False Error (Arc 3 Science Side)

A smile of pleasure had formed on the Silver Queen’s lips as the lowly peasants bowed before her. Truly magnificent it was, her majesty.

However she did not move in the slightest. With one foot before the other, her arms and palms directed towards the ground and her remarkable chest puffed out, it seemed like she bathing in their gazes’ attention.

«You should see now that there is no means of matching my Graviton. This lovely piece of an ability allows me to rule over our wonderful planet’s gravity as I see fit; nothing less to expect of the queen, right~?»

Playfully giving the other girl a wink, Gina was still caught up in making her presence appeal to the crowd to the max. After all that’s another part of the queen’s role.

«I know you’re going to pass out soon, but please~ avert your gaze. While you look like you’re into yuri stuff, I don’t think you’re deserving of that special service yet. Become a good girl, maybe then we can talk again⭐︎»

Another wink from her pure eye, accentuating the long eye-lashes, the girl expressed her goodbyes to the one in her way, finally shifting focus towards the one she had been after since the beginning.

Still chained to the chair, that boy appeared to be more of a meat doll than a human being. It was questionable what they had already done to him (if anything at all), however Gina didn’t particularly care or dare to imagine. All she could was that she should expect to see scenarios a little more bitter than in the movies. That’s to be expected of their side, isn’t it?

And with the tremendous force not growing weaker even slightly, it seemed her targets were to be pressured until their strength was too low to even cling to consciousness.

Iresia was currently being carried by her armpits, as if she was luggage, by Natsumi

Holding a precious element to figuring out the shitty mess she'd been involved with, she walked a few metres until she turned to an alleyway, abruptly stopping without putting her down as soon as she was deep enough in the alley. Couldn't have her run off in fear of the more than suspicious man she would be meeting, after all.

“Now then, I've got kid one out of... two? What do you plan on doing with the other?” Despite her serious tone, it was obvious from her red face that she had recently been struggling to keep laughter in only minutes ago.

Iresia, who was less prone to laughing about the situation despite usually being first to do so, observed the cloaked figure and cowered in fear as she tried to wiggle her way out of Natsumi's grasp.

Renavin's face however showed pure enjoyment from what unraveled earlier. Seemed that she knew the man well enough to laugh at his despair.

"Well done Na-tsu-mi-chan~! I knew you were the right one to go to!!" The cloaked man somewhat cheered as he gave an overly enthusiastic thumbs up. He looked down to see the young girl, Iresia, seeming to be rather afraid of him. It couldn't be helped considering how shady his appearance was. "Hello, how are you today?" Renavin crouched down to the girl's height, perhaps to dodge the question itself.

At this moment the plan is to get the girl comfortable so she can cooperate with them, convinced that they are there to help her, rather than to bring her back to whatever hell hole she was sucked into.

Iresia froze and stared wide-eyed at the man who had crouched to her level; a seemingly fake smile lining his features, one she had seen far too many times. Unaware of the entire situation, the young girl felt he had the presence of those many researchers that would fake their kindness to get her to do anything for them.

And saying that she was tired of such adults was quite the understatement.

Wriggling harder in Natsumi's arms, the girl who was half-considering tying her up at this point, Iresia started to whine unintelligibly before loudly affirming one thing to Renavin with the best glare a teary-eyed child could muster.

“I...I'm not going back!”

Natsumi smirked at that, shifting her grasp on Iresia to hold her in front of her face. “Surprisingly affirmative despite that slight misunderstanding of yours. I like that.” Her eyes flew right to Renavin.

“I doubt she's going to trust you any time soon, to be fair, that cloak hardly inspires ttrust. Going by that, I find it safe to assume that we can both agree on the fact that she's going to stay near me at all times for now.” It was hardly a question, more of a set-in-stone statement; she wasn't Renavin's puppet and fully had the intention of making it clear.

“...It's not like I trust you either.” Iresia muttered.

“Good.” A simple reply from a somewhat amused girl. Now, the only things that remained to take care of were the other child and the source of this mess. "Now, why don't you explain to her what do you want, and what we're going to do next?" She motioned with her head for Renavin to explain himself to Iresia.

Renavin didn't appear all too shocked about Iresia's reaction, only continuing to grin at the shaking young girl. She was right that he was wearing a goofy mask upon his face, that unchanging grin that might insight comfort and fear depending who's looking at it. But it wasn't there because he wanted to trick her necessarily. It was because he didn't want to show weakness: the sadness in his heart to see a little girl, being used as a expendable asset to this city he had thought was so fascinating.

"Don't worry, Onee-chan will protect you, as I have matters of my own to tend to...but I will say we found another kid just like you...hmmm what was his name? What was his name? Did it start with an M or..." At this point however, it was best to confirm whether or not she knew the boy in the hospital, since she needs to convince him to aid in their efforts and tell them everything he knows. However, the problem was that she had some brain trauma and lost some of her memories, so he still hoped she'd at least remember his name.

There were no words to express the exasperation Natsumi felt at Iresia's silence. There was only the very visible action she made by putting her hand on her forehead.

