Starting where we left off, Mitsuri continues with her narration of the events from her perspective.

Mitsuri: "So, now. I was waiting for my order, loud sound, then, people screaming, I was confused… ok. So, I am starting to panic a little bit, my heart is telling me to run away, my mind telling me to stay just in case someone gets hurt and I can help them, all that is going through my head. Then, I see a group of people coming in with guns, firing off in random directions upward. Many people start running downstairs. And one of them yells that if we don't stop screaming and moving around he will shoot specifically AT us. He was saying that he will kill us."

Karasu (waving his hand a little bit to emphasize what he's saying): "Yeah… I am smart enough to understand that."

Mitsuri: "Sorry, I just… Anyways…" (her eyes are glimmering more and more with excitement as she gets closer to the "good" part) "So, the people just start ducking to not get hit by a stray bullet. Everyone is scared as hell not wanting to die; obviously. I can relate to that feeling of not wanting to die." Karasu still listening intently, smiling, and eager to learn more, as he is curious to know what happened 'behind the scenes' from the perspective of a victim. She stops herself, and then continues again, "Ok! I am getting off track! Let's come back to the topic. I am also starting to tear up a bit with anticipation of what's to come, you know… I don't want to die. I don't want to be captured… I don't want anything like that to happen to me…"

Karasu (nods a little in agreement): "Yeah, I can understand. But you being excited about that is kind of concerning, you know."

Mitsuri: "Is it? I don’t know. I don’t. It's just that I got saved by such a great person. I am just excited because of that. I am not even one bit excited about being the victim. The excitement is all from the fact that I met that man."

Karasu: "Okay, that makes… a bit more sense. Please continue."

Mitsuri: "Sure. So, now, I see some people frantically trying to call the cops to get there and help us out of here, few people were just bawling their eyes out, which is understandable… I wanted to do the same, but I didn't. I wanted to be kind of a beacon of hope (while throwing up a fist in the air). That can hopefully fend these guys off. (quick deep breath, slowing down her speed and kind of a sad tone) I knew I would die if I did that, but if I died doing something heroic at least I won't have any regrets… And my parents and relatives would be proud of me."

Karasu: "You were saying someone came to help you. When will that happen?"

Mitsuri: "(sly grin) You want the good stuff already, don’t you? You will have to wait a bit more before I get there." (Mitsuri now stands up ready to re-enact the scene) "Now, I see those guys climbing up the stairs making sure no one is trying to attack them. I watch them intently to see if they make a mistake and (emphasis) MAYBE save some people and take one of these guys down with me. Then, we hear sirens from outside. That distracted me and these criminals. Then, we hear a cop speaking through a megaphone (she acts as if she is holding a megaphone to her mouth): "Listen! You don't have to hurt them! They are innocent people. What do you want to let them go?" That probably made one of the guys angry, because he lit up his lighter, and started spewing out fire from his hand. NOW, I knew it would be a VERY BAD IDEA to go up against them. I was willing to die, but not willing enough to burn to death. You know what? Now that I think about it, that man who helped us?" (Karasu nods) "Yeah, he would not have been afraid of it… UGHHH! I missed my chance to be like him. Ok, ok, let's get back to the main stuff. So, after blasting off a window or two, the pyromancer, who is probably their boss decides to yell back: "110,000,000 YEN! RIGHT NOW! OR I BURN THESE PEOPLE TO DEATH! EVERY ONE OF THEM! ONE BY ONE! AND YOU ARE GONNA HEAR EVERY SINGLE SCREAM THEY LET OUT!" Reporters had arrived too and were reporting on the incident. So, now the time was around 7'o clock… Damn, time just flew by… wow… Ok, anyways. So, the cop replies, saying that they will send someone to get the required sum of money. Now I was just starting to feel hopeless… These criminals then started setting up some sort of trap. I wasn't sure. 3 of them are setting it up, and the pyromancer guy is rounding up everyone and making them sit together… Now, stuff was getting serious…" She stops and looks at Karasu.

