The Boy Doesn't Get a Break

[The Devil System is currently idle]

[Waiting for conditions to fully activate...]

[Calculating...]

[...]

[Progress Towards Activation: 85%]

...

It was Monday morning, and once again, I found myself in front of the headmaster's office.

"Come in."

I made my way inside, taking a seat on the black leather couch. It was my go-to every time I went to her office now. I could hear the air-conditioner blasting as cool air circulated around the room. There was a faint smell of citrus... maybe lemon or orange.

"Yes."

"I didn't think that'd you go and confront them yourself."

"I thought that it was a good opportunity to get closer to Aiko, although it didn't really work out that way."

"You know, you brought a lot of trouble for me. I had to clean up the mess you made."

"Sorry, but this is all for the mission you gave me."

"Ah, well, I can't argue with that. Also, why were you in a motel after that?"

"I wanted to feed my [Devil's Sword]."

The headmaster showed a somewhat troubled expression after hearing my statement. I quickly put my hands in my pockets since the air-conditioner was making the room feel like the arctic.

"The fact that I know what that means is a little off-putting."

"Oh well, it was a good opportunity."

"Anyways, Spectrum-Judgement are currently dealing with the rest of the situation."

"What happened to Aiko."

"That's what I'm about to get to."

She shoved her arm into her drawer and began flipping through a thick stack of pages. I could only look around the room awkwardly as I waited for her to get what she needed. A few moments later, she pulled out something that had an image of a map.

"Both the NPO and Spectrum-Judgement are looking for her. I'm going to need you to join in as well."

"Why do you need me to join in."

"Because neither of those organisations understands what this situation entails."

"What do you mean."

"They have Disrupters, but more importantly, they have access to an incredibly powerful weapon."

"What weapon."

"They have a B-rank esper who is capable of manipulating air. But, their main weapon is the girl nicknamed 'The Initialiser'."

"And you want me to fight them myself."

"Precisely."

I sighed.

"I don't know how strong you think I am, but that is outside my capabilities."

"That's not true. As uncomfortable as it is, you recently fed your [Devil's Sword]. I'm sure you have more than enough strength to defeat them."

"Why can't we just call Upper-Judgement?"

"Because I need 'The Initialiser'. I can't let them fall into the hands of Upper-Judgement."

"What exactly... is she?"

"She is the source of power for all of the Disrupters."

"But what does she do?"

"She has the power to remove all EM-waves from a certain area."

I looked at the sheet of paper that the headmaster was showing me. There was some information on the various different soldiers they had. Most of them were just low-level espers. She basically told me about the only two people I needed to worry about.

"So you're saying that I'm not supposed to kill The Initialiser?"

"Obviously. Otherwise, how am I supposed to use her?"

"Uh..."

"Anyways, I wish you luck. You can take this document with you."

With that, she pressured me out of the room. I was again standing in the middle of the hallway. With another painful mission on hand, I slowly walked toward my classroom. I folded the sheet of paper she handed me and slipped it into my pocket.

As quietly as possible, I pulled open the sliding door.

"Oliver, why are you late again?"

"I'm sorry, I had another meeting with the headmaster."

"Ugh, that's alright then. Take your seat."

I made my way over, walking past Astoria, who was like an ice-cold princess. For some reason, this time, she paid no attention to me as I took my seat.

Well, this was nice for a change.

"...as I was talking about before, the world formed The Future ESP Regulation Committee for the purpose of bringing justice and fairness to everyone. Along with that, they also invented The Level Framework. It was made for the purpose of ranking Espers based on their abilities and capabilities."

It seemed like a history lesson.

"...as you all know, F was the weakest. It was for people with Esper abilities which were just barely observable. After that came rank E, then rank D, all the way up to rank S—for the strongest Espers in the entire world. At this point, no person or thing had ever reached the next level—except the tale of a single girl named Sayuri. However, no one has evidence of her existence."

Sayuri... why did that name seem familiar to me...?

***

It was the beginning of lunch, and I was walking around, looking for somewhere to have mine. In the end, I decided to take a seat under one of the trees near the outskirts of the school. It wasn't that I exactly was afraid to sit next to others, but I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. Anyways, I wanted to read through the details of my enemies a little more.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a girl's voice beside me.

"Hey, Ollie~"

Huh?

I looked around, but it seemed the voice was coming from behind me. Getting up, I looked at the mesh fence that bordered the school. It was a familiar face.

She was wearing the uniform of the all-girls school across the street, a pure black dress with long sleeves and a white collar.

I walked over.

"Aren't you meant to be in your school right now, Bella."

"Yup!"

"Then why are you here."

"I snuck out... so I could see you."

She showed a timid smile, and her cheeks blushed with a light red colour.

"How do you even know which school I go to."

She pulled something out of her pocket.

"You left your student card at the motel."

She handed it to me.

"I see, thanks."

All of a sudden, she grabbed onto the fence and slowly pulled herself over. I helped her down to make sure that her dress didn't get caught in the mesh.

"Is there something you need from me?" I asked.

"Nope, I just wanna eat lunch with you."