I headed back to the parking lot and was about to turn on my motorcycle when someone came running towards me from the elevator.
"Hey! Hey!!!"
"Huh?"
"Uwaaahhh… Thank goodness that I caught up to you. I thought you actually left already."
"…"
It was Yusa-san. My Operator and the chief of the other Operator Agents in the S.S.S.
"Hey. Mind giving me a ride back home? There would be no trains anymore and this place aren't close enough to the highway to be frequented by taxis."
"Umm…"
"Please, please… Pretty please!"
"…"
The voice and the body are definitely Yusa-san… but something odd seems to be in play.
"Alright. I'll just adjust the seat so you can ride on the back."
"Really? Yay!"
"…"
"Thanks a bunch. I thought I really have to walk back home."
"No problem, Yusa-san… I can't imagine letting you walk back to Sunogahara-cho anyway."
"Yep. You're a lifesaver!"
"Oh please, I'm just helping out a co-worker… Long office hours can be mentally straining, so I don't mind taking a detour even though it's away from my apartment."
I undid the hooks of the storage box at the passenger seat of my motorcycle and placed it further back near the rear lights.
"Say, Yusa-san… Do you think they'll arrange for better food in the cafeteria?"
"Huh?"
"I mean… The pies are dry and the meats are just swimming in gravy. I don't want to be a jerk to the chefs, but the quality of our food just really shouts "we're not getting enough budget" all the time when I eat there."
"Oh… Oh! You mean that! Yeah, yeah… that."
"…Let's go now then, Yusa-san."
"Okay! Just let me climb up and-"
*Click!*
"-!!!"
From the storage box of my motorcycle, I took out my service handgun and pointed it right on this person's forehead.
"This is Agent Chronia in Main parking area 3 north. Requesting assistance from Security… I think I found the intruder."
{Copy that, Agent Chronia. Sending security teams to your position right now.}
"How… how did you manage to-"
"How you restructured your face and your body is perfect… but you seem to have ran out of luck when you asked me for a ride. Someone who knows the person you are impersonating very personally."
"Where… where did I go wrong?"
With a smirk on my face, I told them all about the things they done wrong.
"Yusa-san always has a deadpan tone when talking. She never addresses me casually nor will she let me call her as just Yusa-san continuously in a conversation. She lives in a dormitory here and she certainly never lives at my neighborhood."
"Kuh!"
"But most importantly…"
"Huh?"
"She will never let anyone to complain about the cafeteria food… Since she's the one who wrote all of those terribly tasting recipes!"
"Darn-!"
"Hold it right there!"
This impersonator was about to make an escape, but I activated my Psychic powers and with them being close enough, I got to control the blood on their body and forced them to kneel down.
"Agent Chronia! Sir!"
"I'm right here! Cuff this person up!"
"Yes, sir!"
Just in time, the guards appeared and cuffed this person up and made them wear a straitjacket to restrict their movement.
"Alright. Let's bring this guy to the-"
"Hold it."
"Agent…?"
"I want to know who this bastard is that dared to impersonate my lady boss."
I approached them and as I expected due to the aura surrounding them, I knew who it was.
"Hanamichi-san… huh?"
"You…"
"I guess the Sumeragi group would find it much better to be the one to judge you… bring him to the slammer and inform Yurippe or Hinata-san. They'll handle the handover to the Sumeragi men."
"Yes, sir!"
As he was being taken away, someone appeared from the elevator and walked towards me with a calm expression.
"You were sharp there… I didn't expect to be the one whose appearance would be used by the intruder."
"Yeah… he really was unlucky that he ran into me and planned to ride out with me."
"Yeah… another thing."
"Huh?"
*Piyak!"
"Aaaahhhh!!!"
Out of nowhere, Yusa-san kicked me on the thigh which made me wince in pain on the ground.
"How dare you call my cooking terribly tasting? I poured all of my heart in there, you know?"
"Owww… I was just telling the truth- Uck-!"
"What was that, you maggot? Are you saying something?"
And while on the ground, she stepped on my back and grinded her shoe deeper, causing more pain.
"S-s-s-sorry! I'm sorry, Yusa-san!"
"HUH?!"
"I'm sorry, Operator Yusa-sama!"
In the end, I saw a completely different side of Yusa-san… Someone that would crush you under her heels even while you're crying and begging her for mercy.
These are the times when I am reminded that even though they have almost years upon years of friendship and memories to keep them together, both Yurippe and Hinata-san are terrified of her.
"Hmm… I think I should shop for ingredients for breakfast now. It's already almost dawn after all. Those shops run by the uncles and aunties would surely be glad to have me as the first customer of the day."
