A Certain Magical Keyblade Wielder

Chapter 11: Light Meets Light

*Disclaimer* - I do not own the copyright to Kingdom Hearts or Toaru Majutsu no Index

*A/N* - Greetings there. I felt the wave of creativity and figured I might as well crank another chapter out for this story. Seeing that things are starting to pick up in the story leading to events playing out differently now thanks to a certain brown spiky-haired boy's appearance and impact within this world. I also couldn't help myself as this chapter focuses on a certain girl and how Sora will factor into her life now. Moreover, how things will continue to change due to his influence is going to be interesting. Along with, how the true darkness will manage to flip things both on the science and magic sides of this world. Things are going to get complicated lol. Without further ado, hope you are enjoying the story and I appreciate the feedback/reviews given to the story. Hope you take care and until next time.

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Sora couldn't remember the last time that he had slept that comfortably. Laying on his back and staring at his ceiling, the teen boy realized that it had been a minute since he was able to sleep peacefully. His time in this new world hadn't exactly provided him with a decent moment of slumber. The last few times he tried to catch a wink was back when he ended up in the middle of a street, the time he tried to sleep on a bench, and the last time he tried to sleep in his new bed which didn't last long.

Now, however, he had found himself comfortable to the point that he could breathe easily and feel that he got enough sleep. In addition, he also began to think about the prior day's activities and how his busy day ended with the joy of eating dinner with the nun, calico cat, and boy who seemed to carry misfortune with him everywhere. Memories of being at Touma's apartment and enjoying the lively company of Index asking Sora more about what other magical abilities he could perform which immediately switched to the nun explaining a bit about something called Idol Theory and how that was the explanation for how magicians draw their powers.

This entire explanation made the boy's head start hurting at how in-depth and complex the process was but once Touma stepped in to add his own input on understanding the whole process to which he explained it in the terms of a video game, then Sora began to interpret it easier. It also got him thinking about his own power and how he used his own magical mana to cast spells of varying degrees. Some spells require more mana than others while also realizing that thanks to the Keyblade he had become accustomed to fighting with and without magical spells at times. Solely relying on nothing but his blade to solve whatever problem he was dealing with.

However, as the rest of the night started to finish up, he remembered parting ways with the three while thanking them again for their hospitality and dinner. He was once again met with Touma's laidback response to not worry about it which resulted in the two planning on doing this again soon with Sora being the one to come over and cook or even host since they really did live right next to each other. Leaving the evening to end on a great note and having Sora get the needed rest he deserved since he'd been totally busy.

This brings him to the now as he reached for his Gummiphone and saw what time was displayed on the device.

"8:21 A.M."

"I thought it would be later... oh well, that gives me plenty of time to get ready."

As Sora said this, he forced himself up from his bed and rubbed his eyes until he felt that they had grown accustomed to staying open now. Reaching for his Gummiphone, he set out to the kitchen to find himself something to eat. Preferably something that would give him enough support for the day since he recalled the message he received last night from a certain tea-color-haired girl.

There was a part of himself that felt worried about the long-haired brunette and how she would confront him since their last meeting didn't pan out all that well since they had to deal with the Heartless. Not to mention, he did say he would answer her questions about everything that was going on. And based on a first impression of the girl, Sora had the idea that she wouldn't be holding back on the questions. This meant that he had to be confident in his half-truth answers that he had been telling everyone else as of late.

With this revelation in mind, he set out to make himself a breakfast that wouldn't take long while also planning on jumping into his shower and cleaning himself since... now that he thought about it... how long had it been since he had showered?

"Let's see... the last time I showered was at Master Yensid's Mysterious Tower in one of the rooms that was given to each of us before the Keyblade war which was... uh... how long ago was that?"

The more Sora thought about what he said, the more he realized he didn't know exactly how long it had been since his last shower. The sudden thought made him feel a bit embarrassed while also relieved that his magical clothes managed to repair themselves with small cuts or burns and stains that smelled but that could only do so much. Plus, he had switched out of his regular clothes and into a white t-shirt with long dark shorts while finally giving his clothes a break after which further drove home the point of him not having showered in so long. How could he let himself get like this?

Deciding to fix this issue, he quickly made himself an omelette with toast and juice while also getting himself used to this lifestyle since this is what he'll be doing for quite some time now. Finishing up his food, he spent a good minute in the shower making up for lost time. After he was now done and back to wearing his regular stylish clothing, he set out to make sure his dorm was decently clean for when he got back from hanging out with Mugino. Who knows how long that will take and if Sora was to guess, then he wouldn't be back until later tonight. Closing up shop, once he was done giving his place the rundown, he exited his place and locked it while making sure that he was ready for the day. Reaching into his pocket, he remembered attaching Hero's Origin and Oathkeeper to his Keyblade letting them ready to go at a moment's notice.

Now, taking a step away from his dorm, he sent out a text to Touma letting him know that he was going to be out for the day in case he had to get a hold of him. With nothing else to do, Sora set off to the location that Mugino had sent to him along with the time that he was supposed to be there. The boy had unexpectedly gone about his business in a timely manner and still had plenty of time to get to the location. Hence, he figured he could take a train or two and ultimately take his time. Besides, he still had a great deal more of Academy City to see.

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Meanwhile, within a luxurious apartment in another part of the city

The fourth-ranked Level 5 better known as Meltdowner had prepared herself to the point that her teammates/roommates were wondering whether she was going to war against the city or taking an extra precautionary thirty steps in preparation for her meeting with the spiky-haired boy they encountered the prior night.

After having jumped into the shower and freshened herself up due to neglecting such a thing because of her focus on the investigation of the boy, she was now dressed in attire that she concluded to be comfortable to move around if the situation permitted. Who knows how her meeting with Sora would go?

Her outfit consisted of a grey dress with a black tank top underneath that went along with black leggings and grey slip-on athletic shoes. In her terms, she figured her outfit would be fine. Besides, if she changed her mind about her outfit, then she could quickly change to something else due to her large wardrobe. In addition, under her grey dress on her left arm was a small sleeve that was hidden from plain sight that acted as a holder for her phone along with containing several cards that helped amplify the number of lasers, she was able to shoot out.

Having seen the spiky-haired boy's abilities the night before and done as much theory crafting and speculation on his power, she was preparing for a fight for answers. And in her case, that was something she was silently craving for more. Given that she was someone who loved fighting and seeking a challenge. The tea-haired girl could honestly say she was growing excited at the thought of a battle. She was a battle freak after all.

Walking out of her room, she spotted Frenda and Takitsubo sitting down at the kitchen table while chowing down on what appeared to be cereal. Seeing that she had no idea what could happen today, she figured she might as well grab something quick to eat.

"Mugino? Are you going somewhere?" Frenda asked, curious at seeing the older girl dressed up.

"None of your damn business."

The blonde did the only thing she could do which was to brush off the harsh response and go back to her breakfast. This caused the brunette to outwardly sigh and give a decent answer.

"I'll be out for a bit. I don't know when I'll be back."

Takitsubo lazily raised her head from her bowl of cereal and quickly eyed the brunette's attire before realizing that she must have done what she told her to do.

"I take it that you contacted him?"

"Yes. I did."

"Hold up? Basically, what did you do?"

Before she could yell at the blonde for asking too many questions, Takitsubo quickly answered.

"Mugino contacted Sora to meet up with her so that she can find out more about him" the tracksuit girl casually said.

Taken back by her leader's action, Frenda had to speak her mind on the matter.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Excuse me? You want to run that back?"

Raising her hands up, the blonde began to explain her train of thought on the matter.

"I mean, do you need us to go with you? Or stay nearby in case you need backup or something? Basically, you're walking into a situation where we have no idea what could happen" Frenda tried reasoning with her.

Many different feelings were on the verge of being released by the blonde-haired girl. Curse words that Mugino bet neither of the two girls had ever heard before were about to be launched toward Frenda. However, she bit her tongue to the point that she thought blood was starting to come out. She had better things to worry about. And those things were questions oriented toward a certain brown spiky-haired boy about who he was and how he was able to do all the things that she saw the night before.

Hence, the brunette Level 5 merely scoffed at Frenda while continuing to get herself a short yet efficient breakfast before heading to the meeting spot she decided upon.

"No, Frenda, I don't need your damn help. Frankly, I can handle this myself."

"...Ok... I'm just asking" the blonde cautiously responded before going back to her food.

Takitsubo on the other hand was slightly more interested in how the meeting would go. This is why she decided to question the lioness, better known as her leader, about the whole situation.

"Mugino?"

"Yeah? What is it Takitsubo? Are you also going to ask me if I need your help?"

"Do you have a game plan in mind?" Takitsubo said this as clearly as she could while also brushing off the harsh comment.

If there was one thing to know about Mugino it was that she was a girl who was blunt about what she wanted, so if you wanted to tell her something you needed to be direct and straightforward.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Like, what will you do when you meet him? What questions will you ask him to learn what you want?"

"Why are you asking, Takitsubo? Do you not think I can handle this?"

Shaking her head, the dark-haired girl simply said what she thought.

"The opposite. I know you can handle this. The real question is will you be able to get what you want without coming back here still upset?"

Mugino considered what she was saying and had to agree with her way of thinking. When it came to her getting what she wanted, she always won in the end. That's how it had been her entire life growing up in a household that carried a prestigious name and reputation to the point that she could have almost everything that she ever wanted. Ranging from materialistic objects to information and opportunities that only a small percentage of people would ever get to have. However, the circumstances that she currently found herself in were anything but normal or ordinary, or even conventional. Sora was a total mystery with nothing surrounding him that could be used to her advantage. A real going-in dark situation where she didn't know what would come of their meeting. And deep down in her heart... that excited her.

Coming back to Takitsubo's question, she decided to give a valid explanation for her impromptu plan.

"*sigh* I know that screaming at him once we meet up isn't exactly a smart way to go about things. Which is why I'll be starting off by asking him questions about small aspects of himself."

"Oh... Basically, I'm guessing it'll be questions about who he is and whatnot?" Frenda added to the conversation while eating away at her breakfast.