“Use your head.” She started as she adopted a much darker and experienced expression than before, clear indicator of the fact that she's fully focused on the task at hand. “Do you truly expect her to sell out a kid she knows, assuming he truly exists, despite the fact that she doesn't trust us for understandable reasons?”

Iresia was moderately annoyed at being talked about like she wasn't there, but what Natsumi said was the truth, so she tried her best to keep her mouth shut despite the growing fear of having her and Kin be returned to those scientists

Natsumi and Renavin had two courses of actions available to them: they could either try to coax Iresia into trusting them, which was something that could take a long time depending on how they went about it, or they could just head to the hospital and see for themselves while praying they found the mystery boy.

"Standing around waiting for others to help us figure things out more easily even though it's likely the enemy is taking action as we speak... do we truly have such an amount of time to spare?"

“Do you truly expect her to sell out a kid she knows, assuming he truly exists, despite the fact that she doesn't trust us for understandable reasons?” Renavin would look over with a rather surprised expression, seeing the brunette with a dark and serious expression threw him off a bit. While it wasn't too out of place, it certainly wasnt expected.

Renavin couldn't help but reform his smile of his, as his question was answered quite well. "Tsk tsk tsk, Natsumi-chan~. Who said she didn't sell him out just now? Just because she didn't say it, doesn't mean I didn't understand. Silence is as much as an answer as Yes and No~." He waved a dismissive finger at her, as he seemed completely calm about the situation.

"Standing around waiting for others to help us figure things out more easily even though it's likely the enemy is taking action as we speak... do we truly have such an amount of time to spare?"

Renavin stared at her for a moment before chuckling loudly, perhaps mocking her or simply finding her to be a bit paranoid of him, his plan, or the victory conditions themselves. "-hahaha! Oh, you crack me up a bit there~. The enemy taking action is exactly what I am counting on~. How else are we supposed to catch the rat if they haven't left their burrow." He smirked, knowing every thing is going according to plan. "Kin should still be in the hospital, Iresia-chan. Doctors and nurses taking care of him, but if we don't go there soon, the people in which motivated your escape will come to take him back. And we don't want that, right~?"

“If you have the answers you're looking for, then pray tell what was the point in asking her in the first place...”

An audible sigh could be heard at the realisation that Renavin was the “all according to plan” type of man. Exactly the type of personality Natsumi disliked, and though she stayed silent she hardly made any attempts at concealing her contempt.

Iresia, on the other hand, was now visibly struggling with the idea of not fighting back as her petite frame trembled.

The girl whose growing fear, over the course of these past few days, made her recall her traumatic experiences had completely stopped trying to struggle against Natsumi's grasp as her face contorted in a mix of pure rage and fear. Silent anger was bubbling in her chest.

(He's... going to bring us back? To those people that harmed us? Is that why he's now aiming for Kin and she's helping him–?!)

Where Iresia had previously attacked any "enemies" out of instinctive fear, she had dedicated the entire day to silently thinking about her hazy memories and had, just now, finally came to acknowledge the reality and the danger they tried to warn her about.

(We're going to be experimented on again...!)

And she had to do something about that twisted reality she feared they would have to go through again.

“Go...”

A weird sound could be heard from behind Renavin...

They were the only two that had survived this mess and now he was locked up in a hospital where he would just be taken away again.. or might have already been.

“Away...”

It came from a white ball of energy slowly expanding...

But if there was the slightest chance that Kin was still okay, then she had to help him because no one else could or would even if they pretended otherwise...

(Don't...)

There was no one they could trust in this city and they most certainly couldn't trust anyone that approached them.

“...Stay away from us!!!!!”

"I want to test her, that is all. If she does not regain at least some of her memory, Kin will not trust us. You see, if we are unable to find whoever is responsible of the experiment, our only assets of information would be Kin and Iresia. While not the ideal sources, they should at least give us insight on the exact location of the other kids..." Renavin spoke, knowing things have been going smoothly thus far, but he did wonder how long it would take before he would have to improvise.

"Go..." A small but noticeable voice is heard behind Renavin, right beside his collaborative partner. "Away..."

Renavin blinked a couple of times seeing that she was obviously startled by either his words, or just that unstable in general.

"...Stay away from us!!!!!" She finally screamed, seeming that she was about to explode, literally. Renavin was aware of the powers in which the children have, and was cautioned to try and not put them in a position to use them. While they may not have complete control, their mentality could cause a very real danger.

Renavin looked down at Iresia, in a very delicate state and stopped in his tracks, turning around. He crouched down to her height, keeping some distance away. "Iresia." Oddly enough, he wasn't smirking, smiling or giving any of his rather odd behavior to the girl. "You're a very strong girl to have made it this far on your own. So is Kin. I know what kind of pain...torture you and your friends have been through. You feel betrayed, don't you?..Sitting in some facility, having all sorts of things done to you...How many times have you asked yourself 'When am I going to be saved' before succumbing to the idea that it is hopeless?" Renavin didn't give pity to the girl, but rather empathy. Not that he's been in a situation as dreadful as Iresia's, but he could at least understand her.

Was his words reaching her? Is she even listening? He wasn't sure. However, after reviewing the information given to him, Renavin was horrified for the past couple nights. While he was somewhat of an assassin or attack dog, ordered to do many things, he would never go as far as dragging young lings into his business. To go through the many trials he had to.

