AN: (Parentheses and underline): (Author's point of view as if he was a reader)

Underline: Actual author's speech

Italics: Foreign language in both dialogue and exposition (English. Unless it's stated otherwise or direct words in a different language present); regular Italics in text

Normal text: Japanese and exposition

Bold: Flashbacks (speech and narration); the times of various events; regular bold in written text; Word emphasis in normal conversations; past memories

*Ahem* Feels warning everybody. Make sure to grab a tissue if you think you'll need one.

Chapter 16: The fate of a hero that no one knows exists...

August 4th 2005, 11:33

"*HAAAAA*" Aoi exhaled massively as she woke up in quite a panicked state and immediately shot up from her bed.

"CALM DOWN!" she yelled in her thoughts "I'M NOT DOING THIS AFTER HAVING SLEPT FOR SO LONG!"

"Uhm… good morning?" Kamino Takashi, who was about to put a cup of hot tea down to replace the already cold one on the desk, looked quite shocked at the sudden movement of the person, who usually slept in the room. He probably came to bring 'drinking refreshments' every now and then so that a certain 'underage boss' would wake up to something pleasant

"Takashi! Good timing! What time is it?!" Aoi exclaimed and asked hurriedly as she jumped out of bed, her face forming a thin fake smile that she needed to hold as best as she could. Her one foot almost landed on top of the cup of cold tea (with rather painful consequences of a broken ceramic cup being stuck in her foot) but it immediately teleported into her hands and she gulped it as if she was late to an important funeral and with no handy-dandy ability to teleport there.

"Uhm… it's 11:34" he uttered; his eyes filled with astonishment. He still wasn't used to the random, yet concise antics of the person in front of him. It almost seemed like her behaviour might be as varied as the behaviour of the rest of the people in the world.

"Throw me the hot one." she gestured to do as she asked in a hurried tone as she managed to hold in a bit of a burp from the suddenness of her drinking a full cup of one of her favourites: sweetened black tea.

"Okay…" Takashi first thought that what was being asked of him is much the same to one's friend asking you to punch them 'really really hard, so you knock them out', but he almost instantaneously realized that someone who could control matter and teleport stuff didn't care for that and probably just didn't want to be rude this early in the morning by teleporting the tea out of his hand directly.

He threw the cup, the tea started spilling everywhere…

…only for the cup and the mid-air-spilled tea to find their way via fluctuation to a certain girl's other hand. "Man… kids all over the world want to be as cool as her and there she is taking it for granted." Takashi thought as he looked over at her "Though… I think there are some downsides to it. She does have… issues that she isn't willing to share with me. I can tell so much just by looking at her more frequent overdosages of those sleeping pills."

"Are yo-?" he was about to ask.

"Perfectly fine. You're a good tea-maker. See you later." Aoi said hurriedly as the two cups from her hands teleported onto the floor next to her. As soon as the cups left her hands, she waved him goodbye and teleported away, fake smile maintained throughout.

Takashi was left to look at the two cups. The former cold cup coloured black, the former hot cup coloured white.

一

"Right…" he said in a somewhat dejected tone.

"I truly hope you're right… about all 3…" Takashi mumbled as he wasn't even sure that Aoi would be alive the next day if his observations and eerie gut feeling were anything to go by.

"Yeah…" he thought as he remembered something.

"All good. See you tomorrow, son." his dad replied to him as he left home, never to be seen again.

"I truly hope I'm wrong here though." Takashi mumbled as he looked uncharacteristically sad. Sad enough to burst into tears and not stop for an hour.

"No one remembers you, Dad. No one but me and maybe Aleister-sama." he mumbled with a heavy heart full of sadness.

"Don't die, Aoi-san." he thought of something filled with sadness. The sadness of an always supportive person. The sadness, which in a way would prove to be right.

On a lonely mountain peak even further away from Academy City than the place she called home sat a solitary figure of Suzuki Aoi.

The mountain was quite steep, it was as if the mountain peak was instead a simple one atom wide pole, which extended from the bottom right to the very top.

Still, Aoi didn't feel any physical pain despite sitting on the razor-sharp peak. After all, how could someone who had climbed that steep mountain all on their own be that weak that they'd give way to pain?

No. That was simply impossible.

Accelerator (if he were there at the time) would probably also find solace at the second peak of the mountain. It was almost as steep and as razor-sharp but not quite.

Definitely not quite.

The pain was internal.

The pain was the memory of one's journey.

For each person that pain is different…

…yet eerily similar.

The pain of losing someone close to you.

The pain of being abandoned by the world to fend for yourself against an infinite sea of both real and imaginary monstrosities.

The pain of having nothing in the world you are compelled to do, only to find yourself 'undoing' said world.

The pain of being your own worst enemy.

Those were some of the common pains people had.

Some applied to Aoi, some didn't.

"Fuck…" she mumbled.

"I HATE IT, ALRIGHT?!" she burst out.

"Everything… or I would say everything…" and calmed down.

"…but I can't." enough to fall into utter despair.

"Sitting here at the one peak of the world…" she continued extremely softly, her thoughts drifting from one topic to another.

"…" she stayed silent.

"…sitting here means nothing…" but soon continued.

"…as the person sitting here…" she went on.

"…what have I even done in all those years…?" and on.

"…Fought people…?" and on.

"…Yes, very successfully…" her voice shaking throughout, sounding as dead as a dying gasp.

"…Killed said people…?" her face contorting in anguish with every word she spoke.

"…Yes, also very successfully…" she frowned.

"…" and went silent once again.

一

一

"…I guess…" she exhaled slightly as she stood up mid-air beside the peak, her expression gained determination and lost the despair-ridden indecisiveness, something that couldn't possibly exist in her at the time. It was clear where it came from. Clear as day.

"I'll just add 'fully remembering mercilessly torturing and killing someone, who appeared vaguely similar to those fuckers' to the list." Aoi said as she clutched her right fist, her determination seemingly materialized using her ability. Without it…

"…Without my ability… I wouldn't be able to say that, huh? Despite me being so intent on saying that I can do everything without it…" her expression seethed with anger as she tightened her fist even more.