"Yes. Although, nothing too direct or controversial that will scare him off. Just small talk to try and get a better idea of who he is and where he came from. Seeing that I haven't been able to pick up anything about him in the past 24 hours."

Nodding her head at Mugino's response, Takitsubo figured that would be a good start to learning more about the spiky-haired boy. However, this also got her to think about something else. Something that... she didn't want to directly ask the tea-color-haired girl about since it involved her actions and behavior quite intensively. The thought Takitsubo had regarding her friend was the idea of if a fight broke out between the two of them... would Mugino attack Sora? Or better vice versa?

While Mugino had spent the prior day trying to find out anything about the boy, she had done some thinking on her own about her AIM Stalker ability and how it had worked differently compared to every other time she had used it recently. Takitsubo couldn't quite put into words how when she scanned the area of monsters, they appeared to have no AIM field surrounding them but something else. The best thing she could come up with based on her own research findings was that she had scanned the monsters like a UAV system.

Of course, one could argue that this is what her esper ability already was doing or considered to be doing, but that still didn't explain why she picked up on the monsters that way. Moreover, what was more puzzling was when she scanned Sora and couldn't find an AIM field around him at all. Even with all the crazy abilities that he was able to do that she saw first-hand. None of it made any sense.

"How do you think he will take it? You know, the questioning and whatnot. Basically, if I was in the situation that he was in, I wouldn't be answering anybody's questions" Frenda stated which might have been the wrong thing to say once she finished speaking.

Rather than lash out and whack the blonde on the head, Mugino merely scowled at her before going back to making herself breakfast. Dodging a bullet, Frenda let out a silent but relieved sigh. Takitsubo on the other hand simply shook her head.

"I don't plan on getting every one of my questions answered. Just enough to give me a better idea of who he is and what his esper ability is. Once I get that information, then I'll be able to start looking in-depth into his records."

Truly, that is all Mugino was counting on as a result of their meeting. Getting to know more about the boy would provide her with a way to... per se get him to tell her about the monsters and how he was able to do the things that he did that night. The power he showcased interested the Level 5 in many ways. Ways that definitely included the usage of combat.

"So, where do you plan to meet him?" Takitsubo asked, curious about how much damage might take place to the location picked by her leader.

"A park located in District 9. That way, he won't think I'm trying to lead him into a trap or anything of that nature" Mugino clarified. "Besides, that district is mainly for the boring as hell fine arts schools. Nothing too distracting."

Her reasoning for going to a park theme for their meeting was simple, the two would be in an open area where he could see other people as well leaving his guard down. Allowing her to get Sora to spill the beans about details surrounding him that she could then use to...

"Mugino? What happens then?" Frenda suddenly questioned.

"Eh? Repeat what the hell you just said?"

"I said, what happens once you do find more about Sora? Do you have a plan for after?"

The thought of what would happen after didn't immediately register with the tea-color-haired girl until now. She had spent so much of her time focused on trying to find any information on the boy that she had no idea what would come after.

"I... I don't know." Crossing her arms and beginning to think about it some more, Mugino had to wonder what she truly wanted out of all of this. "It's likely that he's not working with any other dark side organization since he didn't know who Item was."

"Mugino..." Takitsubo muttered, which got the girl's attention.

"Yeah, Takitsubo? What is it now?" she annoyingly questioned the girl while realizing something at the moment.

Color her surprised but Mugino noticed the usually quiet and lazy girl was speaking and showing a whole lot of interest in the spiky-haired boy.

"You should ask him more about what those monsters were. What did he call them?"

Recalling what Sora called the monsters, Frenda was the first one to answer.

"Didn't he call them something with the word heart?"

"Heartless" Mugino answered due to her vast investigation into the boy.

"Right, you should ask him more about them. I checked the mission details, and no one has completed it yet."

"...What the hell? Are you serious?"

Takitsubo nodded her head which threw Mugino for a loop. She quickly pulled out her phone and got into the database regarding missions that were available for Item to take. Upon seeing what missions were currently available for any dark side teams to take, the one regarding the capture of a monster was still open and accessible. Meaning that no one had been able to accomplish it yet.

"No way... you've got to be shitting me..."

This left Mugino even more interested and intrigued by what Sora knew about the monsters.

"What is it? Is the mission still up for grabs?" Frenda asked.

"It's still there. No one has been able to complete it."

"Has this happened before?" Takitsubo muttered which got the two thinking of their time within Item and all the various missions they've accomplished together.

"There have been instances where a job was open for the taking, but that was because it was so complicated to get done. I don't even think that job was completed."

And yet, a job like the one they had tried to complete where all they needed to do was capture a single monster turned out to be a hella difficult thing to do.

"Hmm. This just makes me even more curious about what he knows" Mugino said becoming visibly excited.

Having said that, she went back to looking for something to eat before going to meet the brown spiky-haired boy.

"Mm. Keep us updated if something comes up" Takitsubo commented before going back to eating her food which turned out to be a bowl of cereal.

Nodding at her comment, Mugino decided to take the safe route of just making herself a bagel and orange juice. Something simple yet efficient.

"Uh... Mugino..."

Feeling frustration flowing through her body, she turned to look at Frenda who called out to her. At this point in their working and living together relationship, Mugino was starting to become curious about investing in an object that she could throw at any of the girls when they did or said something stupid that pissed her off.

"What. Is. It. Frenda?"

If venom could be heard, then that's the tone one would hear coming from Mugino in that instance.

"B-Basically, you told us to reprimand you for having anything bread related since you said that you wanted to watch your figure... just saying," Frenda said while being ready in case she had to dodge something being thrown at her.

Realizing what the blonde just said, Mugino was about to curse her out but suddenly remembered that what Frenda said rang true. The older girl was once again cautious of what foods she was eating recently ever since she tried on a few different dresses that fit her... tightly. This left her in a fit of rage and downright fury as she checked her weight and calorie intake along with how her figure appeared. She even forced the other girls to tell her the truth about whether she had gained any weight due to her eating habits. This was starting to become a song and dance routine as Mugino was now worried about bread making her legs look fat again or if the number of dairy products she ate affected her figure.

What the tea-haired beauty didn't realize was that the dresses she tried on had shrunk in the washer leaving her to think that she had gained weight. Hence, why she told the girls of Item to make sure that she didn't eat certain things as she wanted to see if grains were the culprit for her mishap this time around.

"Goddamn it. *sigh* You're right, Frenda."

Letting out a sigh of relief, the blonde went back to sitting down and enjoying her breakfast while casting another look at the older girl. Frenda was of the mind that Mugino was just taking making things complicated and that there wasn't a problem with her figure, and it had to do with something else. But you wouldn't catch her saying such a thing otherwise she would get an earful and probably an ass-kicking.

Looking down at her bagel, the brunette debated against herself about what she should have to eat if she couldn't enjoy the creation in front of her.

"Here, Takitsubo, you take it."

Sliding the prepped bagel over to the dark-haired girl, she gratefully nodded while munching on it.

Mugino decided to just stick with something small and worry about food later. She was now all too eager to meet Sora and learn more about everything that seemed to connect to him in some way. Just thinking about finally getting some answers excited her.

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Back with Sora

After having spent some time riding on several trains to get to the location that Mugino had asked him to be at, he was finally leaving the train station located in District 9. The boy was also glad that he didn't have to ride any more trains and figured he would walk back to his dorm instead of going by train again. That wasn't to say that he disliked riding on the train. The exact opposite. He found it to be an exciting and somewhat thrilling experience being able to see different parts of the city zooming past him. However, he was once again surrounded by other students who were all asking him about the events captured on video along with guessing what his esper power was. It was all becoming routine at this point.

Hence, once he was now back on solid ground, he began making his way to the park that Mugino had said to go to. As he was getting closer and closer, several different thoughts appeared in his head. Would it just be Mugino? Or would her team be there as well? What would she ask of him? And what questions of hers' could he answer?

This train of thought would be interrupted as he now saw the park coming into view but also saw something else nearby. A cleaner robot better known as one of Moogla's.

Running up to the robot, Sora waved at it which got it to stop sweeping the sidewalk it was currently on and started opening its inner body. The strange part was that it looked to be holding what appeared to be a small tablet with a video ready to be played. Making sure that no one else was nearby, he gestured to the machine that it was good to show him whatever was on the device.

Pressing on the device, a video started playing and the appearance of Moogla was now seen on screen.

"Hello, Sora! I hope that one of the cleaner bots was able to track you down, kupo. Ever since our last meeting, I've been getting back into the swing of things when it comes to synthesizing crystals and materials and whatnot, kupo. But that's when a thought came to mind, kupo!"

On the screen, Moogla was now holding up what appeared to be a white crystal that had the shape of a triangle. Suddenly, the triangle crystal burst into light causing the screen to go white. Once the light died down, there were what appeared to be several smaller triangles created from the crystal which Moogla picked up and showed to the camera.

"This crystal is something that I've been working on to ensure that me and now you are protected from some of the weapons used in this world, kupo. I don't want to bore you with all the magical properties that were used to create this but think of it like a sort of small magical armor effect that will protect you from getting hurt since this world has many powers that could be considered dangerous, kupo. My crafting of gear isn't as good as it used to be, but I think this should suffice as it is really simple to use and won't take long, kupo. All you need to do is press the crystal on all your clothing and hold it there for a few seconds until the crystal pulsates as a different color. When you are done hold it in front of you and it'll go back to being white meaning that it worked, kupo. You can apply this to a bunch of clothes, however, I'm not sure what the limit is on how many things can be magically buffed or how long the effects will last, kupo."

As if by command, the cleaner bot used its other hand to reach deep inside its body and pulled out a crystal that had the same triangle design as the one that Moogla had in the video. Taking the crystal into his own hands, Sora did as the video told him to do and pressed the crystal to his jacket. Suddenly, a pulsing light appeared and changed the color of the crystal to red signaling that it was done there. He then went to his pants which changed the color to blue, and then his shoes which changed to yellow, and finally he went to his shirt and the crystal flashed to green. Feeling the crystal start to get heavier, he raised it in front of his body and watched as the four different colors all appeared and then burst into a small light. Looking at the crystal, he was stunned to see it back to the color white indicating that it worked successfully.

