Don't worry, I'll Cry About it Later

Vomit. A violent one. So violent that Hoshino cried—not because of his newly torn heart, but because of the sour bits of pork that raked his throat as they came out. Now, he could truly understand why it would be best to describe the experience as magical as rainbows.

Nevertheless, it was an appropriate response. He had overclocked his brain, after all.

But the most important part was that he was back in the real world… or whatever this shit was. The war happening outside between Satoru and Ishigami was still going strong; they also seemed to be glazing each other’s asses, with Ishigami laughing like a junkie.

Hoshino cleared his throat. This tiled floor was nice and cold. It would be nice if he could just plop here forever and forget the shitshow that was the last five minutes. It was an unexpected thought, but he couldn’t afford that right now. He breathed, wobbling upright, his eyes adjusting to the light as he wiped the bits of half-digested Deez Bunz from the bottom of his chin. His heart was screaming in his ears. He was seeing red on his right. Other than that… everything was normal. But geh. A part of him also wished that the unholy, rancid taste of coffee mixed with his digestive fluids would go away too… but he was alive, unfortunately. So not all things could be that good.

The situation got a little more complicated. Hoshino swallowed his spit and cringed at the taste, his eyes drifting to the hole in the ceiling before he pulled himself back into the nurse’s office. There, he positioned himself by the door.

Shifu was still passed out. Nose was snoring. Larry was the same. So not a lot of time had passed since he got headshotted. On another note, the building also had working cameras. It seemed that Hoshino had been too focused on hyping himself up instead of doing a more proper sweep. He shivered at the thought of Hazama learning about this and giving him a negative score.

ALSO… the bastard shot him at an angle, so he was either on the right wing of the second or third floor. But who was he kidding? The dude was probably on the third floor. The bolt was slow, so slow that Hoshino was able to shield Larry before it destroyed almost half his face. And before he was shot, the camera outside the nurse’s office moved—someone had to be in the security room in the left wing of the third floor too.

Hoshino nodded to himself, his lips starting to form a smile.

There were at least two people on the third floor, and they were coordinating. But wait… there was more to it. The one who blasted his face from the right wing had to rely on a scan spell. The other one in the security room didn’t shoot Hoshino while he was busy destroying Nose and Shifu’s asses—either he had shit aim, or he didn’t have a clear shot.

Hoshino widened his grin.

The hostages were most likely in the audio-visual room on the second floor of the building.

This was Hoshino’s moment, part two. It was his time for a comeback, but he had to shift his goal first. Killing the enemy who could eyeball him through a scan spell and snipe him from two floors down didn’t seem sustainable. His ass would get murdered. On that note, Hoshino could also expect the hostages to be guarded by a pair of Butterflies or more, since a single person with a magical wand wouldn’t be enough to stop a mob of underpaid adults (sorry, teachers).

Satoru was indeed bluffing. If they were really here to kill Ishigami, the others on the third floor would’ve tried to bolt him while using the hostages as shields. Satoru meant to keep Ishigami and him—Hoshino, or Tsukishiro Arata—around the main building while the rest of their members look for the student linked to the victims of this case. It was highly likely that their attempt to extract information from Larry didn’t pan out too well. At the same time, it was also somewhat weird that they kept everyone here instead of just holding Larry hostage. It could be that they were using everyone so that Ishigami wouldn’t go all out. Ishigami himself didn’t say it outright, but he probably knew about this as well.

With that in mind… and with his 530,000-IQ brain running at full speed… Hoshino’s goal was as clear as day. He needed to break the hostages out, ensure that they all got away—especially Larry—and delay the rest of the Butterflies until the hyper calamity himself, the man, the myth, and the legend, Ishigami, unleashed his magic all over their asses.

It was also at this moment that Hoshino’s phone vibrated, letting him know that Hazama had sent him a message. “If you’re having trouble with a Butterfly, use a net—jk, jk. Find an open area and ring me UwU.” Then there were a bunch of heart and cat emojis. Two emojis in particular were laughing with tears coming out of their faces. The rest were just giving him toothy grins.

Hoshino would do his best to remember that. Not the emojis. Also, he had to apologize to Larry. He would not be able to heal him right now. Finally, Hoshino wiped the blood from his right eye and used it to slick his hair back. It was time.

Taking a deep breath and shrugging off the taste of vomit in his mouth, Hoshino rushed out of the nurse’s office and bolted the CCTV camera located all the way to the right wing of the first floor. He missed.

