ALL NOVEL [2] Preparation and School Life
Determined by her new goal, the very next day, Eva began to read every book she could get about secret identities and secret organizations. She needs a new persona if she wants people to take her seriously.
She began experimenting with her second ability in secret. She never really stretches the limit of what she can amplify or how strong it truly is.
After a few days of experimenting, she managed to figure out that she could amplify anything that is connected to her body up to twenty-five different things or choose to greatly boost only a few preferred aspects for stronger results. She can make her hair and height higher temporarily to appear older. Or just make her body bulletproof while still moving faster than a car.
If this is an RPG game or whatever it was called, she has twenty-five points to assign character stats.
In the end, Eva decides to only amplifies five times for her appearance. Hair length, height, and breast size... Why, you ask? Because why not? She doesn't need a reason.
Now for the more combat-related stuff. Since safety is the most critical aspect, Eva decides to amplify her body ten times stronger, making her body virtually bulletproof. She also amplifies her dexterity and perception speed three times each and puts the remaining four to speed.
Now Eva is almost invincible; bullets won't do anything to her. She can see and move flexibly three times better than a human can. While also moving faster than a cheetah.
"Am I this strong the entire time?" Even she was surprised by what she could do.
And the outfit for her secret identity, She buys a sleeveless black dress that reaches down only to her thigh so as to not restrict her movements. She also wears a pair of long black gloves and black stoking to compliment it. Combined with her amplified body, she looks far more mature. Aside from a little resemblance in her facial structure, there is no way people can guess it was her, even if she isn't wearing a mask.
"About weapon... gun or sword looks cool, but eh, I still don't need one. I already buy a lot of suspicious items using dad credentials. He usually just ignores it since he trusts me. If I buy a dress or a small camera like the last time when I used it to bug Dr. Katsuragi, he probably won't even bathe an eye. But if I order a sword or a gun, he will definitely ask about it."
She still doesn't require a weapon, and the quality of every Astral weapon manufacturer in the market falls short of her expectations. Because the amount of Astral force destructive capability that can be stored in a weapon for self-defense purposes is controlled by the authorities.
After a few more weeks of preparation, Eva is now ready for action. But she needs a reason and target for her new persona to be born, and she just finds the perfect target. The Astral Global Association... She knows the world is not white and black, the AGA also hides something in the shadow. She even had some evidence of corruption and misconduct from accessing her father's work computer a year ago. Human experiments, unlawful arrests, and much more cruelty are made in the name of peace by them.
"Well, I can always figure it out later what I want to do with all of this. I need to sleep for now. Tomorrow is Monday, and school is still waiting."
It was midnight, after all. Eva decided to sleep and changed her clothes to pajamas and got on the bed.
*Knock Knock Knock*
"Miss Eva? Are you awake? Do you need any help?" At the entrance to Eva's room, Ryuji's voice can be heard. His young miss usually woke up and came out of the room early. The only times Eva didn't was when she was sick.
Eva forgot to go to sleep last night because she was too thrilled to think about all the various things she would do. "Uh yeah, I'm fine. I'll come out soon!"
Eva hastily gets ready for the day and takes a shower. Her parents once insisted repeatedly that she hire someone to assist her with getting ready because she had trouble moving. She can walk just as well as any normal person could, if not better, thanks to her Amplifier talent, thus that statement is obviously false. It's not like she can say that out loud, though.
After showering, she wears her black sailor school uniform. She picks up all the necessary books, writing tool and puts it all in her bag. She put her Amplifier power on hold and grabbed her cane.
Eva leaves her bedroom and finds Ryuji still standing in front of her door. "You know you don't have to babysit me every second, right?"
"The last time you said that, you fell flat on your face, miss."
"That's a one-time only! Didn't I tell you to forget it already?" Eva was baffled. Ryuji has gotten better and better when arguing with her since they first met five years ago.
"That is an unreasonable order, miss. Your face when you get embarrassed at that time was simply too cute to forget." He said with a smirk on his face.
"I swear you always get better at annoying me every time we talk. Why do I even hire you again? If you want to be helpful here, carry my bag for me." She threw her bag at him, which he easily caught even though she, on the other hand, had a hard time carrying it.
"What about breakfast, Miss?"
"I'll skip it, or we will be late for school," Eva said begrudgingly. She likes to eat, after all.
Ryuji also enrolled in the same school where Eva was. Even though he has the freedom to choose any school he wants to, he always decides to enroll in the school where she was just for the sake of her. Because for him, Eva is his savior after all.
The trip to the school is brief and trouble-free, and, being the "good" person that Eva was, she responds to everyone's greetings as she and Ryuji make their way to their respective classrooms.
The combination of Eva's silver hair, extraordinary attractiveness, and the walking stick she invariably carried made her very noticeable. When her schoolmate realized she was related to the legendary Richard Lawrence, an S-rank Astral User in charge of the AGA for the Britania Republic branch, she became a school sensation overnight when she first attended.