She grit her teeth.

Closed her eyes.

And concentrated on remembering all the people, existences, monsters, aliens and organizations she couldn't possibly hope to defeat despite her strong belief that an esper power or lack thereof doesn't define anyone.

"…Without it… I'd be some useless hunk of 'lack of humanity' wanting to die." she declared.

一

一

"Yeah… now that I think about it… there really would be nothing left for me in the entire world…" she uttered in yet again a more dejected tone than before.

"…if that was the case." but she managed to regain her determined composure and make a straight face. She promptly teleported away.

However, despite her leaving it physically, she really didn't go anywhere. After all, that 'peak' was less a physical place and more of a 'state of being' in her… and everyone else's hearts…

August 4th 2005, 13:24

"MAR. Multi Active Rescue." Aoi was sitting on yet another random rooftop inside of Academy City, her legs dangling freely of the side of the roof, looking closely at her own smartphone. Judging by her tone of voice, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Her own self-doubts about her own usage of extreme methods would have to wait. Aoi became quite good at forcing those thoughts to the back of her mind over the years. Fighting an organization almost all on her own had taught her that match.

"The older 'special unit' that is also working closely together with Anti-Skill… or so it would seem. You've really pushed your lapdogs ahead in terms of fame, Therestina." Aoi said coldly as she took a good look at the full-body photo of the person in the profile: Therestina Kihara Lifeline as the name below her photo stated. She was an orange-haired woman, whose hair was tied into a ponytail and whose attire consisted of a formal blue pencil skirt and a blue blazer on top of her white shirt.

"Unlike Task Force Alpha, you actually don't truly give a damn about keeping the city safe, do you, people?" Aoi said in the same tone as she closed her eyes and put her phone away inside her jacket's pocket.

"In any case, it's better to pay you a friendly visit…" Aoi's face twisted into an unpleasant smirk.

"…dear creator and active spreader of Capacity Down." she promptly disappeared from the rooftop, leaving no sign of her presence there.

Just like always.

Inside of an underground facility, a couple of dozen people were closely watching from the command room, separated from the testing chamber with bulletproof glass, looking at said testing chamber. There were some technician-looking people, some researchers in lab coats and most important of all: the Capitain of MAR herself, Therestina.

Inside of the chamber stood a menacing array of speakerphones and a male teenager. He was dressed in all black leather 'biker-like' clothing but his clothes had a noticeable feature: they were all covered in various imagery of flames, with only some parts of them visibly black.

"Begin the testing, participant 18." calmly ordered a middle-aged researcher through the microphone. Judging by his priority seat next to the Captain of MAR, it looked like he was the main person behind Capacity Down, besides Therestina herself. After all, the very device inside of the testing chamber was that very Capacity Down.

"Heh. Ya lot told me if I manage to use my ability despite your 'awesome device', you'll pay me a ton, right? A level 4 pyrokinesist like me can take care of your device no problem! Don'tcha dare sue me for damages if anything happens to it!" he spoke in a very arrogant and thuggish manner as he charged up his ability to fire it off to the side, slightly towards Capacity Down.

"Turn on Capacity Down, everyone." Therestina politely asked/ordered in her friendly authoritative manner.

As soon as the device was turned on, the level 4 esper collapsed on the floor in sheer agony, the flames of pyrokinesis vanishing right there and then. It emitted a high-pitched noise that was especially damaging to those, whose level was not 0. The level 0s only had face the slight discomfort of that noise, while espers were left paralysed and in great pain due to the horrific sound it produced.

"*ARGHHH* You… people actually…" the pyrokinesist continued to speak in his usual thuggish manner but was having trouble staying awake. The stress put on his body was quite something.

"Testing finished." the middle-aged researcher man declared.

And with that the hold of Capacity Down on the pyrokinesist was released, him now having finally having the strength to stand up.

"*Haah*" he huffed and puffed "Do I get paid if ya win?" he continued in the same thuggish manner.

"You do not, participant 18. However, you'll have to keep this experiment a secret from everyone as per the terms of your little contract." the head researcher replied.

"*Tch* Never should'a went ahead with your little joke." the level 4 esper mumbled, while he 'kicked the air'. He'd likely prefer to kick a small can lying in a random alleyway but the whole testing chamber was empty apart from himself and the machine.

"Participant 18, you are free to leave." the researcher alluded to the fact that the esper wasn't quite welcome to stay anymore.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." he replied, frowning and sighing before heading out.

"Therestina-san?" the head researcher looked towards her as if looking for an order.

"Good test today, everyone. Leave me the keys, I'll stay behind." she said in her friendly, yet authoritative manner.

"Understood" was the unanimous reply of everyone in the command room as they headed off, leaving their direct or, in a few cases, slightly indirect superior behind.

Therestina sat there for a bit before heading out to the testing chamber herself. She passed the esper on the way who looked tired but nevertheless gave her a look of respect. Evidently, he was impressed by MAR and quite surprised that they managed to create such a powerful Anti-Esper device.

The invitation of a few espers from Academy City's Dark Side proved to be a huge success. Not only was MAR able to keep the information under control but they'd be able to sell their technology to the higher ups if the need ever arose.

Still, Therestina would rather keep it for herself for as long as possible. At least until she achieved what she set out to do.

Therestina entered the testing chamber, which was now dimly lit as per the protocol. The pyrokinesist left only the emergency lights on there and switched off the lights inside the command room. Funnily enough, MAR was quite a thorough organization. All the 'participants' had to perform those actions as per the terms of contract. They did receive a few sideways glances but no esper decided to pull out. The payment (assuming they 'beat the machine') was just that great.

She approached Capacity Down to look at her beautiful creation. This was one of the few things in life she really enjoyed. Capacity Down and her toy collection.

The testing chamber's ceiling, however, was a bit further up compared to the command room. Theoretically, it'd be very possible for someone to hide there and observe as the experiment went on. However, they'd probably have to have some very special equipment and be a Level 0…

"Hello there." a condescending female voice spoke from the aforementioned place above.

