"Come on, tie them up.", Kana said as the delinquents were all carried by the heroes and brought together.

Kana and a few professional saviors were in an abandoned warehouse.

"Sheesh, that Akira really did a number on them.", said Kana.

"Take that blond guy as well, even if my ability doesn't work on him. We should just let the government find a way to deal with him."

'An ability that makes his body invincible against abilities, seems like a good skill to work with, although his mind is filled with evil thoughts.', thought Kana.

Suddenly, as a savior approached Ryo, planning to take his unconscious body...

*ZZZIIINNGGG*

A strong light suddenly flashed, making all the saviors put their arms up to block their eyes from the blinding light.

'What is...?'

After a while, finally the light stopped...

"What the...?"

...

Suddenly, they were all shocked to see... that Ryo... wasn't there anymore.

"Missis Asami! He's disappeared!"

All the saviors and Kana all had wide eyes as this happened.

'...That kid, who just...?', Kana thought

'What the heck is going on?'

______________________________________

Akira came a little less early in class so he didn't get to go to school at the same time as Akio.

Akio woke him up and told him that they should get going but Akira told him that he can just go first and he'll catch up later, although he really didn't get to catch up to him.

"Man, the trains were a bit too full since I had to go there late after I saved that weaken girl... I didn't get much sleep also."

Akira yawned as he walked to the university entrance where he found Koka standing there with her holding her briefcase before her skirt on the entrance walls.

'What's she...?'

"Yo! Weaken girl! Why are you here?", asked Akira.

His eyes then turned serious.

"Don't tell me... did something like yesterday's event happen again?"

"N-no, nothing of the sort...", Koka said with a gentle smile.

"I-I just slept kind of late... and I thought that I kind of... want to thank you again for yesterday so....", she said while looking on the ground, blushing and fidgeting.

"So you waited for me here?"

Akira looked a bit sad while continuing:

"Hey, I know you wanna thank me and shit, but maybe you should think about yourself first. What happened yesterday wasn't a joke, and I know you're still a bit shaken by it...

You should rest easy and hang out with your buddies for now. You don't have to burden yourself just to thank me."

"I-it's ok... I-it's not like... I want to see you or anything and... I wasn't really waiting for long."

Akira then sighed and walked beside her, entering the university.

"Whatever, let's go."

"Yes! A-Akira...!"

Akira and Koka walked side by side up to the stairs.

____________________________________

"Hey... thank you again for yesterday..."

"I've already told you it's no sweat. I just wanted to try to actually become a hero once. That was just me being selfish there."

'If that was just you being selfish... then you wouldn't have let me cling to you and cry on you and you wouldn't have told me... those words you said...', thought Koka.

Koka then stared at Akira's face and felt a bit mesmerized by it.

"Morning, Akira.", Takumi who was chatting with Kami with his usual deadpan expression, saw Akira come in and decided to greet him.

"Yo! Morning!", replied Akira.

"Good morning, Ishika-", Megumi was about to greet Akira when she noticed Koka also come in.

"A-akira, thanks again.", Koka told him while smiling.

"Yeah... whatevs."

Some of Akira's male classmates and Megumi, Ai and Eiko were shocked to see this sight.

Akira then went up to his seat.

"Yo, morni- what's up?", Akira noticing Keima, who was for some reason staring at him and had his game paused on the PSP he had in his hand.

"Nothing, I just thought you're that kind of guy."

"What do you mean?"

Koka walked up to Megumi and Ai seemingly kind of in a good mood, she then immediately went up to Ai and whispered to her:

"Ai... sorry about yesterday..."

"It's okay, Kokachi! I was saved and they didn't hurt me, okay! So don't be like that. For now I kind of want to ask you something else though...", Ai whispered back to Koka.

Megumi also closed in to Koka and asked her.

"Ummm... Koka, since when did you and Akira become... close?", Megumi asked.

"Yeah! You two seem as if you're really friendly now! And what's weirder is..."

Keima was whispering something to Akira.

"What?", replied Akira.

Suddenly, Kami also approached Akira and asked him with a low voice:

"Hey, Akira. How'd you break down Kawai-san's wall?", asked Kami.

"What?"

"You know most of the girls here are nice and all that, except for strict ones like Fujimoto-san... Kawai-san always seemed to glared at us even if we tried joking with her. How'd you get someone who seems to be a total man-hater become friendly with you?", asked Kami.

