Mikan's Little Twin

Chapter 98: A Friend's Promise

Reo stands, watching the boss sag against the couch, seemingly in pain. The man groans in agony, panting.

"The Boss looks weird. Ever since yesterday..." someone trails off, watching the long haired man mumble to no one in particular. "S... stop...." he speaks but not to anyone in the room. It's as though he's fighting off some invisible force, threatening to take over.

"Boss?" Reo questions, watching the man's condition worsen, "Boss! What's happening to you?!"

///

A man in the body of a young boy sits in a chair in an office, staring outside of the windows which separated him from the cool and starry night. He watches the stars shine and gleam in the pitch black sky.

Meanwhile, "So you're saying that the reason only a few of the ESP's clones are left is because you and Yuka took their Alice stones from them, causing their elimination?" Principal Yukihira and Jinno-Sensei stare at Shiki.

"Yes. But even though we've had those clones' alice stones with us for a long time, it doesn't seem that it had an effect. However, now that we've returned the stones to the ESP, there is one great thing I fear of." Shiki stares off to the side, "The clones that the ESP created... and the clones created by those clones. In that continuous cycle of division within them, comes a distorted subspecies like Z's Boss."

It's those words that slap realization into the others.

"Even though they have the same personality and know how each other thinks, this subspecies has this added hatred towards his species and this illogical strong feeling of rebellion." Shiki refers to Z's Boss, "For the ESP, the Boss is just one of those 'troubles', but initially, he didn't consider him as an 'enemy'. The time when their relationship worsened and fell into a state of restraining each other's actions was when he couldn't control the Boss or telepathically communicate. Gradually, the Boss went head to head with the ESP by starting to control some of the clones."

Yukihira's blue eyes grow at hearing those words. 'A clone controlling other clones...! Is that even possible?!'

"The ones who are responsible for this possibility, was me and Yuka." Shiki admits, shocking the fellows around him. "In return for letting us into Z, we had no choice but to insert some of the stones that we stole from the other clones that the ESP made into the Boss."

By putting those powerful stones into the Boss, he was granted a lot of power like that of the original ESP. He was able to control the other clones. Because of this power, Z's Boss was able to control clones who were high in society for many years, using them and others as mere puppets.

After learning of his intentions, Yuka and Shiki had refused to insert any more stones into the Boss; their positions in Z were not affected by their sudden declaration. It was assumed that it was because Yuka's Alice was a great asset to the boss. Instead, the boss was more concerned about not letting the stones fall back into the hands of the ESP.

"If the ESP acquires the clones' Alice stones back, he will regain all of his lost power. Just like what happened with the Boss, his control over the clones will increase. He will be powerful enough to control the uncontrollable Z. If that happens.... yes, worst case scenario, the elementary school principal will control Z's Boss... and manipulate him."

///

Mikan stares at a special book that she received. It had a drawing of a beautiful young girl and boy, holding hands while running away from a scary looking witch.

(A/n: Idk if there's a book or cover for this story, I read it on a folktale website and thought it was perfect for Mikan and Ruka, so I made up the cover.)