That startled the Captain of MAR slightly. She didn't expect to have visitors due to the aforementioned reasons.

Therestina turned her head upwards only to find a girl dressed almost exclusively in black standing on top of the ceiling, somehow managing to force her skirt to defy the laws of gravity as it appeared that for some reason gravity worked the exact opposite way for her.

After Therestina took notice, the girl took that as a sign to perform a 'greeting smirk', which unnerved the MAR captain slightly and to drop down from the ceiling.

The girl fell quite quickly but still managed to land as slowly as the feather.

The girl took a moment to dust herself, despite landing on a hard floor that didn't really produce a cloud of sand or anything remotely of the sort.

"Well then… let's skip the 'WHO ARE YOU?!' part, …Kihara…" the girl smirked as she did a very good impression of a shocked person. She'd probably seen a few of those in her lifetime. She also made sure to sound extra menacing when saying Therestina's last name just to emphasize to Therestina that she knew exactly who the Captain of MAR was.

"You're not very polite at greeting people, Level 5 rank 0, Material, Suzuki Aoi-san." Therestina said in her 'official' and friendly tone along with a friendly smile.

"*Heh* Drop the act. I already know enough about your family and you specifically to know that your politeness is reserved for deception." Aoi smirked harder but started to look a bit annoyed, nonetheless.

"I am not-" Therestina tried to respond in the same friendly manner.

"And I'M NOT going to repeat myself." Aoi said with disdain as a couple of very thin poles appeared beside her and were immediately thrust towards Therestina, piercing her lungs towards both the right and the left of her heart.

"*BWAH*" Therestina slumped down in agony and shock over the suddenness of it.

"You very much know that I'm not one for waiting, dear Capitain of MAR." Aoi said softly and very menacingly.

Therestina managed to look up to the person before her. Aoi approached her slowly but quite loudly, each step sounding heavy, yet not slow in the slightest.

"Now then… would you like to bleed out right here and now…? Or would you like to… cooperate…?" Aoi whispered to Therestina, who looked at Aoi with panic in her eyes as Material's face was dangerously close to her own and it didn't look pleased in the slightest.

Therestina didn't really have it in her to speak at the moment, so she held up two fingers on her one hand, signalling the second option.

"Wise choice." Aoi said softly as she disintegrated the sharp long rods and quickly fixed Therestina's lungs and other internals, which were pierced all the way through. The only sign left was the blood on Therestina's clothes, which disappeared at a moment's notice as well.

"I have to say though… I very much appreciate you not using your infamous Capacity Down for anything lethal." Aoi started wondering out loud, still maintaining her truly and unmistakably innocent, yet menacing tone, the tone which anyone in her close proximity would be willing to listen to. Far more than Therestina's 'friendly approach', the 'if you don't listen, you're dead' atmosphere that Aoi managed to successfully create time and time again gave her so much authority that even Aleister might have envied it. After all, Aoi's methods didn't involve any magic at all. Only a few very precise and clever psychological breaking tricks.

Therestina started to check the back and the front of her chest to see if there was a gaping wound hole anywhere only to find herself perfectly healthy.

"Now, now. I wouldn't want to leave the Captain of MAR of all people with obvious injuries, would I?" Aoi chuckled slightly at the 'amusing sight' of someone checking whether they'll actually live or not.

"At least… as long as I have a guarantee that the aforementioned Captain isn't working for 'extremists' from outside of Academy City." Aoi's gaze narrowed extremely as she spoke with full seriousness.

"Yes…" Aoi placed her index finger on her chin to fake herself thinking, in a rather lady-like manner, while she looked up at the ceiling to further the appearance of her 'deep thoughts'.

"…before you tell me about Capacity Down…" Aoi looked back towards Therestina with a genuine smile, which unnerved Therestina more than her menacing tone before.

"…do you mind explaining who 'Sons of the Motherland' are…? And how they got their hands on YOUR Capacity Down?" Aoi sounded a bit annoyed as she mentioned that.

Therestina waited for a moment. "How the hell do I respond to her? There's gotta be a way. She wants me to insult her but sound like myself… Ah… I think I got it." Therestina thought in her actual punk-like tone.

"Dunno. We got money from an anonymous benefactor, who wanted the better version of Capacity Down for themselves." Therestina started talking in an unfazed and manic punk-like tone, which seemed to go well with Aoi, who was listening to her with a constant smile.

"And so, you left it in a dead drop without ever seeing your benefactor face to face?" Aoi raised her eyebrow as she looked even more amused by the information.

"H-how did you…?" Therestina was shocked to hear that her secretive method was already known.

"Oh, please~." Aoi waved her hand as she 'slapped the air', a gesture that signalled the same pride that her tone and facial expression expressed.

"Don't take me for a fool, will you? How else do you pass a special device to others? Don't tell me that you thought of using your men as escorts to drive the thing outside the city in broad daylight?" Aoi looked like she was about to break into a very long laugh. "I… did think that'd be okay." Therestina thought, her face now showing concern.

"*Pfhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha*" Aoi couldn't help herself as she crouched down ever so slightly and started hitting the air in a fit of joy, while she laughed her ass off. Therestina was quite annoyed at that… or at least would be. But… "if she really is above even the Board like the rumours suggest… I shouldn't do ANYTHING to upset her." Therestina thought and remained cautious as she stayed silent and made sure to not show any annoyance in her facial expression. Luckily, that was pretty much her speciality, since she faked her friendliness quite often.

"*Ahhh*~ Thank you for that. I didn't have such a good laugh in a while." Aoi wiped off a few tears that were built up from the 'good laugh'.

"Capacity Down then." Aoi sounded extremely deadly and menacing at this point, her eyes open quite wide and looking down on Therestina, her smile ever so menacing. Therestina caught a few shivers at the sudden change of mood but managed to keep herself together.

Therestina waited for a moment to gather her thoughts for an appropriate response once again.

"We built almost four models." Therestina said, gulping after the sentence.

