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7:45 am. September 15. Reality 2. Kanaru's bedroom.

A young man with gray hair and black locks was sitting on a bed holding a small white box.

He was dressed completely in white which gave him a touch of elegance when combined with his hair color.

That young man was naturally Hikari Kanaru.

Kanaru opened the small box.

After a while he shook his head.

"It's still too early." He muttered.

He placed the box in a drawer on his desk and he left the bedroom.

Heaven Canceller gave that little box to Kanaru a few days ago.

They were the last memory of Kanaru's parents that he had kept for many years.

A pair of wedding rings.

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Grand Champion Star Festival or also known as Daihasei Festival is an annual large-scale sports festival which takes place in Academy City.

It's an interscholastic competition in which all the students from the different Academy City schools participate. The magnitude of this festival is so great that it is in the eyes of the whole world, this is often compared to the popularity of the FIFA World Cup.

Due to the magnitude and importance of this festival, both Anti-Skill and Judgment constantly monitored all the districts of Academy City, even before the festival began.

Kanaru walked casually observing the surroundings.

As all personal vehicles were restricted for the festival, the highways were somewhat empty.

He watched as many students in different uniforms spread out advertising brochures. He even saw some schools hanging gigantic billboards on the city walls. He also saw many food stalls, electronic gadgets, etc were beginning to be installed along the streets.

He overheard conversations about which school will come first. He knew that the competition is only for those with the strongest abilities and those students always belong to the top 5 schools in Academy City. The other schools just tried hard so their ranking didn't end up too far behind.

But he also knew that among those top 5 schools, the first and second place were between Nagatenjouki Academy and Tokiwadai Middle School, after all, that was always the case.

Kanaru was heading to the place where his school life began and ended abruptly.

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'Sakugawa Middle School'

That was what Kanaru read on the outer walls of a completely normal school compared to most other school structures.

But Kanaru felt a strong sense of familiarity upon seeing that building.

Kanaru entered that school.

Normally entry would be prohibited by anyone outside the educational institution during the week of the festival. But luckily for Kanaru there were still 4 days left for that particular week.

"Umm... who is that guy with gray hair?"

Due to the difficulty of the competitions, most of the students were practicing different types of physical exercises in the school field. Naturally someone had to see a young man dressed in white entering the school.

"I think I've seen it somewhere..."

"He looks familiar..."

"Isn't he the guy from the video?"

"What video?"

"The video from a few months ago in which a level 2 esper defeated a level 5 esper."

"I remember, Hikari Kanaru! He was from our school."

"What is he doing here?"

"I heard that he didn't finish his studies. He..."

Many students began to mutter about Kanaru.

A few months ago, this school was full of journalists looking for Kanaru, the possible hidden level 5 esper. But those rumors ended when he disappeared from the public eye once again.

But now he reappeared. Naturally they were very curious.

Kanaru didn't much care for the comments of others and he kept walking despite many people calling out to him.

What they didn't know is that Kanaru was reflecting the sound waves before they reached his ears. He did that when he started to get attention.

He passed a girl with short black hair with strange flower decorations.

She was next to another girl with long black hair, a little higher than her.

Kanaru showed a complicated expression upon seeing her, but he kept walking.

Finally, he entered the main building.

"Senpai…"