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Misaka Mikoto Alter didn't even remember how she had wandered onto the street.
Everything around her had reverted to a time long past—Academy City stood unscathed, pristine. The massive electronic billboard overhead displayed a date a month before summer break, and the streets bustled with carefree students laughing and chatting. There was no sign of war, conflict, or the cataclysm that had nearly torn the city apart.
It all felt suffocatingly foreign to Misaka Mikoto Alter.
The warmth and peace from her memories of this place seemed to reject her. It was a past life that belonged to someone else entirely.
That alienation made her grip Xiao Bai—the disheveled plush rabbit in her hands—tightly, as if it were the only anchor to herself. The school uniform on her body had also reverted to Tokiwadai Middle School's standard issue, likely due to the effects of the time-reversion field Shen He and Qi Mu Nanzi had deployed. However, the doll and messy hair on her head remained unchanged, as if resisting conformity. The folder she carried hadn't changed either. That alone gave her a tenuous sense of reality—her only proof that she hadn't been rewritten.
"Excuse me…"
She turned sharply, startled by the unfamiliar voice.
Two girls in Tokiwadai uniforms stood before her, faces half-shocked, half-curious, having flinched at her cold, unblinking gaze.
"W-we were just wondering… Sister Misaka, do you need help?"
Upon seeing her face clearly, the tension melted away from theirs. Instead of fear, they showed a mixture of curiosity and concern as they stepped closer.
"White bangs? Wow, Misaka, did you dye your hair too?"
"That's weird, I've never seen you around. What unit number are you?"
"Wanna hang out with us? You can even invite your other Misaka sisters!"
The two girls kept chirping excitedly, switching between each other with rapid-fire enthusiasm. Misaka Mikoto Alter stayed silent. In the past, she would've refuted them—declaring that she was the original Misaka Mikoto, not just another Sister.
But now, even with that hope still buried in her chest, she had begun to question whether she was truly… real.
Just then, one of the cloned Misaka sisters jogged toward them.
"This is Special Unit No. 2," said Misaka 10084, bowing politely. "Misaka 10084 has come to retrieve her for reintegration procedures."
"Oh! So she's one of the Specials."
The two girls seemed to understand and backed off slightly, though a trace of pity appeared in their expressions.
"If you ever feel like talking, don't hesitate. Taking care of the Sisters is an official Academy City support directive," one of them said, gently patting her on the shoulder. "This kind of group interaction is part of our practical civics task."
Throughout the interaction, Misaka Mikoto Alter didn't say a word. Her blank, emotionless expression didn't falter once.
Because she genuinely didn't know what kind of face she should wear in front of this surreal mirage of peace.
The Sister in front of her wore the same Tokiwadai uniform, the same face. She still had the military-grade binoculars on her head, but now carried multiple bags—snacks, clothes, plushies. It looked as if she'd just returned from a lively supermarket spree.
Misaka… went shopping?
"These are all gifts," said Misaka 10084 proudly, raising the bags. "Many citizens expressed kindness to Misaka. Misaka wishes to share these with Unit 2."
She must've noticed Misaka Mikoto Alter's conflicted expression.
"You…" Alter began, before faltering. She shook her head. "Is this… really the real world?"
The question sounded childish, even to her own ears. But it was the only one that made sense in this situation.
After all, if this was just a retroactive time distortion, how could the Sisters roam so freely? And why did everyone—students, faculty—accept it as normal?
To her, it felt like a dream constructed from impossible kindness.
In her eyes, the Misaka clones were never accepted. They were tools—sacrificial pawns.
That had been her entire reason for rebelling. For initiating a war. For becoming the Avenger. It was the only path she saw to securing freedom for the Sisters in a world that discarded them.
So this "peace"… it had to be some kind of illusion. Or a manipulation of memories via high-tier esper ability.
"Of course this is the real world," said Misaka 10084 flatly. "Misaka 10084 worries that Unit 2's neural pathways may be compromised. Commencing forehead interface calibration."
Before Misaka Mikoto Alter could react, 10084 stepped forward and pressed her forehead lightly against hers. Two identical faces drew dangerously close.
"—Wh-What are you doing?!"
A shrill, embarrassed voice broke the moment.
The real Misaka Mikoto stood nearby, cheeks flushed red, eyes wide in horror.
Seeing a copy of herself do something that looked like an intimate act in public was too much for her adolescent pride.
Misaka Mikoto lunged, grabbing the two Sisters by the wrist and dragging them off into a nearby alleyway like a fugitive fleeing shame.
"What the hell is going on?"
Misaka Mikoto Alter blinked, finally realizing she had wandered into the very plaza where Misaka Mikoto and others were out shopping.
Of all people, the ones she least wanted to see were Shirai Kuroko, Uiharu Kazari, and Saten Ruiko.
"I'm… not exactly sure either," Misaka Mikoto muttered, glancing sidelong. Then she sighed and offered an explanation. "In short, my current master—Shen He—used a dimensional restoration protocol, reversing the state of the environment back three months. But it only affects physical structures and the surface-level reality. The dead… can't be brought back. So to patch the contradictions, everyone's memories were modified. Including Kuroko's."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"So… everything I fought for… already came true?" Alter's voice lost all resistance.
Her blank stare gave way to something more fragile—something closer to despair.
She had burned everything to the ground for the sake of a dream. And now that dream had manifested without her. Without needing her war. Without needing her at all.
She was… irrelevant.
"You're acting like someone who just lost their entire purpose in life," Misaka Mikoto muttered, scratching her cheek. "I really don't get you. You're me, but also not. No wonder Shen He nicknamed you the Avenger."
The name felt distant now.
But slowly, the fog began to lift from Misaka Mikoto Alter's mind.
"…It's not over," she said at last. "Aleister's still in that building. I want to go."
BOOOOM—!
An earth-shattering sound exploded from the city center.
Everyone turned.
From the epicenter of Academy City, a column of white fire pierced the clouds. The "Windowless Building"—Aleister's fortress—had launched like a rocket, a tail of divine flame trailing behind it.
"Aleister's been launched into orbit," Misaka Mikoto said, fists clenched tightly. "Shen He just messaged me. He's been exiled from this world… permanently."
She exhaled deeply, smiling for the first time in days.
"…It feels insanely satisfying."
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