"You don't trust me...You don't trust anyone after so much despair. Only those who have been through what you have are your only friends, is that right?" Renavin kept eye contact with the girl, waiting for a response or something, but then would continue. "You don't have to trust me. You don't have to believe me. But your friends will be saved. With or without your help...I will make sure of that...There has been too many tears...to many screams for this experiment to go on any longer." Renavin then sighed a bit after giving such a long and serious talk with Iresia. Did she understand his words? Did she calm down? Is she even more suspicious? But at least he made his objective clear to her, whether she believed it or not.

"It's almost over Iresia. Just have to bare with it a little longer...The experiment is almost over." He gave a genuine smile before standing up. "We need Kin's information if we are to raid the facility and also capture those in charge, if Iresia does not wish to help then we might need to think of an alternative." Renavin muttered, believing Iresia wouldn't help at this point. After all, who could she really trust at this point?

“There were explosions and now we're on the run from a couple of child abductors and possibly Judgement.”

When she thought about it, what had he meant by that? It was illogical to assume the dark side would partake in such flashy ways of getting rid of an enemy no matter how desperate it was.

Which meant...

That the glowing ball Renavin seemed to hardly bother with...

**

They were child errors.

(Just how many time have we heard those kind of promises...?)

Children that had been selfishly abandoned in Academy City by their own parents, never to be seen again.

Promises were nothing they were unfamiliar with; every other adult would come along and promise them a better future just so that they could get them to do whatever they wished. It was nothing but fair to assume that every adult out there would always do the same, wasn't it? Adults, and the people who got involved with them.

“Liar, liar, liar, liar!!” She screamed out in blatant distrust before suddenly losing consciousness as she felt a blunt pain in her skull.

**

Natsumi, the source behind Iresia's sudden knocked out, slowly exhaled as the white ball of energy slowly flickered into non-existence.

“Your words are nothing but things children like her have been fed with their entire lives, I'm sure you realise that.” She stated as she switched Iresia's position to carry her piggy-backed. “What now? Whatever your plan is, I suggest we hurry before she wakes up at the very least.”

"Liar, liar, liar, liar!!!" The child screamed over and over in pure anger, seeming to have been triggered by his words. Of course this was going to be the result, as she couldn't trust anyone anymore, except for herself that is. Such a lonely and sad child, forced into a phase of rejection toward the entire world.

Renavin recognised that this was a dangerous situation at that moment, as she continued to yell, until his beloved partner made a swift motion and the girl was all quiet, and limp. She was too unstable to actually convince her to do anything. She didn't even know who they were, or believed their motives.

“Your words are nothing but things children like her have been fed with their entire lives, I'm sure you realise that.” She stated as she switched Iresia's position to carry her piggy-backed. “What now? Whatever your plan is, I suggest we hurry before she wakes up at the very least.”

"I am very aware about her issues when it comes to people...I just don't like hitting children. Even if there was a one percent chance of her believing us, I rather do that then knock them out." He smiled a bit as he slowly stood back up, getting a bit more readjusted from his little monologue. "Soooooo! Now we must take her to Kin, who currently rests inside the hospital. Not sure if he'd cooperate either, but why don't you do the persuading, Natsumi-chaaaaaaaan~"

-------------------------------------------------

Renavin and Natsumi would approach the hospital after period of time had passed. It was fairly busy up until a minute ago, but for some reason the hospital seemed somewhat devoid of life. Seems that the clearing field has taken effect, though it wouldn't last too long. At least they'll be able to secure Kin without causing any harm. Though Natsumi would seem surprised as there was no one, not even a paramedic team standing outside or in the halls.

They would enter, with no staff insight or otherwise preoccupied, only patients resting in their rooms as they were unable to leave in the first place. Renavin continued to walk confidently up the stairs and down the hall, until they found the room in which Kin was being held in. "Hopefully he won't be uncooperative. I rather not have you hit another kid.~" He smiled innocently as he knocked on the door before opening. "Excuse me, we're entering~." Renavin would walk in non-chalantly, seeing a young boy on the bed.

"Excuse me, we're entering~."

Upon hearing a voice that sounded like neither doctor nor nurse, neither Anti-Skill nor Judgement, Kin sat up on his hospital bed, the calm Kin had gained from the apparent safety of the hospital vanished like smoke in the wind. He didn’t dare to do anything but stare as the man who had called and those accompanying him entered the room, all too aware of the difference between him and those people, especially considering his current physical condition. But that rational awareness did nothing to hinder the irrational emotions that caused every muscle in his body to tense in preparation for a fight.

There was a man with red hair and a smile that was absolutely unsuitable for such a situation; obviously not a student, and certainly not a teacher. Entering behind him was a middle school student whose expression told him all he needed to know. Despite being in the company of that man, she showed no fear, and her wariness was not that of a rabbit. Rather, it was that of a wolf towards another of the same species, but hailing from a different pack. She was no innocent civilian.