"Well..."

"Akira!", Eiko who was chatting to Mitsuko and Hana, and had bandages on her fingers, suddenly stood up, approached Akira and called on him.

"Sup, time girl. You need something?"

"Can you please heal my hand? I kind of hurt it when I tried cooking for the first time. I'll give you some of the food I cooked if you do!", Eiko told him.

"Sure."

Akira, without hesitation, held Eiko's hand with his two hands. This shocked some of his classmates.

Megumi and Ai seeing this, pouted while Koka seemed to have an irritated look.

A green light flashed on Eiko's hand, and with a slight blush and smile on her face, she was healed.

"You don't need to pay me back, just don't hurt yourself again."

"No, I insist! Thanks Akira, by the way.", she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, whatever."

Akira then looked at his classmates who seem to have expressions of shock on their faces.

He then turned to Kami who had a devious grin on his face.

"What?", Akira asked with a confused tone.

______________________________________

Kana was inside her office writing something down in what seems to be a business letter, when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

*knock knock knock*

"Come in."

Akira, who seemed to have a serious look on his face, entered the room.

"Something hapened?", asked Akira.

"I wouldn't be inviting you here if nothing did.", she replied.

Akira walked up to Kana.

"Still remember when you walked in here yesterday?"

"Yeah..."

["So about the guy we talked about who bullied the little brat in your class...", asked Kana.

"You erased his memory, right? What about him?"

"One of the teachers seem to have spotted him lurking around our school, and for some reason, even if I had supposedly erased his memory, he was found stalking the little brat with his delinquent friends."

"What...? Didn't you make him forget all about Keima?"

"That's what I thought. It seems as if the buddies he has with him have already forgotten the little brat's face. He's the only one who had eyes for him."

"How did you figure that out? You stalked the stalkers or something?"

"Look, this university has all sorts of guards and protectors who scout the academy and whatever suspicious figure try to lurk near it."

"What does that have to do with Kawai's situation?"

Kana then pulled a piece of paper placed in a short folder and showed it to Akira.

"That yellow haired guy started to stalk the brat for the first week, until suddenly, the next few weeks, he started lurking around another student and stopped stalking the brat. Our scouts noticed this and wanted to know what this punk was after. It took them some time, but they dug up some information about them.", Kana said.

"Turns out this Kawai-san was supposed to be the punk's fiancee. Because of Keima's parents moving here to Japan though, their large company competed against the punk's parents' company, this is probably the reason why they targeted the brat and bullied him harshly. Because of the brat's parents' company, their company went out of business, this made Kawai-san's father stop forcing her into marriage...

...but this punk though..."

"He didn't like that thought, did he?"

"Yes. Turns out this punk had a sort of obsessive greed over his desires. And it seems like your classmate started having a distaste for boys due to both his father and his supposed to be fiancee both treating her like an object."

Akira's expression seemed to start to show anger.

"Kawai-san seem to have been frequently visiting this cafe near the school with her friend, Abe-san. The punk kept stalking them both all the time. If your classmate's absent, there may be a chance that those punks might have done something to her to call out Kawai-san."

"Then shouldn't we do something? The professional Saviors, they could-"

"The enemies were dealing with right now are unarmed, minors who haven't reached 18 yet. That punk might have been Kawai-san's fiancee, but he used to study at the same grade with the little brat. So they're all probably still teenagers."

"So what? If they're scum, they're scum, why should we-"

"We're dealing with a teenager and he might even have no actual ability. He might have just gotten lucky or I might have did something wrong while using my ability on him so that might be why he wasn't affected by my rewrite. If he was a powerless, unarmed, minor, the government wouldn't let us be with hurting him. In these kinds of cases they would like the police to take care of it... but we're dealing with a man who can make 'people disappear' here, the police probably don't stand a change against him."

"What do you mean by that?"

"...His family seem to try to cover up all his sins. We heard that there was some sort of rumor about him molesting a girl from a far away region. The next day, the 'girl' went missing, but her family didn't try looking for her. As if the family were forced to keep their mouths shut.", Kana explained with an irritated face.

"...but his parents' company went out of business, right? He shouldn't be able to do that again'", replied Akira.

"We dug up a little bit more, and found out that for some reason, his family kept their rich status, although their company went broke."

