Chapter 112: The Brilliance Beyond Talent

"Ngh……!!!!"

The impact of that single word was more than enough to wash a blank space across Yobou’s thoughts.
And yet, somewhere deep down, there was a part of him that had already accepted it. The spiky-haired boy who had fought against Kakine was, even to Yobou, an incomprehensible existence.

He could still recall the shock of having his own ability nullified. If that same phenomenon could affect even Unexplored Material Dark Matter, then maybe…

That was why—even though the claim was vague, and in truth, more likely a lie—Yobou was able to take the words straight on.

And on top of that—

"……So what? You think just because the leader went down, I’m going to pull out? …Wrong. Completely wrong. That boy who defeated the Number Two? Obviously I’m going to crush him. Because if I smash him, then at least in that fight, I’ll have surpassed the Number Two myself!!"

Yobou twisted the situation into something that stoked his fighting spirit. Fundamentally, he had absolute confidence in his ability. That confidence remained intact against anyone other than Kakine, who had once beaten him down so completely he’d been left with trauma.

It was precisely because of that arrogance that he had been able to pick a fight with Academy City’s Number Two, for no other reason than that their abilities “overlapped in versatility.”

But to that Yobou, Reicia narrowed her brows.

"But you, too—"

—She was about to continue when it happened.

Several hundred meters away from the battlefield where Reicia and the others clashed— From the direction of the old observatory, where Mars World had been hidden underground—enormous, pure white wings shot upward into the sky.

"W-what the……!? That……!!"

"……No way……!? Could it be—that level of awakening!?"

To an outsider, Reicia’s words might have sounded like she was describing some fictional power boost—but that wasn’t it.

Back in Old Testament Volume 15, Kakine had deepened his understanding of his own ability, manifesting even greater wings in response to Accelerator’s black wings. Pushed into a corner by Kamijou, perhaps that same awakening had now been triggered by accident—that was the danger Reicia was considering.

Though in truth, this case was closer to the time when Mitsuari Ayu’s powers had run rampant, driven temporarily out of control by overwhelming emotion.

"……! Yobou-san, what will you do!?"

"H-huh? What the hell do you mean, what will I do!?"

"That! The fact that such a thing has appeared means Kamijou-san is alive, beyond any doubt! In fact, he already dispelled the Fissure I had prepared earlier, so there’s no question about it!"

"Wha—y-you, when did you……?"

"While you were busy talking."

In other words, this wasn’t meant to rattle them—it was nothing more than a distraction, a way to buy time so Kamijou could recover.

While Yobou froze in shock at learning the truth in such an unexpected way, Reicia pressed on, leaving him behind.

"The problem isn’t Kamijou-san being in danger! For him, that level of power is nothing—he can erase it without issue. But……the disappearance of such a massive volume of matter. Inevitably, the resulting violent windstorm will sweep across the surroundings."

"……And the boy won’t have any means of defending himself against it. Same goes for Kakine, with his power nullified……that’s what you’re saying."

Now that the board was finally visible, Yobou regained his composure and spoke as if chewing over the pieces. Then, sneering—

"That’s too bad for you. Sure, Kakine-san is our leader, but……sorry, I’m not the kind of man who thinks about protecting him. And he’s the same. In the darkness of this city, anyone can be replaced. Substitute after substitute. If he dies, then I’ll just inherit ‘School’ as its leader."

"Oh? So you’d also abandon this ‘Yumiya’ fellow, then?"

"……What? What are you trying to say?"

"Yobou Banka. Level 4 Telekinesis. A few years ago, you provided part of your calculation logic to the Sekiei Connector Institute. ……But then there was that accident at the lab. Your ability went out of control, and two test subjects were reduced to particles, scattered into the atmosphere."

"……You, that’s—"

Yobou’s expression changed. Not just fear, not just horror—something deeper had been touched.

Seeing it, Reicia slowly twisted her own expression into what could only be called a mocking smile.

"From what I can tell, you lost to Kakine Teitoku even before that. Yet your recruitment into ‘School’ came after the accident. Strange, isn’t it? If you’d simply lost to Kakine and joined ‘School,’ that would make sense. But no—you joined after the Sekiei Connector Institute accident."

"……What are you trying to say?"

"You joined ‘School’ with a purpose. Otherwise, why stay in the same organization as the one who traumatized you? With your ability, you could easily have faked your death and escaped."

