Confession

Starlight didn't know why the strikingly beautiful Girl had shown her hostility the moment they met.

But she could tell the girl was an Esper.

The air throughout the room had grown strangely still. Yet despite the closed doors and windows, a faint breeze stirred inside.

The only orange left on the dining table rolled to the floor.

Stranger still, above the hot pot's bubbling broth, the steam had condensed into droplets of every size. They hung in midair instead of falling.

All these violations of nature's laws were undoubtedly caused by the Girl's Psychic Powers.

Starlight couldn't help marveling at them. The Girl's Psychic Powers quite possibly made her a rare Psychic-Type.

But no matter how unusual those Psychic Powers were, Starlight had no intention of backing down.

So she answered the Girl's hostility in kind.

Fubuki saw Starlight's eyes turn gold.

Fubuki's heart tightened.

Ever since Starlight had joined The Seven, the media had made much of her Psychic Powers. Fubuki knew that golden eyes were one of the clearest signs she was using them.

Just then, Luke spoke. "Starlight? Why are you awake?"

He could tell the atmosphere was tense. If he didn't step in, the two women might start fighting on the spot.

"Let me introduce you. This is Mitarai Fubuki. We met during the superhero selection," Luke said, gesturing toward Fubuki as he looked at Starlight.

"And this is Starlight, a good friend of mine," he told Fubuki.

Luke put deliberate emphasis on "good friend." He hoped Fubuki would catch the blatant hint.

The gold faded from Starlight's eyes. She trusted Luke for reasons she couldn't quite explain. Since he had stepped in to smooth things over, Fubuki's hostility toward her was probably a misunderstanding.

"Hello, Fubuki," Starlight said with a smile.

Fubuki froze for a moment.

The droplets above the hot pot fell, pattering into the broth.

"Hello... Starlight..." Fubuki managed, forcing a somewhat awkward smile.

Looking back, showing hostility the moment they met, before she knew where Starlight stood, had been rather rash.

After they exchanged greetings, silence settled over them again.

Luke broke it. "By the way, who else is in your Blizzard Group now?"

Fubuki wanted to slap him dead on the spot.

Of all the things he could have brought up.

"What's the Blizzard Group?" Starlight asked, puzzled.

"An organization formed to stand against Vought International," Luke replied without missing a beat.

He pointed at Fubuki. "She's the leader."

Then Luke realized something.

Fubuki was glaring daggers at him.

Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had gone pale.

Luke hurriedly backed away and stood behind Starlight.

"Stand against Vought International?" Starlight's interest was suddenly piqued. "Why?"

Although Starlight was a member of The Seven, she felt no sense of belonging to Vought International.

She no longer cared much about the label of being one of The Seven, either.

Ever since seeing The Deep's true colors and the other members' ugly scheming at the Round Table Meeting, the title of a member of The Seven no longer meant much to her.

Just as Luke had said, she only wanted to be her own kind of hero now.

At this point, Fubuki had no way to keep it secret any longer.

She shot Luke a fierce glare, then said, "Because Vought International is hunting Espers. We can't just sit back and wait to be caught, so we've joined forces to fight back."

"Really?" Starlight looked astonished. "They're doing that?"

She knew superheroes weren't as firmly on the side of justice as they appeared. She had thought that was a problem with individuals, never imagining Vought International was doing something so outrageous behind the scenes too.

The company was rotten from top to bottom.

Rotten beyond repair.

Fubuki could tell Starlight's surprise was genuine.

It seemed that, as a newly appointed member of The Seven, Starlight had been kept in the dark about much of what Vought International was doing.

Perhaps the Girl who had once publicly declared that "saving the world" was her guiding principle had held on to her original convictions.

So Fubuki decided to tell her everything.

When Fubuki finished, Starlight struggled to calm herself.

She had never imagined that Vought International had ulterior motives for holding the selection for The Seven, let alone that she herself had played a key role in its plans.

Vought International had used her. She had been a pawn for them to move at will.

There were still parts of the whole affair that Starlight couldn't understand.

Why would Vought International hunt superheroes?

For a company whose primary source of profit was creating superheroes, why resort to underhanded attacks when it could simply recruit any Esper it wanted?

After all, Vought International was the world's only superhero company. Almost no one with superpowers could turn down an offer from it.

Even if they couldn't join The Seven, the rewards for working under Vought International as an ordinary superhero were almost unimaginable.

It didn't want to recruit these Espers; it only wanted to eliminate them. Starlight couldn't understand why.

Perhaps Luke, Mitarai Fubuki, and the others shared some particular trait.

Perhaps that was what had driven Vought International to try to kill them.

Starlight had no idea what that trait might be. Even Fubuki and Luke didn't know why this calamity had befallen them.

After discussing it with Fubuki for a while and reaching no conclusion, Starlight made her position clear.

"My position means I can't join your Blizzard Group, but I support you in investigating this to the end," Starlight said earnestly.

"If necessary, I can help."

Fubuki was overjoyed. She looked at Starlight with gratitude and nodded repeatedly.

"What are you planning to do next?" Starlight asked.

She glanced at Luke. He stared back blankly.

Starlight shook her head. Apart from his strong fists, the man was good for nothing.

Better to hear what Fubuki had to say.

"Next, we plan to find this person," Fubuki replied.

She handed Starlight a file containing detailed information on one of the contestants.

He was the next person Fubuki intended to recruit. She also hoped he might help her find what they had in common and uncover the real reason Vought International was targeting them.

Starlight took the form and looked at the name field.

Serizawa Masao.

(End of chapter)