"Doesn't that mean..."

"Something shady is happening from the background. I don't know what it is, but they're earning money from an unknown source."

"..."

"He's probably trying to corner her. The police meddling in this situation would be great, if they could actually deal with someone protected by money. If the police dealt with this, his family would just try covering for his crimes again and he would be let loose doing the same thing until he wins."

"So that's where I come in."

"If there was a rogue student, someone who isn't a professional savior. We could pass it off by saying 'this student was just reckless and he hasn't finish his training yet.' The goverment won't be pleased by this but... this may be the best way."

"Let's do it."

"You sure you're ready?"

"You think I can't fight head to head with a few childish punks?"

"No, what I meant is the punishment if the government decides your actions were unruly."

"Might as well get jailed rather than standing here waiting for my classmate to be fucked over by a childish punk."

Kana showed a confident smile and thought:

'He never changes, doesn't he?'

"So... what's the plan?"

"Abe-san must have probably not been taken too far from her house, since you said her classmates haven't been able to contact her from an early time. I'm guessing they're taking her hostage in her own home. If there's a hostage situation, professional saviors are allowed to meddle on it. We'll take care of that."

"And I'll be on the other side, rescuing Kawai-san, huh?"

"Yeah. The most probable place he would invite her in, was the place they took the little brat to when they ganged up on her."

"What do I do?"

"Listen closely to their conversation, try not to be seen by anyone, if you could... try to make a flashy entrance."

"Want me to climb on the roof?"

"Sure, if you could do that."

"I'll just use my barrier ability to slice and break a part of the roof beforehand."

"Jump in once you're sure they're planning something malicious."

"...I'll be off then."

"Good luck."]

"Yeah, what about it? Did you call me in the intercom to tell me you're gonna punish me for using my ability outside school?"

"What do you mean...,you didn't use your ability outside school, right Akira?"

"Quit it with the acting, auntie. So why did you call me here?"

Kana stopped for a while and sighed.

"That punk somehow escaped..."

"WHAT?", Akira couldn't help but scream due to the shock.

"Quiet down."

"Why? I beat him up so hard. He should have been knocked unconscious!"

"He was."

"Then, how did-"

"Someone interfered."

Akira's eyes suddenly widen as he heard that.

"I knew you've been noticing it too.", Kana told him while slightly closing her eyes.

"Remember the time when you manifested your ability?"

["Huh, what the-?", the old bulky delinquent mumbled.

"Help...me...", the man begged while staring at Akira.

Akira's eyes widen with shock and suddenly-

...a large flash of green light sparked.

"Wh-What the hell is...!?", the old delinquent exclaimed.

A distorted sound was heard as a great green barrier with dark green root-like lines quickly expanded from inside the train to the whole city.

The windows broke out as all the delinquents were thrown out of the train with their eyes suddenly turned white because of the shock.

They were all pushed out by the barrier.

A strong ray of green light then flashed on everyone, and everyone's wounds all started to heal.]

"Yeah... you're talking about what that delinquent said back then, aren't you?"

"...

Akio told me about the delinquents' monologues about them being stupid enough to reveal their plans. There was always a part of their monologue that boggled my mind."

"...

I know... It's about-

["There was a man out there... a man kind enough to bribe the cops to throw us out of prison, he helped us get out of that shithole...

...but he told us that he wanted to be compensated. Knowin' this, we realized, 'Oh, this guy's just a shitty bastard as well.' Of course, if it was me, I would have just fuckin' killed the guy and ran outta there, but shit man... This guy had thousands of guys prepared to shoot us at any time we disobey him...so we just thought you know, fuck it. We're just gonna kill some people and have fun doing it, how about that?", the delinquent monologued.]

...the man those delinquents were talking about.", said Akira.

"I'm not so sure about it, but I have a feeling that the man they spoke about...

...might have been connected to that blond punk.", Kana replied.

"He said something as well, something similar to what the delinquents during the train incident said."

["That trick of yours won't work on me, not even that little shit's... Since there was this one guy... who came and told me... that I have this special body, that stops any of your abilities to work on me..."]

"He also mentioned about... 'some guy' who came in contact with him, he didn't say whether he was the one who helped them get back their money, but he feels somehow signifact to this situation.", Akira said.