"I said what are you trying to say, damn you!!!!"

GONNNN!!!!

His fury flared, and his power slammed into Reicia—only to be instantly blocked by a black-and-white Fissure.

Reicia fell silent for a moment. Then she quietly shifted gears, murmuring—

"(……The excavation is complete. I’ll leave the finishing blow to you.)"

"…………You wanted to save them, didn’t you. The ‘girls.’"

One step. Reicia slowly closed the distance between her and Yobou.

It was a deduction made possible only because she possessed the memories of her “True History.”

—In truth, she hadn’t read Yobou’s memories. Jagged Edge had no such power, of course.

She had simply gathered intel from Baba, who was linked to her through communications. Even among the dark side, ‘School’s’ information control was formidable. But Baba, with his own network and even access to data concerning the Kiharas, could easily investigate research ties from the ‘surface’ world. By focusing on the point when Yobou vanished from public records, he could piece together the motive behind his joining ‘School.’

‘School.’ In the novels, their guiding principle had always revolved around an apparatus called the ‘Tweezers,’ capable of observing particles.

And at the Sekiei Connector Institute, where Yobou had once been involved—test subjects had been reduced to particles themselves, scattered into nothing by his rampaging ability.

If one tried to connect the two, the motive behind his joining “School” became clear enough.

To use the “Tweezers” to retrieve the scattered particles of the test subjects. That, most likely, was Yobou’s true purpose.

What Reicia didn’t know, however, was that the girl in the dress—Gokusai Kaibi—was also cooperating with Kakine in pursuit of direct negotiation rights with Academy City. Likewise, the sniper Yumiyari Tora seemed to have been expected to play a role in assassinating Oyafune Monaka. In that sense, “School” itself was a group Kakine had assembled for the purpose of securing direct negotiation rights with the Board Chairman.

Given that, it was most reasonable to assume Yobou’s role within “School” was tied to retrieving the “Tweezers,” and that this was his personal objective.

"……Wrong. Don’t you dare twist it. I—I just…… I just couldn’t forgive it! That my ability was involved in an experiment, and it failed, and the test subjects were reduced to particles and scattered…… That would stain my record! That’s what I couldn’t forgive, nothing more than that…!"

"Then why?"

That brief question cut his words off in an instant.

And it did so precisely because there was hesitation buried within them.

"Then why did you come here, to shield Yumiyari-san? If assassination was your goal, you’d have been better off lurking in the shadows and aiming for me when my guard was down. If you truly were a cold-hearted man who cared only for his own record, wouldn’t it be normal to abandon her for the sake of your own objective?"

"…………"

And then—the distance closed to zero.

Close enough to touch, Reicia suddenly softened her expression.

"This proposal has no meaning."

And yet, she declared it clearly, even cuttingly, as though to push him away.

"Even if you don’t take my hand, I will still go to them. I will save them, no matter what. So whether you accept or refuse, reality won’t change. But even so, I offer this proposal to the piece of goodness that remains within you."

Slowly, Reicia extended her hand.

"Yobou Banka. Would you—like to try being a hero?"

—The answer came in the form of a rough, forceful grip that seized her hand.

Chapter 3: The Worth of a Soul Is Worthless　Double(Square)_Faith.
Episode 93: The Brilliance Beyond Talent　Talent.

Honestly, I had gotten ridiculously emotionally invested.

As part of the background check I’d asked Baba-san to run in order to probe our opponent’s weaknesses, Yobou-san’s past had come to light. We listened to it… and that only made us more convinced that we couldn’t just leave things as they were.

Sure, Yobou-san is someone from the underworld, a criminal who has killed countless people. But I believe there should always be a chance at rehabilitation—just like Reicia-chan or Nurikae-san once had.

That’s why I wanted to somehow disable him without killing, keep him in a state where we could talk, and maybe work something out—including about Nurikae-san. That was the idea, but then… those colossal wings appeared. Judging that we had no time to spare, we went ahead with our plan: have Reicia-chan’s war of words lower Yobou-san’s mental guard, then persuade him using what little clues we had pieced together. And the result was that—somehow, really somehow—we managed to take Yobou-san’s hand.

Not that I’m so naïve as to think that this alone means he’s reformed. But… we did hold hands. For Yobou-san, that has to be a significant step.