Karasu knows the kind of reaction Mitsuri wants to see. He reacts enthusiastically and acts like he is on the edge of his seat and says, "What happens after that?!". Mitsuri is happy to see this. She still doesn't know that the man she wants to thank is sitting right in front of her, but that's a good thing. For now, at least. Karasu is not keen on revealing his identity.

Mitsuri happily returns to the story, "Then we see 2 cops walking into the mall at around 8 or maybe 8 30. This pyromancer sees them and calls his guys to start shooting at them. The cops are backed up into one corner. I know this because I got a few glimpses of what was happening. Although, I couldn't see clearly. Gunshots continue for a bit and my start to hurt as well. Then, fire erupts from the pyromancer's hands and we can hear the cops screaming in pain. Everyone, including me, is unsettled by this. More people start to break down. My tears were just not stopping. I didn't expect to be saved anymore. I was ready to give up. After a while, it just became a game of wait-and-see. Wait, until your turn. See who dies? I couldn't stop myself." Mitsuri starts tearing up a bit, as she remembers those events again. 2 drops run down her face.

Karasu feels bad for her, so he gets up and pats her on the head, and says while wiping off the tears, "If you don't want to, you don't have to continue." She glares at him with squinted eyes, "I didn't say I didn't want to continue. Now sit down, things will get more exciting after this. Gloomy stuff is over." She then drags him back to the bench and makes him sit down.

Mitsuri continues, "It's true that I had lost all hope. But that was in my ability, my ability to get out of there without anyone's help. I lost hope in myself. I knew I couldn't get out of there on my own. The cop tried to negotiate with the criminals more. They went with that back-and-forth, the criminal insulting him, the cop trying to reason his way through the situation. It was a total mess of words. This mess of words was the only thing supporting us… keeping the leader occupied and keeping their mind off of us. This went on for a few hours. At around 12 or so, I heard the sound of some metal sheet, waving around, as if someone was moving it."

Karasu knew that it was likely the sound of him putting the metal sheet down. He makes a mental note of it. Now he knows that he has to find to way to not make a sound while traversing through an area, especially when he is using a metal sheet as transport.

Mitsuri: "I didn't know who that person might be, and I paid no heed to it. I was just hoping for some miracle to happen and we would be saved. After a little bit, we hear some yelling from outside. We didn't know who it was, and neither did anyone know what was being yelled out. It was very unclear as the rain was starting to pour down as well. All anyone could see was a huge crowd of people. Waiting… waiting to see the outcome of this entire situation. The yelling stops after a few sentences. Something was about to happen. I could feel it. One of 2 things could happen, either we will all be saved, or we ALL will die, there was no in-between. Now, I was also just waiting to see what would happen. I could only pray that we would all live, but anything could happen at that point. Then someone came crashing through the window or rather, some THING. It was a rock; that was just flung through the window at an insane speed, I repeat, INSANE speed. The criminals were surprised at that. They knew that something was about to happen and it would not be nice to be on the receiving end. Then, a rock was thrown THROUGH the floor and into the ceiling breaking it. Debris fell, and everyone backed away to not get hurt. The criminals were getting more and more unsettled. It was not looking good for them. Even their leader was worried about what was happening."

Karasu: "Well, doesn't that sound intense."

Now he knows what his rocks did to the criminals. That was psychological warfare at that time, and Karasu was trying to break their psyche. He was trying to get them to back down without a fight. But, as we all know, morons will be morons and they stood their ground. Bad choice, very bad choice.