"We still don't have any leads who this person might be, but-

______________________________________

[...just remember to keep an eye out."]

*riiiiinnng*

"Okay class, that's it for today! Be sure to fill your stomachs before your next class!", States, the water bodied teacher said.

The students all started to plan where they're eating their lunch.

Akira usually eats with Takumi and Kami in the cafeteria, since he usually just buys his food.

Keima eats alone in the classroom, but doesn't really seem lonely since he plays his PSP right after.

Megumi, Ai and Koka eat at the cafeteria too. Usually with them sitting in a table just next to Akira's because Megumi asks them too.

Maiki and Chiyo eat their lunches beside the trees near school.

Ken, Izanagi and Sora eats their lunches together near the school's track field because Ken and Sora both like watching sports. And some of the saviorhouse students play soccer in the field during lunch. Izanagi doesn't like tI therre but he gets forced too anyways. He'd sometimes escape and look for a tree to sleep beside as well.

Tomo usually eats in a dark shady place, like a vacant unused classroom while Ryuu follows him to try and purify him. Ryuu sometimes tries to fast and not eat lunch but gives up quite easily.

Avaron eats her food while reading a book in the classroom, Kazuki eats his food while reading a book too in the classroon.

Mitsuko, Hana and Eiko eats their lunch inside the classroom as well while they chat about things.

Daichi usually eats his food while painting and he usually goes to various places doing so. One time, he was scolded by the teachers for trying to leave the classroom because he wanted to draw stuff he saw outside.

Akira was planning to buy food in the cafeteria with Kami and Takumi when...

"Akira, here you go.", Eiko smiled as she gave Akira a lunchbox.

Some of Akira's classmates were quite shocked seeing this.

"What's that for? Are you selling it?", Akira asked with a confused expression.

"No, you weirdo. It's thanks for healing my fingers earlier.", Eiko replied with a smile.

"...Are you really sure I can take this?"

"...You don't want it?"

"...Whatever, I'll take it."

"Tell me later if it's good, ok?", she replied with a gentle smile.

"...yeah..."

Eiko then turned to walk back to her friends.

"Kami, Takumi, seems like I'm not going with you guys to the cafeteria after all.", Akira told Takumi and Kami.

"Yeah, you got a wife already after all.", teased Kami.

"Shut up. She's just thanking me."

Kami then closed in to Akira and whispered at his ear:

"Don't worry buddy, I might have a girlfriend but I think Eiko's simply a cute girl. Not too eccentric, not too anazing but still cute after all."

Eiko might not be one of the hottest girls in the class, but she is cute.

She curves out and curves in where females usually do, but not as much as girls like Megumi, Koka and Ai.

She's simply cute, not too eccentric, not too cheery, not too obsessive and not too boring either.

She's basically a normal cute girl unlike the others.

"Dude, I'm not trying to hit on her.", Akira replied.

"Yeah, you're not, but we're talking about her."

"I'm not lying."

"I know, there's something else I hinted about there but you're just too dense to understand that, buddy."

"What?"

"Come on, let's go Takumi.", Kami called on Takumi now without him whispering.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"Akira, you unintentional ladies man!"

Akira was confused, but decided to let it be anyways.

"Hard being a mongrel, eh?", said Keima.

"Uhhhh...", Akira groaned.

He put his hands on the hankerchief that covered the lunchbox and untied it.

He then opened the lunchbox and looked at it's contents.

'Looks delish.', thought Akira.

"It sure seems delicious."

"I know ri-"

Suddenly, Akira noticed someone commenting about the lunch's appearance behind him.

Turns out it was Megumi who said that, while showing a big smile.

Koka was at the right side Megumi, showing an irritated face.

Ai was pouting near Megumi.

"What are you guys doing here? Don't you usually hang out in the cafeteria?"

"We wanted to check out if Eiko was a good cook or not.", Megumi replied with a somehow stiff smile.

"Akira-sama...", groaned Ai.

'What's with this stiff atmosphere...'

"Yeah...", Akira muttered.

Eiko's lunch was just a simple lunchbox.

There were pieces of chicken, vegetables and octopus wieners in it. It looked absolutely delicious.

Although it's a bit too few for Akira's appetite.

'Well, this usually suffices a girl's appetite.', he thought.

'Might as well eat it and get some bread later.'

Akira bit in the food and slightly widened his eyes.

