Chapter 74: Joining the Fray

And so, we decided to split up from Shokuhou-san for the time being. She had her own matters to take care of, and in the meantime, I was—

"...I still cannot accept this."

《Come now, Reicia-chan, no need to say it like that.》

We were standing by at the entrance of a completely unrelated building. The idea was simple: right now, we were drawing a ridiculous amount of attention, so we might as well use that to our advantage.

Sure enough, placing me—the newly recognized Level 5 esper—out in the open as a decoy automatically attracted attention to the supposed “target of protection.” Which meant that by leaving me in a place with absolutely nothing of value, the move worked as one of the biggest bluffs possible at this stage.

For Shokuhou-san, who was having trouble moving around because of the chaos, concentrating all that noise onto a single point probably made her own maneuvers far easier.

Naturally, Reicia-chan was not amused by any of this.

《To seize me and dump me as a mere decoy—what is the meaning of this!? That woman isn’t just putting it nicely—she’s trying to shelve me away for good, isn’t she!?》

《Well, I mean…》

Basically, here’s the situation: Kihara Gensei was plotting something with the Sisters, and to deal with that, Shokuhou-san had been planning to track him down and launch an assault. But after the recent commotion, Gensei’s trail was lost.

So while she was re-investigating his whereabouts, my role became to act as a decoy to draw the attention of Gensei and the rest of the science crowd… which was where we stood now.

《Honestly, I think this really is the optimal play.》

When it comes to schemes, someone like Shokuhou-san—who has Mental Out in her arsenal—is obviously more reliable. Rather than me clumsily meddling and making things worse, it’s better for me to shoulder the distortions here and keep the balance intact.

《…Well, I can at least understand that much.》

Her anger was purely emotional. On a logical level, even Reicia-chan had to admit Shokuhou-san’s reasoning held merit. Begrudgingly, she agreed with me.

《But more than that, I’m worried about Nurikae.》

《Hm? What’s there to be worried about? He was perfectly indicted and is in detention right now, yes? He won’t be out for years.》

《No, I mean… he was hit with a whole pile of charges, wasn’t he?》

From my previous life’s perspective, I thought he’d just get the usual sentences—privacy invasion, bribery, that sort of thing. But because it was classified as “large-scale leaking of Academy City students’ data to the outside,” Nurikae ended up treated as a political criminal.

Legally, that’s valid. I get that. But Academy City has its dark side, and once you’re locked up under “political crime”… I couldn’t help but worry if they’d secretly make him disappear.

《Shiren, you really are a worrier. There’s nothing “dark” or shady about me, so no one would bother going beyond the law just to exact extra retribution.》

《But right now, aren’t we being monitored by every researcher in Academy City, starting with the Kiharas?》

Exactly. At a time like this, wouldn’t they be tempted to mess with someone who “wouldn’t give Reicia Blackguard too bad an impression,” “knew about her past,” and was “socially powerless”?

《…Still, Nurikae and I were never that close, and he didn’t have much info on me either. That should’ve been obvious to anyone watching. Honestly, wouldn’t it be more in line with this city’s ‘dark’ thinking to target me directly instead?》

《…Hmm, you might be right.》

《Either way, our options are limited right now. It’s far wiser to keep an eye on our own safety.》

She had a point. Odds were higher that we would be targeted than Nurikae. That’s just the kind of place Academy City is. Which meant, even right now, we had to be on guard against an ambush—

“…Well now? Found you lot far easier than expected, huh?”

That cold, mocking voice cut through our conversation—like the very embodiment of this city’s darkness.

The boy had short, tea-brown hair. A crimson shirt, like rust-stained with blood, and black pants. His lips curled into a crescent moon of a grin, giving him an aura as though his polished upbringing had been painted over in garish colors.

And over all that, he wore a white lab coat.
A boy layered in conflicting impressions.
That was the first thing that struck me about him.

“…Kihara Souji.”

That was the name the boy gave.

Chapter 2 – I Won’t Choose Between Two Options — PHASE-NEXT.
Episode 63: Joining the Fray — Scientists.

“Don’t you think introductions are important? Especially since, you know, I’d really like to stay on good terms with you going forward.”

“…Whose errand boy are you supposed to be?”

Wearing that unsettling smile, Kihara Souji—yeah, let’s just call him Souji-san—drew closer to us. And Reicia-chan’s very first words were that blunt question.

At that, Souji-san froze mid-step.
For a moment, he looked so genuinely dumbfounded that even I almost laughed at the sight.

“…Excuse me, what?”

“You’re not Kihara Gensei, are you? I’ve heard he’s after the Sisters. He’s not the type to go chasing down side roads like me. Which means… you must be another ‘Kihara.’”

