Reality (Ch. 27-29)

ExalF:- I am alive! Even if you aren't surprised by this, I am (lol). Anyway, upon checking my inbox, something I haven't done in ages, I noticed that someone has been voting for this rewrite(?) despite the unannounced hiatus. Thank you, Minamjiff; I won't let your actions be for naught.

Without further ado, I present you a new chapter of RED! (I already have two more written and will publish soon after some tweaking).

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It's currently past midnight. Ayumi is deep asleep, most likely very tired from the camping trip. Speaking of which, I will now be conducting an "experiment" that will be significantly influencing the way I do things henceforth.

I make sure to not make any noise as I get up and head to the kitchen.

Alright then, let's see...

I imagine myself lifting off the ground, and surprisingly, that works.

This confirms it. I do have the ability to steal others' abilities. My best guess as to how it's done would be when I use my ability to take over others' bodies. Guess my ability wasn't that useless after all. Still, despite finding this out, I won't integrate with the ability, after all, there is no real benefit in doing so before I leave the Platform.

--------

"I'm sorry I couldn't make breakfast," Ayumi says in the morning as she lies on her futon.

I take a look at the thermometer in my hand: 38.9 C. Her fever has gotten worse...

I shake my head in response to her words and say, "You're sick, so don't push yourself. I'll call the school to tell them you're not going. Make sure you get a good rest."

"Roger," she replies in a somewhat desolate tone.

------

At school, the day goes by as usual, until the arrival of the soaked creep, that is.

"The ability is... collapse," says the water-soaked creep before leaving the room without uttering another word.

Collapse, huh? I wonder what such an ability would do. It could either mean collapse, as in making someone faint, or something perhaps actual physical destruction.

"Wait..."

Hm?

"This is our school's condo complex," Nao says as she stares at the map.

"So? Isn't it normal that there would be ability users in this school?" I ask.

"Right now, everyone should be at school. As adults lose their ability, we can leave them out. Then, that means that someone hasn't come to school due to being homesick or something."

"Ayumi…" Could it be her?

"Ayumi?" Nao repeats.

"I made her stay home since she had a fever," I explain.

Hearing this, Nao stands with her arms crossed as she glances at Yusa before saying, "There is a high chance that if someone has a special ability, their siblings will have one as well, remember? I told you this before."

And so, Nao suggests that we all visit Ayumi and check whether she has actually developed a special ability or she's simply sick.

------

On the way there, we go to a convenience store and buy some stuff. Primarily, porridge, which will be our dinner.

Yusa seems to be interested in some weird bag of cookies that's way too over-sized. Not only that, but it's overpriced as well.

Nao buys a few jars of 'enoki mushrooms', claiming that they're the perfect topping for porridge.

Once we're done, we go on our way towards the condo, conversing about some minor events at school while at it.

When we reach the condo, I motion for the others to wait outside for a moment as I head in to check on Ayumi.

Three pairs of shoes immediately catch my attention at the entrance. The sizes of the shoes are relatively small - middle schoolers? Perhaps, Ayumi's friends have decided to have pay her a visit.

I slowly approach the room Ayumi is supposed to be in and peek inside. Two girls and a boy. One of the girls, who happens to be the one sitting the closest to Ayumi, is cheerfully conversing with her. She seems to be the type that's friends with everyone.

The other girl is comparably plain. She… just seems to exist.

Then there is the boy. I can't begin to describe him. Perhaps too wimpy, even for a middle-schooler? Yeah, a few seconds isn't anywhere near enough time for me to make such a judgment, but I insist on it. Either way, I dislike this situation a bit.

And so, I step right in, which attracts the kids' attention to me.

"Brother Yu is home!" Ayumi exclaims.

I flash her a smile before casting my gaze over the others.

The girl closest to Ayumi stands up and says, "Hello. Sorry for intruding on you with so many people. I am Nomura, the class representative. We came here to visit Ayucchi while she's sick."

Hoho~ Surprisingly sensible for her age. She's a likable one.

The boy then gets on his feet and introduces himself, "I'm Oikawa. You little sister is allowing me to be her friend. It is a pleasure meeting you."