"Whoa... I feel... not that different actually."

The video started up again as he said these words.

"You might be thinking that nothing really happened, but you'd be wrong to think that, kupo. The synthesized crystal's ability is a more passive effect that you'll notice when caught up in a fight, so make sure to use it on any other pieces of clothing you wear as it'll give you a bit of protection, kupo. Well, that's all from me for now, kupo. Please be sure to buy lots of my goods and let me know if there's anything else I can do to help you in your adventures here in Academy City, kupo!"

And with that, the video ended.

Looking at the triangle crystal in his hand, Sora simply smiled and would have to thank Moogla for all the help she had been since he got into this world. It really made a difference having someone you could talk to about things that nobody else would ever be able to understand.

Pulling out his Gummiphone and checking the time, he realized that he would make perfect time of arriving at the place Mugino wanted him with ten minutes to spare. Deciding to take Moogla's advice, he would have to apply the crystal to his school outfit and other clothes he had gotten. Now, gesturing to the cleaner bot that he didn't want to buy anything this time around the bot went back to its default mode while he began heading to the park. Ready to meet the laser-firing girl.

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Inside the park at District 9

Mugino had just barely arrived at the park even though she was early. Part of her wanted to be here early due to her eagerness to finally have her questions answered and the other part was simply curious. Would the boy be rushing to get here? Would he already be here at the park? Or the more questionable was that would he even show up?

She wanted to know the answer to these questions and whether she would act in a positive or negative kind of way.

To answer her questions, she looked to her side and spotted the very person she was expecting to see.

Sora appeared to be walking down the path leading into the park with both of his hands behind his head and admiring the park as if it was the first time he had been there. She checked her phone again to see what time it was, and wouldn't you know it, he was still early and would not be late. That was a good sign. Meaning that he is punctual and could be considered reliable. Something she would use to her advantage to get some answers.

Turning his head to the side, Sora immediately recognized Mugino standing there while watching him while he was carelessly observing the park as it was his first time here in this part of the city. He figured there was no turning back now.

"Hey, Mugino! I'm not late, am I?"

"No, you're not. In fact, you're here early. Or in this case, I'm the one that's early."

Seeing that she was coming off as peaceful... for now. He continued to be open while also careful.

"Gotcha. Well, do you want to walk and talk? I don't know exactly what's happening here, hehe" Sora said this as he truly didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Casting a gaze over at the boy, Mugino could see that he was waiting for an answer. Hence, she decided to go with his idea.

"Sure, we can walk and talk."

"Great. Well then, shall we?"

With that, the two began to casually walk down the path that lay in front of them while venturing deeper into the park which happened to surprise Sora as it appeared larger than he initially thought.

"So... I'm guessing you have questions."

"Really? What made you guess?" she said this with as little sarcasm as she could.

Not sure if he should chuckle or not, he simply hummed to himself before looking around the brunette.

"Quick question. Is it just you here?" Sora asked.

"Yes, it's just me. Why? Is there a problem with that?" Mugino demanded while carefully eyeing the boy's reaction.

"No, no reason. I was just curious since our last encounter ended rather... abruptly" he cautiously explained.

Looking ahead, Mugino guessed that his question made sense. The other girls did have questions for the boy but the only one she really took into consideration was Takitsubo's as it related to the monsters and the overall connection between them and him.

"Hmm. Well then, I'll start." Turning her head to stare at the boy, she asked him the one question that had been bothering her for the past 24 hours. "Who the hell are you? And don't give me a half-assed answer. You already talked about your level and that you're new to the city, so don't go repeating that shit."

"Wow. That's quite the way to start the conversation." Sora casually commented.

The girl simply stared at him with an expression that could be interpreted as not in the mood for a joke.

"Right. Sorry. Well, it's like I already said. But there is more to it than you think. And a lot of it doesn't make any sense."

From the way that the two were walking together, Sora couldn't see it, but Mugino's eyes had widened at hearing what he just said.

"And I already have an idea of what you're thinking. Yes, when I say I'm new to the city that's not a lie. I really am new. But... "

She patiently waited for him to finish what he was saying as she took notice of the mixed expression appearing on his face as if he was considering whether he should answer or not.

In Sora's case, he had to make sure that he answered with enough false credibility to counter whatever the girl might say after hearing his explanation.

"My situation is a bit... complicated."

"Tch. Can't be any more complicated than you taking your sweet ass time to finish whatever you're trying to say" Mugino stated, growing irritated.

"*sigh* Well, here it is. I'm suffering from a slight case of amnesia."

That was not what she was expecting. Out of all the things he could have said, she did not expect to hear amnesia be an answer. Better add that to her bingo card for the next time she has to interrogate someone for an answer.

"You're shitting me... Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm being serious. And it's not the usual case of amnesia. I remember a lot but there are parts of my memory that don't make complete sense. And wouldn't you know it, my memories of being in Academy City are all but gone. The important ones that explain everything..."

Sora was once again relying on his half-truth excuse for not being familiar with anything regarding Academy City. At this point, it was starting to feel like the truth due to how many times he gave that answer.

"...That's... awfully convenient. Don't you think?"

The Level 5 said this in a tone that indicated that she partially believed the boy's statement, but at the same time, she had a feeling that he was just bullshitting her. It all seemed too convenient.

"You're telling me. One minute I'm at the top of a building and the next I'm lying in the middle of the street. Confused and no idea where I ended up" Sora explained while planting his hands behind his head and sighing.

"And so, what? You remember your whole life and yet nothing about Academy City?"

"Makes no sense, right? I've talked with a doctor and some people about getting me established into the city's database. So far, it's been going well."

What the boy was saying answered so many of Mugino's questions that she was furiously searching for and had spent practically all day looking into. The reason why she couldn't find anything about him was because something did happen regarding him.

"What about your life? Your records? The first time you got yourself hurt like an idiot and ended up in the hospital. Don't tell me everything about you got erased. If I hear that bullshit cliché, then I'm going to lose it" Mugino stated while crossing her arms and staring at the boy.

Lowering his hands from his head, Sora let his right hand grasp the back of his neck while embarrassingly grimacing at the girl.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I know it sounds crazy- "

"You're damn right it sounds crazy!"

"But it's the truth."

The old saying that if looks could kill would be the perfect way to describe the way that Mugino was looking at the spiky-haired boy.

"So, what? You're just going about your business living a normal life and not wanting to figure out what the hell happened to your memory?" the stylish girl questioned.

Shaking his head, he had to state his plans clearly.

"Not at all. I know that's a ridiculous idea to go about."

"Hmph. Color me surprised. You might have a brain after all" Mugino off-handedly commented.

"But there's a lot of things going on right now. Worrying about my amnesia won't help me get through my daily life. Instead, I've already worked on getting situated into the city."

As Sora explained this, he also began to realize the difference between his new social life of starting school and making new friends and having to deal with the Heartless and the overall fact of being in a new world where he had no idea how things really worked.

"And what makes things even worse is that the Heartless are still running around the city. I can't be everywhere at once" Sora commented while frowning.

Mugino's interest had been piqued once again.

"Why do you give a damn about those monsters? That's all they are."

"*sigh* The Heartless are dangerous. The longer they continue to just exist, the greater the chances of them multiplying and growing stronger are."

Seeing that the conversation had moved from learning about Sora to the monsters, the tea-color-haired girl saw this as another opportunity to learn.

"What are they? Those little bastards weren't that hard to deal with, but they were a bother at how many appeared. It honestly felt like they keep appearing even after I killed so many" Mugino said, brushing some hair off to the side.

Sora took a second to mentally prepare himself, this girl seemed to have an attitude. Not that it was a bad thing, but he had a feeling that once he started explaining about the Heartless, then she would become annoyed and take that anger out on him.

"The Heartless are... you could say a science experiment gone very wrong. While I don't exactly know when or where the first monster was created, I do know that they have continued to grow in numbers and strength."

Mugino scoffed at what she heard.

"You're making it sound like these Heartless are intelligent."

"That's exactly what I'm getting at. You do not want to underestimate them. The ones that you and the others encountered are better known as Shadows. You could say that they are the lowest level of Heartless."

"They even have rank and levels?" Mugino questioned, clearly puzzled by everything she was hearing. "Just what the hell kind of science project is this?"

"Yeah, they also come in various sizes. Some small and some... really big."

Sora had a sudden barrage of flashbacks to all the fights with the different Heartless that he had dealt with throughout his adventures.

"Tch. If these Heartless are so dangerous and so bad, then why is this the first time that I'm hearing about them? Wouldn't word about them have spread online or in small groups? Based on what you're saying... I'm not buying it" the Level 5 offensively stated.

Having heard what he said about the Heartless, the idea that she hadn't heard about them before from even her networks of information within Academy City rang alarm bells in her head. Not to mention, once she got back to her apartment, she was going to contact Mujinayama about any news collected from her family's connections regarding the Heartless. There was no way in hell that the Heartless were a topic that only a few people knew about if what Sora was saying was to be believed.

"That..." Sora was beginning to grow worried. Mugino was smart. Too smart.

Most of the people that he talked to regarding the Heartless tended to believe him and take note of what he was saying. But Mugino on the other hand managed to take things to a whole new level. Asking questions that were both complex and... dangerous for him.

She was getting to the point where he was having to answer her questions with as much believability as he could come up with on the spot. In addition, she was asking about things that he was worried about answering and could start mixing lies together resulting in the tea-color-haired girl busting him in his draft of lies.

"I'm not sure about that. Maybe it is online? I haven't really checked..."

"Uh-huh. Maybe you should check" Mugino said this knowing that she had managed to break Sora's credibility.

Seeing that he needed to get the conversation back on track, he decided to tell her a bit more about the Heartless in detail.

"Yeah... I'll have to do that. But another thing that you should know about the Heartless is that they are more complex than you might think."

"Try me. How complicated can they get? They're a science experiment that probably some balding old bastard three steps away from the grave created and now they're running around causing problems."