"It's so delicious."

From the distance, Eiko suddenly dropped her chopsticks.

They heard it and suddenly stared at her.

Mitsuko took a tissue from her bag and gave it to Eiko to wipe her chopsticks with.

Eiko had her back turned so Akira couldn't really see her expression. He wasn't really able to see how she felt when he said that.

Megumi and the two knew though and looked at Akira.

"Akira-sama, would you like me to cook you some lunch too?", asked Ai.

"I- ..if you want too, I could make one for you too.", Koka suggested.

"Akira...", Megumi sadly called.

"...what for? You don't need to do that. You don't really owe me or anything.", replied Akira.

Koka was gonna say something as well, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

Megumi stared at Akira's eyes as if thinking something and then decided to just invite the others to the cafeteria.

"Let's go, Koka, Ai. Lunch break's gonna end and we haven't eaten yet."

Ai and Koka stared at Megumi and seemed hesitant.

"...but..."

"Let's go, Ai."

Koka smiled at Ai and finally decided to go as well.

Ai looked at Koka and Megumi, and decided to just follow them.

"See you later, Akira-sama!"

"Yeah."

______________________________________

Akira was walking with Keima planning to exit campus.

"Hey, log-in later. Be sure to play in top form, we're playing a ranked game.", Akira told Keima.

"Don't underestimate me. I'm basically a master when it comes to machines."

"...If you bring my rank down, I'm gonna be taking you down with me."

"Just try it, you bastard."

They were talking about an online game they were playing recently as they walked together.

"We can play the whole night since there's no class tomorrow.", said Akira.

"I've gotta pump some exercises too, you know. I won't be up all night playing.", said Akira.

"Maybe you should try it some-"

"Hey."

From the campus entrance/exit, stood Kazuki, with a serious expression. He seems as if he's been waiting for Akira to get there. He suddenly called out for Akira while he was walking down to exit campus.

He has a one strap bag put on his right shoulder and held a book on his left hand.

"What do you want?", asked Akira with a serious expression.

"Let's talk.", replied Kazuki.

"If you try to cause a scene, I'm calling the teachers.", threatened Keima.

"I won't be able to fight back if teachers are involved... but I didn't come here to fight."

Akira then loosened up and asked him:

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Let's talk somewhere more private.", replied Kazuki.

"I'm calling a teacher.", Keima announced.

"Relax. You can join with if you want to, I just don't want this to be heard by others."

"...you-"

"Sure. Let's go."

Keima looked like he really didn't believe Kazuki and thought he was just trying to manipulate them, but Akira suddenly agreed to having a conversation with him.

"You mongrel, why the hell did you...?"

"I think he's really planning to just talk. If he wanted to fight, he wouldn't still be holding to that book he reread a million times now."

Keima stared at the book on his hand.

"Let's go.", Keima decided to accompany Akira to talk with Inoue.

______________________________________

"So? What the hell is it you want?", asked Akira.

They were standing face to face behind a tree near the school building.

Kazuki curled his eyebrows a bit and showed a slightly irritated expression.

"Are you still living with your father?", Kazuki replied with a question.

"Not anymore. He left us ages ago."

"..."

Kazuki then opened a part of the book he held and read a passage.

"The young Kazuki opened up his palm, placed it on the ground and struck down the evildoers, saving the day once again.", Kazuki narrated.

"My father was a writer. Although he's also a professional savior, he would often write stories about us, mother, sister and me.", he continued.

Akira who was a bit on guard earlier, decided to let loose and listen.

"His books didn't really sell that well, but he was happy he was able to share his love for us towards the world."

He then looked at Akira again.

"Your father, Arata Ishikawa, was a villain who worked against people like my father."

Akira's eyes widened as he heard that, then he clenched his fist.

"He was once a professional savior too, your mother was also once his sidekick and they fought together against measly villains... until he decided to betray them, and fight against them."

"...

I know nothing about my father's past... but whatever it is... don't involve me on..."

Akira's eyes suddenly widened and he thenseems held his head down low.

"... My father, known as the multi-inflater savior, Augmentor, was killed in an incident that happened years ago, when I was just ten years old."

Keima's eyes widened as he heard this, while Akira just kept his head down.

"You probably don't remember that day, but back then... you two were taken hostage by your own father."

Keima looked at Akira, but he just kept his head down low.