'Allowing me to be her friend'? The heck kind of polite speech is this? I suppose laughing to his facte would be ill-advised.

The other girl just lightly nods at me when I look in her direction.

Then, Nomura gives Oikawa a look from the side and says, "Can your brown-nosing be more obvious than that? You already got denied once. Ayucchi will hate you even more if you do that."

Ah, so this is the kid that confessed, huh? Admittedly, I am slightly tempted to behead him, but I guess that would be considered as an overreaction.

Shortly after this, the uninvited guests all get up, bid farewell to Ayumi, and proceed to leave.

All of a sudden, I feel a slightly uncomfortable sensation. Looking toward the source of the discomfort, I set my eyes upon the plain girl, who is looking at Ayumi with a not-so-pleasant expression.

Yeah, I am not ignoring that, even if she is 'just a kid'.

Willing for my telekinesis to take the shape of an arm, I 'grab' the back of her head and slam her into the ground with just enough force to hurt her, but not cause any notable damage.

The girl lets out a slight shriek, causing Nomura to call out her name while Oikawa steps rushes to help her up.

Because of the commotion, not only do Nao and the others outside step in, but Ayumi gets up to see what's going on.

"Oh no!" Ayumi shrieks.

As Oikawa helps the girl up, she looks toward me, fear apparent in her eyes as blood trails down from her nostrils. Odd, how could she tell that this is my doing?

"What's going on?" Nao voices as she focuses her sight on me.

"That missy tripped," I say, "not very hard, fortunately."s

After Nao does a small checkup, she concludes that she has only hurt her nose, but still suggests that she visit a doctor with her parents.

And so, the kids take their leave, leaving me, the others, and a worried Ayumi.

It was a bit surprising that Yusa didn't attempt to make the girl feel better by one of her idol antics, but whatever.

"Hi, Ayumi."

Ayumi, whose worry seems to have waned, raises her arms and exclaims, "It's big sister Tomori!"

Then for some reason, her expression turns into a smug one as she asks, "Can it be that you are big brother's girlfriend now?"

Nao immediately looks my way. I lightly shake my head, implying that I have no idea what she is on about.

At this moment, Yusa moves closer before greeting Ayumi cheerfully.

"Yu- sa- rin!", she says before she has a nosebleed, quite similar to when she first met her during the camping trip.

Nao rushes to her and does something to her nose bridge while explaining that it will stop the nosebleed, and it sure did.

------

We're all sitting on the dining table after having stuffed our stomachs by porridge.

Suddenly, Yusa receives a phone call. She excuses herself as she gets up from her seat and responds to the call. A little while later, she returns and says with a pout, "Yusarin has to go to work now."

"Ehhh~" whines Ayumi.

"Ayumi, don't forget that she is currently an idol," I reprimand her.

"Indeed. It's already a miracle that she has enough free time as an idol," Joijiro adds on as he fixes his glasses.

"That's exactly correct!" Ayumi's mood lightens up as she says in an understanding tone.

After we send Yusa off, we head back to the kitchen. Someone has to do the dishes now that Ayumi is sick. After a moment of deliberation, I decide that I can it later.

"You're not going to wash the dishes?" Nao asks me.

"Nope. You can wash these many dishes at any point in time." After all, there aren't that many, and I can use telekinesis to get the job done. Not only would that make it much easier, but it would also help me get used to the ability.

Nao seems to be triggered by my words for some reason as she approaches me, pulls my shirt, and says, "I will wash the dishes now and you will help me by drying them up using that dish towel."

Hah~ There goes my ingenious plan.

"Sure, I have nothing better to do anyway." Upon further consideration, I realize that I can actually use this opportunity to get closer to Nao.

And so begins a cycle of Nao washing a dish, passing it over to me, which I then dry up before placing it in a basket(?). Ayumi seems to be enjoying herself as she's looking over here while lying on the couch on her stomach. She's holding her head up by pressing her palms against her cheeks, an irritating smile on her lips. "I think you two are dating each other, but keeping it from me~"

"Nope." "No."

With how our responses coincided, Nao and I look at each other, a light smile forming on her face.