He didn’t know how they gotten past the security, but they had, and they were standing in front of the only exit. Leaping from the window would be a foolhardy act even if he were in good shape, and as he was now attempting to fight back could only end poorly. Especially in this narrow space, against people who were almost certainly professionals from that side of things. He wouldn’t fight back. He wouldn’t fight back, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t resist. Even if they had somehow gotten past security, they could hardly have emptied the hospital.

So with as much speed as he could muster, before anyone could say a single word, he pressed the nurse call button.

This hospital was very clean and well-maintained; there were no such things as signs of ageing and the reception counters seemed like they had been welcomed visitors only mere minutes ago. Yet this place reeked of abandonment, Natsumi noticed as her footsteps resounded in the mysteriously deserted hospital.

“...”

She didn't need to say anything, the mere scepticism on her face was enough to convey the message of where the hell was everyone? There wasn't any staff, security, or even maintenance team around. Having had her fair share of experience with hospitals, she could say one thing for sure: a hospital like this was never truly empty, yet this one...

Its whole vibe was starting to make her feel really unmotivated to continue...

Well, whatever, she thought. There wasn't much time to ponder on the issue, they were here for a reason and they likely didn't have a big time frame to act in.

"Excuse me, we're entering~."

“I hope we're approaching the right brat...” She muttered as she dully noted that at least Renavin was polite.

Seeing that Kin was understandably disturbed by presences that should likely not be there, and was about to call for nurses in this deserted hospital, Natsumi decided to cut his confusion short. With any luck Kin would have the exact same "ability" and reaction as Iresia, but going by her brief past experience with Renavin that outcome was all that Natsumi expected from this somewhat bizarre situation.

“Hold it, kid, we have something for you.” She said as she brandished the child that she had been carrying around like a backpack in front of him. “I hope you can speak fast.” She shot a smile at Renavin that wished him luck to quickly explain the situation and why Iresia was unconscious before they got attacked by Kin, because she most certainly wasn't going to bother with explaining a situation even she hardly understood and the kid would most certainly get defensive at the sight of his collapsed friend

“I hope we're approaching the right brat...” Natsumi had a point, since running into the wrong child and asking them questions they don't even understand would be rather embarrassing, and plus he'd doubt his own abilities as a magician to lose sight of one of the targets. His crow was still perched on the window of the patient's room so he was 99% sure it was the correct room, though that 1% was still lingering in his mind.

Tomokota Renavin felt that his first impression just now was a bad start as the boy was already trying to call the lovely nurses of the hospital to come help. He really wished he would just hear them out first before trying to call for help. "...I didn't think, even if it was a little too friendly, that I would scare him so quickly..." He felt slightly self conscious about how frightening he may look, gloom lines forming on his head.

“Hold it, kid, we have something for you.” Natsumi was the first to try relax the kid enough so Renavin could at least talk to him, but then gave a rather kind looking smile, yet it felt like to Renavin she was adding fuel to the fire of his worries with her next sentence. “I hope you can speak fast.”

"Thanks..." He sighed, before slapping his own cheeks a bit to stop being so gloomy, and smiled warmly. "So, you're Kin, correct?" Renavin spoke as he walked over toward Kin and sat on a chair right by the bed to sit at his eye level. Obviously he seemed very worried as seeing Iresia unconscious in the room, but Renavin shook his head.

"Relax, we didn't hurt her. We just needed her to stay asleep. We didn't want her causing collateral damage as she was mentally unstable." Renavin at least set the record straight first that Iresia was healthy and fine, or at least as much as she could be in current situations.

"You...remember her right? She herself seems to have shown signs of memory loss, and may not even recognise you." He asked, wanting to check the current condition of Kin's memories. Iresia's were too jumbled and confused to get any information out of her. "We need you to relax because we desperately need you to answer some questions for us..." He didn't want to push Kin like he did Iresia, and didn't want to sound forceful or that they were dominant over him, instead he tried to give a lot of leeway toward Kin so he felt more in control than in danger.

-----------------------

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a young looking scientist with the not so known name of Kihara in the public community, laid on the floor of her hideout, died from natural causes.

Natsumi had intended to stop him from taking hasty action, and Renavin had tried to calm him down. Though the former had succeeded, the latter had failed magnificently.

Despite their honeyed words and attempts to cozy up to him, in Kin's eyes they had already irrevocably placed into the category of 'enemy'. They had not proven that they were to be trusted, but simply that they had a hostage. Every action they took would reinforce that impression further and continue to back him into a corner.

And yet, he couldn't find it within him to fight back. He couldn't simply explode like he had on the street. Because she was there. Right there. And no matter what he did, he couldn't possibly be faster than those arms coiled around her sleeping body like constricting snakes!

"What is it? What do you want to know?"

The hostility and wariness in his voice was palpable as he spoke to Renavin, and the barely restrained madness of the symbiosis between anger and fear was only barely kept from spilling over as he focused his gaze on Natsumi, who held Iresia in her arms.

They had managed to bring him to the negotiating table, but they had done so by putting a stopper on him, rather than actually abating his ill will. And as a result, the pressure was only increasing, with nowhere to turn.

---

Meanwhile, in a certain lab, a young girl revived from the brink of death because she has plot armor until the final boss fight.