Mitsuri: "Then I see a man jump through the hole in the floor. He was standing in between us hostages, and our captors. I could feel it in my bones that it was the guy we needed. He just had this Aura, that gave this feeling of absolute confidence. He raised a wall of concrete through the floor, cutting off us from him and the criminals. Then I didn't see what happened, but I did hear a man screaming. I was very worried when that happened. Then we saw a group of firefighters holding up a cloth slide in front of the broken window, ready for us hostages to slide down and get to safety. I was tension-free. I was unscathed except for a few scratches. We all came down, we can hear some explosions happening inside. Everyone was worried. The reporters were concerned about his safety so much so that they stopped saying anything to the mike. They were just watching, like anyone else. the cops were hoping that they wouldn't have to bring out the dead body of that man. The civilians were joining hands and praying for the man's safety. All the hostages were evacuated and the slide was taken down. Ambulances and paramedics were present at the scene. The paramedics started their check-up to make sure no one has been severely injured. All this happened within a few seconds. Then… There was a big explosion engulfing the far side of the mall. Everyone shielded themselves. We all saw a man flying out. When I looked carefully, I recognized it. It was the man that helped us. Then we see a man jumping out after him with something in his hand. The men continued to fight, then they were both engulfed by some dome that just rose out of nowhere. Then, we hear another scream and another explosion erupts destroying that concrete dome. The hero was flying out, again, somehow unscathed. That surprised me."

Karasu was getting felt a bit weird by the use of the words "my hero". He didn't think he deserved such a title, but he didn't want to interrupt.

Mitsuri continues, "You know the best part about all this? It was so beautiful. It was fabulous, watching them fight, he was dodging all the attacks so elegantly. I wanted to be like him. Then, a wall of fire was raised. It was maybe 10 feet high, maybe even higher. Then I didn't see what happened. But I heard. I heard a loud bang. It wasn't a gunshot but rather the sound of something hitting a surface hard. Then, the sound of a loud crack followed. After all this, the man just flew away, on some piece of concrete or something. It was amazing. I wanted to be like him. Wait; did I repeat myself?"

Karasu: "Yeah, you did. Well, I am glad you got out of that place safely. Must've been scary."

Karasu knows it was him that saved her, but he wants to keep it a secret. He lets her admire "that guy" a bit longer. He isn't sure if he should reveal it to her either. But it's not set in stone. Things might change in the future.

Mitsuri: "I want to ask you something."

Karasu: "Go ahead."

Mitsuri: "What would you do in a situation like that?"

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He finds that question quite odd.

Karasu (with a chuckle): "I am not sure. Maybe wait for the right time and strike. It's not like I have any powers."

Mitsuri: "Oh. But, I think you can probably do better than I did."

Karasu: "I am reckless. Even if I did better, I will either die or be severely injured, because, as I said I don't have powers."

Karasu, you fucking liar. The bell rings signaling the end of recess. Karasu says that they should go to class now. They both go back to class and the day continues as normal. Karasu is not sure if she knows his true identity, but he can do nothing but hope for the best. Once the school day is over, Karasu is about to leave after changing his shoes. He sees his friend walking up to him. He asks, "So, you getting friendly with the new girl?" Karasu is confused, "New girl?" His friend replies, "Yeah, Nagisa Mitsuri-san. She's the new girl." Karasu now understands what his friend is asking, "No, she's not my girlfriend, and no she is not my childhood friend either. Go for her if you want to." His friend makes a sad face, "When are you going to get a girlfriend? I saw you both getting so close on the roof and talking like you knew each other for years." "What do you mean "so close"?" Karasu is even more confused now "Do you think she likes me?" His friend replies with a confident "Yes!" Karasu gives him the side-eye, doubting his friend's words. His friend notices that and says, "COME ON! You are not going to believe me??!" Karasu just nods a "no", and says, "You must be crazy, brother. Want me to drop you off at the Psychiatrist?"

They start exiting the campus and on their way back home on foot. Karasu breaks the silence by asking, "What makes you think that she might like me?" His friend is happy to share his observations, "1st in class she didn't get annoyed when you talked to her as if she is insignificant when she claimed that she knows she is good-looking. Any girl normally would start trying to defend herself. 2nd thing, when you guys were talking on the roof she was talking to you while sitting so close, and not just that you both were talking like you have known each other for years. Put those 2 together and there's a pretty good chance that she likes you." Karasu replies, "I should drop you off at the Psychiatrist's."

His friend now getting a bit serious asks a genuine question, "How are you able to get attention from so many girls? Many girls from our class already like you, and now the new girl has also started liking you."

Karasu: "First, there's very little chance for her to like me. She met me today. Second, I don't care about their attention, I don't want them anyway. I don't have friends and I want to have friends."