"You two are so compatible! Is that how you hide it?"

We both let out a sigh and just laugh it off. Ayumi realizes that this will go nowhere, so she fortunately stops and turns on the TV.

On the screen, Yusa is displayed singing one of her songs. Ayumi promptly yells, "Wow! Yusarin is fast!"

I chuckle a little and say, "That's obviously prerecorded."

Ayumi then has a look of revelation on her face as she just lets out an embarrassed "Oh..."

------

After making sure Ayumi is in her futon, I tell her, "I will go send Nao and Joijiro off. You stay put until I return."

Before we take our leave, Ayumi tells me and Nao, who's standing beside me, about her having a nightmare this morning. Nao asked her about it, causing Ayumi to rack her brain for a short while before dejectedly telling us she didn't remember. I comfort her by saying its just a dream, and to think of it much, before glancing over at Nao, signifying that we should leave.

Ayumi looks at both of us with a look and makes an irritating 'hmmm?' noise with a smug look.

I rub her head a little before leaving along with Nao, while Joijiro is already outside.

Outside, Nao leans on the short wall in front of the door and says, "You need to find out what her nightmare was about. It could help us determine what exactly is her ability."

I nod in response to her words. She's right. Collapse sure doesn't sound like a friendly ability.

"I can't have help but have a bad feeling about this…" I hear her mutter.

So, she thinks so too, huh?

"Don't worry. I will tell you about it once I've asked her."

"Mhm."

"It's getting late now. You guys should get going."

Both Joijiro and Nao then set off after telling me to take proper care of Ayumi.

I head back inside and go to where Ayumi is, sit beside her, and state, "Ayumi, I need you to think about your nightmare a little more. If you remember anything, tell me immediately."

She seems to have already been thinking about it, despite me telling her earlier not to so, as she thinks for a few seconds before responding, "Ayu doesn't remember much. In the dream, Ayu felt like the ground was breaking or something like that."

That does sound like 'collapse', alright… Though, I can't be sure of the specifics. Can she cause intense vibrations that split the ground, such as in the case of an earthquake, or is the ability a sub-form of matter manipulation in which she 'collapses' solids. For now, I decide to discuss the matter with the others tomorrow.

------

The next day I go to school and inform the rest about what Ayumi had said. Naturally, I had her take the day off once again, since she still hasn't recovered.

"The ground splitting... is that some kind of hint?" Joijiro asks with a thoughtful look on his face.

"It should be. To deal with this, we will inform the teachers to keep an eye out on Ayumi. Also, inform those in charge to keep an eye on the security cameras," Nao responds.

As my thoughts wander regarding this matter, Irene's voice suddenly resounds within my head:

{12 hours until the data extraction begins. Be warned that you may abruptly lose consciousness during the process.}

Great… If that isn't an ominous message with horrible timing, I don't know what is. Also, where is Irene anyway? Even after constructing her physical body, she is nowhere to be seen. If she was going to be out of sight, why even bother with the body in the first place?

-----

After I get home, I check on Ayumi's condition and notice that she's gotten relatively better now. Her body heat has entered a healthy range and she no longer coughs.

Despite this, I tell her, "You may have gotten a little better now, but that might suddenly change tomorrow, so don't go to school and rest more. I will call the school for you."

"But, it's boring to stay at home without a fever, so I'd like to go to school!"

"Ayumi, just do as I say, alright? This is for your own good."

Once she agrees, albeit reluctantly, I pat her head a few times before heading to the kitchen to drink some water.

{A/N:- Just for clarification: From here, there will be certain content that would normally disturb the usual reader. Proceed at your own risk.}

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WARNING: Violence/gore

******

[The next day – Ayumi 3rd POV]

Carefully sneaking out with her school bag hanging from her arm, Ayumi checks her surroundings for any security guards. She then walks close to a wall and leans out of her cover to check the location the security usually are.

There, a middle-aged man is sitting right by the entrance, showing no intention of moving, which causes Ayumi to resolutely mutter, "I will get out for sure."