Renavin smiled a bit wider, seeming to have actually gotten somewhere this time, despite the boy being suspicious of him. He probably saw the situation as a hostage exchange, in which the girl will be left here if he answers some questions. There was many questions he wanted answered, but figured the boy cannot answer them all, so decided to pick which ones were absolutely necessary to raiding the facility.

"First, where is the facility you escaped with Iresia with? We personally want to do a raid against your captors and to extract the children, while either apprehending or killing the mastermind behind the project."

"Secondly, how many of there are you inside that facility? We don't want to leave any of the subjects behind. Are they all kids as well?" Renavin's orders was to gather all the test subjects of the project and either set them free or eliminate them. By the off chance one was not a child error, he needed to make sure that they were all within that age range.

"Are any of the children also physically impaired? Ones in which we may have to carry or bring a stretcher for? We rather not have them die while we're trying to move them. Renavin was not considering just killing the children an option, for obvious reason. He was capable of many dreadful things, but murdering children was not one of them.

"Next, security. What kind of defenses did they have? You escaped the facility by force so they must've tried to stop you with all they had. We'd like an idea of what we're up against."

"Lastly. I can presume the facility is rather large. Do you know the exact location in which the kids are either residing or being tested in? As those are the two most likely of areas to find them." Renavin was jotting down the questions on a small sketch pad and handed to him. Sometimes it was much easier to remember certain subjects when it was written out in front of them, plus it is easier to think it over when all you need to do is take your time to write the answer.

"Just answer them, and we'll be on our way." He assured, as he looked over at the clock to get the reading on the time.

The man asked question after question after question in that infuriatingly calm voice, wearing a mask of kindness and civility. And with each question, the intense raging emotions he was forcibly suppressing grew stronger and more violent.

This had ceased to be simply a matter of answering his questions and ensuring Iresia's safety.

We personally want to do a raid against your captors and to extract the children, while either apprehending or killing the mastermind behind the project.

He was asking him to sell out everyone else, so he and Iresia could remain safe.

Not for a moment did Kin believe that this man would take the children somewhere safe. All that would await them would surely be a different hell. It wasn't even out of the question for him to be completely lying; instead fully intending to slaughter every man, woman, and child in the facility. And there wasn't even a guarantee that he would leave here without killing him.

Kin was forced to make a choice. Betray them all for the slim possibility of his and Iresia's survival, or fight back and try to prevent them from getting the information.

In the former scenario, he and Iresia may die anyway, and he would have betrayed them for nothing.

In the latter scenario, he would essentially be giving up on Iresia, and even if he managed to kill them both, chances were that different agents would just find the information through different routes.

The suppressed rage bubbled beneath the surface, stealing the warmth from the exterior and lending him a steely countenance. It was only due to the unnatural calm brought on by the suppressed anger that he could think so clearly.

But, those clear thoughts were running in circles. There was no way out. No way to win. No solution.

No hero would come save them.

The molten steel of his emotions grew even more intense as his thoughts ran that möbius strip, and as he worked more and more to suppress it his countenance lost more and more warmth.

Before long, his expression had completely vanished, and all that was left was a blank face. No emotions, no thoughts, no desires.

No ability to hold back the rage.

Without warning, the ceiling came crashing down without regard for friend or foe, as if ripped away from the building by an unseen force.

There was no distorted intellect in him, like there had been before. There was no frantic search, there was no panicked rampage. There was simply a guttural roar that sounded as if he were voicing a lifetime's lamentations, and a simple emotion that was vented through every possible outlet without allowing for the slightest of modulations from reason.

Tomokota Renavin had dropped his guard a bit, as he somewhat believed that the kid just wanted them to get out of his hair and leave Iresia alone. While unstable and paranoid due to his undeniable trauma, he was now in a bed meant for recovery and therapy.

"Natsumi-chan, we should probably leave Iresia here. I'm sure the hospital staff will take care of-" But before he could finish his suggestion, the room felt like a small tremor was going through it first. Only to intensify over time.

An earthquake? Renavin thought to himself as he looked around. However, with his ravens flying over the city, he deemed that wasn't the case as it seemed very specific to the rooms general area. The only places affected were the hallways and any neighboring rooms.

It was as if God was acting some sort of disaster in this specific area. But only it was not God's doing at all.

"...?!" Renavin looked over to Kin to see he had the blankest of expressions, one in which was void of any emotion, except the deep burning lava that was his rage and contempt for those who had tortured him. Renavin, despite all his good intentions, has triggered another emotional breakdown, as the roof began to cave in.

This city...You've given me so much joy by returning the one I cherish the most, but how many have suffered to bring such 'miracles'!!! He gritted his teeth as he turn toward Natsumi. "GET IRESIA OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Renavin needed to assure the safety of both Kin and Iresia, as the point of the operation was also to do little collateral damage. He went to grab Kin, yanking the electrodes off his chest, but before they could leave the ceiling had completely collapsed above. "Kh!" Renavin panicked, as clearly the best option for his own survival would be to leave Kin, but he wasn't thinking that at all. Instead a leap of faith. He quickly ran toward the window rather than the door, the closest exit from the room, and ran his hand used his ring's hidden sharp edge to cut his hand and fall.