"The Heartless... they feed off human emotions."

"...What?"

The girl couldn't help but think that this was starting to sound outright ridiculous.

"The Heartless are attracted to people's hearts and seek to increase their numbers. Taking away the light that is within people. And they'll stop at nothing to get what they want" Sora elaborated to the girl.

"Feeding off human emotions? Taking away the light? What the hell are you talking about!?" Mugino shouted.

Understanding just what Mugino was feeling, and trying to process everything that he said, Sora's heart went out to her.

"It's complicated no doubt. But let me explain what I mean by the heart because... it's not what you think."

The tea-color-haired girl said nothing as she gestured for the boy to continue talking. However, at the same time, she also slid her right hand up her left arm making it look like she was grasping her arm in frustration but that was just a façade. She was actually pressing on her phone to record what the boy was about to start saying.

"What I mean by the heart is that it's not the physical one in our bodies, but more in line with the emotions within you that make you who you are. Feelings of happiness, joy, sadness, anger, and more. The aspects of light and darkness that you use in your life."

Hearing the usage of light and darkness being involved in this supposed heart made Mugino frown.

'What kind of bullshit is this? Light and darkness inside a person? That makes you who you are? Who the hell believes any of this crap!' the Level 5 thought to herself.

"The science experiment leading to the appearance of the Heartless was originally intended to be research based on studying the heart. Even after gathering all the research reports from that scientist, he still had thoughts and ideas regarding the heart that went unanswered. Honestly, there's still so much more to learn..."

This whole time the two were still walking down the path inside the park with nobody else present, which was surprising. However, Sora suddenly stopped walking and looked to the side at a patch of various flowers all having different colors. The sight made him smile.

"But there's one thing that I do know."

Mugino also stopped walking and narrowed her gaze on him.

'What did he know? More bullshit about light and darkness."

"I know that the heart is a topic that doesn't make complete sense. It sounds crazy talking about light and darkness but... the heart is filled with all kinds of emotions. Hearts are made of the things that we feel when meeting new people or seeing old friends. The moments of happiness or anger that we feel when something good or bad happens. That's what makes up the heart. It's full of all different kinds of feelings."

Neither of the two said anything as they let what he just said sink in while staring right into each other's eyes. Sora was hoping that Mugino would be able to better understand just what the heart...

"...That's so stupid..."

Taken back by her reaction, the boy was confused.

"Huh? What do you- "

"Made up of light and darkness? Do you even realize how childish this all sounds!"

"It's not childish. There are so many aspects of the heart that affect how you live your life."

"Oh, sure. I bet this so-called heart does just that. This is a waste of time."

Frowning at what she said, Sora had to explain it to her in different terms.

"You're just saying that because you don't fully understand it."

"What's there to understand? You're talking about shit that a kid would come up with."

"And yet, it's the truth. You have feelings about things whether they are good or bad about things in your life. Moments of happiness and sadness or anger. That's because of your- "

"Just stop. I've had enough of this. I at least got what I wanted now I can leave."

Knowing that Mugino would be the type to just up and leave without saying anything else, Sora couldn't let the conversation end there. Hence, he decided to say something that related to her stance in Academy City.

"The heart is also full of all kinds of possibilities."

"..."

Nothing was said as the tea-haired girl continued to walk away.

"It's also probably the reason why you are a Level 5."

Silence could be heard as Mugino had stopped walking.

"What did you just say?"

This was said out of pure malice. Mugino had to wonder if Sora was the one who was looking to start something.

"I said... that the heart is full of all kinds of possibilities which is probably how you were able to become a Level 5."

"Tsk. You don't know anything about me."

"I know that you're strong."

"No shit Sherlock!"

"And I know that you have feelings. Feeling that drives you to like or dislike certain things!"

"Right now, you're definitely a thing that I dislike."

"But that still proves my point. Your heart is responding to what- "

"You know what, Sora..."

"...What?"

"I've had just about enough of your shit."

Turning the back-and-forth argument on its side, Mugino raised her hand and suddenly several white orbs appeared around her. Seeing this action, Sora quickly raised his hands and summoned his Keyblade while taking a defensive stance. He didn't want to fight her as that was not what he came here to do but seeing that the brunette girl wasn't one to back down so easily... he knew that he was in a tough situation.

"Mugino... let's just calm down."

"Calm down? You seriously think that's on the table now?"

Seeing that she was showing no sign of backing off, the Keyblade wielder knew that he still had to try.

"Yes. I do think that's still possible. Besides, you don't really want to hurt me, do you?" Sora asked aloud.

Taking a second to register what he just said, Meltdowner simply looked at him with amusement on her face.

"Haha, you're stupid to think I'd care about hurting you. Do you know who I am?" Mugino questioned the boy, knowing full well he didn't.

"No... I don't."

"See that's where- "

"But I want to change that!" Sora suddenly yelled out.

With her orbs of light still activated, the long-haired brunette didn't know how to react.

"What? Are you an idiot? I'm three seconds away from burning you six feet under."

"Doesn't matter. I came here not only to answer any questions you might've had but also to get to know you better."

The Level 5 was seriously starting to think that Sora had some things messed up in his head. She also seemed to jump the gun and started thinking that the spiky-haired boy was just spontaneously saying this to get her to lower her guard. But she would not fall for it.

"You know what, fuck this!"

Without letting a second pass, several of her Meltdowner orbs suddenly shot beams of light forward forcing Sora to raise his Keyblade and block the incoming attack. Pushing his weapon forward to stop the blasts of light, he quickly sprinted to the side of Mugino while keeping a bit of distance away from her.

Her response to this action was to start sending beam after beam of light at the boy causing collateral damage to take place in the area that they were in within the park. Thankfully, it appeared that no one else was nearby which meant that Sora didn't have to worry about others getting hurt due to Mugino's stupidity.

"Mugino! Stop!"

"Or what!? Afraid that you'll get hurt!"

"No! That's not what I mean."

More beams of light were shot at the boy which resulted in him quickly blocking and deflecting the attacks while staring back at the girl.

"I'm worried that you will get hurt!" Sora yelled out.

What the Keyblade wielder didn't realize at the moment was that he had not only insulted the fourth-ranked but made it seem like she wasn't a threat too serious to be worried about. Granted, he meant it in the sense that by her using her power to throw beam after beam of light against the boy it could lead to her doing something stupid and getting hurt. However, she did not think of it like that.

"...What did you just say?"

"I said- "

"I heard what the hell you just said. Thinking something like that. Well, bad news for you. There's no damn Frenda or Kinuhata or Takitsubo to stop me from tearing you apart this time around!"

Clutching her fist tightly, the orbs of light appeared to be getting brighter while also appearing to be doing something else. But Sora didn't have time to really think about what was happening as in the next instance, the girl suddenly shot forward at him while the orbs around her started rapidly firing right after another toward him.

Seeing no way out of this without fighting, the Keyblade wielder also ran forward and was ready to strike against the Level 5.

'If she won't listen to me... then I'll have to tire her out!'

Deflecting as many beams as possible being shot at him, Sora blocked and even rolled on the ground to avoid being hit by the blasts of light while also seeing the tea-color-haired girl getting closer. It was now or never. He would apologize to her after things settled but for now...

Within only a few feet apart from each other, Sora swung his weapon right at her side expecting to hit her but was surprised when he saw something that appeared out of nowhere. A large shield made of light that managed to block the incoming attack.

Throwing his arms and blade back, he began trying to sweep at her legs which resulted in her jumping to the side and avoiding the attack while discarding the shield and firing her Meltdowner beams at him again. This caused Sora to block the attacks and quickly counter the attacks with a heavy slash through the air to try and see what Mugino's next move would be.

On her side of things, Meltdowner raised her right hand forward while hardening her face and narrowing her gaze while coming up with a plan of attack. Suddenly having one idea that made her start grinning, she summoned three orbs to appear in front of her to take the outline of a triangle. She also began to quickly calculate where Sora would be since he wasn't doing anything abnormal and simply stayed on the defensive with the occasional strike toward her. This gave her the perfect idea.

Sending out a couple more beams of light to blast the boy, she was about to commence her plan when she suddenly felt something hard hit her shoulder. The sudden impact hurt like hell and began to become even more intense as Mugino was suddenly being attacked by Sora's rapid strikes from his damn oversize key. She didn't know how it was possible but that stupid weapon of his was packing a punch as her vision was being thrown all over the place as she was launched back and rolled across the ground while forcing her body to stop. She was now crouched down and staring at the boy with a murderous glare.

"Haah. Is that all you've got? Do you think you are some high and mighty person going easy on me? Well, think again you bastard!"

"I'm trying not to hurt you! Would you please just wait and- "

"Piss off!"

Orbs of light appeared around her and this time there were more than before. With barely enough time, Sora managed to barely block several beams of light that were aiming for his chest and head but did not go untouched. Feeling a sensation that not only hurt a great deal but also burned, he was hit in the shoulder with one of Mugino's beams and went flying a few feet across the park ground. Grimacing at the attack, Sora decided to set the record straight here and now.

"All right, Mugino. You win."

"What are you talking about?" the tea-haired girl asked while confused about what he meant.

"I have been going easy on you. I didn't want to hurt you but... if that's how you want to do things then so be it. And... sorry" Sora said this while realizing that actions have consequences and in order to calm Mugino down... she needed a wake-up call.

Not sure what the hell he meant by sorry, but Mugino quickly calculated and aimed her hand at the spot where Sora was standing while also holding onto his weapon with only one hand while the other was brought to his chest while looking right into her eyes. She had no idea what he was doing.

Suddenly, the boy twirled his key around and pointed it at her before a bright blue light appeared at the end of the key and something came rushing at her. An ice spell to be specific. The ice shard was aiming right at her which forced her to immediately throw her calculations and aim at the object which was then impacted by her Meltdowner. However, that's exactly what Sora wanted.

