Kamijou and Misuzu left the main domed facility and headed to one of the smaller rectangular buildings via one of the linking passageways. They managed to get outside through an emergency exit there.
There had been onlookers gathered at the main entrance, but no one was out by this back entrance.
Kamijou spoke while still pulling on Misuzu's hand.
"We should find somewhere with a lot of people. There are onlookers and Anti-Skill out front, so we should be safe if we circle around to there."
"Sigh. Why are boys always like this? I end up relying on you from the very beginning to the very end. As a parent, I'm supposed to be the guardian."
Misuzu seemed a bit down, but it would have been hard not to be given what had happened. Kamijou certainly didn't want to have to do all that again.
Because of this, he decided to urge her forward rather than criticizing her.
"Hurry. We managed to get outside, but there are still some of them left. If we get attacked again here, it's back to square one."
"I know, I know. Please just hold my hand and escort me."
Hearing that, Kamijou suddenly became embarrassed. He started to let go of her hand, but Misuzu strengthened her grip.
It looked like she was teasing him, but she might have actually been afraid.
Kamijou continued to walk through the database center grounds.
The dome was about 50 meters in diameter and, even with the surrounding buildings, it wasn't that big. It would only take a few minutes to walk around to the main entrance. The most dangerous part was getting out of the building, so he felt safer than his words had let on. Unless they were up against people who would kill the onlookers along with them, Skill-Out would give up on their own once the two of them made it to the main entrance.
But…
"Don't move."
A figure was standing blocking the path to the main entrance.
It was the guy Kamijou had hit with the bulletproof glass back in the dome. He must have come to shortly afterwards. Because his nose piercing had been ripped out, he had some dark red blood on him. He hadn't really had a chance, but Kamijou really should have tied him up after knocking him out.
"Don't move… Who the hell are you? Why did you have to show up at a time like this? Was that job a fake? Were we set up?"
Kamijou frowned at those words.
"Job?"
"What the hell kind of question is that? You know full well what I'm talking about. Komaba was killed forcing me to take command in his place. I had to clean up for him. I had no choice but to make it up to 'them' to keep us from being wiped out in the operation to take back control of the back alleys. …Shit. You were planning on using us and taking us out afterwards this whole time, weren't you!!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Kamijou tried to sort out the fragments of ideas this man was saying and responded.
"I came here because she called me. I don't know what you're imagining, but this isn't that complicated."
After hearing that, the man's mouth fell open.
Then he gave a small laugh.
"Ha ha."
The laugh held no amusement at all.
"So that's what happened? We're all done for here. We're all going to get taken in by Anti-Skill and the guy at the center of it doesn't even know what's going on? My life, the life of Hamazura Shiage, is about to end. This is the finale... I thought I had at least gotten wrapped up in some conspiracy or been dealing with some genius tactician, but I wasn't even being tricked? Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"
As he spoke, the man naming himself Hamazura brought his right hand behind his back.
He pulled out a retractable baton that must have been tucked into his belt and forcefully swung it out to full length.
"I can't fucking stand it. I just need to beat someone to death."
Hamazura headed straight towards them.
Kamijou pushed Misuzu to the side.
He was one beat slow because of that and heard something slicing through the air. It sounded like a tennis racket being swung and it was, of course, the sound of the baton.
"!!"
He immediately lifted up his left arm to protect his face.
The blow was aimed for his temple and it hit the bottom of his wrist with a dull noise.
A disconcerting groaning vibration went through his bones.
As Kamijou's face twisted in pain, Hamazura jabbed his knee into Kamijou's gut.
A loud noise like a drum being hit could be heard.
"Gh…ah!!"
Air escaped Kamijou's mouth.
The shock caused the objects stuck into his belt to fall to the ground. These objects were the stun gun, the baton, etc. that he had taken from the Skill-Out members he had defeated.
(Damn it. Imagine Breaker is no help against a Level 0!!)
Kamijou gritted his teeth and quickly leaned over to pick the stun gun up from the damp ground. But…
"Did you really think I'd let you do that?"
Hamazura stomped full force on Kamijou's hand as he grabbed the weapon.
There wasn't enough time to just sit there feeling the dull pain.
"I know better than anyone how to use this kind of thing!!"
An unpleasant noise rang out.
While standing on Kamijou's hand, Hamazura had used his other leg to kick Kamijou in the jaw.
"Bh…gah!?"
Kamijou's consciousness wavered.
At the very least, he hadn't bitten his tongue.
Kamijou's body arced backwards and he fell to the ground on his back. Misuzu gave a small scream, but no one was paying any attention to her. Kamijou grabbed some dirt from the ground and threw it at Hamazura's face.
"!!"
Hamazura protected his face with one hand so he wasn't blinded, but he still flinched and took a step back.
Kamijou quickly got up to a half-risen posture and tackled Hamazura square in the gut. A loud noise like a door being smashed in came from somewhere near Kamijou's shoulder.
Hamazura's legs slid along the ground.
Even so, he did not fall backwards.
(He's still…!?)
"Sorry, but I'm a Level 0," came a whispering voice next to Kamijou's ear.
Hamazura spoke at point-blank range while Kamijou almost looked like he was embracing him.
"To deal with espers in the back alleys, you need to build up a strong body. It's fucking stupid really. We do the same thing as athletes, but no one praises us for it!!"
As he spoke, he slammed the bottom of his baton into Kamijou's neck.
A sharp pain unlike any in the fight so far ran along Kamijou's back bone.
He groaned and Hamazura brought the baton down 2 or 3 more times. Kamijou was swaying and about to fall when Hamazura grabbed his collar with his free hand.
