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WARNING! |
Aira Shiratori, Rin Sawaki, Mai Kawabanga, Koki Yukishiro and Pygmies vs. Severed Head Dribblers is a battle that took place in the gym of Kami High. Aira, Okarun and Kinta rush over to rescue Koki and Rin from the blackmailer Murakami but the boys are isolated by Hase and the Jet Booster Exosuit Kur. Once Aira get inside, she's faced with the horde of Severed Head Dribblers who have popped the other girls' heads off. As they fight, Murakami monitors the battle from his apartment but Adachi is secretly there to steal his powers.
Prologue[]
The pygmies swarming Koki.
Koki Yukishiro was a prodigy at the piano and she won multiple competitions when she was younger, in which Aira also competed in. However, the pressure put on by her parents and her potential caused her synesthesia to disappear and she gave up on playing the piano. This spiraled down during her adolescence and she ended up a lone girl with no friends. Hoping to regain the attention people used to give her, she posted photos of herself naked online, which were eventually found by the teacher Takeshi Murakami at her school. The man was one of the power collectors hired by the Orchestrator and they gave him the chance to get underlings of his own, so for this reason he approached Koki behind school and threatened to alert the authorities and her parents about the photos if she did not follow his orders. She's left with no choice and she agrees, urging him to cut her with a white kozuka knife and bestowing her with the power of the Lord of the Flies. However, upon seeing the tiny invisible creatures known as Pygmies, she mistakenly believed that they were the ability assigned to her.
Rin's head popping off after being slamdunked.
With a black kozuka knife she was then sent to attack Momo Ayase in the library to steal her ability, though she failed miserably. The orchestrator reached out to help her, but the History and Culture Research Club still managed to defeat her. As she was revealing information about the blackmailer, her memories were mysteriously erased so the Family began to trust her and started looking for the teacher. Kinta installed a surveillance camera made of nanoskin disguised as a hairpin to follow Koki around school while they waited. Only after school Murakami would make his move and approach her, leading her to the gym while Rin watched closely nearby. While Kinta, Okarun and Aira returned to Kami High to rescue them, Murakami activated his severed head dribblers and popped Koki's head off, supposedly because she had failed her mission or refused to serve him any longer. He also snapped Rin's head before returning to his apartment so he could watch from the cameras he had installed in the gym and monitor if anyone tried to save them.
Aira finding the Severed Head Dribblers.
Mika Adachi, another power collector who had previously failed an ambush on Seiko at the Nikujiru Gyoza, had returned to school earlier that day and sensed Murakami's spiritual power. Because she really needed the money to take care of her sick mother, she offered to dress in an erotic way for Murakami in his apartment as a way to get closer to him and steal his abilities. Just as the trio arrives at the gym, Okarun and Kinta are catapulted away by Hase and the Jet Booster Exosuit Kur. Aira had already made her way inside so instead of retreating to help her friends she bursts through the gym, facing the massive crowd of Severed Head Dribblers whose heads were floating over them.
Battle[]
Aira using her Pirouette Noble Drill against the Severed Head Dribblers.
She can't understand what she's seeing until a flying head blows the whistle and starts the match, compelling the players to jump upwards, grab a head and furiously throw it her way in the hopes to hit her. She easily avoids them but the mere impact of the heads broke the walls and floors of the gym, signifying their strength. The humanoids approach her as if they were defending their side of the field when one attempts to grab her. She leans back to dodge it and lifts herself around with her hair, immobilizing a player while launching one backwards, exclaiming that with such moves they'll never be able to catch her. She proceeds to deliver three powerful kicks at the enemies before spiraling her hair and shouting "Pirouette, Noble Drill", thus performing it and crashing through the crowd, tearing off multiple body parts. When she turned around however, she noticed that the players started regenerating their lost limbs and charged at her as if nothing had ever happened. Aira resumes running on the gym's wall and using her acrobatics and her hair to keep her distance while avoiding the head projectiles. She theorizes that like Koki, the creatures can't be defeated unless their master is taken down, so she starts looking for Koki and Rin who were supposed to already be there. Aira catches a terrifying glimpse of Rin's floating head among the paranormal crowd with a distraught Mai crying next to her. Aira rushes over with her hair to consult the guardian spirit, revealing that they had slamdunked Rin and her head popped off, however the players don't stand by watching and resume their assault with the head balls.