“…Oh, come on now. This is my own will! You see, Amata-san’s been pretty down lately. But when you appeared in the Level 6 Shift, he looked absolutely crushed. So I thought—if I could get my hands on you, then maybe Amata-san would be happy again.”

“So in other words, you’re Amata-san’s errand boy.”

“…I told you, this is my will.”

His expression soured, clearly irritated. Reicia-chan, meanwhile, let a faint smile creep across her lips—mocking, sharp, the kind that tramples all over the value of your words. Then she cut him down with a single line:

“That’s exactly what an errand boy is, you lackey.”

“…Alright. I get it, you’ve got plenty of fire. Guess I’ll just have to calm you down a bit.”

The instant Souji-san said that, our bodies shot up into the air.

Of course, it wasn’t from his attack. No—the white-and-black wings spread from my back had carried us aloft.

And that decision was instantly vindicated.

《Wh-what is that…》

The spot where we’d just been standing had crumbled apart into sand, like something out of a nightmare. What kind of technique was that? Something from the Kiharas, so it was bound to be twisted, but… the ability to reduce part of a building into sand like that—what even was it!?

《And Reicia-chan, why the hell did you have to provoke him like that!?》

《Why not? He’s the enemy. Throwing him off his composure with taunts is just the opening jab.》

《You’re saying psychological warfare is a “basic move”…》

…Well, when I think about it, I have thrown my share of taunts at people like Accelerator and Study.
Guess that makes us two of a kind, huh…?
…Wait, no—

《At least we’re lucky there’s no crowd here. If people saw us using our powers in public like this, it’d be instant panic.》

《…Most likely, that woman predicted a battle would break out and placed us here for that very reason.》

Her tone was just shy of a click of the tongue as she said it.
Meanwhile, I pushed my power further, racing through the skies in all directions.

The way my “Rifts” normally worked, they’d stay locked at their designated coordinates even if I moved. But with some tweaks, I could set them to unfold relative to myself instead.

That meant the “Rifts” would follow wherever I went. And by applying that, I could propel us forward through the sky at high speed.

If I deployed them like a windscreen, they’d even reduce the damage from high-velocity travel.

Ducking Souji-san’s invisible second and third volleys, Reicia-chan shouted—

“Isn’t this a bit too rough for something that’s just supposed to make me behave!?”

“Oh, don’t be like that! Relax, will you? This little trick just shatters matter through resonance. At the current setting, it’ll only break your bones, Ms. Blackguard! Ah, but don’t worry—if they do get shattered, I’ll personally ‘replace’ them for you, so there’s no problem!”

“This is the worst…! Are all the Kiharas like this!?”

Tch… Starting off with matter-shattering sound waves? That’s way too troublesome!
If his attack really travels at the speed of sound, then… Wait, hold on.

《Shiren? Is something the matter?》

《Ah, no. Don’t worry about it, Reicia-chan.》

“You went up into the sky to move more freely and increase your evasion rate, didn’t you? Cute idea, but far too naïve! The power does drop a little, but if I spread the sound waves out, that just means I can attack a much larger area! And of course, if I substitute the frequency, then in theory even ‘fractures’ themselves can be destroyed!”

With that, Souji spreads his arms wide.
Looking closer, the inside of his white lab coat is lined with countless speakers. And not just that—drones equipped with additional speakers are whirring through the air all around him.

So he’s using those speakers to combine sounds, producing whatever ‘destructive wavelengths’ he wants.

Maybe because I was so busy observing his setup, Souji’s crescent-moon smile deepens as he goes on:

“What’s the matter? Oh! Don’t tell me you’re wondering how I manage to find the resonance frequency that breaks matter!? Rest easy, no fancy equipment involved! This much I can calculate in my head!”

He says it with a grin less like a researcher presenting data and more like a magician revealing a party trick.
And to him, it really is no more than a party trick. …Well, not that it’s the part I care about anyway.

“Now then! Show me, Reicia Blackguard! Show me the true power of a brand-new Level 5 esper!”

At that instant, the speakers surrounding Souji unleash a murderous wave of sound.

Its destructive force is overwhelming—an entire section of a nearby building crumbles into sand in the blink of an eye. …If we took that head-on, our bones and teeth would be shattered into fragments, our bodies reduced to jelly while we were still alive.

But then again…

“I see. The ability to calculate matter’s resonance frequencies with such precision is certainly impressive. However… to think that such an attack would suffice against me, a Level 5 esper—you underestimate me.”

Yeah. We’re not nearly weak enough to be turned into jelly that easily.

“…Huh?”

Souji’s expression twists in confusion.
No surprise—both of us have stopped darting around the sky, standing still in the direct path of his sound waves.
And yet, our bones remain unbroken.

