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So, what kind of person is Shokuhou Misaki, really?
In a nutshell, she is an ojou-sama.
She was born into an extremely wealthy family. Not only was her family background first-rate, but she had also been exposed to things like "nobility" and "grace" even before enrolling at Tokiwadai. Although she could be childish and overly self-conscious at times, Shokuhou Misaki was a genuine, unmistakable ojou-sama in terms of both status and personality.
However...
This ojou-sama possessed a power that allowed her to manipulate others' minds.
Initially, Shokuhou Misaki had only one thought about this power:
"Pretty convenient, huh?"
Yes.
Very convenient.
With such an ability, every interaction between people became something that could be manipulated for Shokuhou Misaki.
If interpersonal relationships were one of the greatest advantages in this world, then she possessed the greatest advantage of all.
No matter what, her future seemed destined to be smooth and unobstructed.
No one would oppose her.
No one would stand in her way.
Thus, the ojou-sama became a queen, ruling over people's hearts.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a truly smooth future.
Even Shokuhou Misaki, who possessed the power to dominate anyone, had to pay a price.
That price was becoming a target of those with ulterior motives.
In Academy City, there was no shortage of people who treated Ability users like lab rats and experimental materials, people who wanted nothing more than to dissect them to study their powers.
The Lv.5s, praised as the strongest Ability users, were naturally the best research subjects.
Thus, every Lv.5 in Academy City inevitably carries the city's darkness on their back.
Take Misaka Mikoto, for example. Though she lived an ordinary school life, she had been targeted since infancy through her DNA map. She was deceived step by step, which ultimately led to the creation of the "Mass-Produced Ability User Plan" and the "Level 6 Shift Project." These projects burdened her with the lives of twenty thousand Sisters.
Shokuhou Misaki was no different.
She, too, had been targeted by a research institution since infancy and treated as an experimental subject, a lab rat.
However, unlike Misaka Mikoto, Shokuhou Misaki, who had been adept at manipulating people's hearts since childhood, was not so naïve as to fall for such tricks.
As a result, she only cooperated on the surface. Secretly, she gradually brought the researchers under her control, one by one, eventually grasping the entire research facility in the palm of her hand and freeing herself from that fate.
Perhaps because of this experience, Shokuhou Misaki did not believe in pure goodwill.
If someone approached her and offered help without any apparent reason, Shokuhou Misaki would absolutely probe into their heart, and depending on the situation, she would manipulate their mind to a certain extent.
Under such circumstances, if Shokuhou Misaki had not lost her memories and had suddenly encountered Fang Li, wouldn't she have used her Ability on him without the slightest hesitation?
Of course, while Shokuhou Misaki never hesitated to use her ability, she would never trample on the human heart. Sometimes, she would even risk her life to protect someone else's mind.
She had always held onto that belief.
"This kind of ability can only be possessed by those with a noble character. Vulgar people absolutely cannot obtain it."
Although she could easily manipulate hearts, she would never belittle their worth.
Yes.
Perhaps that was precisely why Shokuhou Misaki possessed an Ability that could be described as omnipotent in the realm of the mind.
Because of this, Shokuhou Misaki also imposed a rule upon herself: she would always take responsibility for those she manipulated.
"That's what real leadership is~~~☆"
That was Shokuhou Misaki.
And yet…
Even a Shokuhou Misaki like this had something she was destined never to obtain.
That was…
Her inability to truly trust the human heart.
What people call "opening one's heart" is, by nature, a process of mutual honesty.
Through gradually spending time together, people reveal their inner thoughts to one another, come to understand each other, and only then are they able to continue walking together.
But Shokuhou Misaki only ever peeked into others' hearts unilaterally.
Others never knew what Shokuhou Misaki had done to them.
And Shokuhou Misaki herself only ever demanded answers from others' hearts, never offering even the slightest fragment of her own in return.
Under such circumstances, how could Shokuhou Misaki ever truly obtain another person's heart?
Then, one day, Shokuhou Misaki witnessed an Ability that could genuinely captivate people's hearts.
"...... In my eye and in my way (On the road before my eyes) ...…"
"...… In the sky so far away (In that distant sky) ...…"
In the School Garden, atop a brilliantly colorful stage, a beautifully dressed and exquisitely lovely girl was singing, her melodious voice echoing all around.
"———"
At that very moment, the densely packed students gathered before the stage all seemed as though their souls had been stolen, utterly intoxicated by that beautiful singing.
Among them was a girl named Shokuhou Misaki.
As she watched the students around her one by one have their hearts and souls captured by the diva on stage, smiling with the brightest expressions as they cheered and applauded, Shokuhou Misaki was shaken to her core.
Despite not using her Ability, she had won everyone's hearts.
With just a single song, she could make people wear such dazzling expressions.
Even the strongest mind-type Ability user in Academy City could never achieve this.
Thinking this far, Shokuhou Misaki couldn't help but feel confused.
"In that case… does my Ability even need to exist?"
Even without such an Ability, people still had ways to command others' hearts, didn't they?
Just like that radiant diva on stage.
Without an ability like "Mental Out," she captivated her audience, who willingly handed over their hearts.
And they did so of their own free will.
Compared to that diva, Sylvie Ya-Lyyneheym, the fifth-ranked Level 5 of Academy City felt utterly insignificant.
So, Shokuhou Misaki quietly withdrew from the crowd and left the vicinity of the stage, the School Garden, and School District 7. She wandered aimlessly until she arrived at the artificial lake in School District 21.
"Sigh..."
Misaki lay by the lakeshore, idly playing with the remote control in her hand.
Originally, the School Garden should have been Shokuhou Misaki's garden.
But now, it had become someone else's stage.
Thus, in that moment, Shokuhou Misaki felt a deep sense of dejection, like she had no reason to exist at all.
It was a feeling neither the past nor future Shokuhou Misaki would ever experience.
In that instant, she thought: "Maybe I should just disappear altogether."
If Academy City's Mental Out vanished here, then could Shokuhou Misaki of Tokiwadai Middle School live like that diva, experiencing others' lives with her heart instead of relying on an Ability?
The more she thought about it, the stronger that impulse grew.
Yes.
It was nothing more than an impulse. An impulse that existed only in that moment. And under the control of that impulse, Shokuhou Misaki slowly raised the remote control in her hand and aimed it at her own brain.
On that very day…
Mental Out disappeared.
(End Of This Chapter)