"As a little kid, I thought I would like to become a savior one day just like my father. So I decided to sneak in the area where he and his fellow saviors were supposed to take the enemies by surprise and save the hostages."

He then showed an irritated expression while looking at Akira.

"My father, ordered some of his allies to guard the entrance, some of them to take down the enemies inside and he was the one... who took care of the hostages."

Keima, then showed an enraged expression and scolded Kazuki:

"I don't know what happened between your fathers... but even if his father was the one who killed your father-"

"HIS FATHER DIDN'T KILL MY FATHER!", Kazuki suddenly screamed, interrupting Keima.

Akira looked as if he was guilty and had his fist tightly clenched.

"That day, his father was never seen at the building. The enemies they fought weren't that strong either and he freed the two Ishikawa brothers, but he didn't realize...

The grave mistake he had made."

Kazuki, with an enraged expression looked at Akira and said:

"Your father wasn't the one who killed my father. I sneaked up to the building that day and climbed up a tree, watching everything that happened through a window..."

He then walked close to Akira and glared at him.

"YOU TWO WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM!"

Keima's eyes suddenly widened as Akira still kept his head down low.

[In an abandoned ruined building, ten year old Akira and nine year old Akio were tied to a chair in an empty room filled with debris while they kept their heads down low.]

"My father immediately ran to the children to save them but they..."

[Augmenter, who wore a black spandex suit, with a black mask and large metal armlets, ran to save the two small tied up children.

He loosened their ropes and let them free then gave them a gentle smile.

"Come on, we got to get out of-"

He turned his back to the children, planning to walk with them out of the premises when suddenly...

*PWWWHOOOSSH*

*STAB*]

"The two children, stabbed them from his back with their abilities.", Kazuki continued.

"I don't know what your father said to you, or what happened that forced you to do that to my father, but..."

He suddenly looked at Keima at the corner of his eyes and looked back at Akira.

"I'm the one who's gonna kill you!"

Keima suddenly remembered what he said back in the entrance exam.

["KILL HIM!"]

'This mongrel, he invited me here... to tell me that Akira's his prey?', thought Keima.

Akira just kept his head down low and said nothing.

"I can't kill you right now, since all these saviors are keeping an eye on us... but one day, I know you'll turn into a villain just like your father... and when that time comes...

...I'll be the one who strikes you down."

______________________________________

Akira walked in and entered their home.

"Welcome back, bro. Had a nice date with that pink haired girl?"

Akio who kept his eyes on the manga he was reading with the TV open called on Akio from the living room.

"Ana finally told me what she meant when she giggled with that girl you're with and-"

"Akio."

Akira suddenly interrupted Akio, and walked up to him.

Akio turned towards him and saw him showing a serious look.

"I need to ask you something.", continued Akira.

______________________________________

Just having come out of the convenience store, Akira and Akio held drinks on their hands as they walked out.

Akira was wearing a comfortable blue hoodie, while Akio was wearing a stylish long sleeve striped shirt that had a large neck hole and wore a necklace with a gray swirl as the pendant.

*sip*

Akio sipped the drink and asked Akira:

"So what is it?"

"Why did we have to get the hell out of the house and buy a drink when we can just talk it out there?"

"Oh come on... We haven't had these bro dates for long, don't tell me you don't miss me?"

Akira then turned and showed Akio a creeped out expression.

"I'm just kidding. You seem too shaken up today so I thought we should buy some drinks to fix you up."

Akio said with a straight face.

"Haaaah.", Akira sighed.

"I kind of want to look for punks to beat up again.", he continued.

"Wanna go for a spar?", asked Akio.

"At this late?", Akira replied with a confused tone.

It wasn't that late at that time, it was about 7 p.m., but usually the university closes up at that time.

"Simulator training areas by professionals don't just close down you know? What if a grave crime suddenly happened at this time? How would they create a plan against it?", Akira replied.

"...but the ones in the university requires us to get special permission."

"That's because simulations cost a large amount of electricity. We just need to pay the cost."

"How much would it cost?"

"10000 yen an hour."

"WHAT?"

"Don't worry, I'm paying."

"Why are you not shaken up by that large price...?"

"..."

'Wait... don't tell me...'

["S s tournament?", wondered Akira.