In the next instance, Mugino couldn't really recall everything that happened but one thing she did know was that she could feel the wind being knocked out of her while also sensing that her feet left the earth along with the feeling that she was hit and sent flying across the ground. Once she leveled herself out, she was now sprawled on the floor glaring daggers while slightly wincing in pain at the boy who seemed relatively calm and composed while still holding his weapon.

What Sora had done to put the Level 5 in the position that she was in included a somewhat fast-paced combination of attacks. First, after taking the hit from her Meltdowner blast, he focused his sight on her while activating his Airstep ability to target a tree that was close enough to her. Taking off in a burst of light, Sora swung around the tree and managed to side-sweep Mugino off her feet and cause her to be suspended in the air. Not wasting any time, he then shot right at her and managed to heave his Keyblade down at her with a quick slash causing her to go flying back but not before sending an Aeroaga spell at her which sent her flying across.

Now wanting the spiky-haired boy dead, Mugino got back to her feet and started charging at him like a bull with nothing but anger in her mind. Seeing this, Sora cast several Thunder spells toward her but unbeknownst to him, Mugino had the affinity to redirect electrical current due to her ability to manipulate electrons. She was able to swing her arm across to the side managing to redirect the electrical attack. However, she wasn't fast enough to redirect one of the Thunder spells and managed to get and yell out in minor pain. Due to technically being an electrical esper, she figured from her own experimentation with her ability and past experiences that she was more resistant to electrical attacks. Hence, she continued to charge at the boy and was only a few feet away from him before summoning her Meltdowner beams to attack him. This caused Sora to block but in hastened fashion, Mugino used this as a distraction to land a devastating blow to the boy's face with a solid punch.

"Gaah!"

The Keyblade wielder flinched at the attack and left his guard down for a split second which is all Mugino needed to start sending punch after punch at the boy. First his face, then to his chest and stomach, and finally a swift knee to the chest and kick to his legs causing him to fold. However, Sora did say that he was done playing nice and let the Keyblade go in a flash of light and threw his own punch toward the girl which she saw and tried to avoid but ended up being hit in the shoulder. He then tried to hit her in the face, but his punch didn't do much as she managed to block the attack and countered by throwing fist after fist at his head causing him to raise both his hands and block the incoming attacks.

He knew he should have asked his various friends to teach him how to fight with his fists instead of relying so much on his Keyblade.

Having had enough of this, Sora quickly lowered one of his hands just in time to summon his Keyblade and used it to block another attack from Mugino which caused her to slam her knuckles into the blade.

"Goddamnit!"

Throwing his arms and legs out, a sudden blast of light appeared in front of Sora causing Mugino to get sent flying back and rolling to the ground which resulted in her jumping back to her feet. From that small close-up encounter, she realized one thing that the boy lacked and that was physical combat with his hands. Something that gave him a big disadvantage in close-range combat.

"Heh, being able to do all that shit with your ability, and yet you can fight hand-to-hand. That's just pathetic."

"That's what you think."

"Oh? Really? Well, how about you shut up!"

In what seemed like an instantaneous flash, Mugino threw one of her silicon cards up in the air followed by her hand which caused several of her Meltdowner beams to hit the card causing it to glow all around. Sora didn't need to be a genius to know that she was extending her reach with her lasers.

Deciding that he had built enough stored energy, he quickly raised his right hand forward and a flash of light appeared in his hands but not before Mugino's card was activated causing many more beams to go flying all over the place causing massive damage to this area in the park. Trees either had holes scattered all around or were now falling to the ground as parts of their bodies were obliterated by the light. As for Sora, a small cloud had appeared which left Mugino a bit confused but also curious to see if the attack had managed to hurt the boy badly due to how many lasers were shot out.

Once the cloud faded away enough for her to see the boy, she was once again left bewildered and confused as to what the boy's esper ability truly was.

Standing there with no real damage to his body, Sora was still wearing his usual outfit but this time it had changed colors. The whole outfit had changed its design to match that of a yellow style. In addition, in the boy's hand was now what appeared to be a shield with a strange design.

'How the hell did he do that? Can he create other weapons with his ability?'

Staring her down, Sora knew that he had enough energy stored in his shield to launch a solid attack at the girl. Enough to really knock the wind out of her. Something that would get her to wind down and allow him to talk to her and try to get her to calm down.

Lifting his shield and pointing the center of it toward her, the spiky-haired boy felt a second of hesitation stop him but once he saw the tea-color-haired girl start yelling at him along with several orbs of light appearing behind her, he decided to let loose.

"Take this!"

In a burst of light, the boy's shield created a gigantic-sized glowing yellow fist that slammed right through Meltdowner's orbs and right into her sending her flying back into several trees and even knocking them down along with her. The large glowing fist suddenly disappeared in a sparkling fashion leaving his shield to look normal. Still holding onto the equipment in hand, Sora quickly started jogging over to where Mugino was hit to see if she was badly hurt. What he saw forced him to grimace.

Not even getting several feet to her form which was on her back next to a fallen tree, several more orbs of light appeared to shoot right at him. Immediately blocking the beams, he tried to see where the girl was but realized that she wasn't where she last was.

Hearing something to his side, he quickly shifted his gaze but was met with another point-blank laser to the face causing him to hide behind his shield. Slightly lowering the shield to look over at the Level 5, Sora could see that she was indeed hurting but was forcing herself to stand up even with the cuts around her arms and legs and a slight tear on her dress. Before he could try to say something, Mugino beat him to it.

"Y-You... You damn bastard! Were you holding back that night!?"

"Wha- What are you talking about?"

"Oh! Don't you fucking dare play dumb now! What's that you're holding right now?" Mugino shouted at the boy while pointing at his shield.

Realizing what she meant, Sora gulped. This was going to be a lose-lose situation. Even if he tried to label the shield as one of the things that he could create with his fake esper ability, Mugino would probably think that he was messing with her or question why he didn't use it when dealing with the Heartless back in District 19. Either way, he was going to have to deal with her upset.

"I... I'm able to manipulate and create other weapons but need an object to help regulate my power. I lost the objects that allow me to do such a thing and just yesterday I found one that I lost and another..."

He stopped himself short of explaining what happened to his Oathkeeper keychain would not make any sense to her. Coincidentally, he had no idea how his magic was able to allow him to summon all the different weapons that he could or even the attractions that he was able to summon at difficult times. Besides, Sora saw that Mugino's facial expression had shifted from pissed to well... still angry but almost having something click in her head.

On her side of things, what Sora just said might have been the first thing he's said in a fat minute that actually made sense. A quick checkup on how many silicon cards she still had got her thinking that she used a similar technique to amplify her power. Hence, the boy needing something to give him different ways to utilize his esper ability made some sense. But then again, it also raised more questions as to what things he could create with his light manipulation. Along with how many other objects he had in his possession beforehand.

Casting that thought aside, she would have to ask him once she put a hole or two through his body.

Raising her hand to grab another silicon card and getting ready to throw it, Sora saw this and quickly raised his hands in the air. The shield was still being held onto.

"Wait! Mugino, please! Give me a second to talk to you!"

"I'm done listening to you. Now, just shut up and- "

"No!"

Not even letting her get the next word in, Sora began to speak with the one thing that he knew he was good at. Speaking from his heart.

"I know that almost everything I've talked to you about since meeting up doesn't really make sense. I get that. I also get that you don't care to know about the heart or how it affects you and your status as a Level 5."

Mugino simply began clutching her fist and summoning more orbs to appear around her. This time more than four were around her and ready to be fired at a moment's notice.

"But the one thing that I can say is that you are stronger than you think."

"Don't try to sweet talk your way- "

"I'm not! I'm telling you the truth. The only reason I'm not lying on the ground with holes through my body is because of one thing I have that you don't. And it's not a bad thing at all."

"Oh, do tell. What is it that you seem to be so much better at than me? Come on, what is it? More power? A giant dumb-looking house key? The ability to hide how strong you really are? What the hell is it!?" Mugino questioned while letting venom be present in her voice. She was getting tired of all of this.

Sora simply said one word that left the tea-color-haired girl stunned for the briefest of moments.

"Experience."

The high school girl merely didn't say anything and simply threw her silicon card up into the air within the trajectory range of where Sora was standing. At the same time, he also raised his shield in front of him ready to block the incoming attacks while also realizing that this pointless fight was going on for too long and needed to stop. And he had a bright idea on how he would end it. A way to get Mugino to stop and come to her senses and calm down so that he could reach out to her. Not just verbally but... reach out to her heart.

*KA-BOOM*

A barrage of laser beams hit all over the area especially where Sora was standing and hiding behind his shield. The multitude of attacks hitting him seemed to also benefit him in not only giving Hero's Origin the boost it needed but also the chance to use Oathkeeper to counter Mugino at her own game. But first...

Once the beams came to a stop and before Mugino could try to surprise attack him again due to being on the defensive, he raised his shield and quickly started spinning it at a fast pace which also managed to cause it to activate and create a cloud to appear above him while also a circle of yellow sparkling orbs appeared around him. Next, the orbs shot electricity all around him in an area-wide effect which not only prevented Meltdowner from getting close to him but also cleared the area of smoke from the barrage of attacks.

Seeing the electrical light show, Mugino simply ran while still wincing up to the circular barrier of electricity and waved her hand forward which caused several of the trails of lighting to bend allowing her to lunge right at Sora. However, what she did not expect was to be blown back once again in a burst of light and come back to her feet only to be left confused yet again by the spiky-haired boy.

Sora was now dressed in his regular clothes only they were now taking on a white design all around. Even his boots had white aspects to them. Eyeing his weapon, she noticed that it actually looked like a real sword now with its metal body and strange-looking end. She also saw that he was staring at her with a look that basically said that this was it. This was going to end their clash. And due to her battle-freakish nature... she couldn't help but become extremely excited.

Grabbing her last card and throwing it into the air once again, she shot a single Meltdowner beam at it causing it to barrage the surrounding area while eyeing what Sora would do to counter the attack. To her surprise, just before the beams of light were sent everywhere, she saw the boy calmly raise both of his hands out while doing nothing else to avoid the incoming attack.

Until... she saw something completely new.