Come on, come on!!! Blood splurged from his hand, yet didn't form into droplets of any sort as they fall, rather it flowed in a thin. wide stream, forming a long blade as he quickly dug it into the wall, as rubble exploded overhead from the ceiling collapse, the hospital bed, IV, and other equipment falling over their heads.

He gripped at his artificially formed blade, feeling some strength leave him from the blood taken out of him, while he held Kin by the arm as he almost plummeted to his death since Renavin almost let go of him. "Gaaaah!!!!!"

It hurt, it hurt so much. The fact that he fell at a decent velocity before catching himself. His arm could've been torn off if they had fallen any faster. But holding not only his weight, but Kin's was becoming a burden.

His muscles begged him to let go of either the boy, or the blade, and neither were a real option at the moment. Instead, he looked toward the balcony of another room, carefully swinging himself and Kin over, and landing ruggedly onto the balcony, Kin laying some ways away from Renavin with a twirl of his body, rolling away. "Haaaa....haaaa."

Dammit...are they both that far gone...is there really no point of asking?... For once, Renavin felt like he had lost control of the situation. The kids were too unstable to answer simple questions, and they certainly don't trust him. What the hell was he supposed to do?!

There were reasons why Natsumi always favoured being near the exit of a dangerous situation if she wasn't the one trying to control it; Renavin's utter failure at soothing the understandably suspicious and disturbed child was one of them. The girl noted with pure displeasure that negotiations would go nowhere, and would likely take a bad turn, so she had been the first one to prepare her escape.

And she was thankful she had; for she was the first one to flee the collapsing room before Renavin even had any time to bark his order at her.

People could call her heartless for not even sparing a glance towards Kin, who was in the centre of the collapsing and therefore the most endangered person of the room, but when she considered the other child in her arms she found she had better things to take care of rather than play the hero that would save all involved children.

One of the children was better than none of them surviving, after all.

(I doubt the building's going to cave in from an explosion like that, knowing how Academy City deals with its architecture, but I'd rather not stay around to confirm...!)

Though she noted that the extent of the damage was limited to the room, she had no way to know if it was temporary or not and decided to just exit the building as she smoothly dashed through the corridors with a surprising familiarity for the layout of the hospital, dangling the still unconscious Iresia around even if it was only a matter of time before the events woke her up.

In fact, she could already feel the girl occasionally nudging around.

However, she decided to put that aside for now; she could deal with Iresia rather easily as long as she wasn't in a closed space like Renavin had been. Having finally deserted the hospital Natsumi only looked back with a stern look, contouring the still-standing building with a quickened pace until she found in her field of vision the balconies on the side where Kin's room was... or had been.

(Now then, what happened to Mr. Suspicious and the kid?)

Kin rolled across the floor, motionless. There was no more strength in that body of his.

Enduring the force of the arm around his gut, the pressure of the speed and momentum he was being subjected to, and the backlash from the sudden release of it all as he was brought back to safety had robbed him of what little strength he had left. It was all simply too much for his frail frame to bear.

Vermilion dripping from his nose to his lips and staining the floor, he cut a pitiful sight indeed. Nowhere was the animalistic, rage-filled figure from before. All that lay on the ground was a pitiful teen, toyed with and used by all around him. His parents tossed him away when they decided he was unwanted, the orphanage tossed him into hell to be used as a lab rat, and when he finally escaped, someone from yet another lay hell had laid waiting.

Without salvation, without hope, and finding despair at every turn, he had simply lived the best he could. And now, he lies here, used up and purposeless.

[OOC: My Idiocy]:

Renavin was panting, feeling the stinging sensation of his hand as the wound slowly sealed itself thanks to his blood quickly healed the small cut. He felt his back ache from the impact of jumping and hitting concrete the absorb the blow for Kin, who was now laying unconscious with a stream of blood coming down his face. Seems he was still hurt, but nothing fatal or long lasting.



Renavin stood up, staring down at Kin before looking out toward the city as the lights seem to slowly become more apparent as night had covered the city. It was magnificently blue, and yet the city's beautiful color felt more sickening than before. It was all just a mask. Just the surface of what actually takes place in this miracle of science.

"Kin-kun....You never saw these lights in such a way, have you?" He started talking to the unconscious boy, as he turned toward him and walked over. "You never had a chance as a kid to look over this city and believe it was as luminescent as it is...Instead you probably said to yourself...that is was too dark.." He smiled a bit as he picked the boy up and carried him into the empty hospital room, laying him down on the bed.

I should probably bring down the spell...nurses should take care of him...

Renavin, however, began writing on boys slightly scratched palm, as his notepad was gone. This was to guarantee that he wouldn't miss his message. He didn't like the idea of drawing markings on the poor boy, but he didn't want to just leave him alone either.

Channel 4, 11:00am.

Channel 4 was one of the few news channels that covered mainly activities in Academy City and surrounding the glowing city. And wrote a specific time for him to be watching it.

"I won't let you give up on the virtues of humanity yet..." Renavin said, as he put his pen away, then covering the boy in the thin sheets. Renavin took a moment to reflect on the situation before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking out.