"Almost?" Aoi looked a bit impatient and puzzled at that.

"The weakest one was with Big Spider, there is one stronger one here and in the hands of the benefactors, most the fourth one was stolen from us on July 28th." Therestina explained, never looking away from Aoi to try to please her as much as possible.

"What components is the fourth one missing?" Aoi pried deeper, the look of displease filled her face, which was a dangerous sign for Therestina.

"It was complete but… it was a failure…" Therestina looked apologetic as she started sounding polite and friendly once again. This time it was obviously less fake.

"Elaborate." was Aoi's simple command.

"Y-yes!" Therestina almost jumped where she stood.

"It was not in working order and I do not believe that anyone has the capabilities to fix it, let alone the people outside of Academy City, who are the ones that likely stole it. It will most likely be sold for scraps, so there's no need to worry." Therestina continued in the same tone, while waving her hands in front of her to reassure Aoi that it was all okay, which was an uncharacteristic movement for her but evidently she cared more about living… at least long enough to conduct her experiment than she left on.

"Hmmm…" Aoi narrowed her gaze as if she was searching for any signs of deceit in Therestina's tone.

"So, we can safely omit the fourth one… Is that what you mean?" Aoi sounded less menacing and annoyed and more 'deep in thought' as she said it.

"Y-yes, precisely." Therestina replied, her voice shaking slightly. The pressure of today's sudden 'visit' was starting to get to her.

"I trust you then." Aoi decided to walk up to Therestina with a comfortable working pace.

"After all, you're smart enough and not scum enough in the right places, are you not?" Aoi asked nicely as she placed a hand on Therestina's shoulder.

To any outsider, it'd look a bit strange that an esper and a teenager was bossing around the Captain of MAR, but the Captain took it as a given and chose to 'give herself a shot at life'. From what she saw today, rumours of Suzuki Aoi's brutality were less rumours and more 'accounts that were not silenced quickly enough'.

"Please remember to not kill anyone that you might get yourself in trouble for~. Capacity Down is a wonderful technology that can give Academy City an edge if the need arises, right~?" Aoi sounded quite child-like, yet mischievous as she colluded with a 'not very good person' in the form of Therestina.

"Y-yeah." Therestina replied.

"I'll be off then." Aoi swiftly turned around and put her hand upwards, signalling her immediate departure.

"Please remember that your sincerity is the key to 'longevity' when dealing with, okay~?" Aoi winked innocently at Therestina as she spoke in an even more childlike manner before fluctuating away.

Leaving Therestina relieved but also a bit more cautious of what's to come if she doesn't play nicely with whatever the 'all knowing rank 0' has going on in the darkest depths of this city.

Inside of an old shipping container appeared Aoi, who immediately lit up the place with a glow stick that she materialized almost instinctually.

"*Haah*" Aoi exhaled in an almost panicked way as her expression switched back to show her actual emotions back from her 'interrogation expression'. The glow stick lay on the floor, her fists tightened so much so that there was blood pouring out of her hands. Evidently, this was a sign of just how strong her grip was if he was really trying and unconsciously using her ability to enhance it.

"Fuck." she couldn't find anything else to say other than swear words, despite her extensive vocabulary and intellect.

"Okay…" she exhaled.

"Gotta keep this going, Aoi." she said, tears of sadness and fear building up in her eyes.

"You've killed innocents before… so what gives?" she continued in the same tone, sounding even more 'on the verge of a breakdown'.

"No way am I allowing myself to fail after a single death. No way." she had a hard time pronouncing words as the toll that the events with 'the Russian snipers' took on her appeared to be even worse than she herself originally predicted.

"If I have any hopes of ending the world's problems… of finally putting an end to all the various methods THEY used… I'm going to take all the evil… all the blame… all the despair… and bring it to hell with me…" she declared her motif for everything once again, desperately trying to pull herself together.

"I have to." she declared.

"I have to." she declared once again.

"There's no one else but me. There's no one else suitable other than me." she continued.

"I have to." she declared yet again.

"I WILL!" she yelled out as she slammed her fist into the side of the shipping container, bending it quite severely, enough for it to crack in a few places, causing the light to seep through the cracks in it.

"This is somewhat delusional but…" she smirked as she said it.

"If anyone is listening… I promise to you that I will no doubt achieve it. I will make the dream of a peaceful, conflict-less world a reality. I will eradicate any human, any monster, any deity that is preventing that, myself included. Sadly, I'll only be able to rid the world of myself after I've seriously put an end to all the suffering everyone had to suffer from various sources, the main ones being me and the existences, who cannot be called human, monster or anything else, from Poryadok Mira." Aoi proclaimed to the empty void, to the world, hoping to reach someone, to maybe have someone reach out to her and help in some way, to maybe say that 'she doesn't need to die', to maybe find someone who could bring all the people that died because of her back to life in one piece, to maybe find someone who could comfort her, to maybe have someone tell her how she'd actually have a way to live a peaceful life. Or… to maybe have some kind of 'universal listener' listen to her story and-

"Yeah… pointless, right…?" Aoi cringed at her own words.

"Asking for something like that…" she continued berating herself.

"Something that I'll never allow myself to have." and continued berating herself even more.

"After all, scum don't deserve anything. They deserve worse than nothing, right? That's why I gotta keep this up. To hurt myself and fix the world, eh?" Aoi smiled at the prospect.

"Dooming yourself and not allowing anyone to save you… Yeah, that sounds nice." Aoi found strange comfort in thinking of how it was all just temporary before she'd off herself for her extensive crimes.

"That sounds exactly what I want to do as I practically become a martyr that 'saved everyone' from the 'scum of the world', even if they remember me as an unforgivable VILLAIN, MONSTER and whatever else… I don't deserve even that, do I? Better to be erased from existence, right?!" Aoi found great joy in remembering that there was a way to reach a 'happy ending', a world that was the definition of it.

"The world will be a happy place if no one remembers any atrocities that happened, RIGHT?!" she exclaimed as she was even more happy that there'd be no one left in the world, who'd be sad angry, lonely or anything else. A world filled with genuine smiles and true peace.

"THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS, RIGHT?!" she yelled out, causing the sound to echo throughout the container.

Aoi seemed to be quite relieved to find a suitable end for it all, even if that was HER plan all along. A plan to end all suffering by destroying its cause once and for all, herself included.

She bent down only to find some dust on the floor of the old shipping container she was currently in.

"Even you… matter more than me, right…?" she said softly as she took appreciation of the world's tiniest things, dust on the floor included.

"I'm sorry… Mikoto-chan, Touma, Mum, Dad, Dasha-chan…" she continued even more softly and very slowly.

"…looks like… I'll cut my own life short… after I finish this… as I decided a long time ago… some time down the line…" she smiled softly with great sadness, crying but still looking happy, happy that she was able to maybe… to possibly… bring some joy to someone's dull, sad, and despair-ridden lives… before she'd definitely commit suicide… for what she thought was the benefit of all humankind…

August 4th 2005, 14:54

Aoi was walking down yet another calm street inside Academy City, during bright daytime, children much younger than her running around and enjoying their summer holidays. They were playing with their abilities and having the time of their life. "I wish it'd always be like that. For every child, adult and maybe even Metaloid. As long as they don't terrorise the city, the world or humans in general." Aoi thought as she couldn't get the smile off of her face even if she tried. The day was just perfect.

"Damn it. NO! NO!" Aoi thought and forced the tears back as she remembered the days she had with her Mum, Dad and even Dasha-chan. Peaceful, calm and pleasant days just like the one today.

Her internal conflict was, however, interrupted by a little boy running up to her with a balloon. He looked to be around 7 and was dressed in some sports clothes.

"Onee-san, can you hold the balloon, please?" he looked and sounded a bit shy as he asked, balloon still in his hand.

"Okay~." Aoi replied in English with a wink.

"Uhm…" the boy looked even more shy as he was probably not very good with English or maybe not old enough to have started studying it. Ages often differ from looks after all. Or maybe he could have just not been expecting such an enthusiastic response. In any case, he was left standing with the balloon in his hand.

"I said that it's all good." Aoi knelt down and placed her left hand on top of the child's head, while taking the balloon with her right.

"Look. Your friends are waiting." Aoi pointed towards the group of children gathered by a large tree, who appeared to be climbing it as best as each of them could. Collectively trying to make it happen using both their strength and their esper abilities.

"""Ryo-kuuun!""" multiple voices of both little girls and boys rang out.

"Comiiing!" Ryo-kun yelled out back.

"Are you okay, Onee-san?" the little boy asked quite suddenly and perceptively, startling Aoi massively, who didn't show it at all. He looked her right in the eyes with the truly innocent eyes of his. "Who… is this kid…?" Aoi thought to herself, trying to gauge if there was any threat from him. "No… I'm at fault her for even considering him to be bad…" Aoi berated herself internally as he reaffirmed that his expression was innocent, never resorting to reading his mind or anyone else's for that matter… just like she promised herself, Dasha-chan and Mikoto-chan…

"Of course, how would I not be?" Aoi replied back with a warm smile, hoping to no end that the child in front of her would not know anything of the bad parts of her life.

"But you look lonely. Don't you have friends too, Onee-san?" he persisted, looking a bit disheartened by Aoi's response.

"""Ryo-kuuun! Stop troubling Onee-san and come to uuus!""" they yelled out once again.

"Wait a minuuute!" he yelled back, causing a few children to roll their eyes and go join the main tree climbing group, while a few stayed back and watched.

"I do. Of course, I do." Aoi sounded quite proud as she said this though she was breaking apart on the inside from all the anguish the phrase 'I have friends' brought her, all the memories that… ultimately ended in 'and then they died because of me too'.

"See, friends at my age don't really meet that often but when they do, they make the most of it." Aoi smiled broadly at the boy. "Yeah… I forgot to mention the 'IF they do' part…" Aoi thought, berating herself yet again.

"That sounds sad, Onee-san." the boy frowned at the sad situation Aoi was in, the extent of its sadness eluding him completely.

"You can keep the balloon, Onee-san. It's a present." after shuffling around a bit, Ryo-kun decided to cheer up Aoi.

"Then, Onee-san will take good care of it." Aoi smiled widely, her eyes closing.

"But don't be sad, Ryo-kun." Aoi opened her eyes and mentioned the boys name, which she didn't forget after his friends called out to him.

The boy's eyes lit up with a new hope.

"Onee-san will take one for the team there. I promise you that when you reach my age, you won't have to be separated from your friends like me." Aoi winked at the little boy, sounding very optimistic. "If someone is separated from their friends like me 10 years later…" Aoi thought in a sad tone, not sounding optimistic whatsoever "No. 10 years later scum will be gone from the world, along with myself and all the traces of me. No nice person should ever go through loneliness or the death of a loved one. At least, not like me."

"But that's just sad…" the shy boy retorted.

"Look on the bright side. Without sadness, there wouldn't be happiness." Aoi maintained her smile and said warmly, not faking her message or her smile directed at the boy in the slightest. Her desire to be happy, to be a hero in someone's eyes so that they'd feel safe and happy… at least as long as she lived… couldn't be faked even if it was tried. Aoi genuinely wanted people to be happy and scum to be gone along with her.

The boy's face looked slightly less sad, but he still remained largely unconvinced.

"Look, I can tell you like the balloon." Aoi said and as the boy was about to protest, she continued "Tell you what, I'll give you and your friends something in return." she winked at him once again and smirked pleasantly.

Immediately, grappling hooks appeared next to each child that was present including Ryo. They appeared to be expertly made and could probably withstand much more than a small child climbing them, though they were small enough for the children to use.

"That's quite careless of me to leave it in your hands and not watch over you… but I trust you just that much." Aoi said as she pointed towards the grappling hook next to Ryo only for it to teleport right into his hands.

The little boy's eyes widened in pleasant surprise even as he found it a bit difficult to hold the grappling hook. It had a good amount of rope, probably enough to climb any building in Academy City apart from the tall Windowless Building.