Mai trying to stop the player from slamdunking Aira.
Aira screams to look out and they evade the volley, which disintegrates the floating heads nearby. As they escape the girl notices a strange substance spilling out of Rin's neck so she asks Mai about who they are fighting against, revealing that they are Severed Head Dribblers who appear in gyms at night to play, treating human heads as balls. The anguished guardian spirit asks what to do as they keep dodging the attacks so Aira tells her to look for the power user when Rin shockingly regains consciousness and speaks like normal, frightening Aira. Mai explains that Rin's body is in the afterlife and if they do not reattach it to her head, she will die once her life force fully exits her. While Aira is running on the wall, the damaged material crumbles and she loses her balance, giving the humanoids an easy shot. Mai shouts to look out and acts a shield to protect her, however Aira is aware that it would be lethal for her so she protects her instead, taking a ferocious hit that sends her tumbling down on the court. She lays there unable to move due to the pain, so the two girls worry and Mai asks Rin if she can sing. Unfortunately she struggles to do so without her lungs while the players surround the injured Aira. One of them grabs her by the head and starts brutally bouncing her up and down like a basketball as it makes its way towards the hoop, ignoring Mai's order to stop. The dribbler jumps in the air and almost dunks her in when a memory of Aira's childhood flashes through her mind, in which she was roleplaying with dolls.
Rin and Mai repelling the Severed Head Dribblers.
When she submerged a toy in a tiny bath, only the head was visible. This gives her the idea to shove Rin's head with her hair through the opposite side of the hop, reverting the effect of the Severed Head Dribbler and making Rin's body reappear. Although the girl is back in one piece, more players arrive at the hoop and try to shove both of them through it. Mai watches in astonishment and rushes over to become the microphone for Rin's idol form, immediately catapulting the humanoids away through the power of her singing which generates gravitational waves. Aira too is launched back but she sticks the landing and the class rep thanks her for her help, though Aira is weirded out by her lewd outfit which she had never seen before. Rin is too embarassed to answer so Mai tells her about her gravitational power and they display it when the Severed Head Dribblers send a barrage of heads their way, which plummet to the ground upon entering their ability's range. Rin shouts at the girl to stay back because of her serious injury, however Aira doesn't fall back and she decides to fight side by side, believing that a leader like her must always help out. Rin keeps repelling the players away from them and stop the thrown heads from reaching her yet the enemies are persistent in their assault so Aira requests for her to expand her range while she pierces them with her Pirouette, Noble Drill. Rin exclaims that her ability's range is fixed when Mai suddenly corrects her, mentioning that her idol power is underdeveloped and she needs to increase it to improve her outfit and range.
Mai making his way through the defense with the pygmies' help.
Aira mentions that Rin was previously tracking Koki but she admits that she lost sight of her when she was attacked. Unexpectedly, Mai spots her and indicates the ceiling, thanks to the pygmies defending her head who only a yokai like her can see. The girls struggle to find her since they can't perceive the creatures and Koki's head blends in between the hundreds of others so Rin requests her guardian spirit to go rescue her. She agrees but she reminds her that she won't be able to use her powers without her, compelling Aira to protect her by using her hair as a shield and kicking the dribblers away from the class rep while she runs in loops around the gym. In the meantime, Mai asks the pygmies to cooperate so they can return Koki back to normal. They make a chain to latch onto Mai's helmet and they dive towards the hoop while carrying Koki's head. Rin shouts to dunk upwards and Mai listens, deploying the pygmies to form a body and she easily dribbles her way through the defense since the pygmies can move around and dodge their blocks. Just as she jumps towards the hoop, three defenders leap to stop her and Mai crashes into them. This distraction allows a rope of pygmies to sneak Koki's head from below and push her through the hoop, giving her back her body. She begins groaning in pain and the Severed Head Dribblers attempt to catch her during her fall, but thankfully Aira slings her way over and carries her to safety, all the while she moves Rin around with her hair to evade the projectiles. Koki start convulsing in fear so the girl reassures her that she's safe now and tells her to hold onto her to survive.