Despite her big brother's kind intentions, Ayumi was sure that she has gotten completely better now. So, there was no point in her to remain at home, where there is nothing to do. Rather than waste time, she would rather go to school and spend her time with her classmates, while also catch up with the lessons she missed the past two days.

And so, Ayumi heads in the direction of the public lavatory without being seen. Once inside, she moves toward a window. It's the type that slides open and is positioned a little high. By making use of the sinks, Ayumi reaches the window, opens it, and manages to get out with a bit of effort.

Ayumi then makes a run to school while avoiding any security cameras set up outside. Just like that, she accomplishes her objective of not wasting the day by making it to the third class.

------

It's break time after the third period. As she walks out of class among the crowd of students, Ayumi feels a little weird as she notices someone standing still in the peripheral of her vision. Focusing her sight on the individual, she notices that its Oikawa, who has a nervous look on his face. She had already rejected him, but he was still a little insistent on the matter, which was more than a little troubling for Ayumi, as she had no idea what to do to get him to stop. It was already tough for her to hurt his feelings when she rejected him the first time, yet he was now making matters worse like this.

After a few moments, Oikawa breathes out as the nervous look on his face is replaced with a forced confident one. He then puts one hand in his pocket as he smiles and approaches her.

"Hey, I found a sweets shop that serves really good red bean soup. How about we go there after school, and I'll treat you to some as celebration for your recovery?"

Ayumi raises her arms in response, waving them in front of her as she politely says, "I'm sorry, but I just got better, so I'll have to pass."

She then turns around and begins to walk in the direction of the cafeteria, but a hand grabs on to her uniform's short-sleeve.

"H-Hold on a second! If right after getting better is bad, how about we go on the weekend?" At this point, he looks almost desperate.

It's at this moment that Nomura appears like a knight in shining armor, as she shoves Oikawa away before glaring at him. "You really don't get it, do you? You've been denied once already, just give up!"

Not willing to do as she says, Oikawa yells back, "This has nothing to do with you! Leave us alone!"

Irritated by him entirely, Nomura shouts at him to shut up before turning towards Ayumi and saying, "Ayucchi, you go on ahead to the cafeteria. I will deal with this guy."

Smiling slightly in response to her friend's reliability, she thanks her before trotting away, effectively ignoring Oikawa's cries that are calling out to her.

It's noon, but the dense clouds in the sky make everything seem to be way less vibrant than it would be on a fully sunny day.

Ayumi continues to walk before she is stopped by a hand holding hers. Startled, she turns, only to find out that its Konishi, the other girl that had visited her alongside Nomura and Oikawa. She has small bandage on her nose, probably as a result of what happened the day before. Ayumi is somewhat relieved that it isn't Oikawa, but still feels a little uneasy for some reason.

"H-hey. Can you help me?"

Surprised by her request, Ayumi asks what she needs help with, to which she vaguely responds by saying something about a cat and trouble at school. So, despite being a little skeptical of what exactly she needs help with, Ayumi lets Konishi guide her along to the supposed cat, which she admittedly was all too curious about.

As the two continue to walk, Ayumi notices that the number of students keeps on decreasing, and the discomfort from earlier has become much more apparent. Once they reach an area that's practically devoid of anybody else, Konishi comes to an abrupt stop.

"Konishi?" At this point, Ayumi has realized that something is very wrong.

After an unnaturally long pause, Konishi mutters, "It's all because you showed up…"

Ayumi straightens her back in response and asks timidly, "What is?"

"With Oikawa..." Konishi mutters once again.

"With Oikawa?" Ayumi repeats her words, confused.

"I used to eat lunch with Oikawa. The two of us alone. It was like we were dating," Konishi begins to say, anger apparent in her voice, "but, ever since you showed up... Oikawa... Oikawa... It's like he's forgotten about me! He only looks at you. Just you, all the time!"

Gritting her teeth, Konishi's body begins to sway as the bangs in front of her eyes shift to the side, revealing eyes that seem to glare into Ayumi's soul – at least, how that's Ayumi felt under her gaze. Frustration is evident on Konishi's face and her breaths are unsteady.

Sliding one hand into her skirt's pocket, she pulls out a cutter knife, and ever slowly extends the blade. Each click of the dangerous item sending a chill down Ayumi's spine as its blade slowly revealed itself.

