Chapter 10: Prologue

On July 1999.

　"The Great Terror" who came to Earth made a great change.

　Some human beings, mainly newborns, developed supernatural powers.

　It rewrote the conventional science and affected the nature of society.

　Its ability is to use mental power as energy to cause phenomena that are normally impossible.

　This power, which has been described as an evolutionary possibility and a bug in the world, has been given the name

　[Lost Item] ―― "Lost Article".

　☆　　　☆　　　☆

　 *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*... The alarm on the study desk beeps electronically.

　Chihiro Izumi listened to the sound as he sat on his bed with his eyes slightly open.

（Morning, huh? I don't want to get up...）

　He was sufficiently sleepy, but the mental fatigue made him stay in bed. So he spent some time lazing around, but...

　 *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*

「Nnn!」

　Getting fed up with the alarm that keeps ringing, he wakes up.

　He then got out of bed, walked over to his desk, and hit the head of the alarm. When the room finally became quiet, Chihiro let out a deep sigh.

　And because once he woke up, he couldn't bring himself to go back to sleep.

　Also, he is not bold enough to ignore the alarm and go back to sleep.

　Although it was his own fault for placing the alarm on his desk, he felt awful when he woke up.

　It was even worse when he thought about the fact that he had to go to school.

　However, it is his nature that he cannot take a day off without reason.

　So, with a sigh, he dealt with his uncontrollable feelings and put his hand on the button of his pajamas.

　As he unbuttoned his pajamas, almost unconsciously, he turned his attention to the photo frame next to the alarm.

「...Good morning. Nee-san, Kaa-san」

　In the photo frame, he saw himself, his sister, and his mother all smiling together.

　☆　　　☆　　　☆

　After getting dressed, washing his face, and having a breakfast of only cereal and coffee, he leaves home.

　Currently, Chihiro is living alone. The reason is that his school recommends dormitory life and his parents' house is too far away for him to commute to school.

　Fortunately, he has a single room in the dormitory, which makes him feel at ease mentally.

　But, the life in which he has to do everything by himself is much more difficult than he expected, and even now, two months after his entrance, he has not yet gotten used to it.

　Part of the reason why he has not been able to get used to it is the special nature of the school he entered.

　And after a fifteen-minute walk from the dormitory, the school gate comes into view.

　The location of the school is in the western part of the Tama region of Tokyo, and it is one of the leading schools in Japan for the training of [Lost Item] holders, Shibahou Academy. That is the school that Chihiro entered.

　There are less than two hundred students. All of them are made up of [Lost Items] in other words, people with extraordinary abilities.

　Chihiro, who had developed a little bit of extraordinary ability in his childhood, entered this school because the tuition was low for a private school, and it was advantageous for higher education and employment, and for various other reasons.

　Unfortunately, his life at the school was not so smooth sailing.

　And now, after passing through the school gate, Chihiro walked straight down the tree-lined street to the school building. He changed his shoes at the entrance and went upstairs to the first year classroom.

　There are three classes in the first year. Each class has about 20 students, so the number of students is smaller than that of a normal high school, but the stairs and corridors are still full of life.

　Some students are standing and chatting with each other.

　Among them are some of his classmates, but none of them called out to him even though they noticed him.

　It was always that way.

「Gee. It's Izumi」

　Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, when he is much closer to the classroom.

　Even if it's a joke, the content and tone of the voice are too loud. The volume of the voice is so loud that some of the surrounding students turned to look at him.

　Of course, Chihiro could hear it clearly.

　He tried to ignore the voice and pass by without saying a word, but the voice came again.

「Wow, ignoring me. That's disgusting」

　The mocking tone of voice made Chihiro stop in his tracks.

　When he turned around, he saw the person he had expected to see.

　A girl with dyed blonde hair that swept lightly and a blouse that was unbuttoned to the second button.

　She is his classmate, Nishizaki Riko. She is strong-minded and has a clear personality, both good and bad, which makes her a good friend of some students. She seemed to be in the middle of chatting with other girls beside her.

　But when Chihiro saw a pair of bright eyes staring at him, he immediately looked away. However, Riko’s lips opened and she let out an amused squeal.

「What? Why are you stopping? What do you want?」

　"Pfft", the girls around her started laughing.

　Even though she is the one who blamed me for ignoring her.

　It didn't matter to her how Chihiro would react. Because she has decided from the beginning that she will enjoy making fun of him no matter what.

　It's always been that way.

　This relationship started right after he entered the school and it has continued ever since. Chihiro already know that if he tries to talk back to her, he will be fiercely opposed by the other girls around her.

　So, it's best not to face her seriously.

「...Sorry. It's nothing」

　Chihiro said quietly and returned on his feet.

　But, after a few steps, he heard the voice from his back again.

「It's really bad luck to see that guy's face before HR...」

　Still, Chihiro doesn't care.

　He still walked to the classroom, chanting over and over again that he just let her say whatever she wanted.

　Then, as he entered the 1-C classroom from the back, he saw nearly half of the students are already in the classroom.

　He walked to his seat at the end of the room by the window and glanced at the podium. There, several boys are chatting and laughing.

　At the center of the crowd is a tall boy with a well-defined face.

　Kamishiro Yuuki.

　He is popular with both men and women, and seems to be in good spirits as usual. He thought vaguely to him and returned his gaze to his seat.

　As he reached his seat, he put his school bag on the desk and pulled out his chair. And then--

「Good morning, Izumi-kun」

　A cheerful voice from ahead made him look up.

　She saw her classmate, Takatsuki Aika, smiling at him. And with her friends by her side, she is looking at Chihiro as if waiting for a response.

　She is the only student who is willing to talk to Chihiro in a good way.

　Her fluffy semi-long hair and gentle expression made his face break into a smile.