The appearance of a white bubble shield surrounded the boy and managed to block every single beam causing them to all disappear after hitting the barrier. Once Meltdowner's attack stopped, so did the bubble shield. And in a quick flash of light, Sora was suddenly getting closer to Mugino only that instead of him running at her... he was disappearing in a flash of light back and forth from spot to spot. This was causing her to start stressing that she couldn't lock onto him and shot in one spot. Hence, she threw her hand forward and shot multiple shots of her Meltdowner beam around the area, but nothing managed to hit the boy as he was moving so fast.

'Dammit! He's moving too fast. At this rate...'

Suddenly, before she could even react, the white light shot to her side and then moved toward her back causing her to twist her body and then the light shot forward to her other side again. She was about to try and throw a fist in one direction where she suspected him to move next, but she suddenly felt a slash go across her body as she winced in pain.

"Aaah!"

Again, another strike was felt on her back and then to her side as she saw the white light that was Sora shooting all around her to the point that it was getting hard to see which way he was moving. Every time she tried to get an idea of where to shoot her ability, she was met with another attack across her body resulting in her stumbling to stand up. Her stamina was beginning to fail her as she was not expecting the spiky-haired brunette to have a diverse range of weapons on hand.

"N-no. I'm not... done yet" she angrily yet weakly said.

Stopping in front of her, Sora was now standing a few feet in front of the tea-color-haired girl and wanted to help her but knew that he needed her to see his next attack. Hopefully, with this next move, she would at least become interested and hurt to the point that she couldn't continue to lash out at him.

"Mugino."

Lifting her eyes to tiredly glare at him, she saw that he was frowning while also gripping his weapon tightly. The blade was then pointed at her while he calmly called out to her.

"There's more to light than you truly realize."

And with that, Sora swung Oathkeeper down while the tip of the blade glowed with a white light causing something to happen that Mugino didn't know what to think. Beams of white light appeared in front of Sora and were coming right at her but in the form of four pillars extending out leaving one of the beams to hit her and send her flying back once more...

For the majority of her time in Academy City, Mugino had not encountered another esper that had the ability to manipulate the state of electrons and utilize them in an abnormal state as she could. Sure, there were other espers that could ignore quantum theory and manipulate electrons in their ability but none of them managed to come close to what she could do. However, seeing the boy manage to create beams of light... it left her confused. Angry... but confused.

Laying on her side, she weakly lifted her head to see how badly her body appeared to be from taking all the attacks she had gained from her fight with Sora and realized that she would need a minute to catch her breath before getting back to-

"Heal!"

With no notice, she could suddenly feel her entire body relax and not hurt as much. This sensation was very familiar as she realized it was what happened back in District 19 after she had regrouped with the other girls and Sora did whatever he did to heal them. Turning her head to the side, she saw the boy with his weapon raised into the air while slowly walking up to her.

"You okay?"

Not saying anything else, she raised her hand and summoned several orbs, and lazily shot them at the boy which caused him to swing his weapon down at the ground causing his own beams of light to counter her own. She didn't try to attack him again as she tried to come up with a plan of attack but was met with the boy standing over her with his blue eyes staring right into her own. He then did something that she was not expecting in the least. He offered her his hand.

"Here."

Staring at the hand for a good whole second, Mugino seriously considered slapping the hand away and swearing at him until she felt like she needed a break before going back to cursing him out. But instead, she cautiously raised her own hand and was about to let her hand meet his when she abruptly stopped. This could have been a ploy. Something to get her to lower her guard and then attack her. Or maybe something else.

However, the brunette girl was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt Sora's hand lightly grasp her own which had been still left centimeters away from each other. Seeing this, the boy also offered her a friendly smile while helping her back to her feet.

Once she was standing on both of her legs, she didn't know what to do next as she saw how close she was to the boy and really took notice of his clothes and the strange symbols and patterns being displayed in his white outfit. It was then that he sincerely talked to her. No malice or anger in his voice. Just simple... talking.

"Sorry about that. I didn't want to use all of my power against you."

"...Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why not? You're still holding back you son of a- "

"There's a reason for that," Sora countered quickly.

"Then there better be a goddamn good reason."

"It's because I don't want to hurt my friend" Sora stated, ensuring that his tone was direct and nothing but the truth.

There was a significant difference in ways of fighting that the Keyblade wielder had come to realize after his long and perilous adventures.

There was the case of fighting to protect those you hold dear in your heart. And... there was the case of fighting to survive. This conflict with Mugino was one where he was not looking to survive but to help her.

Mugino, on her part, didn't know how to react. Hence, she simply stared at the boy questionably.

"What the- We've barely met? Hell, this is our first time really talking to each other."

"And? I don't see anything wrong with that."

"I just tried to kill you!" the Level 5 shouted.

Smirking at her, Sora replied in the best way that he could.

"Ha, you're not the first friend I've made that's tried to kill me."

The tea-color-haired beauty did not know whether there was a screw loose in Sora's head or if the boy was just too friendly.

"...You're honestly something else."

"I know." Taking a look at the damaged area around them, the boy figured that it might be best if they weren't around when somebody showed up. "So... what now?"

"Well, seeing that I just lost and am not dead. I have questions."

"I think anybody would after what just happened."

The teen girl simply bit her tongue as there were several things, she wanted to say at that moment but stopped herself.

"But... I sure as shit don't want to be around here any longer."

"Hehe, you just read my mind." Nodding at the girl, the Keyblade wielder gestured to her that they should continue walking further into the park and away from the battleground. "Well then, shall we continue where we left off? And this time... could you please not start a fight?"

Glaring at the boy, Mugino brushed some of her hair to the side while merely sighing at his request.

"Fine. I won't start a fight again."

"*whew* Thank you- "

"Unless you do something stupid again."

This caused Sora to stare at her with a deadpan expression while taking what she said seriously while she started to laugh at him.

"I'm kidding..." Mugino jokingly said.

"..."

"You don't believe me?"

"..."

"Heh, fine then. Guess we'll have to settle this- "

Raising his hands quickly into the air, Sora gave in.

"I believe you. I believe you."

Fighting the urge to smile openly, Mugino looked to the side and continued to walk down the path. This resulted in Sora catching up to her while shooting one last look at the destroyed area. He felt guilty for ruining the park but didn't let it get to him completely. Hence, he continued to walk next to Mugino to reach another part of the park.

___________________________________________________________________

A Few Minutes Later

After getting away from the damaged part of the park where they had their fight, Sora now spotted a bench next to what appeared to be a small pond. Seeing this, he figured that he and Mugino could sit down and talk.

"Hey, what about here?"

Seeing what he was gesturing at, Mugino figured that this would be an alright spot to sit and chat about the many things she had questions about.

"Yeah, this is fine."

Taking a seat right next to each other, Sora sank himself further into the bench while staring at the pond of water in front of him. He was glad to see that not only did his keychains work like usual but that he managed to calm Mugino down without hurting her badly.

"So... here we are. Back to the questions, haha."

"*sigh* It doesn't even feel like we just got done fighting" Mugino commented.

"Well then, instead of me just answering your questions... how about you answer some of my own questions."

Taken back by what she was hearing, the tea-haired girl simply looked at the boy with a puzzled expression.

"Why?"

"Don't you remember what I said earlier? I came here not only to answer your questions but to get to know you better."

Befuddled by the boy's answer, Mugino didn't know why he was so interested in getting to know her. And frankly, it was starting to irritate her.

"Why the hell are you so interested in getting to know me?"

"I always want to get to know my friends. No matter how we started, I still consider us friends" Sora stated concisely.

Knowing that if she went against the boy, then things would just spiral back to how they did before lead her to start a fight and essentially get pulled into a battle she knew that she was unprepared for.

"*sigh* Fine. You win."

Doing a little fist pump, Sora cheered in success.

"All right, well then, do you want to start then I'll ask you something and just go from there?" he asked.

Closing her eyes and swearing under her breath, Mugino figured that this would be the only way she would be able to get any of her questions answered.

"Might as well. Now then, what the hell did you do?"

"Uh... which part are you talking about?" Sora questioned, realizing that he managed to do a lot that... didn't make sense.

"That shield. You happened to just pull that out of your ass."

"Actually..."

Raising his hand into the air, he summoned Hero's Origin and began to display it for her to see up close. Not to mention, he didn't really showcase it in its blade form and only transformed it into the shield.

"So, you can just summon weapons?"

"No, the objects I told you about are what this created. Here at the end." Pointing at the keychain part of his weapon, Sora began to explain the weapon's characteristics. "They take the form of chains that allow me to switch up how my regular blade works. Really, it helps me to manipulate light into different forms."

The Keyblade wielder was once again just speaking without any real credence in his words on a scientifical level. But on a magical level... he also didn't know how he was able to transform his Keyblade into different weapons. He just did it. Another situation centered around magic being magic.

"Then, I take it that you're able to use different weapons based on other keychains?" Mugino asked, starting to understand a bit more about Sora's power.

"Yes. Which is why... "Summoning Oathkeeper this time, he showed the stylized blade to her. "I was able to use beams of light and basically dashed around covered in light with this chain."

Taking another look at his weapon, the tea-haired girl wasn't sure what to think. On one hand, she knew that Sora wasn't an electrical esper and was more oriented around the manipulation of light which was something she would need to investigate. But on the other hand, he was able to in a way mimic her ability with the beams of light. This made her more than anything want to learn more about his power. Along with the idea of learning a trick or two from him as his fighting style had changed drastically in their short bout. Plus, if he had other chains out there that gave him even more abilities, then she would need to keep a close eye on him. To see just what else he could do.

"... I see..."

"Mugino? Are you good?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Right... well then, I have a question for you."

Seeing no way out of this, she relentlessly sighed before gesturing to him to ask away.

"Why are you distancing yourself from your friends?"

That was not the question she was expecting to hear.

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that you decided to come here alone without the others. Clearly, you wanted me to explain things that didn't make sense, but... based on everything that we've talked about it sounds like you don't really keep your friends close to you" Sora said while making sure to not step on any landmines with the girl as he was starting to understand how she acted.