Ayumi's sight focuses on the cutter knife, a look of horror covering her face. In a futile attempt to appease her, Ayumi raises her arms in front of her and says while stepping back, "Wait! I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. Let's just talk, so put that away!"

Konishi moves unnaturally, the glare in her eyes intensifying by each second. Ayumi's words have absolutely no effect on her as she continues to repeatedly say "It's all your fault..."

With each step taken by Konishi, Ayumi takes one back in response. After a few steps, Ayumi notices that there is a staircase behind her, so she quickly turns and makes a run for it.

Seeing this, Konishi grunts in a frustrated manner as she begins to chase after her.

Once she's at the top, Ayumi notices that there's a door. She runs towards it and attempts to open it, but it's locked. Ayumi turns around, just in time to see Konishi appear with the cutter knife still in her hand.

"It's all you fault..." Konishi mutters as she slowly approaches her, "that's why you are going to see some pain."

"Help, someone!" Ayumi cries out in a shrill voice, taking few more steps back all the way until her back is in contact with the door. Panic settles in even further, but before she can let out a scream, there is a loud noise as the building abruptly shakes, causing her to stagger and fall on her rear.

[---13 minutes ago ; Victor 3rd POV---]

Victor and Joijiro are both sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch, which happens to be pasta.

"So, have you gotten used to all this now?"

"You mean the pointless missions?" Victor was somewhat caught off-guard by the sudden question, but didn't even have to think for more than second before responding by a question of his own.

"They're not pointless." Joijiro was somewhat bothered by the way Victor worded it.

"Oh, but they are. Tell me, what do you think we achieve by collecting ability users one-by-one, and only ones that are in our area?"

"Well, we prevent their lives from being ruined."

"Yeah, sure, that might be the case, but what's a drop of water to a lake?"

Joijiro was beginning to regret asking the question. What displeased him quite a bit, even if he didn't show it, was that Victor had a point. It was something that he thought about every now and then. While, yes, they helped out a number of children, it was still a far-cry from the rather large number of ability users out there. At the end of the day, they were just teenagers with slightly convenient special abilities.

Seeing how much of an effect his words had on Joijiro, Victor released a sigh before adopting a comforting expression, "Don't take my words to heart. You guys are doing the right thing. It's just that from a rational point of view, it's somewhat meaningless. At the end of the day, if you actually want to accomplish something, you'd need many more hands than ten."

Being comforted by Victor made Joijiro shiver for some reason, as it's something rather out of character for him to do based on how he has acted the past few days. And, he'd be right to think so, since the only reason Victor did that was because he still benefited from their missions. Since he was now aware that his ability was stealing other abilities, it was obvious that he would want them to continue their 'heroic' deeds, despite his actual thoughts on the matter being that it's almost completely useless.

As silence ensues, it doesn't take two minutes before Joijiro's phone begins to ring. Taking a look at it, Joijiro reads a message from Nao before he informs Victor that they are being called to the student council room.

So, they make quick work of their food before somewhat hurriedly making their way there. Upon entering the room, the two immediately notice that Nao is standing with an anxious look.

{15 minutes until the data extraction begins. Be warned that you abruptly lose consciousness during the process.}

Irene's voice resounds within Victor's mind, causing his brain to buzz as a sense of dread begins to settle in.

"What; did something happen?" Joijiro knew that was obviously the case, but asked for clarification.

Without beating around the bush, Nao responds, "Ayumi is at school."

Victor frowns at her statement. "No, that can't be right. I had told her to stay home and even called the school to inform them."

Nao's expression slightly worsens as she asks, "How was her condition today?"

"She had gotten better, but I was afraid that the sickness would relapse, so I wanted her to stay home for another day."

"Perhaps, because her temperature is normal, she decided to attend school from the third period based on her own decision…" Nao was almost certain that was the case, however, she felt that something wasn't right.

"I have a bad feeling about this... Let's go check on Ayumi right away," Nao states.

Before anyone can move a muscle, a gust of wind causes the mess in the room as Victor practically vanishes from the room.