「...Good morning, Takatsuki-san」

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　Hearing Chihiro's reply, Aika smiled once more and went back to her conversation with her friend. The exchange lasted less than a minute, but it was enough to make him feel relaxed.

　And with that feeling, he sat down comfortably and was about to put the contents of his bag on the desk. But--

「What are you smiling at? That's disgusting」

　Riko's voice and chuckle ruined his mood when she came back into the classroom.

　☆　　　☆　　　☆

　A few minutes later, the homeroom teacher visited the classroom and started the morning HR.

　The students stood up and sat down with the order of the day shift. Soon after, the homeroom teacher told them something different from normal times.

「I would like to introduce the new students who will be studying in this class from today」

　Immediately, the classroom began to buzz.

　This is because transfer students are not something that came around often. This is especially true here at Shibahou Academy. As an educational institution specializing in [Lost Item], only [Lost Item] are allowed to transfer here. For this reason, there are almost no transfers from ordinary high schools, and there are not many cases from other similar schools either.

　Moreover, it is a very unusual time when only two months have passed since the entrance.

「Please, come in」

　With everyone's attention, the door in front of them opens and a new student enters the room.

　Instantly, the voice disappears from the classroom.

　The appearance, atmosphere, and demeanor of the new student instantly engulfed everyone. The new student had such a strong presence.

　She is a girl.

　A black girl.

　Black hair, black eyes. Her hair is short, but for some reason only part of it is long on the sides. About 150 centimeters tall. In spite of this, the curves of her body are clearly visible even through her uniform.

　In contrast to her hair and eyes, her skin is clear and white, giving her a distinct impression of a girl.

　And then, as she stood in front of the podium, she looked around the class.

　Her deep, all-consuming eyes are piercing the air, and a shiver runs down Chihiro's spine.

　It was because of the somewhat mysterious atmosphere of the girl that was drawing him in.

　But then, suddenly, his eyes met hers.

　Probably by chance.

　But for some reason, the girl kept staring at her.

　And Chihiro's heart fluttered softly.

「...」

　Chihiro tried hard to suppress the desire to keep eye contact with the girl and looked away from her.

　Still, the girl kept staring at him.

　For about thirty seconds, just as the students began to murmur their doubts, she finally turned her face back to the front.

「I'm Fukami Maria. I'm from Shibatsuru Academy in Sapporo. My rank is C, and my abilities are [Self-Healing] and [Retaliation]. Please take care of me」

　Then, with a smile still on her face, she said something that easily overwhelmed the earlier buzz.

　In a room that had become quiet in a different way than before, the girl, Maria, just stood there calmly.

　☆　　　☆　　　☆

　The power and scope of the [Lost Item] ability differs completely depending on the individual. Therefore, it is difficult to classify and evaluate them according to a certain standard, but there is still a "Rank" established as a convenient standard or index.

　The ranks are six in total, ranging from S to E.

　The ranks are evaluated comprehensively in terms of effectiveness, applicability, fuel efficiency, etc., and the closer the rank is to S, the more useful it is. The rating is updated four times a year, and is determined by taking into account the growth through training and the past achievements.

　Because of this, there is a certain degree of correlation between the training period ≒ the age and grade of the [Lost Item] and the average rank, and Maria Fukami's Rank C is quite high for an evaluation given to a first-year high school student.

　Currently, there are only a few Shibahou first-year students who have a rank of C or higher.

　In other words, with a single word, Maria has proved that she is one of the best first-year students.

　Naturally, the rumor of a new student with a rank of C spread quickly.

「Hey, what exactly is Fukami-san's [Retaliation]?」

　At Shibahou Academy, the morning classes for first-year students are classroom lectures, and there is relatively more time for breaks. Therefore, Maria is surrounded by students every time she had a break.

　Chihiro, who is sitting in his seat, listens to the noise of the students in a whisper.

　It's not his intention to eavesdrop, but simply because of the distance. The seat assigned to Maria is next to Chihiro's, so he could hear it.

　Still, it's noisy and annoying.

「Well... it's quite difficult to explain verbally」

　Maria answers all the questions one by one, though it must be even more difficult for her. Still, she keeps the same smile on her face.

　And looking to the side, Chihiro can see her through the crowd.

　He saw her pick up a pen case and take out a ballpoint pen from inside.

「I'll show you how it's done」

　With a click, she pulls out the tip of the ballpoint pen, grasps it in her palm, and raises it carelessly.

「Eh?」

　But then someone lets out a small scream.

　After all, Maria swung the ballpoint pen straight down to her other hand on the desk.

　Naturally, the tip of the pen pierced the back of her hand firmly, and blood poured out from the wound.

　But.

「Wow, what is this?」

「Amazing!」

　The crowd's confusion is quickly replaced by cheers.

　The ballpoint pen pulled out of Maria's palm had a deep vertical crack in it.

　Yes, just like that.

　--As if the tip had been pierced with a thin, sharp object.

「This is [Retaliation]. The ability to return the damage I've done」

　The blood that flowed from the palm of the hand that had been pierced by the ballpoint pen started out in a moderate amount, but quickly diminished and stopped completely after a minute.

　The slight scar soon disappeared completely.

「And this is self-healing ability」

　It's more like regeneration than healing, thought Chihiro.

　It doesn't require any action to specify the healing area, such as placing a hand on the affected area, and it semi-automatically repairs the damage to the blood vessels. It's unclear what the limit is for healing, though.

　Combined with the ability to heal, it is a formidable power.

　If a single blow does not incapacitate her, she is probably almost invincible in combat.

　C rank is no mean feat.

「...」

　Maria glanced back at Chihiro as he was admiring her with her eyes fixed on him.

　*giggle*

　And she let out a small giggle and quickly turned her gaze back to her classmates.

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