"Yes, she's alive and well. I'll take you to see her in a bit," Yuuya promised, stepping back from the wall. "Come on, follow me. Also, it'll be easier to move around if you change into these clothes."
Snap.
Yuuya snapped his fingers, and Kozaku Mitori's ragged prison clothes instantly shifted into a crisp white researcher's lab coat.
"Even if you're just using me... I'll do anything as long as I get to see Dolly alive," Mitori said, clutching the lapels of the coat.
Relieved to receive a positive answer, Mitori still harbored deep doubts and wariness. But even if it was a lie, she was determined to get out of here. Only by getting out of here could she carry out her revenge, and she wanted to try even if she ultimately failed.
"Let's go. There are three more members who need to be extracted," Yuuya said with a smile, walking down the corridor.
'With this wave completed, my Dark Side organization is essentially fully formed,' Yuuya thought with satisfaction. 'I have Accelerator, Shokuhou Misaki (Mental Out), and myself. That's three Level 5s in one unit. Is there any faction in Academy City that can even rival this kind of firepower?'
Mitori decided to follow the two. There was no other way now, so she decided to just play along and see what happened. She cast a cautious glance at the white-haired girl who had been silent the entire time.
'Is she really the Number One?' Mitori wondered.
"What's your name?" Mitori asked the boy walking ahead of her.
"Takahashi Yuuya. Captain of our new Dark Side division. You can call me Master," Yuuya joked, glancing back at her.
"Who would call you that?" Mitori spat dismissively. This guy was incredibly unreliable. He didn't seem entirely malicious, though.
...
A High-Security Suite.
This room was completely different from the austere solitary confinement cells. It was spacious and furnished more like a VIP lounge than a prison. There was a plush sofa, a coffee table loaded with expensive drinks and snacks, and a large flat-screen monitor mounted on the wall.
The monitor was currently playing high-definition drone footage. It was raw video of the riot that had broken out at the District 7 Stadium two hours earlier, showcasing the terrifying power of the Level 5s.
"Wow, that's amazing! That Number Seven guy created a missile-like explosion with a single punch! The mushroom cloud was so huge... it's terrifying to even look at!"
A girl with shoulder-length purple hair spread her arms wide in an exaggerated, carefree manner. She had a prominent skull tattoo on her face, creating a striking contrast with her cheerful demeanor, and she wore a bizarre purple dress made of a paper-like material.
Sakuragi Naru.
"Yeah, that's ridiculous. Every Level 5 is like a monster," a second girl said enviously. She was dressed like a boy, wearing an oversized newsboy cap and a square-collared shirt. "If we had that kind of ability, we would have wiped out the source of all evil—like teachers, deans, and principals—a long time ago. Without those 'teachers,' Academy City would be a perfect place."
Yakumaru Itsuki.
"Right, right?! But this guy is really amazing! The Number Seven's attack had no effect on him at all! And what kind of ability does he have? Spatial Movement? Electromagnetism? Super Strength?" Naru pointed at Yuuya on the screen, commenting enthusiastically like a teenager watching an action movie.
"His name is Takahashi Yuuya, right? He became a Level 5 in the morning and couldn't wait to show off his abilities by blowing up a stadium in the afternoon. High-level 'good students' are really annoying," Itsuki said with a pout, clearly disgusted by the concept of someone being officially recognized and praised by the school system.
"Shouldn't we be more concerned by the fact that even if those Level 5s cause such a catastrophic ruckus, they won't face any real punishment?" a short, pink-haired girl reminded them quietly from the sofa.
Iisu Rita. Leader of Scavenger.
"Yeah, that's because all Level 5s are considered 'good students' by the system!" Naru raised her hands, shouting nonchalantly. "Teachers and principals love 'good students' the most! Even if they make terrible mistakes, they won't get scolded! So all 'good students' should just die out!"
"Speaking of which, did the Board of Directors show us this footage just to make us aware of the absolute power gap between us and the Level 5s?" Rita said thoughtfully, analyzing the situation.
"Who cares? It's so boring in here~" Naru complained, draping herself over the coffee table like a bored toddler. "We've been here for thirteen days already. The Board said they'd give us specialized assassination training, but they haven't started yet! I was really looking forward to it!"
"It's been fifteen days, Naru. You're losing track of time," Itsuki corrected her, adjusting her hat. "I'm so bored too. But if we go back out to the surface, we'll just be discriminated against and treated coldly by those 'good students' and 'teachers' again. They might even bully us to curry favor with the faculty just because we're labeled as 'bad students.'"
"Okay, okay! Anyway, we're essentially homeless now unless we become the Board's assassins. But being an assassin sounds really cool!" Naru said cheerfully.
Ding-dong—
Just then, the electronic doorbell to their suite rang.
"Huh? Does this mean we can leave now?!" Naru jumped up excitedly and skipped over to the heavy steel door.
She hit the release button, the door sliding open.
"Hello, hello! Can we leave now—?!"
Naru had intended to ask her question in a lively, upbeat manner, but the moment two very familiar faces came into view, her voice caught in her throat. Because she had spoken too quickly, the rest of her words came out as a strangled squeak.
"L... L-L-Level 5—?!"
Realizing exactly who was standing in the doorway, Naru screamed in absolute horror. The high-decibel shriek startled the other two girls in the room.
"What's wrong, Naru?!" Itsuki looked over quickly. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks, and her face stiffened in abject terror, as if she were staring at the Grim Reaper himself.
"What... um...!" Rita's face turned deathly pale.
The atmosphere in the room froze instantly. All sound vanished except for the hum of the air conditioning. The open door revealed the very monsters they had just been watching on the screen.
"They're all in one room. Saves me from having to go to three different cells," Yuuya said, glancing at the trio of terrified girls.
He looked past them at the large computer screen mounted on the wall. It was frozen on a high-definition close-up of his and Accelerator's faces.
'Oh, so they were watching the surveillance footage of the riot,' Yuuya thought, amused. 'No wonder they look like they've seen a ghost. But that's fine. It saves me from having to explain my power level. They know what I can do.'
Rita was the first to react. She looked at the two Level 5s standing in the doorway with wide, fearful eyes. Her legs were trembling so badly they threatened to give out. She swallowed hard.
'The Number Eight... and the Number One!' Rita panicked internally. 'Why?! Why are two Level 5s here?!'
'Judging from the Number Eight's tone, he came here specifically to find us!'
Suddenly, a strong, stress-induced urge to urinate came over her. Rita quickly squeezed her knees together, terrified she was going to wet herself in front of the Strongest Espers in the city.
"Looking terrified. Are you really that scared of me?" Yuuya asked with a warm, completely contradictory smile.
'Calm down, calm down, calm down first,' Rita chanted in her head. 'If we anger two Level 5s, we're doomed. They could erase us from existence before we even blink.'
Rita's eyes began to glaze over as her survival instincts kicked into overdrive. Her mind raced to find the most polite, deferential response possible.
"E-Excuse me," Rita stammered, bowing her head slightly. "Could you tell me... what the Eighth Level 5 needs from us...?"
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