Misfortune No One Sees, Until Now

Skill-Out Uprising

To that one Guest who said I was getting milk from the store, I HAVE RETURNED! I had to go back to the store when I found out it was 2%, not Low-Fat. We don't mess around when it comes to growing big and strong.

Alright, the actual excuses are as follows:

The first one is the most obvious. I posted two chapters on another story before this one. Second, and the most influential, college chemistry is a bitch. Enough said.

Oh, this chapter was originally going to be about 20k words longer, but I decided to remove some of the source material— and some of you just up and left the moment I said that!?

Oof. Oh well. Back to what I was saying. I believed in this case, there exists such a thing as too much context. I'll explain what that means at the bottom, that is if you don't figure it out for yourself.

Now, please enjoy.

[ I DO NOT OWN THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS "A CERTAIN MAGICAL INDEX" ]

...

...

...

(Geh... how utterly humiliating...)

Mugino rubbed her dry eyes, inwardly cursing herself at the remaining vestiges of liquid she still felt.

She did not know how long she had been pathetically crying for, but it was longer than she wanted to. Mugino may not have been bawling her eyes out or screaming like a little kid, but it was already shameful enough on her part to show this kind of emotion at all.

But the tears had still come despite that, hadn't they?

She surprised even herself with that. Some of her body parts weren't even human anymore and here she was, crying like any run-of-the-mill girl. Was that arrogance, or absurdity? Nonetheless, the torrent of emotions she had poured out came to an abrupt stop after who knows how long.

"...Mugino."

But despite that, there existed a bleeding heart next to her that couldn't leave well enough alone.

Accompanying that usual annoying tentative voice, was a hand landing softly on her shoulder. It was really saying something that she didn't bite it off instantly. Instead, she adopted to let out a long-winded sigh, addressing the boy giving her a concerned look.

"...I'm fine Hamazura. And wipe that stupid look off your face— shouldn't you be happy? This is what you wanted, isn't it? For me to cry over Frenda's grave?"

"Yeah, you're right. This is what I wanted. But I never said I would relish in the face you would make as you did. I'm not a sadist like you, you know." The boy cracked a small smile, not feeling any of the danger one should have felt after openly insulting the girl as he did.

Mugino actually snorted.

Then, she looked at the other two gazing at her in uncertainty. You could say the only reason Hamazura un-hesitantly stepped up to her side was because he was no stranger when it came to Mugino's meltdowns— literally and emotionally. That did not hold true for Takitsubo and Kinuhata however. They were very wary of the girl's mental state. They looked concerned, yes, but they were just as equally afraid as well. Both girls knew that Hamazura had clashed with her multiple times, reaching some kind of neutral ground, but was that possible for them? Yes, they might hold more strength and potential than a Level 0, but could they really stand up to their leader— no, someone as terrifying as a Level 5 like Hamazura had? And... there was the fact that there was someone who used to be among them that tried and failed to stand up to that same anger.