*A moment after Hinami separated with her friends

Running while feeling deeply ashamed, Hinami wants to get away from her friends’ sight as soon as possible. She hates herself for being such a coward to leave her friends behind while running away alone. Desperate to get away from that feeling, she hastily descends to the lower floor without paying attention to the surrounding. Surprisingly enough, such stupid action manages to calm her down, as she begins to regain her calm thinking.

(Calm down. I am not acting like myself.) Hinami thinks as she passes by a toilet. She decides to get inside to wash her face for a refresh.

The coldness of the water stimulates her skin, washing away the remaining drowsiness from waking up too early in the morning. Feeling not enough, she even pushes her head into the sink, and lets the faucet wash her hair.

Standing in front of the mirror, Hinami looks at her wet and dishelved appearance. It is such a mess that a lot of hair sticks on her face, making her look like a ghost from some horror movies. Hinami brushes the hair aside to have a better look on the face. At that moment, she realizes what is going on with her.

“How did you manage to control my emotion?” Hinami asks while glaring at the other self in the mirror.

(Did you forget that I am also you? You are me, and I am you.) A female voice answers in her head.

(Then tell me. Why did you do that?) Hinami angrily questions in her head.

(It is all for you, my little self. I don’t want you to stay together with those two girls anymore.)

(What are you saying? If you dare to claim yourself as me, you should know that staying together is the only way to survive this ordeal.)

(No, it’s not. In fact, staying as a group will actually even slower our survival rate.) Her inner voice explains.

(What do you mean?) Hinami’s confused face reflects in the mirror. At that moment, she suddenly loses control of her body.

Her left hand which has been leaning on the sink rises up and bents behind her. A silver handgun which is much heavier than Hinami usually uses is in that hand. As her finger pulls the trigger, a white beam accompanied by a piu sound is shot toward an empty space.

A sizzling sound accompanied with a thud comes behind her. Turning around, Hinami sees a black ball with two bat wings and claws attached to it. In the middle, there is a round hole with white flame burning along the border. Hinami is dumbfound at the sight of that strange creature vanishing in flame.

(The enemy has been spying on us, you know. Before you realize it, you will end up dying together with your friends.) Her other self says without care.

(This is bad, we have to notify everyone else.) Hinami is alarmed.

(Calm down. What are you trying to do to tell everyone? Rushing upstairs and telling them out loud.) The other Hinami restrains the body from moving (And also, did you forget Lexar’s ability?)

(Clairvoyance!) The original Hinami realizes what she means.

(Minus point for your intended reckless action. This is a very big flaw for someone who wants to be above and lead everyone else.)

“Uuu.” Hinami groans as she admits her mistake.

(Back to where we left, the real reason I want you to stay away from those two is because staying together with them will only hinder your growth.)

(Wh-Why?) Hinami is surprised.

(Basically, you can’t do anything without relying on them. Without them, you are nothing but puppets to the surrounding adults.)

(Do you think you know ever… …) Hinami immediately retort but then remains silent before finishing her sentence.

(Oh, I nearly thought you would defend the life being thrown around by everyone, but it seems I was mistaken) Her other self says with amusement (If it had not been for my intervention during the time at Hakugawa academy, you would have run around trying to search the teachers for protection or guidance, instead of fighting back yourself.)

Hinami hesitates a while before arguing back (But that was an obvious course of action. I was just only a normal high school girl at that time. I didn't know whether I have ability to fight against those scary monster.)

(Another minus point trying to find an excuse for making the wrong decision. You are only a student and relying on the teacher is what normal students do when things are more than what they can handle. But remember Hinami Mashima, you are a daughter of a Mashima zaibatsu. Your rank is higher than most of the teachers out there. They are people who give you knowledge, and deserve respect, not the one making important decisions for you..) Her other self makes a dissatisfied voice (Let me change the other way to view. How about the case with your previous fiancé?)

Hinami tightly closes her eyes as she remembers the terrible memory just a year ago. Although arranging life partner for children by parents is considered obsolete practice, it is still common among families with high social position. As a daughter of the man who rules a zaibatsu, she was required to select a partner.

Still being naïve about the society, Hinami chose a boy about her age who was also heir of another zaibatsu. Excellent academic performance, handsome appearance, same background, well manners, no history of bad scandal. He was supposed to be a perfect partner that any girl can hope for. After a few meetings, Hinami also found him to be a good person. Although she had no romantic feeling for him, she did not think it would cause any problem, as she believed her mother’s words “Love comes after marriage”.