Instead of heading home, I decided to take a nap in an empty room in the S.S.S dormitory since I may be called up while Naoi-san's men are interrogating this Hanamichi guy. By daybreak though, I thought about going ahead to the market area in Old Tokyo to buy the necessary ingredients for breakfast… along with some taro roots and pork ribs for my special anti-hangover soup for Kirin-sensei.
"Yeah… She would appreciate it surely. She drank wine, so it would be a bad hangover indeed."
I giggled a little about the prospect of dealing with Kirin-sensei who is clutching her head tightly in pain and acting like a baby about all kinds of things… it reminds me of my mother who would do those things just after she was hospitalized in order to cheer me up.
"Wait… what the…"
All of the happy thoughts I have though… was quickly erased by what I felt as soon as I entered Sunogahara-cho.
"No… No way!"
The suffocating density of Astra energy… the residual aura of a recently ended battle… the almost dead-silent neighborhood that should be waking up to the bright new day right now…
"No! Not them!"
I pulled the throttle of my motorcycle, not minding any traffic rules or the hazard of some other vehicle probably running across me just so I can get back home as quickly as possible.
I wished… no, I prayed that they were safe. I don't want to even imagine having those three mixed up with the mess of my war against those people.
"Sensei! Mio!! Yukari!!!"
I basically jumped off my vehicle and stumbled into the house, shouting the names of the people whose safety I wanted to be assured of.
"Mio! Are you guys alright?! Answer me, please!"
I ran upstairs and with my heart beating so fast in a mixed feeling of anxiety and madness. I opened the door to see Mio, Yukari and Rea huddled at one corner of the room, with their eyes shut and their breathing stable yet almost faint.
"I'm sorry… Rai-kun…"
"Sensei? What is happening- Wait, Sensei!"
"Guhak!"
From the door of the children's bedroom, Kirin-sensei spoke along with a few burdened breaths which let me know that she is alright. However, I quickly noticed a cut on her belly that was bleeding terribly bad.
"Tch!
"Urgh! AAAAHHHH!!!"
"Don't move, Sensei! I can close this! I promise you that you'll live!"
Using my powers, I forcibly pulled her blood together to form a clot to stop it from bleeding out more and with the medical kit in the room, used a bandage and several pads of gauze pads to keep her wound bound.
"Sensei… what happened here? Why are the neighbors quiet? Why are my children not waking up?!"
"…They attacked because of me. I'm very sorry, Rai-kun… Kak!"
"Darn it! You lost too much blood! Stay right here, I'll go take some blood from my fridge!"
"Alright…Kak! Gah!"
While she is still conscious but is already coughing up blood, I went to my closet in the living room downstairs and there, took the blood bags of negative O-type that can be transfused to anyone.
"I'm back, sensei. Come on, keep talking as much as you can so you can stay awake. Let me handle the stressful things!"
"I and the kids were sleeping… and by midnight… a group of Miyazono psychics… set up emitters and scanners… I stood up and made a Subspace… took them by surprise..."
"Alright, alright… Just go on."
"But then… all of them became Malignances trying to break into reality… had to stop them… fought for so long… got hurt really bad…"
I finally found a blood vessel on her forearm to connect the transfusion line into and soon, Kirin-sensei's skin became less pale.
"Are they still here? Did they find us out?!"
"No… I managed to kill all of them including those who transformed into Malignances. I think we're safe…"
"Good… That's good, sensei…"
"Haaaaa-"
"Mio!"
As soon as I calmed down after knowing that Kirin-sensei would be safe, I heard Mio taking a sharp intake of breath and I turned to check them.
"Mio, are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?"
"N-No… What is happening, Rai-san?"
"Huh?"
"Auntie Kirin told us that there's an earthquake and to hide at this corner… Is the earthquake over?"
Earthquake… Sensei must have used that to hide the fact that she sensed and has to fight against the Miyazono men.
"It's alright… Everything is alright now, darling."
"A-Ah! Y-yes…"
"Mn? Mio-nee and Rai-nii…"
"Ah. Good morning, Yukari."
"Mm. Mornin'."
As the sun peered out into the room, all of my children were already awake, and Kirin-sensei seems to be a bit better than her previously beaten state.
"Did you call Renjiro?"
"Yes… I need him to evacuate you back to the Sumeragi estate and also report something."
"Something?"
"Remember that guy yesterday? The one named Hanamichi who is Furuta-sensei's doppelganger?"
"Yes. What about him?"