"You're wrong again in thinking that you know me, Sora."

"Am I?" Moving his head so that he was looking forward instead of at Mugino, he continued to speak about how he thought concerning her. "This might be a far-fetched guess, but I think that you purposely distance yourself."

Just as she was about to retort his claim, he kept on talking.

"Knowing that you are a Level 5 and hold yourself to a high standard..." Now looking back at her, he continued. "It's noticeable after having met so many people. The way you carry yourself and how you wanted to find the truth even without your friends' help. Along with how frustrated you got when you heard that I was classified with an unknown level status. You care a lot about your prestige and status."

What was this? A lecture being given by one of the shitty guidance counselors at her school.

"But that's not exactly a bad thing per se. I don't know what you've been through, but it seems that you've worked hard to get to be as strong as you are now. Even if you claim that you don't believe the whole idea of your heart playing a factor in anything. I can tell that you are a good person deep down."

As Sora said this, he didn't see the grim expression on Mugino's face that appeared for a split second. Half of what he just said was wrong. And boy was he going to be surprised at what she was about to say.

"... Ha... you're wrong, Sora."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm not a good person. I don't even know why I'm sitting here talking to you about anything regarding my personal life. Hell, my life in general."

"Sometimes, talking to someone who has no insight into your life can be the thing that you need the most. Honestly, just speaking with someone can go a long way."

Staying quiet for a second before opening her mouth, Mugino wouldn't normally do this... any of this... but for some reason... she decided to do it.

"I've killed people. I've killed to the point that most of the time it doesn't bother me."

Sora's face changed from concerned to... not essentially shocked but more akin to sad.

"Being raised on the dark side of things and coming over to Academy City and drenching myself in the side of the city that not everyone knows about. I consider myself to be raised in darkness. There's no coming back from- "

"You're wrong."

Instantly looking at Sora, she expected to see a disgusted look on his face but was instead met with one of his more sincere and collected expressions.

"Nobody is truly born of light or darkness. Even if you were raised in a home where darkness was the only thing you were taught... even if you have taken away people's lives... that still doesn't define who you are as a person."

"I killed people. How the hell does that not instantly make me one with darkness?"

Sora didn't need to say anything as the only thing he did was to look at her right into her eyes. Mugino wanted to complain and ask him what the hell he was doing when she suddenly continued to look into his blue eyes. It was then that... she realized just what he was getting at.

'No shit... is he being serious?'

"...So, you too?"

"Yeah... "

"Heh, I did not depict you as a killer."

Wanting to clear things up, Sora decided to tell her a bit about the challenges he's had to face in his adventures.

"There have been many situations that I've found myself in that... I was forced to take a life away. People were involved in an evil organization that was hurting people. That's something that I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life. Even now, killing the Heartless is in a way... killing a person."

Mugino was now interested in what the boy had to say. Before, she figured he was some goody two shoes who stepped in and played the role of a hero without killing anyone. But that idea was flipped on its head and now she could tell that he had seen some things. Or rather, seen some shit.

"So, saying that you already see yourself as one with the darkness or that you don't think you can change or view yourself differently is wrong." Grasping his hand to his heart, Sora told her the truth. "There are way worse things and people out there that make anything you've done wrong seem like it's nothing."

"That still doesn't change the fact that I'm involved in the darkness and dark side of this city. Nothing can fix that."

"Yes, there is."

Gaining her sudden attention, Sora spoke with sincerity about what his heart was telling him to say.

"This is another guess of mine, but I think the reason you think that you can't change is because you don't have anyone in your corner to help you change. Sure, you have the other girls, but they don't understand you because you think of yourself on a level completely different from theirs. Along with the idea that because you are so out of reach, there's nothing to do but keep on following on the path you have laid out before you..."

Recalling a certain best friend and his story of conquering his own darkness, Sora couldn't help but feel proud of his friend and how even if they were worlds apart, he was still inspiring him to do his best and help others in need.

"But I say that changes today. Right now."

About to call him on his bullshit, Mugino was startled when Sora suddenly grasped one of her hands with his while smiling warmly at her.

"Because I'm here now. I'll be there to help you walk this new path."

Pulling her hand out his, Mugino venomously retorted his claim.

"Who says I want to change?"

"Nobody does. But I'm going to tell you something that no one else will." He said with collectiveness in his voice. "Only you can decide if you want to change. Anything I say can be ignored or disregarded. But I'm here to tell you something that should be considered and something that no one will straight up tell you."

Letting a moment of silence appear before continuing his speech, Sora spoke as truthfully and clearly as possible.

"A choice. You have the option to choose what you want to do with your life. Whether it's to continue living in total darkness or find a new path into the light... or... create a new path for yourself. One involving both light and darkness. The choice is up to you."

Sending an annoyed look Sora's way, Mugino had to ask the question that was bothering her the whole time. Something that just didn't make utter sense in the grand scheme of things.

"Why?"

"Hm? Why what?"

"Why the hell are you doing this? What the hell makes you want to tell me all this crap. What? Do you think there's going to be a reward at the end of this?" she questioned him while getting right up into his face.

Doing the one thing that she was not expecting him to do, Sora simply smiled at her while ruffling the back of his hair.

"I'm telling you all this because I care about you." Chuckling a bit, he brought his hand over his heart and continued to speak from there.

Mugino on her part was just quiet. No lashing out at him or ridiculing him or anything of that sort. She just didn't say anything and let him keep on talking while staring intently at him.

"We're friends. Why wouldn't I care about my friends' lives? And no, I don't expect anything in return. Just knowing that you'll see yourself in a new light which will not only help you but show that there are limitless possibilities waiting to be discovered within yourself. That's why I'm doing this. To help you listen to your heart."

"..."

Another moment of silence consumed the atmosphere within this area of the park as Mugino didn't say anything else and she simply looked at the ground before standing up and began to walk away.

"Next time..."

Eager to hear what she was going to say, Sora listened.

"I'm going to kick your ass. The next time we fight because you can be damn sure there will be another fight. And I expect you not to hold your punches."

"No pun intended am I right?" Sora jokingly said which got no reaction from Mugino. "Don't worry. The next time we fight I for sure won't be holding back at all. Maybe I'll also have a completely different skill set ready to take you on. Who knows? But I'll be ready."

The dress-wearing girl begrudgingly stopped walking and let a moment pass as it looked like she was thinking about saying something but then, she simply turned her head to the side and passed a glance at Sora before replying to him one last time.

"... See you around, Sora."

"Likewise, Mugino."

And with that, the tea-colored girl began walking away from the boy while not saying anything else. She kept on walking until she disappeared from his sight leaving Sora to sigh out of being tired and letting go of the stress he had built up.

'*sigh* That girl... wonder if anything I said will be considered? I hope she manages to find some peace or her answer one day...'

Seeing that it was just him alone on this side of the park, Sora figured that a good deal of time had passed since their meeting and decided to head back home. He had to start getting ready for classes tomorrow and boy... was he not excited to relive the horrors that were homework again. But he also realized that was the charm of being in the city and this world. New experiences seemed to come and go. And he was only getting started discovering what else this world had to offer.

___________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, in another part of the city

Darkness had just stepped out of a newly formed dark corridor and was on top of what appeared to be a storage container. The dark figure had teleported to the shipping yard within Academy City as something interesting had just arrived.

Staring down at one of the containers left unattended, the true darkness spotted a young woman and a blonde-haired man chatting with each other while poking their heads back and forth around the container to make sure that no one was following them. The darkness figured that it wouldn't hurt to get a closer look at the two and disappeared into another corridor of darkness.

Down on the ground, Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki were entrusted to receive a package of some sort at this shipping yard. They had spent the last few minutes searching the place while also making sure to not get caught by any of the security cameras and systems in place watching the area. And now, the blonde spectacle-wearing teen was holding what appeared to be a small envelope that was decorated in a color to match the inside of the container making it harder to spot unless told specifically where it'll be placed.

After reading through the letter and then passing it over to Kanzaki, Tsuchimikado was the first to say anything.

"So, Nee-chin, what do you think?"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the dark-haired beauty simply frowned and looked at the letter's contents again. Realizing that things just seriously got complicated.

"Well, to start we are going to need to have a chat with Sora. As this letter directly involves him."

"Agreed. It seems like our fellow second spiky-haired friend is going to be busy for quite a while" Tsuchimikado commented.

Lowering her head, Kanzaki was starting to feel bad for the Keyblade wielder as he was now becoming more involved with the magic side, especially after the letter, she just got done reading sent by Stiyl from over in London. The letter had been transitioning via plane and then managed to be picked up by one of their agents and placed inside the shipping container after it was cleared of its contents.

The contents of the letter seemingly indicated that the Church of England was now taking a stance on the events happening in Academy City and would be sending more agents into the city to take a closer look into the Heartless problem that was continuing to evolve. Based on things being said from Tsuchimikado's sources on the dark side of the city, more and more small-time teams were still trying to accomplish the open mission of capturing one of the small monsters alive. However, most of the teams were running into problems being overrun by the monsters or even underestimating them resulting in heavy injuries or worse.

At the moment, no one had been able to complete the job which was drawing more of the larger powers within the dark side's attention. It wouldn't be long before dark teams began to cooperate with each other to share the payout and complete the task. Leading the science side to have an advantage when it came to identifying this mysterious monster that seemingly only one person knew about extensively. Hence, the magic side actually had an even larger advantage there. But that just led to the Keyblade wielder getting pulled into his war between the two sides.

"I know that the letter says that we need to gather more intel about the Heartless from Sora, but..." Grasping her left arm with her right hand, Kanzaki stated her intentions clearly to the blonde-haired teen.

"I'm not going to use violence to get him to help us in this endeavor."

Shifting his gaze so that he would be looking out at the water next to the shipping yard, Tsuchimikado casually yet weakly voiced his stance.

"I understand where you're coming from, Kanzaki. But orders are orders. Besides, having gotten to know the guy I can safely say that when it comes to these Heartless, he'll do whatever he can to avoid letting others get hurt. Kind of reminds you of another spiky-haired protagonist huh Nee-chin? One that's caught your eye and attention~."