However, after six months being engaged, Hinami discovered her fiancé’s disgusting hobby. Being repulsed by it, she wanted to cancel of the engagement, but was stopped by her relatives. Due to their relationship, cooperation between two big conglomerates improved and as a result, many big projects had begun. If she was to suddenly cancel out the engagement, friction would form in the relationship between two zaibatsus, leading to tremendous cost in terms of economic. She also could not report his hobby. Not only it would damage severely the other family’s reputation, the relationship between two big families would be broken beyond repair. In the end, she was suggested to wait for a few more year until the projects would be completed.

There would be no problem if she could ignore him. However, his strange hobby kept haunting her as she was still conscious of the relationship between them. Makoto and Yuuko realized what happened and tried to disclose his secret hobby, but Hinami stopped them, told them all the bad consequences they would face if they did it. Even so, they did not stop and devised their own plan without telling her. Instead of disclosure, they blackmailed her fiancé, forcing him to initiate the break off from his side.

The financial damage was quite considerable as many projects were canceled. Hinami did not receive any criticism as she was not the one to initiate it. Despite being dissatisfied with how reckless their action was and the consequence, she was very grateful to them.

The other self was correct in her assessment. Although she thought of the blackmailing method, she did not use it because of the surrounding adults. Under their persuasion, she was not allowed to be selfish, causing trouble to everyone. From the time she gained the status of the chairman’s daughter, the freedom to do anything by her own will was taken away. For a child of such important position, she has to consult everything with the adults, from the choices of school to her life plan. Even her daily life is controlled as they want to drill all the good habits into her body. She understands all of that is for her good. However, by the time she realizes it, she has become a puppet for them, instinctively looking for their guidance in every thing.

(Do you know what makes a true leader?) Despite asking, the other Hinami answers it (It’s the ability not to get swept up by people’s opinion. A leader is the one who leads everyone, not the tool for people to realize their thinking using the whole group. Sure, it is important to take in everyone’s opinion, but do not make a mistake. Leader is the one who leads, not the representative. The current you right now is nothing but the manifestation of tool for those adults.)

(Then what am I supposed to do?) Hinami asks.

(Learn to be selfish, learn to be independent. Remember, you are now part of a different world, a world that the power of a zaibatsu means nothing. You have to stand on their own, create your own group, and lead them, not under anyone’s name nor anyone’s sake, but yours.) The inner voice says.

(And the reason to separate from Makoto and Yuuko?) Hinami asks.

(They are too much of help for you. Together with them, you may overcome all the challenges, but that will not help you develop your qualities as the one who stands at the top. They are too excellent that they will cover everything you are weak at. You must climb at the top by yourself, suffer through hardship alone, and agonize over the mistakes without consultation of the others.) The inner voice makes a deep sight (There is still a lot of things to learn. But we must overcome the current trouble first.)

A sudden surge of information rushes into Hinami’s head, causing her a slight headache. Very complicated machines and weapons she has never seen before appears in her head. There are also details and uses of them.

“Thank you” Hinami nods with a smile on her face.

A metallic headset materializes on her head, and next to her, a flying drone floats above the ground, waiting for her order.

In Hinami’s eyes, a camera view from the drone is displayed, with many menus on the side. With just only a thought, she can navigate the whole menu, and perform a quick check on the available functions. The more she reads the information, the more she is amazed with the drone.

(Two rifles with silencer, one portable minigun, one flamethrower, eight small size missiles, one laser cutter. My god, this thing is like a mini tank. Multilayer armor made of organic compounds and metals, capable of defending against anti-tank bullet. Mirage colloid stealth system for vision concealment. Camera capable of night vision, x ray vision, infrared vision…) Sweat forms on her forehead as she reads the details of the machine. No matter how she views it, the drone next to her is the best multifunctional weapon she knows. Aside the firepower and defense, its stealth system and camera can allow it to perform the toughest infiltration mission in the military. Despite the weight of equipments, it is still floating nicely without a sound. The engine which is used to support is …

(Thermo nuclear engine) Hinami gulps as she reads the text. If the drone is set on self destruct mode, the radius of the blast is a whole one kilometer. Luckily, this thing has a safety device that restricts the explosion range to only 50 meter, but that is still a wide range to her.

(I had better be careful not to let this thing get damaged too much) Hinami swears in her heart.