"He's a traitor. He snuck to our base last night and would've escaped back with sensitive data if he didn't run into me."
"What-?!"
"I thought I should inform you and Furuta-sensei about this… There's a possibility that he could've passed on information about the Sumeragi group to the Miyazonos… which if you think about it, might have been the way they found you and decided to ambush you here."
"That's possible… Urk!"
"Sensei!"
"I just want to sit up… I don't want Renjiro to see me in a futile state."
"Alright…"
"What should we do now, then? We've been trying our best to kick out traitors silently… but if it's a person with that kind of power, he might've leaked more information than what we're alright with."
Having this kind of situation on our hands, I was reminded of what Chief Naoi told me yesterday.
"I can't bite more than I can chew in this… If things go south, we're all screwed."
"Hey, Rai-kun."
"Yes, Sensei?"
"How about we in the Sumeragi group arrange for a safe house for your children?"
"…"
"If things keep up like this, they will surely be targets for the enemy…"
I am conflicted with what Kirin-sensei is suggesting. I hate that I have to drag my children to this mess.
["Ephraim. Be alert!"]
"-!"
["I am sensing someone with a strong aura approaching us!"]
"
Out of nowhere, Law shouted from inside me and by instinct, I activated my Psychic powers to prepare for battle.
"Sensei… Please stay with the kids until Furuta-sensei gets here."
"Rai?"
"There's… There is someone approaching us. And I don't think this one is on our side."
My heartbeats raced as I walked downstairs and outside of my house towards the place where this aura and condensed Astra energy is welling up.
"…"
"Oh… I didn't expect you to come here by yourself."
"You…"
"My sisters seemed to have been a bit cranky with helping out in my jail break. I wasn't really positive with leaving that place where you kept me, but after hearing about that brat Satoshi's death, I guess I can make do with a duel with the guy who angered me and killed him."
Even though his face and body is different, the aura of his Astra energy let me know that this person is who I expect him to be.
"Miyazono Keiji…"
"Ping-pong! You're correct, sonny."
"You…"
I finally understood the reason why the Miyazono men set up Astra energy emitters and sensors around Sunogahara-cho out of the blue… It was to create an area of concentrated Astra energy so he can escape his prison cell. As for those men, I saw them laying down unconscious around him, probably knocked out after whatever kind of process was done to summon their master outside of his holding cell.
"Now then… I did tell you during our last meeting that I will make you pay for harming me, right?"
"…"
"Well then, kiddo… Let's start!"
As soon as he shouted that, I raced against him in forming a Mental Subspace.
"Too slow!"
"Hrgh!"
Of course, even at my best, he was the one who won in forming the Subspace first and in an instant, all of the colors in the surroundings were drained, forming a monotonous greyscale area in every place that the eye can peer into.
"
"You fool!"
"What the-!?"
"You think you can win against me in physical combat? Think again!"
"Guak-!"
With my legs' muscle cells supplied with as much oxygen as it can bear, the force of me kicking off the ground to send a bone-breaking punch on his torso should be enough to cripple him, but instead, he caught all of the force of my fist with his hand as if it was the most normal thing to him and with no warning, sunk his knee to my abdomen.
"You insolent bastard!"
"Urgh!"
"You think you can just upstage someone as great as me like that?!"
"Gah!"
"You're a hundred years away from even boasting anything in front of me!"
With his hand still tightly grasping my wrist, he rained punches, knee blows and kicks to my body and after his monologue, threw me into a wall like a ragdoll. It caved in until it finally cracked and fell on my pained body.
"Urk! Kak!"
"Let me see how you'll squirm around with this one…
"W-what… What the hell?!?!?!"
I was trying to stand back up after he beaten me, but I soon felt a warm feeling on my lower half and when I looked at it, saw that my legs became a mirror image of me. As if I and this perfect copy of me are joined fully on the hip and peering at each other.
"Not enough! You deserve to lose your mind after your insolence against me!"
"No…! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
I lost my focus on him as I continued to see my limbs becoming contorted into all kinds of shapes and forms. My legs became a perfect replica of my upper half, my arms showed countless small eyes, my left chest where my heart is located was torn open and my heart floated out while it was still beating, and my cheeks opened up to form two more mouths that kept on speaking garbled words.
It was a scene of madness for me. As if I was being drugged and all of the things that I keep on seeing can no longer be differentiated if it was reality or just fantasy.
"That's right… That's right! Shout! Scream in horror! Learn that you made a mistake by threatening me!"
"Ahh… My arms! Stop looking at me! STOP!!!"