Friend: "What am I, huh? Do I not exist?"

Karasu: "You are no friend."

Friend (confused as hell): "What? What the hell do you mean?"

Karasu: "You are more like a brother."

Friend (wide eyes, raised eyebrows, wide smile): "Oh really? Is that so? SIBLING!"

Karasu: "(chuckles) Yes. You are more like a brother than a friend."

His friend pulls him down by his neck, and grinds his fist into his head, "You naughty, naughty boy. You are already a lady-killer and now stealing my heart, huh?"

Karasu: "Bro, that's gay."

Friend: "Don't care! I don't care!"

Karasu: "Oh, right. I know this is sudden, but don't mind me asking this… How are you doing back home?"

Friend: "What's with that, suddenly?"

Karasu (stops and looks at him with an annoyed look): "Just answer."

Friend: "Well, it's not that bad. Things aren't great but at least it's not bad, the way it used to be."

Karasu (starts walking towards his friend): "That's good to know."

Karasu suddenly turns his friend around and pulls his shirt up revealing his back. His back is having a few scars here and there but they aren't fresh, they are old, many weeks. Karasu is relieved to see that.

Friend: "Oye, what the hell do you think you are doing?"

Karasu: "Just making sure. You usually aren't honest with that stuff."

Friend (now annoyed at him): "Even if there were new scars, what the hell can you do?"

Karasu: "Look, Hiro-"

Hiroshi: "Stop. You can't do anything about it. And I'm not honest because I don't need you worrying about me. I plan to have fun with you, not you worry over my state back home."

Karasu (raising his voice a little): "Don't get angry. We are brothers. We both just said that. Brothers take care of each other; if you didn't know that, I am trying to do just that."

Hiroshi (in an exhausted and sad tone): "Man… just don't… I will take care of it. I can take care of it on my own."

Karasu (with a calm tone): "It's not like I don't know that. But what if things get worse and you CAN'T handle it? What are you gonna do then?"

Hiroshi (expressing frustration): "I don't know. LEAVE?"

Karasu: "And? Go where? Be homeless, like 100s of other kids?"

Hiroshi: "I don't know… I don't even care anymore."

Karasu: "Things get bad you tell me, before taking any action. I will find a way."

Hiroshi: "Ok…"

Karasu: "Come on, let's go now."

Hiroshi: "You have it nice at home, don't you? Your parents love you?"

Karasu: "I wouldn't say that… I would say something more like…… distant… Yeah, that’s the right word."

Hiroshi: "Why? What happened?"

Karasu: "They both don't care. They see me and don't say anything. Both of them stopped talking to me long ago as well. It's not as bad as you, though, so that's a good thing."

Hiroshi: "So… they abandoned while living under the same roof."

Karasu: "You can say that again (chuckles). Look everyone has problems. There're not many people if any that don't have problems in their life."

Hiroshi: "Yeah, that's correct."

Karasu: "Well, don't get sad. You have me."

Hiroshi: "And you have me."

Karasu: "That's right!"

Both of them laugh together with Karasu's hand over Hiroshi's shoulder, they walk back to Hiroshi's house and Karasu drops Hiroshi off. Karasu hugs Hiroshi before leaving. Hiroshi bids Karasu farewell for today as Karasu is walking away. Looking at the house no one can tell what's happening inside. Any normal person would assume that everything is going fine, but they can't be further from the truth.

Karasu gets back home at around 6 pm and goes straight to his room, as usual. No words were exchanged, no "I'm home" after getting home even if it's a Japanese custom to do so. The house feels empty as ever except for the chatter from the TV and his parents talking to each other. They don't acknowledge him. They don't know who he is. They only know him as their son, but nothing else.

The sky is getting darker, as the sun sets and the moon is rising to light the streets with its soft light. It's bright enough to still see people going about their day. Tomorrow's a Sunday and Karasu has nothing to do, so it's likely that there will be something to do at night.

