The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

If Inoue Hideka insists on his own way and doesn't want to leave Shokuhou Misaki, he might even deceive himself by saying that Kamijou Touma will never remember Shokuhou Misaki, and that he can't give Shokuhou Misaki happiness—such boring excuses—to brainwash himself and then pursue Shokuhou Misaki as a matter of course.

It's not that no one is capable of doing something like this.

People blinded by love are so indifferent to their own family that it's no exaggeration to say they're heartless; what does self-deception amount to?

It's precisely because Inoue Hideka doesn't want to lose Shokuhou Misaki—the person in this world who understands her best...

And Touma Kamijou—his best friend in this world.

That's why Inoue Hideka decided to bury her initial feelings deep in her heart and find a way to make the two of them happy.

But now... it seems that everything he did was meaningless.

Chapter 458 Decision

Yes.

Everything has lost its meaning.

My initial motivation was simply not wanting to lose it, but now, everything seems to have returned to square one... no, it's even worse than that.

Perhaps Inoue Hideka herself doesn't think anything of it, but those who understand can see that everything Inoue Hideka did wasn't for her own benefit.

But to outsiders, and to some who don't understand, Inoue Hideka's current actions are nothing more than a means to gain Misaki Shokuhou's sympathy.

In order to make Misaki Shokuhou feel guilty, to attract her attention, and ultimately to win her over, he resorted to a despicable and shameless tactic.

In other words, it can also be called a self-inflicted injury strategy.

Things like rescuing Misaki Shokuhou from the virus or conducting brain experiments at the Underworld Soul Reaper—in their eyes, these were probably all just expedient measures taken by Inoue Hidekazu.

The ultimate goal is simply to take Misaki Shokuhou away from Touma Kamijou, or even just to make Misaki Shokuhou feel guilty, and then further prompt her to leave Touma Kamijou.

But Inoue Hideka did all this... not for himself.

He was self-aware; he knew that Misaki Shokuhou could never like him.

Regardless of the current outcome, and regardless of how Misaki Shokuhou views him after learning about his feelings, Inoue Eika never intended to use any means to win Misaki Shokuhou's heart.

But does anyone really understand?

Does anyone really understand how he felt when he said he didn't need to be saved?

So what should you do to avoid losing two important people in this situation?

Regardless of whether the process was right or wrong, at least Inoue Hideka knows that Shokuhou Misaki has truly been affected.

She keeps her distance from him, and when he and Touma are both present, she restrains herself out of consideration for his feelings.

This is not what Inoue Hideka wanted.

Originally, the girl who couldn't get the attention of the one she loved... to be precise, even the chance to be remembered by the one she loved was taken away.

This girl is already tragic enough. How could Inoue Hideka bear to take away the few moments she has left with the person she loves?

But what should we do?

What is the way to avoid losing both of them, but also to prevent further tragedy for Misaki Shokuhou?

With these questions in mind, Inoue Hideka drifted off to sleep again in the lingering afternoon air.

------

When I opened my eyes, it was already evening.

It was Saten Ruiko who woke Inoue Eika when she came home from school and saw him lying in bed by himself. She was worried and came over to check if he was feeling unwell.

Although Saten Ruiko was relieved that Inoue Eika was healthy, seeing the worry in Inoue Eika's eyes made her heart sink again.

The image of Inoue Eika being in a daze when they parted in the morning was still vivid in Saten Ruiko's mind. Now, a whole day has passed, and Inoue Eika is still the same. Saten Ruiko can't help but worry.

After waking Inoue Hideka, Saten Ruiko sat on the edge of the bed, her back to Inoue Hideka, and sighed softly:

"Yinghua, is something... wrong again?"

Her eyelids drooped, but they couldn't hide the sadness that gradually filled Saten Ruiko's eyes.

“If something hadn’t happened, Yinghua would never have done this. Please tell me, okay? I’m your girlfriend… I can share any problem or trouble with Yinghua.”

As if pouring out her heart, or perhaps making a sincere plea to God, Saten Ruiko lowered her head and murmured.

Inoue Hidekazu sat on the bed, and from his perspective, he could see that Saten Ruiko's shoulders were trembling slightly.

How many times has this happened?

Inoue Hideka couldn't remember how many times Saten Ruiko had begged him to tell her about her difficulties, like a devout believer.

In short, this wasn't the first time.

Each time, although Inoue Hideka verbally agreed, she never actually told Saten Ruiko about the trouble she was facing.

It's the same this time.

Inoue Hideka could not possibly tell Saten Ruiko that she liked Shokuhou Misaki and that Shokuhou Misaki knew about it.

However, Inoue Hideka did indeed receive Saten Ruiko's deep concern and heavy worries.

At the same time, Inoue Hideka also deeply understood that, spiritually and in the matter of Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki's feelings for each other, he had already betrayed Saten Ruiko twice.

In reality, he absolutely cannot, and will never, hurt this girl's heart again... at the very least, he should try his best to avoid hurting her.