All that I was seeing at this point was things of pure horror to me. Something so terribly grotesque that even if I am told that none of this was true, my senses would form that "feeling" for me that will make it feel true to me eventually.
The innumerable and almost freakishly realistic eyes that peered out of my arms all looked aimlessly in all kinds of directions that made my skin crawl in horror. It was as if something alive was stuck on my pores and are sinking their roots on my flesh.
"No! Get out! Get out! Get off me!!!"
"Hahaha! That's right! Tear your flesh! Spill your blood! Show the lowliness of your mongrel mind!"
"URGH! AAAAHHHH!!!"
"Wahaha… WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
At this point, fear has already consumed me… I lost my focus on my enemy and began to scratch off the misshapen limbs that I can see and sense although I wasn't really sure if it was real or not.
["…"]
"GET OFF. GET OFF. GET OFF. GET OFF!!!"
["You humans sure have a lot of things that you instinctively fear."]
As soon as I heard Law's seemingly exasperated voice, the sights and senses of something horribly scary to me disappeared… As if I was suddenly yanked out of the nightmare in a single snap of a finger.
"W-w-what…? How did you manage to-"
"YOU-!"
"Tch… Heh! I don't need to feel threatened… You're just garbage compared to me anyway. Come on! Raise your guard up again so I can show you the distance between our powers-"
"Come forth!"
"-?!"
"Primordial Blood Oath!"
Now that I was aware of the nature of his power and how he arrogantly wields it, I instinctively knew how I should counter his fighting style simply by pushing forward with all of my force and fury.
"HAH! HRAAA!!!"
"Damn-! How can you bounce back after that-"
"
"Crap-"
"
While he is busy dodging or reflecting off the sweeping slashes and several stabs of my spear, I managed to stealthily cast an ability on my left fist which hit him squarely on the center of his sternum, effectively knocking the air out of him.
"HGAH-!"
"
"NO-!"
"
I casted another ability, aiming to immobilize him on the spot by taking control of the blood inside his body. Thinking that I was planning to hit him physically again he raised his arms in front of him, effectively freezing him in a position that makes every other part of his body unprotected.
"Kh! Why…? How did you-!"
"For someone who is here to settle the score… You sure have your head too far off to the clouds that you can barely do anything cohesive… Ptoo!"
I spoke those words towards him before spitting out a small amount of blood from my mouth. It must've come from the beating he did against me earlier.
"How dare you… How dare you make someone such as I to fall to the ground while you stand there as if you're any higher than me!"
"You shut your filthy mouth!"
*FYII-!*
"Crap!"
My spear that is painted dark crimson red all over split through the air with my blunt-sided slash that after connecting with his back, audibly echoed several broken bones on his ribs and probably even the spine.
"KAK-!"
"Don't ever think about showing your face in front of those that I live for!"
"TA-KAK!"
"I will-"
Before I can continue on my raging swarm of attacks, I felt a tingle from the left of my head and dodged instinctively just in time before a handgun bullet whirred past where my head was.
"What on- You've gotta be kidding me…"
I can only blurt out those words after seeing a dozen men wearing the Seed Psychic uniforms of the Miyazono corporation pointing their guns at me while having soulless expressions on their faces. They were the ones who are unconsciously sprawled around him earlier.
"My, my… Are you perhaps familiar with them?"
"You son of a bitch! So, you're the one who made those-"
"What are you peons standing there for?! Shoot him while I'm regaining my bearings!"
"""…"""
"Crap!"
With the place where we fought being leveled by our attacks, I found no suitable place to seek cover and instead, slashed my forearm open to make it bleed out enough blood so I can use it as a temporary shield.
*Pyak! Byak! Tak-Tak-Tak!*
"Darn! Liquify!"
"…"
The semi-congealed blood of mine was soft and elastic enough to guide the shot bullets out away from me as I continued to press forward, spear in hand and a desperation to silence this guy metaphorically… or literally.
"I'm sorry, you lot… You better blame that monster for what I'm about to do!
*Glog… Pyiii-tyik-!*
At a suitable distance, I shaped my blood shield into a single spike while they are reloading their guns and even though there was only one person who was directly hit, his own blood became affected by my own and in an instant, they were all pierced by spikes of blood that explosively shot out of their bodies, claiming their lives in an instant.
"Now… what kind of hellhole have you crawled into…?"
"Boo!"
"-?!"
"NYAHAHAHAHA!!! As I said, you are too slow!"
While I was looking around for him, he suddenly popped his head out of the pile of rubble just a feet away from me and in nothing but a moment, he has already grabbed my face and preparing to cast an ability on me.
"
"I won't let you-!"