"You've got some nerve."
"Knowing I'm here and still choosing to walk through that door."
Accelerator stood in the center of the sterile corridor, his lips curled into a predatory grin as he looked at the composed salaryman before him.
"So, you're the one they call [Berserker]?"
"You're built much... thinner than I anticipated."
Yoshikage Kira stood his ground, with Itachi Uchiha manifesting beside him. The crimson depths of the [Sharingan] were already locked onto the boy.
'His ability is the reflection of vectors based on complex calculations... if he's never encountered a technique like Genjutsu, he won't be able to process the data.'
'The [Sharingan]'s illusion... there's no way you can defend against it!'
With a confident half-smile, Kira watched the boy's seemingly unguarded posture. He was already visualizing the moment the boy's mind shattered.
But in the next heartbeat, Accelerator's leg shifted, and the floorboards beneath him disintegrated.
CRASH!
The concrete floor exploded, and the resulting debris was whipped into a lethal spray that targeted Kira directly.
"[Killer Queen]!"
Kira summoned his Stand to swat the projectiles aside, but a sudden, sharp spike of anxiety pierced his chest.
He cast a quick glance at Itachi, who was still maintaining eye contact with the boy.
By all logic, the Genjutsu should have triggered the moment their gazes met.
And yet, Accelerator's movement had been precise and perfectly targeted.
"Honestly... it's always one after another."
"You all seem to think that just because you've 'Studied' me, you've somehow won."
"Don't you think you're overestimating your own worth just a little bit?"
Accelerator let out a dry, rasping laugh as he looked at the pair.
He had already gathered intelligence on Kira and [Saber] through Josuke and the others earlier. He wasn't walking into this encounter blind.
Behind him, in the shadows of the room, the last of the [Command Spells] on Yuuki's arm flickered and vanished.
Accelerator took a single step forward, and his [Reflection] barrier hummed as it registered a sudden pressure.
BOOM!
A localized explosion erupted just outside his personal space, the force of the blast failing to penetrate his absolute defense.
"An explosion... created from the air?"
Accelerator's eyes narrowed. He hadn't heard of this specific capability before. He looked at Kira, whose expression was beginning to crack.
'What's happening?!'
'This wasn't part of the calculation!'
Seeing that the [Air Bomb] created by the combination of [Killer Queen] and [Stray Cat] had failed to even ruffle the boy's hair, cold sweat began to bead on Kira's forehead.
Even worse... why hadn't [Saber]'s illusion taken hold?
"I don't know what kind of misplaced confidence brought you here."
"But this is where your story ends!"
Accelerator ignored the strange discrepancy of the shinobi's eyes,one a burning crimson, the other a dull, blind white,as he unleashed a localized hurricane.
"[Saber]! [Killer Queen]!"
Despite the situation spiraling out of control, Kira forced himself to remain analytical.
He commanded his forces into motion.
Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan adjusted its focus, and a torrent of black flames erupted from his right eye, targeting the boy.
Sizzle...
But even the [Amaterasu] was unable to bypass the absolute logic of [Reflection]. The black fire was systematically redirected, coiling back toward its source.
To avoid being consumed by his own technique, Itachi was forced to deactivate the flames immediately.
A skeletal framework of [Susanoo] manifested around the shinobi, but even the spectral armor was twisted and shattered as Accelerator adjusted the vectors of the surrounding space.
"Don't forget... as long as it's made of energy, it's within the scope of my calculations."
To the boy, these were all "Pointless" attempts at aggression.
"On the other hand... you don't have the luxury of reflection."
He flicked a wrist, and the air pressure in the corridor shifted violently.
SLASH!
Lethal lacerations appeared on Kira's face and torso, as if he were being flayed by a thousand invisible blades.
The salaryman suddenly realized a terrifying strategic truth.
Against [Berserker], he couldn't utilize the [Air Bomb] from [Stray Cat]. Any projectile that relied on the physical movement of air would simply be returned to him with interest.
This level of systematic counter-play...