At the very next second, Hoshino felt a pulse of mana cover the entire building. It was the scan spell. Hoshino widened his grin and weaved his body to the side. Just in time. A bolt punched through the ceiling and whizzed past his face, carving a bloody line across his right upper cheek and biting off his right ear.

Hoshino gritted his teeth to stifle a scream, tears welling up in his eyes. He kept his focus and turned to rush outside through the left-wing fire exit. The scan spell would linger for two to four seconds, give or take. In that very small window, casting a shield would suggest that Hoshino had blocked the attack. He had to make them think that he got hit—or better, dead. Doing so would require the person in the security room to waste more time confirming whether he was, indeed, shot down.

It would be better if Hoshino destroyed the CCTV altogether, but missing and kicking up just enough dust to cover the camera was okay too. He could thank his shitty aim and poor control for that. If his technique had been more refined, the bolt would’ve simply pierced through the wall.

This bought him enough time to go outside and shoot down the electric post the stupid building was connected to. The explosion would’ve caught Satoru’s attention. Hoshino was prepared to fend him off at least until Ishigami got to him, but it seemed that Ishigami was doing too good of a job holding Satoru off.

But he couldn’t dally for too long. Panic was something that had to be capitalized on, so Hoshino conjured a set of shields and used them as stepping stones, hopping straight to the second floor.

He spotted two Butterflies hugging the walls, positioned so they’d be hidden if someone came up from the first floor. Just two. Two stupid motherfuckers. They were clearly panicking, eyes too focused, too strained, like they were waiting for a ghost to crawl up the stairs.

Hoshino could shoot them down right now… but not yet. He had shit aim.

A torrent of second thoughts flooded his mind. He started wondering if he could do it… or if he would fold under zero pressure and die like a bitch. But he felt it. An unseen hand gripped his shoulder. It was cold… but it brought him warmth. A warm, awkward sense of courage. In that very second, he knew exactly what to do.

Hoshino widened his grin. This was it. The Hoshino moment. The thought was electrifying. He needed to become speed again. No—he was speed. He filled his lungs with air and broke into a sprint, his smile sharp and childlike.

The second Butterfly noticed him first, as expected. But it was already too late.

Hoshino reversed his grip on his wand and jammed it into the first Butterfly’s right eye. His smile twisted as he shoved it deeper; it twisted even further when the bastard screamed. The man had to be silenced, or at least knocked out. Blowing off a leg or two would’ve been nice, but Hoshino settled for punching him in the throat.

It still wasn’t enough.

So he kicked him in the face. That finally worked like magic.

The man upstairs was bound to hear the commotion and throw out their ol’ reliable scan spell any second now, so in the same motion, Hoshino winked at the second Butterfly and bolted a nearby fire extinguisher, covering both of them with smoke.

A surge of mana swallowed the entire building. It was two seconds late. It didn’t matter. Hoshino still had three to four seconds to play with, anyway.

The second Butterfly was terrified enough to start spamming bolts in Hoshino’s direction. Hoshino conjured two shields—one in front of him, one two steps back—mirroring Shifu and Nose’s formation earlier. With that, he didn’t need to worry about getting hit.

And the moment the scan spell faded, a bolt came down from above and punched through the second Butterfly’s right shoulder and thigh. It looked painful. The man looked betrayed, but he wasn’t quite out yet. So, Hoshino fired another bolt and obliterated the man’s right leg.

Then there was silence…

The first Butterfly was fine. He’d live. The second one… Hoshino wasn’t so sure. But that was a risk he was willing to take. He’d rather go back down, heal Larry, and pass out. And with no enemies left standing, Hoshino made his way back to the audio-visual room. Inside, he found two dozen or so hostages—the faculty and staff of Sakuramine—huddled together in a corner.

They were safe.

The thought stirred his heart, giving it more weight. Of course, it was the happy kind. Hoshino met their confused, terrified gazes one by one. He nodded at them politely, letting them know that they were safe, before wiping the blood on his hands against the back of his skirt. Then he bowed elegantly, like a Victorian maid who was very proud of having just completed his duty.

“Bonjour. Mon nom est Jean-François de la Valière Dubois. I serve my master, Pierre-Louis de La Pêcherie du Vallon.” Hoshino kept his head down as he heard them murmur. “Please get the fuck out of this building through the right wing fire exit, or we’re all gonna die.”