"It's a tournament held every year in this University, to give you a chance to shine before others. It's a competition of ability between 2 people, a savior and a support, against all the other competitors. The winners get to work head to head with the top saviors, gets to be given a temporary SS license, immediately gets a scholarship, and is rewarded one billion yen.", Keima explained.]

"Did you win last year's S.S.-"

"Nevermind that, let's go, bro."

Akio said as they what seems to be a boxing gym.

______________________________________

"Haaah haaah haah haah.", Akira panted, while laying on the ground full of bruises.

"Come on, heal yourself.", Akio urged him.

"It's not that easy you know. I'm still only able to heal light wounds or slightly heal major ones.", Akira replied.

"Maybe you should focus more on protecting yourself."

"My barrier's still not that powerful, although I even tried stacking three shields at once against your Air Blast."

Akira then slightly pushed himself up but fell down trembling.

"You know... I've just noticed it, but aren't you focusing too much on using three shields?", asked Akio.

"Yeah, what about it? If I get used to using three shields, I'll be able to make a 3 way defense system. And stacking them seem to lessen the force you strike to me.", Akira replied.

"...Well, stacking 3 shields might sound like a good idea, but creating three energy nerves uses your energy greatly."

"Energy nerves?"

"Those green glowing branch-like lines on your arms, those are energy nerves."

Akira then looked at his arms that had green glowing branch like lines on them.

"See, you're losing energy by the second because you're using too many at once and you're not using it efficiently."

"Why don't you show these when you use your ability?", asked Akira with a confused expression.

Akio then pulled on his long sleeve and showed Akira his arm, he then gathered wind on his arms and slightly transparent looking gray straight lines showed up on it.

"My energy nerves are based off of wind so they're slightly unnoticable and transparent, but when I use my Air Blast..."

Akio pointed his right hand to the other direction and shot it.

'His arm lit up.'

"They glow more extremely.", Akio said.

"Depending on how much it glows, show how efficient you're using your powers.", Akio continued.

"Damn, that's so confusing."

"Might be, look at your arms. When you create a shield, it glows... but it doesn't glow as hard as mine, that's because you somehow force the energy out by using your energy."

"What?"

Akio showed a disappointed look and thought for a second before telling Akira:

"Think of you holding a gun in your hand."

"...okay...", Akira made a confusing expression while thinking about it.

"Guns shoot out bullets by pushing the bullet out using a spring."

Akio then posed with his right hand symboled like a gun, with his thumb up and his index finger pointed towards a direction away from Akira, he then gathered wind on his hand.

"What you do is somehow like this."

Akio's energy nerves glowed slightly as he shot out two small mini tornadoes.

One shot straight towards the direction's location and one fell down as if he was holding on something and dropped it.

"You shoot the gun, by using another bullet, to push the bullet you want to shoot out."

Akira then looked as if he had an enlightening expression and realized something.

"I told you to focus your energy on a focal point. During our vacation, I trained you so you'd be able to manipulate your shields, how to control their movements, how to duplicate them, focusing on defense and using your recovery in a safer space. I don't really have a recovery skill, nor am I a defense-based ability user, but with energy control, I know lots about that."

Akira who finally rested a bit, then stood up.

"What you need to do, is not just force the energy out with your energy. Use your muscles. Using terms that always come out from your mouth, the simplest explanation would be-"

"I should make it feel like I'm taking a shit from my hands."

"...yeah, something like that.", Akio replied to him with a wry smile.

"Our bodies won't automatically shoot out that energy if we clench our muscles, but if we focus on getting the energy out while doing it, you'd be able to control it more."

Akio then out his index finger up and told Akira:

"Another thing is that stacking your barriers would force you to use more energy nerves resulting to more wasted energy. If you place three frail wooden blocks and shot it with a bullet, the wooden blocks would break easily... but if you place a metal block that's hard enough..."

"The bullet won't be able to pass through."

"Right.", Akio replied to Akira with a confident smile.

Akira then canceled his shields making his energy nerves disappear.

'Focus on getting that energy out without using too much energy.'

He then put his right armhand up with his fist clenched and above his chest.

Suddenly, Akira's arms glowed a bright green light as his green branch lines showed up.

'Shoot that bullet out without using another bullet and...'

A flash of green light emitted and suddenly...

'TRY TO SHIT OUT THAT ENERGY-'

Akira clenched his muscles and the green light flashed inside the simulator area.