Even if not right away, maybe in the underworld conflicts to come, these little things might end up influencing something…

"…Tch. So in the end this is just about infatuation, huh…"

…Yeah, maybe I should stop daydreaming.

The very same Yobou-san we thought we’d reached an understanding with was now glaring at us with absolute-zero eyes. Honestly, it’s harsh. Yep.

Right—after the forced dispersal of the Dimensional Matter, Dark Matter, we managed to recover Kamijou-san just in time. And now Kamijou-san’s face was buried against my chest.

No, no, no, I tried to play it off with some cool back-and-forth, but this is way too embarrassing. And since we’re flying, I can’t exactly just drop him either… Well, at least he hasn’t realized it yet, having just been blasted away—that’s the one silver lining. I’d better set him down before he does notice.

…Right, let’s open a "Fissure" in the air and lower Kamijou-san there…

"Hmm? Come to think of it, what’s this soft cushion…"

"Ah!"

"W-WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?!?!?"

Gya!? Touma-san, don’t thrash around!!

He tried to leap away in a panic, and I almost dropped him. Flustered, I scrambled to stabilize myself—

Crack.

In his flailing, my hand must have accidentally brushed against the "Fissure’s" wing.

Losing propulsion, I lost stability, and with Kamijou-san beneath me, we both started free-falling.

—This is bad!!

I hurriedly spread a path of "Fissures" directly below us to minimize the damage from the fall—wait, crap!! His right hand’s about to touch the "Fissure"!?

Panicked, I grabbed Kamijou-san’s right hand with both of mine, shielding it from making contact.

…Okay. The "Fissure" is… still intact. That was close… As expected of Kamijou-san, his misfortune alone nearly got us killed in a fall.

"…Hey. Can I go home now?"

At that point, I heard Yobou-san’s voice, laced with pure exasperation.

Well… given how much of a comedy that just was, I guess I can’t blame him. That thought made me suddenly realize the posture I was in now.

Condition One: We were standing on the path of "Fissures."

Condition Two: Kamijou-san and I were facing each other, his face having been buried in my chest just moments before.

Condition Three: Because of the shift in position during the fall, Kamijou-san was now pinned beneath me.

Condition Four: To keep his right hand from touching the "Fissure," I had both of my hands wrapped tightly around his right one. Which meant… I wasn’t using my hands to brace myself.

As a result of all these conditions being met, what was the output?

...Yes, the sight of Kamijou Touma having his face crushed into someone’s chest...

"Ka-Kamijou-san!? I’m terribly sorry!! Are you alright!? Did you hit your head or anything...?"

"Be-bebubiba, bobebobi... bibi, bibiba..."

"Please don’t speak, it tickles too much!!"

"...Hey, seriously, can I just go home now? I’m starting to feel kinda miserable here. If Kakine-san were to wake up in this situation, what the hell am I supposed to say to him?"

And with all that going on...

"...Yobou-san."

Still holding Kamijou-san’s right hand to keep him from erasing the 『Fissures』, I helped him up, and together we turned our eyes toward Yobou-san once again. Yobou-san, for his part, was already about to turn heel with Kakine-san in his arms.

"Ah! Hey, you...!"

Unaware of the situation, Touma-san hurriedly tried to call out and stop Yobou-san. But Yobou-san only let out a weary sigh and, without facing us, spoke.

"We’re retreating. The commander’s been taken down. Fighting any further will just spread the damage. ...But I won’t give up on Kikyou Gense’s memories. There’s also Ringo to think about, but the guy’s ‘legacy’ must have precious information lying around in it."

"I see. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. If it’s within my ability, I’ll assist you."

"...Damn bastard."

With just that curse spat out, Yobou-san flew off with Kakine-san still in his grasp.

I can’t imagine he would abandon Yumiya-san, so he’s probably either placing Kakine-san somewhere safe first, or entrusting him to Mental Out-san, who should be on standby somewhere...

...Ah, that’s right!! Yumiya-san!!

Our fight here is finished—we need to go and assist Adabana-san and Yumiya-san in their battle!

Panicking, I quickly opened up the wireless communicator by my ear and contacted Baba-san.

"Baba-san, what’s the situation with Adabana-san!?"

"Ah, ahh. Well... it’s gotten into a bit—no, quite a lot—of an unexpected development..."

Baba-san’s faltering voice alone made his bewilderment clear. Then, he relayed a few facts to us────

"Ha!?!?!? Wh-why are ‘those people’... here!?"