It shouldn't be possible.
But before he could formulate a meaningful retreat, Accelerator's wind manipulation intensified.
WHOOSH!!
"Ugh... aaaaarrgh!!"
Despite the distance between them, Kira's body was caught in a violent updraft and hurled through the corridor.
K-CHAK!
"Uwaaaaa!!"
The windows shattered under the pressure, and the screams of panicked patients echoed through the building.
"[Killer Queen]!"
Hurtling toward the ground from the fifth floor, Kira knew that a direct impact would be terminal.
He summoned his Stand and commanded [Stray Cat] to fire a series of [Air Bomb] volleys toward the pavement. The resulting atmospheric resistance acted as a primitive cushion, slowing his descent just enough to prevent immediate death.
THUD!
Pain lanced through his body as he hit the ground. Even with the slowed descent, the impact was enough to fracture several ribs and leave him gasping for air.
He looked up at the building, seeing [Saber] still locked in a stalemate with [Berserker] on the upper floor.
The situation was a disaster.
Kira felt his original desire for a quiet life being systematically dismantled. It was time to leave.
'?'
Looking down from the shattered window, Accelerator watched Kira attempt to limp away from the facility. He then looked at the shinobi behind him.
Since the beginning of the encounter, [Saber] hadn't moved an inch.
Aside from the initial attempt at an illusion and the brief release of flames, the man had been a motionless statue.
Even as his Master was being hurled out of a window, he had stood in silence.
It was... unnerving.
"I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but I'm not done yet."
Under normal circumstances, Accelerator would have already launched himself toward the retreating Kira. But with Yuuki's safety on the line, he couldn't leave her unguarded.
He had to eliminate the threat in the room before he could hunt the one outside.
"You... won't... be able to..."
Itachi's voice was a dry, mechanical rasp. His dual-colored gaze remained fixed on the boy, but his body seemed to be losing its physical cohesion.
"Huh?"
Accelerator didn't bother with a reply. He launched himself toward the shinobi with a localized sonic boom.
But in the moment of impact, Itachi Uchiha dissolved into a murder of crows that scattered throughout the room before vanishing entirely.
"Tch... parlor tricks."
Accelerator's expression twisted into a sneer as he realized his target had vanished.
***
"Dammit... how could this happen."
Kira stood at the edge of the hospital grounds, leaning against a wall as he tried to stabilize his breathing.
[Berserker]'s power was overwhelming. Without a reliable method of bypassing his reflection through Genjutsu, a direct confrontation was suicide.
And for reasons he couldn't comprehend, [Saber]'s illusions had failed.
But as he tried to formulate a plan for a tactical withdrawal, a sudden, explosive series of impacts landed on his back.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The sound of the impacts was as loud as a demolition crew, and Kira didn't even have time to scream before he was driven into the brickwork.
CRACK!
"What...?!"
Completely caught off guard, Kira found himself unable to move.
His body was pinned to the wall like a butterfly in a display case.
Every joint and bone in his frame felt as if it had been systematically pulverized.
He looked with wide, terrified eyes toward the figure standing at the hospital entrance, and he whispered the name with a trembling voice.
"Josuke..."
"Higashikata..."
Why was he here?
Nothing was making sense anymore.
The events of the morning were following a logic that Kira couldn't grasp.
"Hey... Yoshikage Kira."
"Is your Servant not with you?"
"Good. Because I'm going to end you first, and then I'm going to find that monster [Saber]."
"The debt you owe Jotaro-san and the others... I'm going to collect it right now!"
The incandescent, cold fury on Josuke's face left Kira in a state of shock.
A debt to Jotaro?
What did he have to do with any of that?
He had spent the entire night sleeping in his bed, waking up at 11:00 PM and only heading to the hospital at [Saber]'s urgent suggestion.
He hadn't even seen Jotaro Kujo, let alone participated in an attack on him.
[Saber].
'Could it be...!!'
"Is this your doing?! [Saber]!!"
"Did you... did you betray me?!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]