------

After having blinked out of the building, Victor utilized {Godspeed} as he rushed toward his destination.

However, two seconds later, right after he had crossed a fence, an energy beam is released in his direction. Sensing it, he abruptly brings his motion to a stop, before skillfully dodging the beam. As he lands on the ground, he notices someone approaching him from two-o'clock.

A man dressed completely in black, similar to the two Victor had fought previously. The man is smiling cruelly as he approaches Victor. "It took me a lot of effort to finally get you within my net, Anomaly."

Victor's thoughts are preoccupied with Ayumi and her safety, so he scowls at the man and says in a threatening tone, "Move or die."

The man just laughs in response to his threat and says arrogantly, "You'll find that much harder to achieve than you think."

Having had enough of the man's drivel, Victor directly utilizes Godspeed and appears in front him, shocking the man greatly as his fist makes contact with the enemy's rib cage with enough force to launch him like a missile.

'Death it is.'

Victor then realizes that he has launched the man right in the direction of Ayumi's school building, effectively forming cobweb-like pattern due to the sheer force behind the punch. The man's torso is caved in, while a good amount of his blood and innards is splattered against the wall. There is no doubt that he is dead.

Still, Victor couldn't bother with him any longer, as his overly-sensitive ears pick up on a pleading voice that he is sure belongs to Ayumi: "Big brother!"

---Present; Ayumi 3rd POV---

Having fallen on the ground, Ayumi is unable to muster any strength into her legs or arms to get up. Seeing her so vulnerable, Konishi picks up the pace as she mutters, "You have nowhere to go now."

Ayumi notices that she has gotten dangerously close, so she instinctively lowers her head and wraps her arms around them, seemingly to protect her life. While doing so, she feels a great urge to scream.

The moment Konishi is close enough, she swings the cutter knife, which grazes Ayumi's hand. Overwhelmed with pain and fear, Ayumi screams as she flails her arms around.

Konishi takes a step back before she directly lunges at her and pushes her down. Then, with a crazed look in her eyes, she raises the cutter knife as she stabs at Ayumi's right eye. Fortunately, Ayumi manages to turn her head in the last moment, resulting in the blade avoiding her eye, but still cutting through her cheek.

"No!" Tears well up in Ayumi's eye, both out of pain and fear as she tries her best to get Konishi off of herself. It's at this moment that Ayumi suddenly feels something build up inside of her as the urge to scream returns once again. With a bit of struggle, Ayumi manages to land a punch on Konishi's face and push her away. Then, she screams at the top of her lungs for her only source of comfort she can think of, "BIG BROTHER!"

------

Having finally reached the school building, Victor uses Clairvoyance, only to see Ayumi, who's covered in tears and blood, and a girl nearby getting on her feet while holding a cutter knife, recognizing her as the girl whose head he bashed into the ground yesterday.

"I knew I should've killed her." A dangerous glint passes through his eyes as he makes use of {Blink} to quickly make his way through the building.

Once he arrives, he takes note of the cracks that are appearing all over the building, with Ayumi being where their point of origin. Speaking of whom, she is currently holding her head while screaming continuously. A purple layer of light is covering her body, which seems to be intensifying with each passing second.

Seeing her current state close-up, and the assailant, Victor's vision slowly reddens as red, glowing veins begin to extend from around his now-black eyes.

{Berserk: God's Wrath unsealed.}

Victor doesn't even seem to notice the system as raises his arms before clapping. A dark trail follows each hand before a powerful force compresses between his palms, and 'exploding' the next moment at a supersonic rate.

Moving even faster than the shock wave, Victor uses telekinesis to protect Ayumi as the building crumbles. Both Victor and Konishi fall, with the latter screaming at the sudden turn of events. Ayumi, however, is floating in the air, seemingly in a circular barrier that shields her from any falling debris.

A few seconds later, Konishi hits the ground, which snaps her legs. Before her brain has a chance to register the pain and react to it, loads of debris fall on her, crushing her spine and legs. Victor also reaches the ground, but he is unharmed, and even the falling rubble only seems to break further when hitting him.

