Asahina quietly reactivated her ability and began gradually increasing the voltage.
“Amazing, amazing! I’ll admit, I underestimated you, Asahina Kasumi! Is there some kind of rule about hiding your power, like Amamori? But hey, but hey! I was able to kill Amamori when he showed his power! You’ll probably end up the same way!”
“…Honestly, it’s beyond saving now.”
“Yeah, that’s right, Amamori is already–“
“I’m saying you’re beyond saving, Shinzaki Yasuhito.”
Anger. She knew this emotion was called that.
And at the same time, she thought that as a hero of justice, this emotion was probably wrong.
Justice was about maintaining order.
It was about weighing the logic of things and ensuring everyone could live equally.
If that was the case, then it was more accurate to call it a kind of system.
She remembered someone telling her that long ago.
[“Always stay calm, discard your emotions, and dedicate yourself to justice. Like a machine, cherish good and eliminate evil as part of that system. To put it bluntly, that’s what a hero of justice is.”]
She couldn’t argue with those words. She had accepted them.
If someone could judge everything fairly, then that person was truly worthy of being a hero of justice.
And if that was the ultimate form of justice… well, she was far from being a hero of justice.
–But, so what? The girl decided to embrace it.
(“Fine, you’re wrong! I never aimed for that in the first place!”)
Her mind was calm, but her heart was filled with raging emotions.
Before being a hero of justice–she was just a human being.
If her comrades were hurt, she would get angry. If someone harmed them, she would direct her anger at the perpetrator.
She had no intention of denying those natural feelings.
If she couldn’t get angry for the sake of the people she cared about–then she didn’t need such a stifling justice.
She would take justice, but she would also cherish the people she cared about.
Even if it seemed greedy, the path she aimed for would never waver.
The back she once admired… she couldn’t remember it anymore.
But at the very least, the hero of justice that Asahina Kasumi admired was someone who could get angry for their comrades.
What she aspired to be was a 【hero of justice who could get angry for others】.
“Shinzaki-kun, I’m really angry.”
A failure as a machine, but a legitimate emotion as a human.
She proudly discarded 【ideal justice】 and stood as the hero of justice she envisioned.
“If you absolutely refuse to reflect on your actions, then I won’t hold back anymore.”
The air burned with dazzling thunder.
In the midst of an unbelievable amount of heat, she stared straight at her 【enemy】.
“Go through some pain and reflect!”
“Hah, say that after you beat me, hero of justice!”
–And so, the final clash began.
She wrapped herself in thunder and kicked off the stone pillar she was standing on.
The pillar shattered into pieces. She charged forward as a streak of lightning.
No tricks, no gimmicks. With sheer speed, she aimed to crush Shinzaki Yasuhito in one blow–.
She gathered the lightning wrapped around her into her palm.
“【Thunder God-Raijin Blade】.”
Compression. Condensation. Manifestation.
She focused the immense heat of the lightning into a single blade.
The unpleasant sound of electricity echoed, and Shinzaki summoned a massive shield.
If he could withstand this attack, Asahina would run out of energy and collapse.
This was his defensive plan.
–However, Shinzaki made a fatal miscalculation in this moment.
She was the incarnation of thunder.
The manifestation of nature beyond human comprehension.
The embodiment of the unreasonable.
Therefore, her power was absurdly impossible for a human to block.
“Sorry, Shinzaki-kun.”
A flash of lightning.
It pierced through the shield, shattered the target, and tore through flesh.
All that remained was the unmistakable 【outcome】 visible to everyone.
She swung away the lightning blade.
As she turned her back, Shinzaki fell at the same time.
“I’m stronger. Stronger than you.”
The alarm rang out, signaling Shinzaki Yasuhito’s defeat.
☆☆☆
Shigure Ryōmei.
Shinzaki Yasuhito’s classmate from middle school.
The one who sat in front of him, his first friend for no particular reason.
“Shinzaki-kun is… amazing. He’s already the center of the class.”
