"No, no. I don't mean to laugh at you." Yuuya shook his head, hands in his lab coat pockets, looking at the world-weary albino girl.
"Then why are you waiting for me?" Suzushina Yuriko (Accelerator) stood with her hands in her pockets, slouching. Her red eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting I take the first mission to wipe out some scum?"
She sneered. As always, his smile felt like he was mocking her existence.
"Oh dear. Although my Dark Side team is eager to open... my members haven't reached their due dates yet." Yuuya grinned. "I can't take official missions until my squad is assembled. But thanks to my hacking skills... Academy City's secrets are basically an open book to me."
"So what exactly are you doing here?" Yuriko asked coldly.
"I'm walking you home, of course. I'm just being a good Team Leader, looking after my future teammate~"
Of course, he had an ulterior motive. Floating above Yuriko's head was a dazzling light.
[Treasure Chest: Platinum Rank]
Gold corresponded to Level 5. Platinum corresponded to Level 6. There were five lock conditions. If the pattern held, he needed to make significant breakthroughs in her character arc to unlock them.
"Tch. What are you doing at my house? There's nothing to see." Yuriko turned away, intending to ignore him.
"You just don't understand fun," Yuuya teased, walking beside her with his hands behind his head. "You've become like this because you don't know how to find joy in life. If you know how to have fun, you'll be happy no matter what. Don't obsess over one thing. It'll make you turn evil."
"Tsk. You talk like you know me." Yuriko stopped at a vending machine. She punched the button violently.
Clatter.
She picked up several cans of black coffee. She cracked one open and downed it like water.
"Coffee, huh?" Yuuya leaned against the wall. "In the past two months... you killed almost ten thousand Misaka Sisters. Dozens every day."
Yuriko froze. The can crunched in her hand.
"You could only keep going with caffeine," Yuuya continued mercilessly. "The shock of killing... the smell of blood... you probably vomit up any real food you eat. Speaking of which... you're quite pitiful."
Crunch.
The coffee can was crushed into a flat disc. Coffee dripped onto the pavement. Yuriko's pupils trembled. Images flashed through her mind. The smell of ozone. The sight of identical corpses. The feeling of blood on her hands. A wave of nausea hit her. She covered her mouth.
"You'd better stop now... you bastard!" She gritted her teeth. Her red eyes filled with murderous intent and madness. "Don't think that just because you beat me once... you can talk to me like that!"
"Oh? Getting angry?" Yuuya was unconcerned. "Haven't you noticed? Killing too many Sisters has warped your mind. You're emotionally unstable."
Yuriko paused. Her face darkened. She didn't speak. She just started walking away faster. 'Indeed... I have changed. I have become easily angered. I hate everything. Is it really like those rumors say? Has my heart become twisted because of the killing?'
According to this bastard, she was just being manipulated by the City. Fooled into becoming a monster for a Level 6 shift that might not even be real. She stopped. Yuuya stopped too, tilting his head.
Scrape. Scrape.
Footsteps echoed in the alley. Shadows emerged from the darkness. Five thugs wielding baseball bats and brass knuckles blocked the path ahead. Six more appeared behind them, armed with knives and chains. They looked at the skinny albino girl with ferocious smiles—a mix of excitement and fear.
"Oh my," Yuuya teased. "How did they find you? This welcome ceremony is quite something."
"Tch. It's always the same." Yuriko clicked her tongue. "These scumbags show up every day." She relaxed her shoulders, looking at them with utter disgust.
"The Strongest Level 5 in Academy City... Hehehe..." one thug grinned, licking his lips. "If I beat her, I'll be the Strongest!"
"Defeat her and we'll be famous!"
"Let's get her!"
"Kill her!"
The thugs roared and charged. "How foolish," Yuuya sighed. "One of life's three great illusions: 'I can win.'"
...
Three Minutes Later.
CRACK!
"GAAAHHH!"
Screams echoed in the alley. Seven or eight thugs lay on the broken concrete, blood gushing from shattered limbs. The pavement looked like it had been hit by a grenade bombardment. Twisted metal bats and broken knives littered the ground.
In the center of the carnage stood two figures. One was the albino girl in black and white, looking bored. The other was the boy in the lab coat, yawning.
"Hey. Hurry up and finish them off," Yuuya said, checking his nails. "I have important business."
"D-Die!" Provoked by fear, a thug lunged at Yuuya with a knife.
Clang.
The blade hit Yuuya's neck and shattered.
Snap.
"AAAAHHH!" The thug's arm twisted at an unnatural angle as the kinetic energy reflected back into his own bones. He fell to the ground, screaming.
"M-Monster!"
"Run!"
The remaining thugs turned to flee. Tap. Yuriko lightly tapped the ground with her toe.
BOOM!
The vectors of the concrete reversed. The ground exploded upward like a landmine beneath the fleeing thugs' feet. They were sent flying, crashing into the walls and rolling in agony.
"Heh." Yuriko stood amidst the groaning bodies. Her red eyes were filled with a cold, misanthropic light. "This is what I experience every day."
She looked at Yuuya, her lips twisting into a bitter smile. "Not just once. Every time I step out of my apartment, I encounter trash like this. Seeking fame. Seeking death. Tell me... is there any point in saving a world full of trash?"
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