Victor stands in place, looking back and forth between Ayumi, who is now unconscious, and Konishi, who is still somehow alive. At a moment's notice, he raises his right arm, causing a multitude of large rubble to float up, before he mercilessly waves downward. The floating rubble launches at the rest of Konishi's body, finishing her off.

With that done, Victor's priority shifts to Ayumi as he struggles to rationalize his thoughts. However, with some effort, he manages to bring himself to slowly lower her to the ground.

Now, despite having killed Konishi, Victor doesn't feel relieved just yet. He desires to do more. Kill further. Get rid of all future present and future foes in one fell swoop. He feels an overwhelming power in him, and he can instinctively tell that he can do it.

As an aura of darkness begins to cover him, a flash of light appears in front of Victor, taking the form of a human, before it fades and reveals a small blonde girl – Irene.

{Shutdown}

Irene uses her authority as she points her finger at Victor.

A red, glowing orb appears at the tip of her finger and launches toward Victor, leaving a trail behind.

Victor doesn't attempt to dodge the orb, as he only stares at Irene, sensing no animosity from her. Once the orb makes contact with Victor, the red veins on his body start to turn black. The next moment, Irene clutches her head and starts screaming in agony before blowing up into tiny light particles.

{Destruction unsealed}

The next moment, the veins covering Victor's body begin to gradually disappear.

{Data transference initiated...}

"Ayumi…" Victor manages to mutter as he regains a small bit of his clarity, before ultimately dropping onto the ground, unconscious.

----Victor ; 1st POV----

Opening my eyes, I perceive an unfamiliar ceiling. After a few moments of deliberation, I recall everything that happened.

I abruptly jump up from whatever I am lying on.

Looking around, I see that I'm in a hospital ward. I move toward the door and swing it open. Four pairs of eyes immediately lock onto me.

"Where is Ayumi?" I directly ask.

"She's in her own ward, recuperating from the injuries she's suffered." Nao is the on that responds, "Fortunately, she only had few cuts on her arms and face, nothing serious."

Despite saying this, Nao's expression darkens as she seems to struggle to say something.

"You're probably thinking about how the nature of the wounds. Perhaps, you've been told that she was injured with a sharp object deliberately."

Hearing this, Nao is a little surprised before she nods in affirmation.

"That was indeed the case. She was assaulted by one of the two girls that visited her when she was sick."

"Then that body…" Joijiro mutters.

"Yeah. I'm guessing she didn't make it?"

My nonchalance seems to cause no small amount of discomfort in those present, but I couldn't care less at the moment. I was and still am pissed. Not at anyone in particular, but rather everyone, including myself.

"Anyway, where is Ayumi?"

Nao doesn't say anything else as she simply leads the way.

Once we're in front of a door leading to where I assume Ayumi is recuperating, Nao turns to face me before saying in a somewhat worried tone, "Listen, cool off a bit before you enter. You don't want Ayumi to see you like this, do you?"

I stare into her eyes for a moment before nodding my head. She has a point. I should settle my wrath aside for now, and focus on a much more important matter right now.

Satisfied, Nao gestures for me to go inside, while also indicating that she isn't going with me.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door and walk inside. What meets my eyes is Ayumi on a hospital bed with an IV connected to her wrist. Half of her face is covered, and so is her left arm. From what I can tell, she is either still unconscious or sleeping.

All in all, she's alive. Yay? I honestly can't say that I am relieved, since she has still suffered. Even if her injuries aren't much, it's safe to assume her mental state is an absolute wreck.

Approaching her bed, I place my palm on her cheek, as I feel a bit of moisture well up in the corner of my left eye. What did such a cute, innocent ball of energy do to deserve this? What even pushed that monster in the skin of a child to her her? I can't even begin to imagine Ayumi doing anything to warrant such an extreme response. Heck, I doubt Ayumi would ever deliberately hurt anyone. So, why?

Circulating my Holy Essence, I use {Healing Factor} on her face and arm. After a short while, the frown she had on her face even before I entered the room softens as she seems to feel much more comfortable.