______________________________________

"Thanks for letting us, use it, sir.", Akira thanked the dark skinned muscular man who was wearing a black tank top and had messy brown hair as they walked out what seems to be a boxing gym.

Akira had his hands on his pockets, while Akio seemed to still have the drink he brought earlier and sipped on it.

"Still can't believe they hid the simulator area from the normal people by pretending it's a boxing gym.", Akira mentioned.

"Let's go home."

"..."

Akira and Akio were walking home, with a bruised Akira who was seriously thinking about something.

"What did you wanna tell me earlier by the way?"

"..."

Akira was a bit quiet, he thought he didn't wanna trouble Akio but he seemed to just want to ask him about it.

"Aunt Kana, actually told me something...", mentioned Akio.

"You've had a bunch of enemies who've been trying to kill you this past few days, right? If you include the incident at the train, that includes something from a year back."

"...Akio... did you know about Dad?", Akira asked while looking at his feet.

"...So you remembered.", Akio replied.

"One of your classmates, I've heard... is the son of Augmentor, Kazuki Inoue, am I correct?"

"Yeah..."

"...", Akio then stopped his steps making Akira stop his and turned back to him.

They were in the middle of an isolated area, seemingly without people so he thought talking about it there wouldn't be a problem.

"We... killed his father... Augmentor, eight years ago."

Akira's eyes widen as he saw Akio say it with a straight face.

"...Then, we're-"

"We didn't do it willingly, I believe.", Akio said keeping his straight face.

"For some reason, we didn't have memories about that event, until someone brought it up to us...

I faced a villain when I was walking back from school one time, one of those weak ones you'll find in alleyways.

Some were even part of the villain organization Dad was supposed to have taken part in."

'A villain organization...Dad...'

"One of such tried fighting me, I wasn't allowed to use my abilities outside school, but I wanted to fight back...

Luckily, saviors who were acting as undercover citizens, came in and saved me...

...but as the villain was pinned down by them he told me something..."

[In a middle of a dark alleyway, three heroes wearing different colored bodysuits was pinning down what seems like long light blue haired zombie looking person.

"SAVE ME, AKIO ISHIKAWA! WE'RE BOTH THE SAME! YOU KNOW IT! YOUR FATHER WAS OUR ALLY! YOU KILLED A HERO WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG! WE'RE COMRADES! DON'T THROW ME AWAY!", the villain screamed with a zombie like voice.]

"At that time, I felt the same way as you do. My head suddenly ached. I felt guilt, pain and wanted to know what really happened. Memories came flooding back my mind suddenly and it pained me so much just thinking about it...

...but then I realized...

Why did I forget about it?"

Akira, with a serious expression, turned his whole body to Akio.

"I asked aunt Kana, if she had something to do with this and she said with a shocked expression, that she had nothing to do with it. As if she was shocked to hear that someone might have tampered with our memories."

Akio then looked straight at Akira's eyes and told him:

"I believe something else happened, something happened at that time, that made that thing in our past happen.

So for now... I won't believe that we're both criminals who sinned by taking the life of another."

Akira who was facing Akio, then carried his right hand and clenched it.

______________________________________

The next monday, Sir Knight just came in the class to tell them what they're gonna be doing today.

"So tomorrow, a certain figure who's a celebrity in the savior world will be showing up. Your highnesses would probably want to look your best as well since he's gonna be watching some of the classes. So today is just us planning for tomorrow.", explained Sir Knight.

"Who's the celebrity who's coming tomorrow, Sir?", asked Chiyo who had her right hand up and seemed to be a bit excited.

"The top savior of our generation, X-tinct."

"X-TINCT!"

"NO WAY!"

"I wanna get his autograph!"

A bunch of students shouted and some started whispering and talking to each other as they spoke with one another.

"Quiet down, your highnesses!"

Everyone started quieting down one by one.

"Tomorrow, you will all be doing an activity with the other classes, including all the years of savior and support students. This will be done all around campus. You're all invited to play a simple game of...

...tag."

""""""""WHAT!?""""""""

End of Chapter 09

______________________________________

I'm kind of running low in ideas in this chapter, but I'm trying my best. The nexf chapter would be a bit different from the other chapters.

Spoiler: the real villains appear.

This was a short chapter, I'll try and get back on it next chap.