Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Biohacker Chapter5 (section)

===Part 16===

What if Mitsuari Ayu was injured and unable to move while L.S.S.’s bizarre creatures wandered around with no one at the controls? None of them wanted to think about what would happen if she was found in that defenseless state.

But Kumokawa Seria’s prediction was not quite accurate.

That may have been due to her habit of always assuming the worst.

Mitsuari Ayu was slumped down near the remains of the log cabin.

Was it a miracle she had survived all of the Beginning Child’s roars from such close range, or had she been safe so close to the hakama girl, similar to being in the eye of a storm?

Either way, it did not necessarily lead to her own happiness.

She could not live up to everyone’s expectations and she did not want all that attention.

No matter what she did, she could not become a Level 5.

Her hips had given out, but she had still tried to hide herself so no one else would be dragged down by her incompetence, but that was when she had seen something.

“Eek!?”

The fluffy-haired girl cried out because she had seen what remained of Matsuo Ryuusuke. His lower half was gone and he had slowly slid down the tree trunk to the ground, but he was still breathing. It was obvious there was no saving him, but he was still conscious. There was nothing she could do for him. The middle schooler’s heart was struck by a powerful shock subtly different from simply stumbling across a corpse.

She naturally grew more keenly aware of the presence of death.

His eyes had started to glaze over.

He probably could not even see anymore, but there was still a thin smile on his lips.

A weak voice spoke from those smiling lips.

“I was right. Mitsuari wasn’t good enough.”

“Eh?”

The slumping girl looked up.

He was not looking at anything in particular. He probably had no idea anyone was close by and listening. He would breathe his last soon enough, so she could not imagine he would feel the need to lie.

And yet he continued.

“But Shokuhou Misaki was out of my reach. I had to find a replacement, but it seems I chose wrong there.”

She felt like something broke inside her.

She knew what he meant. She had already known she was not one of the lucky ones.

It felt like having an invisible cap placed on her abilities.

But it was such a vague feeling she could not be certain of anything.

Since she could not be certain, she should have been able to ignore it.

And she had managed ''until now.

“Ah.”

I was right?

What did he mean by that?

He had abducted her and forcibly pushed her into this, but he had known she could not manage it from the beginning? She did not want L.S.S. or Matsuo Ryuusuke to have won, but why had he continued on if he had known it would not work!?

Would this not have happened if she had no power at all?

Would it not have happened if she had some great power?

The person most dragged down by her incompetence – her ''partial'' incompetence – was her herself.

But.

Even so.

“Urp!!”

She could tell. No matter how hard she worked, she could never cast aside her power and become a Level 0 and she could not gain more power and become a Level 5. She could struggle and struggle and struggle some more, but just like a helium balloon anchored by a string, she would never go anywhere and only float here in the stagnant air.

(So it’s true.)

Mental Out.

She had occasionally heard that term mentioned recently.

Even from the boy and girl who had seemed like a symbol of salvation for her.

But.

Even so.

If this was vague, uncertain, and an ignorable margin of error, she should have been able to live her life without worrying about it. And yet…

(There really and truly is no hope for me. There are some things you can’t do no matter how hard you try.)