Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

Soraya’s voice came through.

"Attention."

A brief pause.

"Our plan has been compromised."

Another burst of static.

"I repeat, our plan has been compromised."

Her voice remained calm.

"All members are to return immediately to the point where we separated."

Click.

Silence.

Yesu blinked.

Then blinked again.

Return?

That definitely sounded like a surrender.

And surrendering definitely wasn’t something Soraya would do.

Has someone gotten captured?

Held hostage, perhaps?

How would the others take the news?

Right on cue—

The walkie-talkie screeched.

"Soraya!"

Reggie’s voice burst through the speaker, furious.

"Have you completely lost your mind?! Do you want 12-C to crush every single one of us?!"

He was abruptly cut off.

Several other voices crashed into each other at once.

Everyone was trying to speak at the same time. The device crackled continuously.

Screeches.

Clicks.

Static.

Then, in the middle of the chaos...

Something occurred to Yesu.

Yesterday, when she had gotten lost and wandered through this exact route, her walkie-talkie hadn’t been able to reach the squad.

Later on, Isaiah had confirmed he hadn’t even been able to track her location after everyone returned to Base.

Her bracelet had simply gone off-service.

Their conclusion had been obvious.

Distance. She had simply been too far away to reach.

But now, she had ended up on the exact same route.

And the device was working perfectly.

Yesu’s brows slowly drew together.

The noisy screeching suddenly stopped.

It seemed everyone had given up trying to make sense of Soraya’s order.

Yesu remained deep in thought.

Should she really go back?

Would the others even obey the order after all the trouble?

The walkie-talkie screeched again.

Soraya.

"Don’t think too much about it." she said calmly. "There’s a situation at hand. Everyone has to return."

Yesu listened quietly.

Something felt... wrong.

Soraya sounded reassuring. Far too reassuring for her person.

Her voice was also calmer than usual.

Much calmer.

Too calm for an order that practically threw away all their efforts.

Almost...

Eerie.

Yesu frowned.

The calmness lingered strangely.

It seemed to cling to her thoughts. Like it wanted to stay there.

Soraya spoke again.

"You need to get here in the next ten—"

A shrill, awful ringing suddenly pierced Yesu’s ears.

It wasn’t loud.

Just awful.

She was unable to hear what Soraya said after that.

The rest of the sentence dissolved beneath crackling static.

The transmission faltered. Powered down.

Like a machine malfunctioning.

A tiny gasp escaped Yesu.

Like Millie.

She stared at the walkie-talkie in her hand.

It had gone deathly silent.

The similarities struck her immediately.

The phone.

The walkie-talkie.

Both mechanical means of communication.

Had there really been a message?

Or...

Was someone borrowing other people’s voices?

Come to think of it, was there really an Ability capable of doing that?

Or had she simply been hearing illusions all along?

Plain old mind illusions.

Yesu tightened her grip around the device.

Either way, the implication remained the same.

Someone had known enough about her relationship with Millie and was using it to lure her.

Number 29, Ellsworth, Central City.

And now...

Someone—obviously a member of 12-C—was using that same Ability to lure 11-D back to the clearing.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worrying part.

The worrying part was the first instance.

Yesu shook her head.

The mystery behind the caller would have to wait.

Right now, she needed to warn her squad.

Yesu pressed the transmit button.

Nothing.

Not even static.

It was just as she expected.

Whoever had been able to manipulate her from this distance must have been a terrifyingly high-Ranked Ability User.

***

Back at the clearing, 11-D had fled from—

Gwen suddenly gasped sharply.

The walkie-talkie slipped from her fingers and hit the ground.

Clack.

She clutched both sides of her head.

A pained groan escaped her lips as she staggered backwards.

"Gwen!"

Bryant was at her side instantly.

He caught one of her shoulders before she could lose her balance.

"Are you alright?"

Gwen gently shrugged his hand away and leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree.

Bryant frowned. "What happened?"

Gwen rubbed her temple.

"...Someone broke through my control."

Not far away, Soraya—still pinned to the ground beneath two members of 12-C—snapped her head up.

Bryant stared.

"...What?"

"Someone resisted it. Without much effort."

"How is that even possible?"

Gwen slowly shook her head. "I don’t know."

She closed her eyes briefly.

"No student has ever done that." A small wince crossed her face. "Not even the adults I’ve manipulated."

She continued massaging the side of her head. A dull headache had begun settling in.

Bryant’s frown deepened.

"But you’re an Apex..."

He looked genuinely baffled.

"How could a junior from 11-D possibly have enough willpower to break your control?"

Soraya let out a quiet laugh despite herself.

Disbelief.

She knew every member of her squad.

None of them, not one, could have done that.

She could even stake her life on the fact that they were all already on their way back.

Unless...

Her brows furrowed.

Yesuin Kaelitha.

***

On the other side of the forest, Yesu ran.

Retracing every step she had taken.

She needed to get close enough for her walkie-talkie to reconnect.

She wondered if anyone had already been caught.

Probably not.

If they had, there would’ve been no reason to keep luring the others back.

Suddenly—

Thud!

She slammed hard into someone.

Both of them were thrown backwards.

Yesu’s ribs crashed painfully against an exposed tree root.

Why did this feel familiar?

She pushed herself upright, searching for whoever she had collided with.

Apollo.

He was climbing to his feet as well.

Their eyes met.

And just like before, Apollo went completely still.

Time seemed to pause.

Then Yesu blinked and stood.

Apollo followed.

She noticed he was still wearing the walking boot.

"Sorry..."

Apollo was strangely surprised and puzzled at the same time.

"Again?" he murmured quietly to himself.

Then he paused.

His eyes slowly swept over her.

Smoke-stained uniform.

Burn marks.

Fresh cuts across her hands and face.

Then...

Her left hand.

Completely soaked in blood.

Apollo’s gaze lingered there.

Yesu looked down.

The Scale.

She was still holding it.

Without realizing it, she had been gripping it so tightly ever since the accident.

Its sharp edges had sliced deep into her palm.

Blood completely coated the metallic Scale, staining it crimson.

She hadn’t even noticed.

It was as though her hand had made the decision without asking her.

Like the rest of her body.

And now, her mind as well.

After everything that happened back at the train station, Yesu had finally accepted one thing.

She was different.

Her Zero status had been false.

And now she was officially Ranked.

Yet, she was still nowhere close to being something that could actually be classified.

"...This close to understanding exactly what you are."

Doctor Heckman’s words echoed in her head.

What exactly was she?

For the first time, Yesu found herself genuinely curious.

Apollo was too.

For the first time since meeting her, he looked openly curious.

His head tilted ever so slightly.

Yesu shook herself out of her thoughts.

"Sorry for knocking you over again." She was already backing away. "I have to get to my squad."

A faint, apologetic smile appeared. She waved, hand above her head.

"I’ll make it up to you some other time." She hollered.

Then turned—

And ran.

Apollo remained where he was.

Watching.

Even long after Yesu had disappeared into the forest.

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