Tsuchimikado said this knowing full well that the black-haired beauty had her eyes set on a certain Kamijou Touma and his relentless personality to help those in need without asking for anything in return. His desire to help anyone and everyone get out of the situation that they found themselves in and go home with a smile on their face safe and sound was all that he wanted.

Not to mention, she still needed to find a way to pay him back for all his help involving her. And yet, she still couldn't find the perfect way of thanking him properly.

"*ahem* We should focus back on the letter's contents. What should we do now?" Kanzaki asked this while trying to fight the blush that was still appearing on her face.

"For now, I say we keep this under wraps. Just for a day or two as I keep poking my head into what's going on within the science side of things. In the meantime, think you can keep an eye on Kami-yan and Index. Sora is also bound to be with them."

"I think I can do that. From a distance, correct?"

"Yeah, just to watch their backs. We have no idea how much the Heartless have begun growing within the city and thanks to everything that Sora told us we are two steps ahead of anyone else."

Having said this, Tsuchimikado suddenly had a strange feeling building up in his mouth as in one moment he was looking calm and collected and in the next, he leaped to the side of the shipping container and swerved his head back and forth to look for something.

"What is it? Have we been spotted?" Kanzaki asked, getting ready to brandish her weapon.

However, the blonde spy simply raised his hand to stop her as he calmed himself down.

"Sorry. False alarm. I thought... "

"Hm? You thought?" Kanzaki curiously asked.

"Never mind. It's nothing. Back to the plan. We wait a day or two and then confront Sora and Kami if they are together. And I doubt you'll need to use violence to get him to help us. The guy seems like someone you could truly rely on as well as hang out with and play some cards with" Tsuchimikado stated as he folded the letter and put it into his pocket.

With nothing else to be discussed, the two cautiously made their way out of the shipping yard while being completely oblivious to the fact that darkness was lurking right above where they were standing. The dark figure was simply floating there while watching the two get further and further away.

"Hmm. It looks like you're becoming quite the celebrity, Sora. Which means... I need to start preparing my plan sooner than expected. Dealing with one side at a time seems more sufficient and fun than having to deal with the two sides at once. Well then, I hope you enjoy your moment of rest. Because you're about to be quite busy here soon, Guardian of Light."

___________________________________________________________________

Back with Sora

After having walked back to his dorm and done a little sightseeing, he was finally sitting down on his bed and began looking over the things that he would need for school the next day. School... the idea seemed both foreign and yet exciting at the same time. He recalled the time he met Hayner, Pence, and Olette back in Twilight Town and how the brunette girl asked him about completing the assigned homework. That threw him in for a complete loop as he had been so focused on reuniting with his friends and having to deal with the Heartless still running around. Or the times that Donald and Goofy were persistent on him keeping up with his studies as well as his two best friends taking on the role of teachers in between their world hopping.

Donald. Goofy.

Just thinking about those two made Sora's heart weigh heavy in his chest and his breathing change. He missed the other half pints. Being in this new world and having to do so many things on his own now was a game changer. He could honestly say that for being on his own like this for once... he was doing an okay job. Not to mention, he really wasn't on his own now. He had made so many new friends in such a short amount of time. Along with so much help being given to him in ways that he never expected. It all made him happy to know that he wasn't alone in this world. Plus, having Moogla know who he was, and his backstory did a great deal to make him feel better since he had someone that he could talk to on a deeper level than someone like Touma or Yomikawa.

On the topic of new friends, Sora went down the list of all the people he had met and befriended. Touma, Index, Sphynx, Yomikawa, his new classmates, Komoe, Misaka and her sisters, Kanzaki, Heaven Canceller, the girls of Item, and more recently Mugino.

Thinking about the tea-color-haired girl, he really hoped that she would consider his words and try to feel what her heart was trying to tell her. He truly believed that she was strong and if she was able to create her own path rather than follow the standard light or darkness route, then she could not only become more powerful but find solace in those closest to her. Getting her to open her heart to others. He couldn't say he enjoyed having to fight her but seeing that she properly alerted him to a fight next time. He would be lying if he wasn't at least somewhat curious to see what her decision would be along with reassuring her that he would be right there next to her to help her and be there for her.

Like he always said, his friends are his power. And he would always be there for his friends.

Seeing that he should get prepared for school, Sora went back to looking into all the things he would need to be ready for class. It was both exciting and worrisome at the same time. But he would happily leap forward into whatever adventure would be ready for him.

___________________________________________________________________

Inside a luxurious apartment which was the home of Item

Mugino had arrived at her apartment and was met with the other girls all lounging around in the living room either watching the tv or playing on their phones. She didn't say anything upon seeing them and instead went to the kitchen to grab herself a drink. Takitsubo was the first to actively get up and go check on her leader/friend to see how it went.

"Mugino. How did it go?"

Placing her drink on the kitchen counter, she didn't say anything until she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was then that the dark-haired girl noticed the Level 5's clothes looked a bit worn down and even had some cuts here and there. Something that she knew must have angered her greatly.

Opening her eyes and ready to somewhat talk, Mugino picked her drink up again and started making her way to the living room while answering Takitsubo's question.

"It went fine. I got most of my questions answered..."

"That's good. What else?"

"... We fought."

The black-haired girl's eyes were raised, and she waited to see if the brunette girl would elaborate on what happened.

"..."

"And I lost."

Shock went through Kinhuata and Frenda's faces as they had gotten up from the living room and went to join the others in the kitchen when they had just heard Mugino talk about the battle with Sora.

"What?"

"H-How? Basically, you had a plan in play due to having seen his abilities the other night."

"And that all didn't mean jack shit." Turning to look at the two, she continued. "He changed it all up."

"I'm super not following. What did he do?"

Steadily walking over to the living room and standing in front of the wall decorated with things pertaining to Sora, Mugino simply lifted her arm and began burning most of the information theorized about him until the only things left were several pictures of him. Especially the main picture that was the clearest image of him. She then decided to explain a little about what happened.

"We met up. We talked for a bit. Went for a walk. He talked more about the Heartless and what they are along with a back story that I need to investigate. I even learned why I haven't been able to find anything about him online."

Kinuhata did not want to voice what she was thinking but, in her head, it was starting to sound like Mugino describing how a date went.

"And then, shit was talked about, and I lashed out at him. We fought for a bit and then he pulled a goddamn new trick on me."

"What was the trick?" Takitsubo asked, becoming more interested in Mugino's encounter with the spiky-haired boy.

"He pulled a freaking shield out of his pocket."

The girls were not expecting to hear talk about a shield at all. Frenda was of the mind that Sora was going to pull out a gun, but that idea was destroyed instantly.

"A shield? What kind?"

"I don't know but that damn piece of equipment managed to protect himself from my silicon cards. All those beams of light were simply blocked. And then..."

Mugino stopped herself short as she wasn't sure if she should talk about Sora being able to summon his own beams of light. That was a topic that... she wanted to keep to herself.

"And then? Basically, don't leave us on a cliffhanger like that" Frenda stated, eager to hear what happened next.

"He just pulled out more stupid shit that I hadn't seen before. And then, rather than end me there, he... he helped me."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Come again?"

The responses of the three girls were beyond puzzling.

"How did her super help you?"

Sighing at the thought of remembering what Sora did and what they talked about. Mugino decided to discuss a brief part of their encounter.

"He helped heal my wounds and asked if we could try and talk things out. That's when I learned a bit more about him and the way he thinks. Also, he started spewing some nonsense to me."

"He also said that his reasoning for coming to the meet-up wasn't just because I told him to but because he wanted to get to know me better. Learning about his friends or whatever bullshit you could think of would probably align with his way of thinking" Mugino explained, keeping out a majority of what was actually talked about.

It was at this point that Kinuhata was ready to activate her defensive armor in case Mugino would send a Meltdowner beam at her for what she was going to say. There was no way she couldn't not say it.

"Mugino."

"What Kinuhata?" the Level 5 sounded both annoyed and curious about what the short girl had to say.

"... It sounds like Sora was super hitting on you from what you're telling us."

"..."

Silence was the only thing present within the entire apartment once Kinuhata said what she said. Mugino didn't say or do anything for a good whole moment before simply walking to the living room and reaching for her laptop. Kinuhata, Frenda, and Takitsubo were taken aback by their leader's empty response to the point that they all thought that the short-haired girl had landed a bullseye with her abrupt statement. Kinuhata was about to ask if Mugino was starting to grow feelings for the boy when she was suddenly hit in the hard quite hard with what appeared to be the television's remote. The impact to her face made her wince and monotonal yelp while the remote fell to the ground.

Mugino continued to not say anything as she was now typing away at her laptop and creating a new file focused primarily on everything new that she had learned about Sora. Moreover, in one of the new documents involving the spiky-haired boy, she created a new tab that went by the title "Light or Dark". She had done this so fast that she didn't even realize that she did and just went back to compiling all the new information on Sora. Her new plans included starting over on the investigation wall regarding the boy based on the new information she had learned about him today. The tea-color-haired beauty also didn't notice the looks on her teammates' faces as they weren't sure what was going on with Mugino. But the one thing that they could collectively say was that her change in attitude was thanks to her meeting with the mysterious spiky-haired boy.

Just what had he said to her?

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*A/N* - Good to see you down here. Boy, Sora really has found himself dealing with a busy life in this world. Not to mention, reaching out to so many people and their hearts. I can't wait to see just what else he will get himself involved in, especially trying to live a normal student lifestyle. All while being a Guardian of Light and fighting back against the darkness. In addition, with Sora's presence within this world and story, he's truly going to change the way the story goes. Not to mention, he's not the only hero in the city as we are now getting into the mainline scenarios within the timeline. How will Sora factor into it all? Now there's a story to be told.

However, I still have to admit that clown mode is engaged, and I really do hope that we at least get Missing Link info at the Summer's Game Fest this year. I'm in need of some groundbreaking and earth-shattering story details that make me go, "WTH".

With that out of the way, I hope you have yourself a good one and take care out there.