Murakami monitoring the battle from his apartment.
Koki opens her eyes and she reveals that her blackmailer is Murakami, who not only blackmailed her but many other girls by using her nudes, implying that others could have been given kozuka knives just like her. Aira and Koki land on the ground and they run through the storm of projectiles to reunite with Rin who has transformed back into her idol form with Mai. They inform Rin and they begin to look for Murakami in the gym when the Severed Head Dribblers astonishingly turn giant and the walls of the building start closing in. They are forced on the defensive and Rin protects the girls from the giant head being thrown towards her, however Aira notices that her range of effect is diminishing. When Aira hears Mai informing the idol that she has about five minutes left of singing before having to rest, she panics as she cannot defend the both of them while fending off the aggressors. Because of this she calls out to Koki and has them search for Murakami through the gym, as it's crucial to take him down so all the Severed Head Dribblers will perish. Unbeknownst to them, the man is monitoring them from his apartment while pedaling on his exercise bike, admitting that they are putting up a good fight but they were bound to lose as soon as they entered the gym. Aira and Rin protect Koki at the best of her abilities against the giant humanoids, so the latter begs the pygmies to lend her their strength and she apologizes for treating them so harshly as she didn't know about her true intentions. They start searching in vain while Murakami hops off the bike and goes off to the kitchen to grab a beer, sure of his victory.
The piano built by the pygmies for Koki.
He looks over to Adachi, who he ordered to wear an erotic bunny outfit, looking mindlessly at the floor as if she did not wanna be there. The man informs her that he won't lend her money if she acts that way and he menacingly shoves his hand on the counter behind her, saying that he knows about how much cash is needed to take care of her sick mother. While he makes his way back to the bike to resume training, she tightly holds the talisman to summon the Jiangshi against her back. Back at the gym, the pygmies return empty-handed so Aira concludes that they have been tricked and that Murakami was never in there to begin with while they keep brawling. Mai screams that Rin is at her limit when Aira responds to put some backbone into it as she hurls a giant dribbler on the floor to crash the smaller ones. Seeing the girls battle for her sake, Koki's self-deprecating thoughts burst through, calling herself useless and watching back at her sad life. All of a sudden, a pygmy catches her attention and points to her the piano they have just stitched together from the wooden planks, hopping on the notes to have her play it. The other girls are also confused but Mai confirms that they want her to use it and activate her ability, something that Koki didn't even know she had. Aira believes that they want her to amplify Rin's gravitational singing so Koki sits down to do what she can. Upon putting her hands on the notes however, the pressure catches up to her and she's reminded when she could play it freely thanks to her synesthesia, which disappeared as she grew up also due to her mother taking away her freedom by forcing her to strictly follow the musical chart.
The Lord of the Flies power.
Koki attempts to play a melody but the sound comes out all messed up, confusing Aira who rushes her to do it correctly. Koki shouts in desperation that she cannot due to the piano's perfect intonation and its 432 hz configuration instead of the usual 440 hz. The other girl becomes frustrated and tells her to use her perfect pitch to play the notes one at a time although Koki says that it's impossible. Aira reiterates her comment and tells her that she has always been a prodigy, whose mastery over the piano led Aira herself to train harder and harder to defeat her, just so she could cope with her mother's death. Aira screams that Koki's performances were pure freedom, and she wished to play just like her to have fun, which caused her to quit piano when Koki did. She incites Koki to regain that feeling she felt when playing piano and the girl brushes all the terrible memories of her adolescence aside to remember it. Without warning, Koki closes her eyes and begins a musical piece so heartwrenching and so beautiful that her allies freeze up for just a moment in pure awe and shock. Aira asks Rin if the music is amplifying her singing but she can't formulate an answer. Only Mai trembles as she realizes that her power doesn't control the pygmies neither boosts Rin's power, but something far deeper and powerful. A massive cloud of insects is mobilitized over Kamigoe City, headed towards Murakami's apartment who's currently carrying Adachi to his sofa to fulfill his fantasies. He reassures that he's rich enough to take care of her and as he gets closer, Adachi secretly summons the jiangshi right behind him, willing to keep him busy long enough for the creatures to figure out his ability and his weak point.