“…! No way! Don’t tell me—you generated vibrations in the air itself? Not wind, but sound waves!?”

That’s right.

If you can precisely calculate and adjust a frequency, then the opposite is also true: introduce any extra noise—even something sloppy—and the calculations fall apart immediately.

This too is an application of our storm ability.
Manipulate the wind and sound is born. Then, what if we refine that down to ever smaller scales? If we were still stuck at only manipulating transparent “fractures,” this wouldn’t be possible. But right now, we can divide matter on the electron level with our “fractures.”

If undoing those fractures produces by-products, then naturally, we can push that effect into even finer domains.

And the result? A perfect success.

By breaking down the aftereffects of our fracture cancellation to a level even finer than a breeze, we can lace the air itself with interfering vibrations—sound waves.

We can’t yet control exactly what kind of sound wave to emit… but disrupting Souji’s meticulously calculated frequencies, and rendering his resonance waves useless? That much is child’s play.

"That kind of data shouldn’t have existed. You’re telling me you came up with a new application right here, in the heat of the moment!? Fascinating, truly fascinating. As expected, if you’re a Level 5 Esper, you should at least be able to—"

Bagin!

In the very next instant, the speakers set up all around were split in half, all at the exact same time.

"…Careless, aren’t you? It’s true that my 《Black-and-White Jagged Edge》 has evolved into a blade with both black and white surfaces. But I never once said I couldn’t still use the traditional invisible ‘Cracks’ alongside it, did I?"

Well, when you think about it, it’s only natural. After all, we’ve been making full use of invisible ‘Cracks’ throughout this entire competition. If that’s possible, then of course using black-and-white ‘Cracks’ and invisible ‘Cracks’ together would be nothing unusual.

And—

If they’re invisible, then it’s possible to set them up without your opponent even noticing.

"Checkmate."

Which means, of course, that the same ‘Cracks’ used for offense can also unleash a storm when released.

Gofahhhh!!!! A roaring gale burst forth all at once, blowing Souji-san’s body several meters through the air without a single bounce. Just like a skipping stone skimming low over water, he tumbled along the ground before finally coming to a complete stop.

《Ya…》

《This isn’t overdoing it. We’re dealing with a Kihara, after all. Whether that much is enough to put him down is already doubtful.》

Guided by the air currents, we landed on the roof of a nearby building, dismissing our wings and quickly hiding ourselves.

《…But what do we do!? From the way Souji-san was talking just now, it sounded like it’s not just him—Amata-san has been targeting us from the start!?》

《Well, when you talk about a Kihara who would act on the experiment side—the kind who moves at the orders of the Board of Directors—Kihara Amata would naturally be the very first name to come up.》

Reicia-chan’s reply came in a voice heavy with gloom.

I mean… yeah. Just like last time, this time too, it’s the 《Kiharas》. This is… well, it’s undeniable, isn’t it? With things lined up this perfectly, there’s no way to say we’re uninvolved.

At this point, I’ve got no choice but to admit it.

《We’re… seriously being targeted by the Kihara family, aren’t we…》

No matter how you look at it, the Kihara family is after us.

…Well, yeah, I mean, of course they are, right? An unexpected Level 5 Esper born from the Dual-Personality 《Square Face》—that’s way too abnormal. And abnormal things are exactly what scientists want to study.

But still… having a bunch of mad scientists gunning for you directly really does grind away at your nerves…

I mean, hold on. If we’re the ones being targeted by the Kihara family, doesn’t that mean if we stay here much longer, it’s only a matter of time before another Kihara comes after us? Aren’t there supposed to be tens of thousands of them…? If we stay clustered in one place like this, aren’t we… in serious trouble?

《…Shall we run?》

《B-Before that! We should call Shokuhou-san. We can’t just leave our posts and cause trouble on our own.》

《Eh… Honestly, I think we should just use that time to run and regroup…》

Just a minute should be enough. These little check-ins and reports are important.

So, we tried calling Shokuhou-san…

『The number you have dialed is currently unreachable, either because it is in a location without signal or the device is powered off. Please try again later. Beep.』

《…It’s not going through. I wonder if Shokuhou-san is inside a tunnel or something?》

《No… If we think about it normally, this is signal jamming. They’re completely cutting off my communication with the outside.》

…Signal jamming.

Ah, I see now. It’s not that she just happened to be in a tunnel or somewhere with bad reception—this is deliberate interference. That explains why the call couldn’t get through even though we’re on the rooftop.

The Kihara family is blocking our means of communication to isolate us. Makes sense. Given their goals, this might actually be the optimal move for them.

Yeah.

………。

《………………………………………………………………》

Ah… this… is really bad.