Though, what can I do now? Even if she wakes up, Ayumi is highly likely to suffer a lot – mentally. Not only was she attacked and injured by a classmate, but that same classmate died in front of her by getting crushed. Ayumi might've been unconscious the moment I went berserk, but when she finds out she has an ability called collapse, I can only imagine that she would blame herself for the assailant's death.

Hah… If only {Healing Factor} could heal beyond physical injuries…

{Your Healing Factor is 1st Tier. The most it can do is heal external injuries, get rid of scars, and lessen pain.}

Irene's mechanical voice hits me with the obvious once again.

"I assume that increasing its tier would let me deal with mental damages in some way?"

{Affirmative.}

"What tier?"

{I am unable to provide that information.}

For fuck's sake…

"Anyway, how do I raise its tier?"

{Through comprehension. You must gain an understanding of the core of your powers to be able to increase their tiers.}

"So, you're basically saying that I should use it enough to get used to it."

{While not necessarily the case, that's generally accurate.}

After a while, of me continuously using {Healing Factor} on her, I sense Ayumi slightly twitch. It doesn't take long for her to open her eyes.

At first, she seems to be more than a little confused as she looks around.

However, once she sees me, her eyes begin to moisten, before tears slowly flow down her cheeks.

Seeing her like this, I get on my knees before hugging her, which she shortly reciprocates.

"I'm sorry…"she says almost inaudibly.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"Ayu didn't listen to Brother Yu. If Ayu did, then... then…" I don't let her continue as I tighten my my embrace. "It's fine. Don't blame yourself. I should've looked after you better."

My words seem to have the opposite effect of what I intended as she begins to sob loudly with her forehead pressed against my chest.

"Ayu understands now. Disobeying Brother Yu was bad and Ayu was punished not listening." Her tone is despondent, and as I had guessed she would, Ayumi is blaming herself for everything. Though she was indeed wrong for not heeding my instructions, the rest isn't her fault, nor is it some 'punishment' as she believes it to be.

Still, looks like no matter what I tell her, she'll keep on blaming herself. So, after deliberating over what to do, I come up with something. "You know, there is a bright side to everything."

My words seem to attract her attention as she moves away before looking into my eyes, waiting for me to continue.

"In this case, I can serve my little Ayu at home. So far, you've been taking care of me so much, but now, I will be spoiling you rotten."

She softly giggles in response to my words, probably finding it funny, since as far as my memory goes, 'I' have not being very self-sufficient to put it nicely.

I wipe the tears off her face and say, "Ayumi, I want to show you something. Remember the magic trick that your big sister Tomori, did?"

She nods in response, to which I smile and continue, "You know, I am something of a magician myself."

Her eyes widen slightly before she laughs and says, "Ayu already knows."

"Yeah, you might've seen some interesting things, but I will show you something new."

Curiosity begins to show in Ayumi's water eyes as she focuses her gaze on me.

"Watch."

I don't know where I am getting my confidence from, but I just have a feeling that I can do what I have in my mind if I want to do it.

Raising my arm while circulating Holy Essence within me, I manipulate the light on top of my palm to intensify into a vibrant yellow as a figure that closely resembles Ayumi begins to take form.

"Owohhh!" Ayumi exclaims.

I imagine her a little more grown-up, and the exact same image in my head appears on top of my palm.

{Discovered: Illusion}

Talk about convenient…

For better or worse, I can instinctively tell how to use the newly discovered Effect. Since it fits with my intention quite well, I make use of it directly.

The intensified light on my palm 'explodes' before our surrounding changes completely. Now, instead of the hospital ward, Ayumi and I are both on top of a hill, under a starry night sky. I could've obviously avoided involving myself in the illusion, but I decided against doing so for multiple reasons.

"Brother Yu, this is so amazing!" Ayumi gazes at the sky for a few seconds before she gets mesmerized by the wonderful sight.

A smile forms on my lips as I look at her like this. I am aware that this might be short-lived, since she has yet to process the information regarding her assailant's death. So, before then, I should take this opportunity to have the others distract her as I head out to improve {Healing Factor}. Though I have no idea how hard that would be, how long it would take, and how many tiers do I need to upgrade, I must still try my best. This is for Ayumi – the one I care about most in this Platform.