Blood of the Guilty

Memory 8: Misunderstanding

Instinctively, Exodus pulled the trigger of her revolver, a single bullet shooting out of the gun. As the bullet soared through the air, a "plate" appeared out of thin air, allowing the bullet to bounce off of it and change trajectory. This was Exodus' Magia, Bullet Magia: The ability to create bullets out of thin air, and the ability to create plates to bounce these bullets off.

This Magia was no short of an easy Magia as one may think. The user must carefully know where to appear the plates, using quick thinking and reaction speed to bounce off these fast bullets. These angles the plates would support could help the user hit their target easily. As the bullet bounced off of the plate, it directly shot at Kyle's leg, spilling blood over the floor.

However, just as the bullet hit the leg, Kyle disappeared as a puff of smoke took his place. Initially confused, Exodus had found Kyle behind him! She elbowed his stomach and rolled over to behind a counter, tearing off a paper towel to help her wound. It was at this moment that Exodus was confused about the situation and the enemies' Magia.

"At first, I thought that his Magia was some form of invisible telekinesis, somehow shoving something sharp into my shoulder," thought Exodus, "However, he managed to escape my bullet! I shot it to reduce his mobility, but when I elbowed him I noticed his injuries were gone! Just what kind of Magia does he have?"

Exodus checked her revolver again to see the reflections from behind the counter, to find Kyle running at him! As Kyle appeared from behind the counter, Exodus dodged away and shot the bullet, bouncing off the plates to hit Kyle's leg. Just as she did this however, she was stabbed in the back! Exodus was doing her best to be careful, but her injuries were getting reckless! She needed to find out this Magia!

As Kyle vanished into smoke yet again, Kyle had appeared behind Exodus! This split-second conclusion had to be made, or else she would die or bleed out.

Exodus thought back to the information she gathered: There was something invisible hurting her, Kyle vanished into smoke with only one hit of a bullet, and it seemed like attacks would happen to her when she least expected it. Food appears out of nowhere, and doors were opened by seemingly nothing.

Bang bang bang bang!

Kyle jumped away in panic, bracing himself to when Exodus would shoot her. However, Exodus knew that this was just feigned vulnerability! Exodus elbowed behind her as the bullets remained in the air, not even shooting at Kyle. She hit something just as the bullets shot at the ceiling!

She tried to grab the seemingly invisible piece of air and succeeded, throwing it down to the ground. She then cocked her gun, the bullet shells falling out, with small bullets appearing from within the barrel, reloading it instantly. As she shot Kyle which vanished, Kyle appeared out of nowhere on the ground.

"You're a cloner, huh?" asked Exodus, already knowing the answer, "To create a fragile clone and make yourself invisible to give others a sneak attack."

Kyle's face had said it all. He was in a panicked state, too shocked to even say anything.

"Now.. why did you injure me?" asked Exodus with a glare, pointing her revolver at Kyle.

"Because you're trespassing my kitchen!" yelled Kyle, trying to hide his fear, "You just came in here without permission! You're not supposed to be here. Everyone here in Akihabara knows that it's shameful to just show your Magia to others. That's the unspoken rules of this town!"

Exodus stared at Kyle for a few minutes before speaking, "Oh yeah. I guess I did trespass."

Exodus pulled out some cash from her pocket and showered it upon Kyle. She thanked him for the meal that he made.

"I didn't expect normal citizens to use their Magia like this," said Exodus, trying to shake off her injuries, "I guess Yosuke was right when he said that this place was a fake town. Anyways, your ability is useful. We might need your help."

"And if I refuse?" glared Kyle, shuffling away from Exodus, "You're a crazy person who trespassed my precious kitchen and then injured me!"

"What we're doing here is for the good of Akihabara," said Exodus, "I'm sure of it. You don't have to help, but just know it's for a good cause."

With those words, Exodus left the kitchen as if she didn't harass a person in their own place.

—

"Wha- What happened to you?" exclaimed Minny in shock, holding her hands up to her mouth.

"It's nothing," said Exodus, grabbing the leftover steak with her bare hands and chewing it, her body still bleeding, "Please call Yosuke quick. We're going to call of the mission for now."

"A-alright!" said Minny as she quickly took out her phone and called for Yosuke.