He laughed at point-blank range.
"I see, I see. If you aren't with 'them', then the deal with them is still good. So if I take the target over there's dead body to them, they might still shelter us. Ha ha ha!!"
However, those words might have been a mistake.
A definite power could be seen in the light in Kamijou's eyes.
"Try saying that again, dammit!!" Kamijou yelled from his bottom of his gut and aimed for the area between Hamazura's chin and lower lip with his forehead. With a sound like a flower pot that had been dropped from somewhere high up, Hamazura's neck bent backwards.
Kamijou then slammed his clenched fist into the top of Hamazura's nose.
Hamazura's body arced backwards and fell to the ground.
"Agaaaaahhh!!"
Hamazura rolled on the ground holding his nose and Kamijou tried to kick him. But the damage he had taken must have affected him more than he had thought, because his footing faltered.
"Shit…You have a sloppy way of fighting."
Hamazura had managed to stand back up.
The previous head butt must have knocked one of his front teeth crooked, because his lips were stained red.
"Enough with the pointless resistance. Just hand over that woman's body already. That's the deal. Since Komaba failed, we have nothing left. We have to finish this job…"
Despite all his aggression, his words were oddly frail.
Kamijou frowned, but then figured it out.
He was from a group of Level 0s who gathered together out of fear of being unilaterally attacked by those stronger than them.
So no matter how strong he was, he wasn't used to being punched by others.
Realizing that, Kamijou spat out his next words.
"Fuck that."
As he spoke he realized his words were rather sharp.
"Enough about your job. I'm not going to be killed by someone with no reason to kill who's treating it like their homework or something. What the hell do you think a human life is? Do you really believe it's something that has monetary value? How can you be so fucking stupid!?"
"I have no choice. Level 0s like us can't live without doing this kind of thing! We get mocked wherever we go and, when we make a place for ourselves, it gets destroyed in the name of making the area look nice. With things like that, what path other than preying on others is there for a Level 0!? Well!?"
Skill-Out.
A group of Level 0s created in the name of self-defense.
To do that, their circumstances must have driven them to it.
It was a spiral of violence and absurdity that remained hidden from public view.
But…
"…Don't put me in the same category as you."
"What?"
"I'm telling you not to put all Level 0s in the same category as pieces of shit like you."
"You…Wait? What's your power…? You haven't used it at all…"
Hamazura wiped blood from his mouth and moved his eyes across Kamijou's body as he spoke.
Kamijou ignored him and said what he wanted to say.
"Is there a place for Level 0s? Of course there is! Is there a path for them other than preying on others? Of course there is!! There are Level 0s all over Academy City. And they go to school like normal, make friends like normal, and just live normal lives! They don't get mocked wherever they go. You're the ones that are making a mockery of Level 0s by thinking that way!!"
"I see… So you're the same as us…!!"
"I'm not the same. At the very least, I don't act like you do. I don't think my lack of power is any reason to attack those who do have power! I may be Level 0, but I have no intention of becoming a 'minus' who enjoys tripping up others!!"
"A minus?" Hamazura frowned as he repeated back what Kamijou had said. "You're saying we're minuses? Ridiculous. If anyone's a plus, we are! Just because someone doesn't have any power, is no reason to reject them. People like us in Skill-Out are 100 times better than those that have power but don't help us at all!!"
"If that's what you think, have you ever reached out your hand to someone who was asking for help?"
"…!?"
"If you can't answer, then you're the same. Fucking ridiculous. Who's going to help someone who refuses to help people themselves? Who wants to be around someone who assumes they should be happy and never thinks about the happiness of others!? That's where your problem lies!!"
"You people are such idiots," Kamijou yelled.
This Level 0 was just too weak.
Not only was he weak, he gave excuses for his weakness so he would never grow stronger.
"If you had only used the strength it took to form Skill-Out and used it to help those weaker than you, things would have changed for you!! If you had only used that strength you used to fight back against powerful espers to help those in need, the people of Academy City would have accepted you!! I shouldn't have to tell you this kind of thing!!"
"Shut the fuck up!!" Hamazura's face distorted as he yelled. "Our Level 0 leader, Komaba Ritoku, lived like that and he died earlier today. He died while trying to protect the weak! In the end, it just isn't that simple for us. When the dropouts in the back alleys try to do that kind of thing, we just get laughed at!!"
"I see. But that guy must have had something you don't. I've never seen this Komaba guy, but he must have lived in a much wider world than you! Isn't that why he stayed and fought to the end!? He wouldn't have called the people he was protecting 'the weak'; he would have called them his 'comrades'! Was that Komaba really getting laughed at from all sides? He actually fought to the death for them. If he cared for his comrades enough to protect them like that, he, unlike you, must have been loved by his comrades!!"
"Fuck that…"
Two words seeped from between Hamazura's lips.
His words were like a pool of filth overflowing.
"You're mocking us. You're a Level 0…You don't have a power…and yet you're still mocking uuuuuuusssss!!"
Hamazura brought up his baton and ran forward on shaking legs.
Kamijou Touma clenched his fist.
He was no longer afraid of that guy.
Hamazura had been revealed to be not much of a man.
"The reason people mock you has nothing to do with your lack of a power. I'll show you that now."
Even though Misuzu tried to stop him, Kamijou stepped forward.
Ignoring the incoming baton, he merely clenched his fist tighter.
"This is the difference between you and me! You can do something about that boring illusion of yours on your own!!"
A thick noise rang out.
Baton and fist hit their targeted faces, blood flowed from split foreheads, and they both lost their balance.
But only one of them fell.
The other would surely not fall.