Immediately as it fell into his hands, he found himself next to his friends and next to the tree that they wanted to climb.

The children gasped in astonishment as they saw someone, who could both teleport and materialize things from thin air, not to mention them being female and dressed in black.

However, the aforementioned person appeared back in the place where she stood immediately after dropping of Ryo.

""""Material-sama!"""" the children and the little boy Ryo all yelled out the name of one of their idols. A Level 5. They thought of them as heroes and everyone felt that there was a bit of heroism in helping out children massively like that.

"Be careful with the grappling hooks for me, okay?!" Aoi yelled out to them.

""""Yees!"""" they all replied, warming Aoi's ultimately never-to-heal heart ever so slightly.

"Take care!" she yelled out again as she waved at them, signalling her departure.

""""See you!"""" they yelled out back.

The saddest part was that while the children were looking forward to seeing her, she was saying goodbye. A goodbye to the children, another goodbye to her childhood, another goodbye to the whole world. That's what her 'take care' meant. That's the only thing it could imply according to her.

Aoi teleported away onto a nearby rooftop and looked on at the children, materializing a speaker next to her.

"I'm sorry Ryo-kun and everyone else there. What I'm about to do right now is… double extremely scummy." Aoi mumbled as she did her best to keep herself from crying and she knew why she did so. "Crying means that you feel sorry for yourself, right? I don't deserve it. Others do. Mum, Dad and many others do. But not me…" Aoi thought to herself as she felt she was about to break down into million pieces only to never recover and become whole again. Something that she couldn't just let herself do. This was more than just about her- No. This wasn't even about her. This was about everything else.

"Ryo-kun?" Aoi heard a voice of a little girl, who was by that tree, where she left the children with grappling hooks. She was tapping their conversation.

"I can't help but feel sorry for her. Despite looking happy, she just seemed so lonely. I hope Level 5s have friends…" Ryo said, looking very sad.

"*Heh* You can't even imagine what happens to them though…" Aoi mumbled in sheer despair.

"And… sorry for this too…" Aoi said as she raised her hand and started doing something.

She started changing the children's memories, altering them in a way she thought was the only way, the balloon disappearing from her other hand and reappearing, tied neatly around Ryo's wrist.

"Really… there's only one person… deserving of helping you…" Aoi mumbled softly, tears of sadness that she couldn't stop falling down her face.

And so, their memories no longer had Aoi present in them. Instead…

"Onii-san, can you hold the balloon, please?" he looked and sounded a bit shy as he asked, balloon still in his hand.

"Okay…" Kamijou Touma replied somewhat taken aback by the sudden necessity for him.

"Uhm…" the boy looked even more shy as he was probably just not been expecting such a sudden response. In any case, he was left standing with the balloon in his hand.

"I said that it's all good." Touma knelt down and placed his left hand on top of the child's head while taking the balloon with his right.

"Look. Your friends are waiting." he pointed towards the group of children gathered by a large tree, who appeared to be climbing it as best as each of them could. Collectively trying to make it happen using both their strength and their esper abilities.

"""Ryo-kuuun!""" multiple voices of both little girls and boys rang out.

"Comiiing!" Ryo-kun yelled out back.

"Are you okay, Onii-san?" the little boy asked quite suddenly and perceptively, startling Aoi massively, who didn't show it at all. He looked him right in the eyes with the truly innocent eyes of his. "Who… is this kid…?" Touma thought to himself, not really thinking too deep into it but nevertheless being surprised by the perceptiveness of the kid

"Of course, how would I not be?" Touma replied back with a warm smile, hoping to no end that the child in front of him would not know anything of the relatively not so bad parts of his life that he had the capacity to remember but not feel.

"But you look lonely. Don't you have friends too, Onii-san?" he persisted, looking a bit disheartened by Touma's response.

"""Ryo-kuuun! Stop troubling Onii-san and come to uuus!""" they yelled out once again.

"Wait a minuuute!" he yelled back, causing a few children to roll their eyes and go join the main tree climbing group, while a few stayed back and watched.

"Of course, I do. Lots in fact." Touma sounded as if it was second nature to him. After all, even people that knew him, but he forgot about due to the recent event, still thought of him as a friend.

"Friends are really important at any age. Make sure not to lose them!" he smiled broadly at the little boy, inspiring Ryo to no end.

"Are you sure you're alright, Onii-san?" the boy frowned a bit, not believing Touma fully at this point.

"Yep. All good." Touma replied with a warm smile.

"Okay…" after shuffling around a bit, Ryo-kun decided to keep the balloon to himself.

"Hold on, let me keep it safe with you." Touma smiled widely, his eyes closing as he tied the balloon neatly to Ryo's hand.

"But don't be sad." Touma opened his eyes and didn't mention the boy's name as he ruffled Ryo's hair, which he forgot despite his friends calling out to Ryo via his name.

The boy's eyes lit up with a new hope.

"Tell you what, I'll give you and your friends something." he winked at Ryo and smiled pleasantly.

Touma placed his backpack in front of Ryo and opened it. Inside were Grappling Hooks. They appeared to be expertly made and could probably withstand much more than a small child climbing them, though they were small enough for the children to use.

"That's quite careless of me to leave it in your hands and not watch over you… but I trust you just that much." Touma said as he pointed at the open backpack, filled with the things that could be considered sweets for tree-climbing children.

The little boy's eyes widened in pleasant surprise even as he looked at the shiny item. It had a good amount of rope, probably enough to climb any building in Academy City apart from the tall Windowless Building.

Touma and Ryo walked over to Ryo's friends and Santa-Touma had just enough hooks just for everyone present. Each and every child received their shiny new present.

The children gasped in astonishment as they saw someone, who appeared to be an average schoolboy, yet was so kind and nice that they could swear it was a literal summer Santa.

"Alright kids, I'm off." Touma said warmly as he picked up his backpack and prepared to head out.

""""Wait!"""" the children and the little boy Ryo all yelled out. This person, who used no esper power was too good to be true.