Looking at Saten Ruiko's slightly trembling shoulders, Inoue Hideka leaned forward a little, put his arms around Saten Ruiko's still trembling shoulders, and gently stroked them.

"There is something, but it's nothing serious."

After a slight pause, Inoue Hideka gently turned Saten Ruiko's body so that her face was facing him, and continued:

"I was a little worried about whether I could handle it, but... now those worries are gone. I have you behind me... As long as Ruiko is behind me, I can do anything. So, leave it to me, okay? I will definitely handle it, believe me, Ruiko!"

Saten Ruiko noticed that Inoue Eika's eyes had regained their usual sparkle.

Indeed, as he himself said, now it seems... there are no problems anymore.

Furthermore, Saten Ruiko believed that Inoue Eika had the ability to handle any situation.

Saten Ruiko herself didn't know where this confidence in someone without abilities came from, but she simply believed that the person she had chosen would not let her down.

A slight smile appeared on her lips. Saten Ruiko freed Inoue Hideka's hands, raised her hand, and tapped Inoue Hideka's forehead playfully, saying:

"After you're done dealing with this, can you come with me to go out for a walk to clear my head? I haven't settled the score with you for leaving me all alone at the beach last time!"

"Sure! We can leave tomorrow. Where does Ruiko want to go?"

Inoue Eika knew that although Saten Ruiko said she wanted him to go out with her to relax, she was actually taking him out to relax.

There have been a lot going on lately, and given that she's clearly not feeling well today, Saten Ruiko definitely wants to go out and relax.

"Well……"

Saten Ruiko rested her chin on her hand, pretending to be deep in thought. After pondering for a while, she happily said:

"How about we go camping outside Academy City? I've never camped before! Hey! How about it, Eika? Let's invite Misaka-senpai, Shirai, and Uiharu to go camping together, it'll be so much fun, right?"

Chapter 459 Settlement

Because of Saten Ruiko's whim, Inoue Eika made a plan to go camping in Academy City and prepared to set off on the evening of October 9th.

In the morning, Saten Ruiko invited Misaka Mikoto and the other girls who would be going camping together to the mall to buy the things they needed for camping.

There were quite a few people, and a lot of things to buy, so Inoue Hideka instructed Yukiri Rikawa to be the driver and take them there in a van.

Besides Inoue Hideka and the Super Railgun quartet, the camping group also includes the 'New Moon' quartet, Accelerator quartet, Fujiwara Masaga and Shigefuku Shoho, and Yukichi Toshikawa, for a total of 14 people.

Touma Kamijou was not allowed to take leave again due to too many absences from class, and he also had little interest in camping, so he did not agree to go with them.

Naturally, Index also decided to stay and accompany Touma Kamijou.

It's worth mentioning that this camping trip was scheduled for two days, departing on the 9th and returning on the morning of the 12th. Naturally, it's impossible for the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School to allow Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko, two top students, to leave.

So Inoue Hideka didn't hold back and used a psychological maneuver on Tokiwadai's management, and then... let them pass!

Only Inoue Hidekazu and Accelerator were at home; Last Order had gone shopping with Saten Ruiko.

Inoue Hideka lay half-reclined on the bed, her legs dangling casually over the edge.

At this moment, Inoue Hideka is preparing to truly end her relationship with Shokuhou Misaki.

What flashed through her mind were various scenes from when she first met Misaki Shokuhou, retrieved from her memory storage.

The first time they met was at the entrance of Tokiwadai School, when I went to deliver the sequel to Misaka Mikoto's manga.

That time, without Inoue Hideka's knowledge, Shokuhou Misaki saw her memories, including all her memories of her past and present lives, including the plot of A Certain Magical Index.

After that, they had their first conversation in a restaurant, and then, by using her status as Touma Kamijou's friend, she arranged for Misaki Shokuhou and Touma Kamijou to have a pleasant time together.

From that moment on, their fates became intertwined.

Misaki Shokuhou repeatedly helped Inoue Hideka, who was just an ordinary person, and later participated in the rescue operation for her younger sisters, saving them even more than in the original story.

Later, Inoue Hideka promised Shokuhou Misaki that she would save the love between her and Kamijou Touma.

But after all sorts of things, Inoue Hideka has now become an obstacle between the two people he is trying to save.

It's really laughable when you think about it!

Ha ha……

Inoue Hideka chuckled self-deprecatingly, rolled over and got out of bed, sitting down at the only desk in the room.

He laid out the manuscript paper he usually used for drawing comics on the table, picked up a pen, and started writing on it.

This is a letter to Misaki Shokuhou.

Inoue Hideka wrote down everything she wanted to say to Shokuhou Misaki in the letter, including her guilt towards her, what she was going to do next, and the... end of her relationship with her.

The crackling sound continued to echo in the quiet room.

……

About ten minutes later.

call……

Finally finished writing, Inoue Hideka let out a long sigh of relief.