Parallel Memory

"Do you know whether your brother is acquainted with someone called Zero?"

Elysia asked excitedly.

" "Zero?" "

They replied in confusion. After they started attending Ace Academy, they were well versed in most senior names, especially the famous ones, but they don't remember the name, Zero.

( Zero? )

Yui was also surprised. She had heard a little about Zero and she had also seen the news that was related to Zero. However, most of the news disappeared and it seemed that people had forgotten about him.

Moreover, she has also not heard anything about Zero even though she was in contact with Lisa and Sylvia who should be his classmates.

"~Oh! And why do you want to know about him?"

Ask one of them teasingly. She found it interesting that Elysia was interested in a senior boy.

Elysia shrugged, trying to play it cool.

"I was just curious. I heard a few people talking about Zero and they seemed really excited about it. I figured they must be someone important, or at least popular."

Yui nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I've heard a few things too and he was attacked by the press before the Tournament Of Academies."

She remembered that as she was paying attention to news related to the Tournament Of Academies as Hiro was participating. At that time, news came about a boy who was apparently bullying weaker citizens and questioning the teaching of Ace Academy.

Though soon after various scandals and crimes committed by those journalists surfaced which shifted the news from Zero to those journalists.

Yui at that time thought it was well-deserved as she didn't like journalism. As Hiro grew popular, there were many media trying to bring him down with various false information which made her distrust the media which only knows to attack weak people for their views.

"Well, I will ask my brother and I'll let you know if he knows."

Yui promised. She also wanted to get acquainted with Zero.

Elysia grinned.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that."

As they walked back to their dorms, the group couldn't help but speculate about who Zero might be and what he might have done to garner such intrigue, especially Yui. Yui had never seen Elysia interested in a boy and she was curious why.

Though Elysia told her the reason, she knew that it was a lie to cover up the truth. She was close enough with Elysia to know when she lied.

She went to find her brother the next day. Along the way, she was greeted by many students. Most of the students knew who Yui Ernest was, including the seniors.

Even third-year students wanted to avoid offending the sister of Hiro. Even if they were seniors, they knew that Hiro could single-handedly beat them.

Anyway, Yui reached Hiro's class, however, Hiro was nowhere to be seen.

( Is he still training? )

Yui thought.

"Good morning, Senior Isabel!"

"Oh, Hiro's sister! Good morning."

"Might I ask if you have seen my brother by any chance?"

Yui asked Isabel, who is one of Hiro's classmates. Yui knew her as she was one of the seniors who introduced her to her and wanted to learn more about her.

Yui would have asked Lisa and Sylvia who was more close to Hiro but since they were also not there, she decided to ask Isabel.

"Hiro? I haven't seen him."

Isabel replied.

"Oh…"

Yui was a little disappointed to find that Hiro was really not there. She was really curious about Zero and wanted to know about him.

"What's wrong? Anything that I can help you with?"

Isabel asked. She didn't know why Yui came to find Hiro but if it was something that she could help with, she was more than happy to help her.

( Ah Yes! I can ask the senior about Zero. She was also a classmate of Zero and she might know about him. )

Yui thought excitedly. She realized that it need not be Hiro who can satisfy her curiosity. There were many seniors who she could ask and find information about Zero. As for Elysia's request, she thought that she could ask later after Hiro came to class.

"Senior Lizbeth, do you know Zero?"

Yui asked.

"Zero?"

Isabel widens her eyes in surprise. In Ace Academy, there was no one who didn't know Zero unless, of course, you were new like Yui. Moreover, Isabel happens to be one of the students who teamed up with Zero in BloodyWolf Forest and one of the first students to actually know his strength.

At the time of introduction, she thought Zero would drag them down as he was only ranked 970 and also thought that he lacked guts as he did retaliate when Kale bullied him. Though she soon found how strong he was when fighting with the monster and Devil Contractors.

"Zero…"

Isabel muttered.

Isabel didn't know how to describe him. She didn't even know why someone like Yui is trying to find something about him.

"He is someone who is very powerful!"

Isabel answered.

Isabel throughout her first year at Ace Academy, the most prominent thing that she could remember about Zero was him being powerful.

"Powerful?"

Yui was confused. What she wanted to find information about Zero and all she got was powerful. Yui, also had an idea that he was powerful as he was a participant in the Tournament Of Academies but how powerful? Rank? Skill? That type of information was what she needed.

"Any, why do you want to know about Zero?"

Isabel asked.

"Ah… "

Just when Yui was thinking of an answer,

"Hello! Isn't it Hiro's sister?"

"Yeah! It is her." …

In a matter of seconds, other students soon surrounded Yui and asked why she was there and all that. They were by no means rude to Yui as they didn't want to mess with Hiro. As Hiro's classmates, they knew about his power more than anyone, moreover their lives were also saved by him.

Yui was first pressured by how popular she was though she knew it was because of her brother. Then she thought it was a good chance.

"Can you tell me about Senior Zero? Is he here?"

She asked them. With so many students, she knew that she would be able to dig interesting things about Zero.

" "Zero?" "

The students showed similar expressions to Isabel. If they respected and feared Hiro, the same was true for Zero. Furthermore, it has been so long since they last heard the name which brought both admiration and fear.

They hesitated for a while. Unlike Hiro, many of them didn't know about Zero's talent at the start and ignored him. Some of them had even tried to bully him because Hiro pursued Lisa. They had missed the opportunity to make friends with Zero.

Later, his talent was revealed and they had seen Zero beat down Rank-B easily which made them both admire and fear Zero. While they were not on good terms, they also didn't know him well enough.

Though after the state of confusion, they started to tell Yui about Zero. Some people who didn't like Zero told all the negative things like how he was always alone doing some suspicious things.

Some even accused him of dropping out because he was a spy working for Ace Academy's enemies.

Though most of their comments were about how strong he was, probably the strongest student. Some even claimed that he was more talented than Hiro.

Yui was also surprised to find such information about Zero and was a little sad to find that Zero had dropped out from Ace Academy. She ignored most of the negative information as she can see that those people were just jealous of Zero. As someone who had suffered due to other people's jealousy, she could easily find that out.

What was most surprising was how many people were saying that he was more talented and powerful than Hiro.

She has always remembered Hiro being praised as a genius that was born once in a thousand years and said that he was the most talented and savior of humanity. Even her trainer back at The Authority headquarters would praise Hiro and say that no other people would reach his level in the future.

She, herself also believed that because of how fast he was growing stronger and also by the position that he got in the Tournament Of Academies. Hiro got second place, right after Lisanna.

Lisanna was a third-year student and Hiro was a first-year student. That's why she thought that no one was close to her brother's level, at least among his peers.

However, after listening to Hiro's classmate, she knew that Zero was a powerful student who had talent surpassing her brother. There were also other things about Zero like how weird he was and a lone wolf.

Her interest in Zero just increased after listening to other people. She never thought that after trying to help her friend, she would stumble upon someone so interesting.

( Did Elysia know? Is this why she asked whether Hiro knew him? )