He put his bag on his desk with a thump, gets changed into his casual clothes, lies down on his bed, and thinks back to all the things that happened the entire day, and he also thinks back to the things Hiroshi said about Mitsuri. "Is there a possibility? Nah, there's no way." Karasu says to himself. Karasu doesn't have time to think about these things. There are more important things for him to do, although he is glad that Mitsuri talked to him. The talk gave him some insight as to what it looked like to outsiders, and the fact that she doesn't recognize him also means that he was able to hide his identity. Hiroshi also doesn't know the truth… that's a good thing. "I don't need that idiot to worry about me even more," Karasu thinks to himself.

He gets up from his bed and the bed creaks under his weight. He walks up to his desk, hangs the bag on the side of the table, and pulls out a diary from the drawer. He opens it and there are a lot of things written in there including the events that took place about a week ago, the important events of each day, the things he has found out about his power, his shortcomings in a fight, etc.

As Karasu flips through the pages of his diary, he can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Each entry is a reminder of the progress he's made, the battles he's won, and the mistakes he's learned from. But he also knows that there's always room for improvement.

As he reads through the entry from a week ago, he remembers the fight with the gang members and how he almost slipped up by revealing the fact that he had arrived because of the crackling of the metal sheet. He makes a mental note to work on his stealth for future fights. He also makes note of the things he wants to try doing to his ability. One of them is the fact that he can punch harder by wrapping something around his hand and using his full force along with assistance from his power to punch many times harder than without any help. That's what he tried on the fly during the fight. He used the tar from the road, wrapped it around his hand, and along with his telekinesis he was able to hit the pyromancer hard enough for his face to partially dig through the road. That was a weird use of his power but he still wanted to test its limits of it. And also increase its usability of it, because if he masters this use of his ability then he can do almost anything. It wouldn't matter if it's a closed space or an open space. He can use even the floor to fight his enemies.

He has 2 more things on his mind, one of them would be the use of the ability to change the shape of an object and maintain it for a long period possibly changing the shape entirely without any way to revert to normal, and the second is scaling up his power to the point that he can crush the entire planet.

The first thing can be used to make a lot of things, a lock-pick, a knife, or an automobile (this would require a lot of things for sure). He can't even start to imagine the world of possibilities this will open up. If he can mold objects to look like him, that will be an absolute game changer, and if he can find a way to change the colors of objects during this process that takes everything to the next level.

He is thinking about all the possible things he will be able to do if he gets the hang of that part of his ability. He starts flipping through the pages and we stumble upon the page where it's written: "Today I was able to start crushing cars. – 25 June 2048" This was 3 years ago and within these three years, Karasu was able to get to the point of crushing buildings with ease. We flip through a few more pages and we see: "Today I was able to crush 100 cars and now I am exhausted. – 18 March 2049"

Karasu thinks of his power as a pool of water. The water is his power and the level at which the water is, signifying the "percentage" of power left. Being able to crush 100 cars consecutively meant that he needs only 1% of his total power to crush a car and doing that repeatedly made him tired after which he needs to take a break of a certain amount of time so that the "pool" can fill back up and he can get back to training. As to how his capacity increased, there's no clear formula, but it does seem that the higher someone's power is the longer it took for them to get to their maximum power. So it's easier to think of his power as a pool where he needs a certain amount of the "water" to do something. And the way the power grows seems similar to the way a person's muscles grow when they exercise a lot, or when a beginner practices the same martial arts kick their body gets better at doing that particular and they also get more efficient at doing that particular motion.

If his thought process is correct, then he needs to keep practicing as often as he can to make himself stronger and also to get better at a particular way his power can be used. He finds it all very fascinating and hopes to get to a level where he can crush the planet with ease. But he wouldn't do something like that, because he doesn't want to end civilization.

Then, we flip over to another page. We are going back in time. "I made a new friend 'Yamada, Hiroshi' – 7 April 2040" Karasu remembers that fateful… or maybe an unfortunate day as well. It was a bittersweet day. He did make a new friend, but some bad things also happened. The one thing that pushed him to want to change the world. He didn't want his possible children to go through the same bullshit that he did.