"Yes?" Touma looked back at them with his signature smile as he asked them.

""""Who are you Onii-san?!"""" they all yelled out with enthusiasm, warming Touma's heart as he didn't think people would care so much about his 'as natural as breathing itself' act of kindness.

"Kamijou Touma!" he exclaimed with pride as he waved at them and started to head out.

""""Thank you, Kamijou Touma-san!"""" the children all yelled out their thanks.

"Take care!" he yelled out as he continued waving at them, while now running off into the distance.

""""See you!"""" they yelled out back.

After only 20 seconds or so, Santa-Touma fell over, still not out of the children's sight.

"FUKOU DA! I'm not missing that bargain sale!" he yelled out, got back up, and went on his way again.

The children giggled. Kamijou Touma was a funny person. He gave out presents, yet almost 'lived off the land'.

"Ryo-kun?" a little girl checked on the little boy, who was in tears at the moment.

"I can't help but feel strangely happy. Despite looking annoyed when he fell there, he continued on, never looking back. That guy is really happy with his life. That Kamijou Touma-san." Ryo said through the tears of happiness, his eyes were filled with.

"I'm lucky he doesn't remember stuff that was more than two months ago. He'll probably pay no attention even if he runs into them. If he does… I might tell him. He deserves to know." Aoi thought as she felt a sudden calm, maybe being the 'monster of the night' suited her…

Yet…

"I wonder when we'll meet Kamijou Touma-san next?" Ryo-kun wondered in sheer happiness as Aoi heard it via her tapping method.

"Yeah, I do too." the little girl joined in as Aoi heard it as well.

"Yeah… that person is Kamijou Touma. The hero the world needs, the hero the world deserves… yet not the only hero…" Aoi tightened her right fist.

"…the world has…" she looked towards the children from the rooftop as she stood up and dematerialized the speaker and the microphone at the other end.

"If I never accept that I save people then… I won't be able to accept that I kill and torture either…" Aoi looked determined as she found a new resolve in those children and taking herself out of her rightful place in their memories just so they and Imagine Breaker, who'll likely pass it all off as a coincidence would be happier, just so she could worry about less people liking her despite her atrocious actions.

"I'm also a hero…" Aoi looked proud if a bit conflicted while saying this.

"…A hero that no one knows exists…" but she smiled through the painful words. The actions of their 'true helper' and his undying resolve helping to bolster her own, the resolve that was maybe only second to his, yet maybe surpassed his still.

"Before the Metaloids appeared… now… and in the future…" she looked happy due to her own sadness.

"That was… that is… and that will be…" she felt validated that someone misfortunate would be recognized.

"…How it is…" as soon as she said it and finished it all… somehow… she smiled broadly… and felt…

…happy.

August 4th 2005, 20:12

Aoi was back home, lazing in her own bed, really enjoying the nice summer day. It was quite warm due to her jacket but due to her esper powers she managed to keep herself cool.

Now though, she was back in her underwear and didn't really have to keep the temperature in check as she was even feeling a bit chilly due to it being evening time.

"Really though, Touma… I can't stop thinking about what went on." Aoi said softly.

"Well, apart from today, I guess I kept another secret from you." she confessed.

"Or… maybe two…" she found another secret that she didn't tell him.

"The first one is that you didn't actually punch through my barrier that time… when I remembered my parents' death and you had to snap me out… Well, I would have managed to stop it on my own if I saw a loose piece of debris flying around." Aoi chuckled slightly at the fact that Touma wasn't really necessary that time.

"Nevertheless, I appreciate the help." she continued.

"The second on is that…" Aoi wanted to continue but her massive blush that appeared on her cheeks was seemingly preventing her from doing so.

"I-I-I…" she stuttered a bit, thinking that she was just like Mikoto and damning herself for being so inexperienced despite being older.

"L-L-Lo-o-ov-v-ve y-yo-o-ou…" just saying this out loud was enough to cause a short circuit in her brain and cause Aoi to inhale seemingly all the air inside the room and immediately hide under her own blanket, fully covering herself and making some truly embarrassed and incoherent sounds along with her shuffling around under the blanket.

"*Gwhuwugugugu*" the incoherent movement and the impossible sounds of being very embarrassed, despite no one being present in the room apart from her, continued for a while.

"I should've said 'like', damn it." is what she managed to think when she regained the cognitive ability to do so.

The incoherent movements and sounds soon stopped as Aoi jumped out of the blanket and lied back down onto her bed, looking and feeling quite sweaty.

"Yeah… I didn't take showers in a while. Probably best to go in now." she said out loud as she leapt out of her bed with a bit of force, making the bed creak slightly.

Even though she preferred not to overuse her ability, creating a new towel for each shower run was one of the luxuries she allowed herself.

And so, a towel materialized out of thin air into her hands.

"I know how it'll end for me but…" Aoi looked sad yet again.

"…I need to keep mentally fit and happy until that time comes. Only through that will I be on top of my game and be able to go all the way and defeat everyone and everything." and yet again she found determination and determined for the millionth time that staying happy is key to winning battles as she clutched the big towel tightly. Every day was a struggle, yet every day she could maybe make someone happy and destroy the sadness that plagued the world.

"*La-la-la-la* Yeah, it was as pointless as I thought." Aoi stood inside the shower, attempting to sing only to find the whole thing ridiculously inappropriate for showering.

"I wonder why people do it… do they want to use all the free time they have for singing practice or something…?" Aoi pondered out loud.

"Well… maybe it isn't pointless for them…" she continued, water pouring down her slender, yet fit body, which seemed to be too perfect for someone, who'd been through so much conflict in life.

Yet here she was. She had the ability to heal it after all.

"Touma…" Aoi mumbled the name of the person she believed to be the ideal hero, who probably even fit the description…

"I'm sorry. I guess even if I have feelings for you…" Aoi continued softly as she put her hand over her heart, somewhat wincing when coming in contact with her own naked body. It was as if… skin contact reminded her of funerals… or maybe the funerals of her enemies, who she promptly disintegrated usually after touching them directly… "Get it together!" she yelled in her thoughts, causing herself to snap out of it.