The jiangshi and the flies ambushing Murakami.
In that moment, a fly buzzes past the man, who angrily turns around in annoyance. He cannot believe in his eyes when he observes the horde of jiangshi covered by a dark cloud of bugs. More insects swarm the gym too, overwhelming the Severed Head Dribblers while Aira and Rin hold each other in disgust and confusion. Mai reveals that Koki's true power is the Lord of the Flies, which allows her to subject any small creatures to her will. While she plays the piano with a huge smile on her face, the insects engulf Murakami and have him shout in agony as they try to enter every orifice of his body. Adachi is taken aback but she rapidly makes use of this opportunity to pull out her kozuka knife and demand Murakami to admit defeat if he wants to be spared. The man angrily realizes that he has been tricked by her and he concludes that she's an agent just like him, however he's left with no choice and he stumbles forward, grabbing her hand. Through the deep layer of insects, Murakami states that he has been beaten and slips his hand upward, cutting himself on the knife and relenting his Severed Head Dribblers to her. He then collapses and whispers for help, prompting Adachi and the jiangshi to surround him and try to push the insects away from him. All of a sudden, the flies lift him into the ceiling and painfully hurl him against the apartment window, smashing right through it in the direction of the gym.
Aira finishes off Murakami.
The girls are stunned upon seeing the humanoids disappear from the wrecked gym but they rush over to Koki when she falls down without warning. She reassures them that she just felt dizzy but Aira and Rin are still left befuzzled by the sudden end of the battle. Soon after, the flies bursts through the gym's windows and alert the trio who get on the defensive. Their behavior changes when they see Murakami being placed on the court, who immediately puts on a fake act as the lovable gym teacher of Kami High, compelling the girls to return home because it's late. He tries to scurry away but Aira sees right through him and sends him rolling with a vicious kick, asking him if he had anything to say. Murakami gives up and is willing to delete the naked pictures of Koki as long as they keep it between them. He tries to bribe them by stating that making it a big deal will only cause problems for them, yet Aira is adamant for him to submit and she throws a devastating kick that finishes him off and confirms that they are the ones in power now.
Aftermath[]
Aira and Rin venture out in the school grounds to search for Okarun and Kinta while Koki watches over the unconscious Murakami. When they find the boys who have won against Hase and the Jet Booster Exosuit Kur, they hug in relief before calling the police and an ambulance for Aira's injuries.
In the meantime, Adachi informs the orchestrator of the power she has just stolen and they bring her under an overpass so she can deposit the knife to an agent. Once arrived however, the mastermind decides to fire her because of her reckless action against an agent just like her and because they don't find her fit for the task of relentlessly attacking the friends and relatives of a person with ID Cosmos to obtain their power. Adachi is then attacked by the man in front of her but she's thankfully saved by the cop Vega, who's resistant to the agent's Fairy-Tale Card power and forces him to flee.
The Family dining in Queen's infirmary.
Later at school the authorities arrive and arrest Murakami, while Koki reveals to the cops what he did to her. Aira is brought inside an ambulance and wants Okarun to accompany her to the hospital, although Queen offers to do so and leaves off alongside Hase, who too requires medical attention. Rin, Okarun and Kinta conclude that these agents were hired by an orchestrator whose organization practices outsourcing to cover their crimes. He however reasons that because these types of schemes rarely consider their workers as human beings, it is destined to crumble down. After Manjiro arrives to give Okarun the Oni Club, they all dine in Queen's infirmary alongside Koki.