Shinzaki was the center of the class.
Wealthy, brilliant, athletic, sociable, and above all, kind.
With a charisma that seemed flawless, he had risen to that position within less than a week of school starting.
“Nah, it’s nothing special.”
Shinzaki Yasuhito replied with his usual smile.
A gentle smile that reassured everyone.
A perfect smile, like something out of a painting.
A pure smile, devoid of any discomfort.
Facing that, Shigure smiled as if dazzled.
“It’s… something. It’s a big difference from me.”
“Even if it’s different, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m better.”
“No. Shinzaki-kun is much better than me.”
Shigure Ryōmei was poor.
He had lost his father at a young age and lived with his mother.
He worked part-time jobs while lying about his age, and his mother juggled multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. On top of that, the debt left by his father meant they couldn’t even afford to buy basic necessities. He was the epitome of chronic poverty.
For such a boy, Shinzaki Yasuhito was a dazzling light. Someone he admired.
Shigure looked at Shinzaki with a sense of awe.
“I feel a little saved, too. Because Shinzaki-kun became my friend. When I talk to Shinzaki-kun, I feel like my heart gets lighter. …Thank you, Shinzaki-kun.”
“…What’s with the sudden sentiment? Cut it out, you’re making me blush. Seriously.”
Shinzaki laughed, embarrassed.
That was Shinzaki’s true feelings, and Shigure’s true feelings.
The two were able to talk to each other from the bottom of their hearts.
Because they were so different, they were comfortable together.
They were friends that everyone recognized.
“Hey, Shinzaki! Let’s go play soccer!”
“Hm? Oh, sure. I’ll come now. Shigure, you coming?”
“Ahaha, I’ll pass. I need to save my energy for work.”
Shigure said with a bitter smile.
Shinzaki showed a hint of dissatisfaction but decided not to push it and left Shigure behind.
“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”
As Shinzaki walked away.
Shigure watched him with a cheerful expression.
“Yeah, see you later.”
–That was the last conversation they had as friends.
★★★
“…………Huh?”
The next day, Shigure Ryōmei had transferred schools.
For Shinzaki Yasuhito, it was a bolt from the blue.
It was so sudden… too sudden. He hadn’t been told anything.
That day, the teacher informed him that Shigure had transferred 【without giving any reason】, and Shinzaki was confused.
Panicked, troubled, before he knew it, he was running.
“Sh, Shigure!”
He had gotten Shigure’s home address from the teacher.
The first time he saw Shigure’s house, it was in a terrible state.
The furniture was overturned, water was dripping from the ceiling, and there were puddles inside the house.
The house was in such a miserable state that you could see it from the outside… full of holes.
The door’s lock was broken and useless, and in front of the house, a woman who seemed to be Shigure’s mother was crying.
“Shigure… y, you…”
Standing next to her was Shigure Ryōmei.
He knew that the house hadn’t been like this from the start.
Something had happened, and it had been reduced to a state where people couldn’t live.
Then why, how?
One question after another.
Why was this happening?
Shinzaki thought. He kept thinking.
–…No, he had known from the beginning.
Even before he saw the house, before he saw their reactions.
The moment he heard about Shigure’s transfer, Shinzaki, being a genius, had considered the possibility.
“–Yasuhito. What are you doing here?”
From behind, came the voice he least wanted to hear right now.
There was no surprise. Just despair as he turned around.
There, a black luxury car was parked.
The door opened, and Shinzaki Yasuhito’s father and mother stepped out.
“Dad… and Mom, too!”
His father looked at him with the same stern expression as usual.
His mother wore her usual smile.
Their appearance was no different from how they were at home…
Strict, but kind, and warm.
The family he loved from the bottom of his heart was standing right in front of him.
…He felt nauseous.
He didn’t want to think about the reason.
If he thought about it, everything would fall apart in the midst of despair.
For just this moment, the family he always knew–felt utterly repulsive.
“Yasuhito, what are you doing?”
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