It wouldn't be long before he'd be found walking right out of the hospital and to the front lot, in which Natsumi and Iresia was currently residing in. He had a small grin on his face as he walked up to Natsumi, though showing signs of defeat for once, though still seeming confidence in himself. "I failed~. The boys alive but he's in no condition to talk until tomorrow. And I'll be out of time by then." Renavin looked over to see Iresia was still with Natsumi, safe and sound. "She's all we can go off of now...that or we will have to start the operation as blind as bats...To be honest, I don't feel confident to comfort her into speaking, unsurprisingly.~" He walked past Natsumi a bit, before turning his head back toward her. "You're free to go. There's no need to involve yourself anymore...Unless you plan on helping me get the girl to talk, you next best option is to take her somewhere safe and forget everything that happened. Which is hard, I know, as I'm pretty great~."

Upon hearing of the failure of their “mission”, Natsumi would gladly have thought about continuing this masquerade along with the cloaked man, and would have gladly come to the conclusion that she had no interest in doing so.

“Ghk!”

Yet such thoughts did not have the time to reach her mind as the bundle that had been nudging every once in a while suddenly kicked her in the ribs, rolling away as she growled. Iresia had awoken and was not pleased with the fact that she seemed to have been kidnapped after being hit by Natsumi, which she also took rather badly.

(They're still after me!... Wait, where are we?)

Despite being unconscious only mere seconds ago, her brain ran at full speed as it occurred to her that she wasn't the only one they were after; what was she standing in front of a hospital for, anyway? Wasn't her previous location a random alleyway? She tried her best to recall what could possibly make it that they had decided to bring her to a hospital, not entertaining for a single second the simple idea that they'd hospitalise her.

(If they did, the hospital staff would definitely be a part of the plan.) She reasoned, and then, she recalled the events of the previous day: The running away, the danger, the explosion she accidentally triggered upon seeing Kin...

(...Kin!!)

Iresia took a step backwards, and another before lifting an accusing finger towards the two suspicious people. “What did you do to Kin?! You were trying to do something with him, aren't you? And that's why we're in front of a hospital, isn't it?!”

Natsumi only looked on at the confused child who attempted to be menacing with a blank expression as she lightly held her side, waiting to see what Renavin would do.

Tomokota Renavin was waiting for a reply from Natsumi, as he needed a decision from her so he may plan a rather desperate move for tomorrow. He was running out of time before the kids would be taken into Anti-skill custody and out of his reach. And the other child errors would be moved to somewhere else. However, Renavin would notice that the girl was stirring from her sleep and opened her eyes.

“Errr Natsumi-chan, Iresia i-” Before he could properly warn the middle schooler, she was suddenly given a kick to the gut for her troubles. Renavin at this point broke into a laugh for no real reason other than how humorous it looked from his perspective. So much so he felt his stomach ache for a moment. “Hahaha! S-sorry...but she got you good there…”

Though soon enough Renavin had calmed himself and looked at the paranoid Iresia with a rather satisfied smile. ‘I wonder if she got her memories back...she mentioned Kin again and seems much better than she was before…’ Iresia was obviously not happy with the current situation, and no matter what he might say, she wasn’t going to trust him. “Don’t worry, Iresia-chan. Kin just got a little mad and...errr...blew up his room...but he’s safe and sound in another hospital room. Though if it wasn’t for us, you’d both be dead.” Renavin sighed as he loooed to Natsumi for a moment and back to Iresia. “First i have to apologise...I know i have frightened you both greatly, and sadly i was not able to get the information i needed…I’m sorry to put some much stress on your shoulders.” Renavin seemed have given up on the idea of getting information from two victims of science.

“If you want to see Kin he’s still in the hospital resting...I would still like to ask you questions at the very least, but something tells me you want nothing to do with us. I’ll rescue the kids either way, it’ll just be much harder.” Renavin shrugged non-chalantly, looking to Natsumi to see if she had anything to say.

“...I don't believe you.”

Obviously, the outside sight of the damaged room and the inherent suspicious nature of Renavin's way of clothing alone would tick her off and kind words were definitely things she were used to. She growled again, preparing for a fight or flee despite her unbelievable number of disadvantages.

“I won't let you--”

“...If you think you're going to help your sorry friend with your attitude then I think you're sorely mistaken.” Natsumi dead-panned as she scratched her ear in utter boredom, clearly losing interest in this little brawl of trust and distrust after being hit despite not having anything to do with her trauma.

“Wha...?”

“I mean, come on, reject everyone's “help” because you were “betrayed”? What can a shitty brat like you do instead of just crying in a corner begging for some miracle?” She shrugged her shoulders, turning her back to Iresia as she said so. "You won't let us what? Harm you and your friends? By all means, show me how you're going to protect yourselves with how well it's been going so far.”

And then, she only tilted her head backwards with a glare that had Iresia yelp.

“But if you're not going to, then at least shut the fuck up and let others take care of the issue for whatever reason they may have to do so instead of involving them in the conflict because of your half-assed attitude.”

