmosphere between Ayane and the other girl, especially in a situation like this.
How do they know each other...? Ayane called her an 'old friend'... He couldn't think of a good answer. One is a middle school student and the other is a college student.
But another question came to his mind:
Wait, Misaki? Is that her name? Jun glanced over at the girl in the Tokiwadai uniform. It was a prestigious girls school for high-leveled espers, and he knew that two students there are level 5s: Misaka Mikoto, the Railgun, and...
"Shokuhou Misaki, the Mental Out?" he thought out loud.
That explains a bunch of things...
Misaki looked back towards Jun,
"Took you long enough," she then faced forward again. Snapping out of her reverie,
"Eh? ...Eh?" Ayane looked back and forth between the two, she didn't notice Jun's muttering. Misaki continued walking - silent.
Suddenly, Jun felt respect for Misaki, after finally recognizing her. He was in the presence of one of the most powerful espers in Academy City.
But, why did she risk her life for this little girl? Is she a friend or relative of some kind? He contemplated the possibilities, considering whether he should ask about it out loud, but ultimately deciding against it. It wasn't any of Jun's business, so he'd rather not upset anyone by asking. Instead, he turned to Ayane and asked,
"How do you know Misaki? You two seem friendly."
Ayane felt as though a dagger stabbed into her for a moment, the piercing glare from Misaki seemed almost like an illusion when she eyed Ayane for less than a second while walking.
"Ahh... It's a long story. We've known each other for quite a long time now."
"Really?" Jun tilted his head, intrigued that Ayane has known Misaki for a long time.
"But, she's pretty young isn't she?" Tokiwadai is a middle school, and Ayane attends Nagatenjouki Academy, a college.
"Are your parents friends with hers or something?" he ventured a guess.
Ayane gave a wry smile,
"Mnm... I could answer that, but I'm pretty sure Misaki-san will remove your memories soon after. Would you prefer that?"
"Oh, uh..." He hesitated. Jun would rather not have his memories erased, but he wanted to know more about Ayane and her relationship with Misaki. At first, he nearly gave in and stopped asking, but in the end, he decided that 'pretty sure' meant there was a non-zero chance he would not have his memories erased, and he will have learned something new about Ayane.
"I'll take that risk" Jun declared confidently.
"But I'm not telling anyway~!" Ayane smiled, she had a playful nature side of her revealed, as if a victor for having tricked Jun.
"Aw, come on! That's not fair!" Jun pouted jokingly. He truly was a little disappointed that he couldn't get the answer out of Ayane, but figured,
Maybe she'll tell me about it some other time...
"Ahaha, that did the trick to lighten the mood."
***
Fuyuko's dreams had been peaceful at first; eating lots of desserts, playing at the amusement park, visiting the aquarium. It felt like never-ending fun, there was always something else to do when she got bored of whatever she was already doing. It was then that the fireworks began. The sky faded to black and flashed its pale yellow teeth as it smirked down towards the oncoming tragedy.
Having been dressed up by the land lady in a hand-me-down yukata, Fuyuko was enjoying her first festival at a nearby shrine. She had been dragging her father around each stall, asking to try this and that. She spent so long squatting in front of the small fish tanks, trying to scoop up the fish with paper nets, but to no avail. The sudden bang from the explosion had caused Fuyuko to be frightened at first, however with encouragement from her father, Fuyuko looked up to see f flowers in the night sky. One after another, flares were being sent up towards the heavens, explosions echoing the gunshots that the unconscious Fuyuko was unaware of. She stared in amazement but held on tightly to her father's hand for support, fearing that the vibrations resounding throughout the air would cause her to lose her balance.
"Shall we leave then?" Fuyuko's father asked, as the fireworks display came to an end.
Fuyuko was feeling just a bit tired, however she still wanted to play.
"One more, Papa! Fuyu wants to get one more water balloon!"
Fuyuko's father sighed and agreed, "Okay, but Fuyu can only get one more for sure, alright?" Although he knew he was far too tired to continue, having worked extra hard that day to ensure he returned home early so he could take Fuyuko to the festival, Fuyuko's father was determined to let Fuyuko play as much as she wanted to, to make up for the days he had to work overtime and made her wait at the day care center.
It took a while, but at last Fuyuko hooked up her extra water balloon. The old man who owned the stall had decided that she could take another though since the festival was ending anyway, and so Fuyuko happily chose one from the pool. With her two newest balloons in one hand and her father's hand in the other, they made their way back towards their apartment. Half way during the walk however, Fuyuko started dragging her feet. Noting that she was tired from playing all night, Fuyuko's father hoisted her up onto his back, and gave her a piggy back ride to carry her home.
The rustle of her father digging out his keys awoke Fuyuko from her snooze. At first she simply stayed still, hoping to rest a little more, but then she heard the wheezing and noticed the fact that her father was strugging to open the door.
"Papa? Are you okay?" Fuyuko asked as she began to worry.
Putting up a brave front, not wanting her to notice how weak he actually was, "Yeah. Fuyu doesn't have to worry, Papa just can't reall-" Without finishing his sentence, Fuyuko's father blacked out and fell to the floor unconscious.
"Papa!" Fuyuko shouted as she jolted awake clinging on to Ayane's shoulders. She recalled how that night she had been so shocked and unaware of what to do that she simply cried while shouting for help. Thankfully the neighbours had woken up and came out to check the commotion, quickly dialling 119 upon finding the crying Fuyuko and her collapsed father lying in front of their door.
***
Suddenly Fuyuko looked around to see the unexpected scenery. She was neither sitting by her collapsed father in her memories of the past, nor in her Tokiwadai dorm room, which she last remembered falling asleep in. Instead, she was in a dark corridor, being piggybacked by an older girl with long blond hair. Walking on one side of her was her room mate, Misaki, and on the other side was a boy with dark hair and blue eyes.
"Eh, where is Fuyu?"
"Fuyuko, are you alright now~? ★" Misaki asked, she seemed to be acting like her usual self. Ayane smiled,
"You're awake, I'm so glad."
"Fuyu is fine? What happened? Where are we?" Fuyuko was genuinely confused as to why everyone seemed worried. She had absolutely no idea what had happened while she was asleep.
"Mnm... " Misaki kept up her smile for a few seconds more, then a
beep sound resounded across the steel walls, Fuyuko was back to sleep, Misaki then proceeded to putting back to remote controller on her bag. Ayane looked slightly sad, Misaki didn't say anything more.
They finally found themselves outside the facility.