"Even if I do…" she continued.

"I'm still better off keeping myself at a safe distance from you…" and continued.

"And Mikoto-chan too…" Aoi started sounding very sad again.

"And anyone else for that matter…" and even more sad as she said this.

"After all, I'm using you all to fix my own mistakes. To defeat those unforgivable bastards, who were probably my greatest mistake… even if they didn't really have to do anything with me and caused death by themselves…" Aoi continued, sounding a bit happier once again after berating herself.

"Me and Aleister are one and the same in that regard… We use everyone around us to achieve these requirements… the very requirements that we so desperately need to save the world." Aoi continued, sounding even more quiet, yet more happy as she smiled a bit.

"He… lost his daughter probably, right? Sometimes I can't help but think that he might see someone else in me… just like I see Dasha-chan in Mikoto-chan sometimes…" she continued, sounding slightly sadder right now, possibly feeling sorry for the Superintendent, for the 'ally' they have such a strange, strained, yet slightly family-like relationship.

"And if his daughter died… he might want to avenge her. 'Destroy all Magic'…? That's what he wants, right? If that's the case, then we really are similar…" Aoi mused about the similarities she and Aleister have.

"Wanting to destroy the root of the atrocities the world has… and dooming ourselves to our fate, despite there maybe existing a glimmer of hope for us…" Aoi's smile faded as she really didn't want to go back to thinking about the 'sad stuff'.

"Yet here I am… on a suicide mission to end it all…" yet Aoi smirked as she thought of what she promised 'the fabric of the universe' today.

"Aleister probably doesn't want to live too much after he achieves whatever he truly wants to either… he doesn't seem like one for extreme selfishness, despite his position…" she maintained the slight, yet genuine smirk while saying this.

"Yeah… 'the plan' is quite a funny thing, isn't it? Even if it succeeds, it will still result in so many deaths. But it's not like I or Aleister really have a proper and possible alternative… right?" Aoi shivered at the thought of what might happen if they fail, at the thought of what kind of terrible people might replace her and Aleister. Even if she and Aleister were bad… there were far worse in the world…

"Oh. I guess I actually need to wash myself instead of standing here acting all philosophical all of a sudden." Aoi smiled as she left her thinking space and proceeded to wash her hair and her sweat-filled body.

Soon enough, Aoi was out of the shower and was feeling rather refreshed as she stood by the room's window and was looking at the sun, which was setting ever so slowly but extremely noticeably for someone, who could measure the minutes of angle that the sun passed with each minute. Such was the life of someone who could use the ability to control the world itself and the feeling of it.

Nevertheless, it was already getting a bit late and Aoi wanted to get some good sleep for once, she strangely had a good feeling about life at the moment.

"I guess I'm off to sleep again." she said softly as she looked over at the 'companions', who made that very sleep a reality.

She slowly picked up the bottle of sleeping pills and took out only one.

"I won't have to overdose myself tonight, huh?" she thought as she smiled at the prospect of finally getting some good sleep. She still didn't think she ultimately deserved it but everyone else deserved her being rested and ready to help them.

Aoi used her ability to 'desweatify' her blanket and bed, making them suitable for someone, who just came out of the shower once more.

Afterwards, she took out another pill and playfully put it into her mouth, sucking it like it was a piece of some tasty hard candy.

And after that, she put down the bottle of sleeping pills, disintegrated the towel that was covering the young and soft body and climbed into her bed, while still remaining nude.

She really seemed quite happy as she was doing so. Maybe it was a happy reminder of the past. Whatever the case, Aoi usually cherished those happy memories whenever she came across them.

"Awrighty. No need to dress myshelf. I'll kill Takashi if he pulls me outa bed when I'm not dreshed like that." Aoi said with the pill still inside her mouth, making it slightly difficult for her to pronounce things properly.

"Goodnight... huh?" Aoi looked up with a big and warm smile as she swallowed the pill and relaxed, while sleeping on her back, the position doctors deemed the healthiest one for sleep and the sleeping position Aoi adopted more out of necessity to rest rather than comfort. She usually preferred to sleep on either of her sides when it came to it.

And so, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with happiness. An occasion that was extremely rare but even more extremely out of place on that nice summer day.

The summer day when all signs pointed to something eerie in the future yet were brushed off by Aoi in favour of her own happiness.

That was something…

…she wouldn't believe how much she'd regret…

…considering the events of the upcoming day…

A day that would ultimately be one of the few defining moments of Aoi's life.

She would later half-joke that…

…it was the day that she died.

AN: Well then. My weekly upload schedule for this seems to be working out just fine now.

Today's chapter will hopefully leave you a bit emotional. To be honest, even while writing this 'less of a holy mess' chapter, it was quite emotional even for me as a writer. So, there might be a few tears shed here and there on your part. Or... I might just be making bold assumptions but oh well. "You can't guess them all", right?

Sometimes I see Reddit posts of people wondering if their favourite fanfiction author is feeling alright while writing insurmountable amounts of angst or something of the sort.

If anyone was wondering, I'm doing quite alright. Still not killing myself, despite the readership numbers going down as soon as the worldwide lockdowns lessened *haha*.

No, really. Don't lump authors together with their characters completely. I did say that Aoi is not an SI a while back. I hope I was finally able to hammer that in.

Regarding reviews, I also want to encourage you by saying that I respond to pretty much all positive ones with a few thank you words from myself and I still try to debunk the obviously misinformed and slightly hateful ones for the public to see.

In any case, that 'tomorrow' is sure looking important. I wonder what'll happen then...

Not really, but you probably are. I already have a good outline for that.

I can only tell you that this 'tomorrow' is what will finally tie everything into the Sisters Arc. An Arc I so tout as being the 'main part' and core to the story, much like it is in canon.

Have a nice day, everyone!

P.S. Please consider posting a review and/or following and favouriting this story if you like the chapter/story itself. This is a half-automated message. The cleaning robots of Academy City are not responsible for its constant annoying reminders.