Iresia stared wide-eyed at the girl that was looking at her with the glare of someone who would really rip her head off if she ever so opposed their very word. That girl was indeed no normal civilian, for no one normal could ever manage such a terrifying expression so casually.

(That's...)

Kind words, she were used to; but harsh ones she were not. Children were brought up in kindness rather than truth up until a certain age, and Iresia had not yet reached that age. She had merely figured out the truth by her experiences.

(But then...)

That was probably why the words of the older girl stabbed into her chest deeply. Because there was no judgement in those words, no sugar-coating, no insulting, no complimenting. It was things as they were from the viewpoint of someone who couldn't care less about how people felt.

“What am I supposed to do?!” Iresia shouted the continuation of her thoughts unwillingly, spreading her arms wide to express her point. “People can't stop those experiments, can they!? So our only option is to eternally run!”

“...where are you going to run off to within the walls of this city? To your parents?” A dry laugh escaped Natsumi's lips.

…


“That's...”

Iresia gritted her teeth, displeased by the harsh realisation thrown at her. She acted as if she would be lucky and both her and Kin would be able to flee, but the truth was that there was no fleeing for orphans.

The truth was that Iresia was unbelievably weak and, alone, she would only die like everyone else and bring her friend along with her.

“...what do you even want to know and why?” She questioned in defeat as she bit her lip enough to draw blood.

Renavin was surprised how far her paranoia was going at this point. He was literally letting her go and wasn't even planning to get involved with her anymore. None of his words were that of forcing or even suggesting she stick with them regardless. Yet here she is trying about to pick a fight all over again, or at least act tough before running away.


“...If you think you're going to help your sorry friend with your attitude then I think you're sorely mistaken.”

"...?" Renavin looked over back toward Natsumi who seemed rather tired and bored of all this. Honestly, Renavin also felt that this had dragged on too much. Slightly wishing he didn't speak to Iresia at all after she had woken up.

“I mean, come on, reject everyone's “help” because you were “betrayed”? What can a shitty brat like you do instead of just crying in a corner begging for some miracle?” She shrugged her shoulders, turning her back to Iresia as she said so. "You won't let us what? Harm you and your friends? By all means, show me how you're going to protect yourselves with how well it's been going so far.”

Renavin watched in astonishment at how she was treating such a fragile girl. She was truly getting in Iresia's head as she forced cruel reality down her throat. It was true that no matter what the girl did on her own, it wouldn't change anything without having someone behind her or with great power. She had neither, other than her 'explosive' breakdowns she has been having the past week.

“But if you're not going to, then at least shut the fuck up and let others take care of the issue for whatever reason they may have to do so instead of involving them in the conflict because of your half-assed attitude.”

“What am I supposed to do?! People can't stop those experiments, can they!? So our only option is to eternally run!” She shouted, expressing her irritation and rage.

“...where are you going to run off to within the walls of this city? To your parents?” She spoke in a mocking tone, letting off a slight laugh.

"Oi..." Renavin gave Natsumi a rather displeased look at that point. She had crossed a rather deep line in Iresia's heart, and the look on her face showed the pain she had endured from being abandoned.

“...what do you even want to know and why?”

Renavin looked over with slight surprise, the defensive walls that she had built up over months of pain and loneliness have been cracked ever so slightly. But now they must be completely breached. However, Renavin now knows that the very kind words in which he tried to use to convince Iresia, were the same as those who had kept her captive. It was better if he was just straight to the point, no grin, no riddles, just let her have it.

"Iresia-san..." Renavin would walk over to her for a moment and crouched down to her level. "I neeeed to know where the children are...I have little time...If I'm going to save them I only have until the following morning to do it...You're my LAST lead..." This was definitely putting pressure on Iresia, and the fact that he was very suspicious might scare her, but he couldn't let himself hold back. "Iresia-san...I'm not confident I can save all of them without your help. Please understand what position you're in right now!" He almost grabbed her shoulders, but restrained the instinctive reaction. "You are the very person that can save everyone now!"

Then Renavin came to a conclusion. It was about time he put himself in the line of fire for once, rather than lurking in the shadows. Iresia felt she was at risk her own life, along with everyone else should she relay the information he required. So it was time he risked his own. Renavin would suddenly pull out a dagger from under his cloak and would point the blade toward his chest, directly over his heart, and offered the handle to her. "If you do not believe my words...or at least willing to take a risk to save what remains. If you believe killing me would be 'for the best' as you say...You can kill me right now."

Renavin felt like this was going to get himself killed. Why? Why did he think of this of all things? He has plenty to live for and Adalia was still waiting for him to come home. He was willing to risk leaving her alone forever even if it means saving a handful of orphans?

"Iresia this is your choice. Take this one and only opportunity to end this nightmare you are living in...Or end my life for failing to find you sooner..." Renavin spoke that last statement slightly choked, feeling his eyes well up with tears. He was a passionate man, now that Adalia had returned into his life, though in another form. He had wished he had found the kids sooner, and he would've done his best to save them before anymore pain could be enacted. He wanted to apologise, but this was the only thing he could think of now. He closed his eyes, waiting for knife to dig under his skin and kill him. He knew Iresia had what it took to kill someone, as did Kin. It was just a matter of what she was willing to risk.