Eva walked inside the classroom and took her usual seat. The other students in her class greet her as usual, but Reina, her so-called "best friend," gives her a strange look. Best friend as in the person she talks the most to in school. She doesn't know if she also considers Reina her best friend. It's not bothering her, so she just lets it be, besides she kinda like talking with her.
Reina is also at the same age as her. She has a long straight black hair and a beauty on her own. She is the cool girl type that her confidence and presence alone are enough to make her always to be the center of attention.
"Wow... We must record this in a history book!" Reina said, trying to get a reaction from her best friend.
In return, Eva only gives her a weird look. "Record what?"
"Come on, this is the first time you came this late to school. Usually, you would be already here at six in the morning for god knows how. So what happened?" Reina asked her.
"Nothing bad. I just have something in my mind." Eva shook her head and smiled.
"Oh? Is it a Ryuji or someone else? Has my cute little sister finally found someone that is able to steal her heart? Who is it? He's better be a good person or I'll beat the crap out of him." Reina face looked scary somehow as she said that.
"Calm down, I said something not someone. And why am I the little sister?" Eva said with a huff.
"Isn't it obvious? You are shorter, smaller, cuter and have the perfect personality to be a little sister." Reina is usually a serious person, but sometimes she says some silly things but only to her.
"There you are saying some bizarre thing again, enough about me. What about you? Are you planning to accept the scholarship and enroll in Tokyo Astral Academy?"
"Of course, it will be a waste of talent if I don't apply there, besides I don't have anywhere else to go. Being an Astral Agent also doesn't seem to be a bad idea either if it means I can keep helping people." Despite the hardship that happens during her childhood, Reina is a kind person through and through.
"I admire your kindness, but you are being too kind of a person Reina."
Eva replied with total honesty, but if she is allowed to make a guess, the reason for Reina behavior is that she is probably coping with some sort of trauma that is perhaps affecting her way of thinking. Reina is pretty secretive about her past and didn't really like talking about it after all.
"Uh, sure? But aren't you the same as me?" Reina responds with a puzzled look. In her opinion, the girl in front of her was far kinder than she was.
To which Eva responds with, "You think way too highly of me. I did it for no one but myself. You, on the other hand, need to take better care of yourself."
"Sure, sure, you little tsundere."
"I'm not a tsundere! It's not like I'm worried or anything, okay!"
"Those words came out!" Reina looked at me as if she was staring at some heroine characters from an anime.
"You know what? I'm done talking." Eva pouting face only results in an amused Reina.
"Come on, don't sulk like that. What about you though? Where are you going after you graduate?" Although Eva pouting face is cute in Reina eyes, she doesn't want to step on a land mine.
*Cough* *Cough* Eva fake coughing. "I plan to go into a normal high school back in London if my father is done with his work in Japan."
"That means we will not see each other again after one month..." Reina face suddenly became melancholy.
Eva sighed at this sight and flicked Reina forehead. "What are you being gloomy for? We still have an entire month, and it's not like we will suddenly lose contact are never see each other again."
"Ouch, that hurts... But you're right." Reina smiled at Eva, remembering the time when they first met.
The more Eva talks with Reina, the more confused she becomes with her own feeling, but who cares about what you feel, right? It's all meaningless, anyway.
But in the end, what Reina likes about Eva is her current facade, not her. She came to like a person that doesn't exist. So her feeling is also invalid in Eva eyes. What Reina likes is the kind, warm and friendly Eva, not her true self. But what is her true self? She's been acting for so long that she even sometimes forgets how she was before. But then again, who cares about who you are, right? It's all meaningless, anyway.
It's all meaningless, anyway. It's all meaningless in the end.
***
When school is over, and Eva finally reaches home. She prepares everything for her first performance for the world. Her first target will be the Astral Tokyo Lab, where the leader of 'the Iniator' was held. How did she know about all of this? Her father's computer, of course! It's not like he'll notice... Right?
"If he's noticed, maybe I'll get scolded, but I'll deal with it when it comes. But it's interesting that the leader of a supposedly terrorist organization is held in a lab... not a prison. I wonder why that is~" She doesn't need to think hard to connect the dot.
The action of the "Terrorist" group called 'the Initiator' is minimal if she categorizes it as a terrorist group. Their target is mostly military buildings and prison complexes that usually hold captive a large number of Astral Criminals.
They only release a select handful of people, and usually, their operations always succeed with no civilian casualties. For a "Terrorist" group, they sure put an effort into the wellbeing of their enemy.
With everything ready, she only needs to wait for nighttime for everyone to sleep and slip out of the window.
The sun has set and the moon has taken its place, bringing darkness to the city. A woman in a sleeveless black dress watches over the city with a crazy smile on her face.
"Let the show begin!"