[SS] Easy Money (Side B)

July 31
12:30 P.M.

"Hope everyone has some lotion on them, because the forecast has closed in on 36.7 °C around lunch time now, and don't expect it to cool down into the lower thirties until-"

Academy City, known for being the most advanced technology advanced city in the world. Advanced CPU chips, robotics, machines, software, security and plenty more. A plethora of breakthroughs kept locked away behind the great walls surrounding the giant Utopia(?). The sun blares upon the hot asphalt, while pedestrians carried umbrellas to block out the sun, sunglasses to keep the brightness to a minimum, or some sort of lotion to protect their skin. It seems even the most advanced city in the world can't make it just 5 degrees cooler during the day.

"-eports have been coming in like hot cakes around noon as Korikasen Dakumi, a Dianoid Executive known for his big contributions to the construction of the magnificent building, has apparently lost his pet cat, 'Yuffy'."

The news felt nothing special, as it went through what it always did. Sports teams and how well they are doing? Check. New products being made exclusively in Academy city? Check. Weather? Check. Whatever Drama they can find? Definitely checked. Though this specific report at first glance felt something not worth mentioning. Lost pets were common everywhere in the world, and no matter where you are, they are difficult to find on your own, or even with a group. Civilians would walk by monitors and idly play music or tap away on their phones, but soon anyone walking on the sidewalk would halt in their tracks.

"-surprisingly enough, Mr. Korikasen has decided a search party would not be needed, as he openly stated late this morning that he will be rewarding 120,000,000 million yen upon the return of his companion, setting a record hi-"

It was one of the most shocking thing the population had seen while living within Academy City. Successful businessmen and workers would simply scoff, calling the man a fool and be on their merry way, a waste of money. But to the common eye, there was only one thing. Opportunity. An Opportunity that turned the AC population, into a city wide search party.


Joseph's Cafe
12:32 P.M.
District 15

"-gh reward for a lost pet in the history of man kind. Not sure if that's something to be proud of, but none the less I will go on. The conditions for the award, he stated, are as followed-"

Joseph's Cafe was less noisy as before, as all the customers would begin to glance up at the monitor in interest, while the employees were only able to take a couple glances, as today was a busy day. A near full house of people had shown up, hoping to get out of the heat and fill their stomachs with nutrients and flavor. One of those people were the ITEM member Kinuhata Saiai, young girl sitting alone at a single table, watching a the screen of a small tablet.

To her, nothing was more important then what's on the screen before her. This screen was how she streams movies when her 'career' has taken a lot of her free time up. So many rough diamonds would release in theaters, yet she from time to time will miss them and have to resort to lower quality pictures on her tablet. Though, it was also important because the tablet will immediately interrupt what she's watching, if she was needed back with the group.

"First you obviously need to find the cat. The reference picture shows that the cat is adult sized, has fluffy white hair, blue eyes, and a red ribbon tied around the neck. She was last scene in District 15 and-"

"....It's hot." Saiai was rather quiet as she would eating appetizers blindly upon receiving them, not being much of a big eater, but she can't exactly go a day without something in her stomach. Though occasionally look up to see what's going on, only to find everyone distracted by the Broadcast. "....A cat." She simply spoke, as the image of a cute white pet is displayed among thousands if not millions of screens throughout the city.

Kumokawa Maria could affirm that it was good to be in an area with air conditioning. The fashionable date spot known as the Dianoid had its temperature regulated to a nice and cool 20 °C. Normally, that would seem quite warm but in the dreadful summer heat and humidity present outside of the building, this temperature and relatively dry air was a godsend.

At the afternoon, the building was filled with couples using it as a convenient date spot or window-shoppers who were trying to kill as much time as possible in order to stay out of the heat.

Now, one could ask what this flashy looking maid was doing in the Dianoid and why was she not in somewhere more fitting like Akihabara. However, the latter was something Maria answered on principle.

Ryouran had assigned three maids, Kumokawa Maria, Tsuchimikado Maika, and some random girl who nobody really ever cared to noticed, the task of cleaning up and polishing merchandise at some of the more eccentric stores that were dotted around the lower levels for credits. Of course, a task like that would take a long time and the three diligent maids wanted to finish as quickly and efficiently as possible. As such, they had met at the entrance to the Dianoid at 7:00 am and got straight to work.

After completing the task and splitting up, the time was nearing 12:30 pm. Maria, as much as she would refuse to admit it was hungry. As such, she picked out a random restaurant in the Lower Levels and decided to order something from there since it would take a while to get back to her dorm and make lunch for herself.

Apparently, this restaurant's key selling point was that it made dishes from all over the world and rotated the dishes that would be made for each country. Apparently, the dish for Mexico one day, for example, would be different from the dish sold the next day or the previous day. Maria could not help but question what strange business man would be able to keep up with this sort of model of a restaurant. But, that did not matter. What did matter was the dish she had ended up picking haphazardly which was now sitting in front of her. She stared at it wondering why she ended up picking the saffron, white, and green flag, the only one with a chili pepper sign next to it.

On her plate was a pile of rice sitting next to an odd curry consisting of cut potatoes and cauliflower covered in turmeric powder and garnished with ginger, curry leaves, and coriander leaves. As she held the spoon in her hands, she could sense a strong but alluring aroma coming from her plate.

In the background, she could hear the afternoon news blaring out from the television in the corner.

"Reports have been coming in like hot cakes around noon as Korikasen Dakumi, a Dianoid Executive known for his big contributions to the construction of the magnificent building, has apparently lost his pet cat, 'Yuffy'."

As news of a lost pet cat was being disseminated throughout the city, Maria steeled herself and took her first spoonful of the rice and the dry curry and put it in her mouth. It was…good…quite spicy but delicious nonetheless.

Maria looked at this culinary wonder realizing that she still had much to learn. It broke her pride to realize the amount of dishes out there that she had never learned to make. But, that could all stop today. She would learn how to make this dish. With that reaffirmation in mind, she took another spoonful as the news about the oddly named cat continued to ring out.

"-surprisingly enough, Mr. Korikasen has decided a search party would not be needed, as he openly stated late this morning that he will be rewarding 120,000,000 million yen upon the return of his companion, setting a record hi-"

With that, the sounds of spoons dropping onto plates resounded as everyone, Maria included, saw an opportunity. But, unlike everyone else's grand opportunity for money, saw something entirely different. A man was offering a boatload of cash for the sake of an oddly-named cat. There was someone hopeless enough to go that crazy over something like that.

Such a person would be perfect as the hopeless master she was looking for. If she found the cat and returned it to its owner, she could finally have one of her goals in reach. She continued to eat away at the food on her plate as she listened to the details provided on the television.

This is the tale of a young girl. Though blessed with pleasant features, her presence was especially weak. As such, she was constantly besot with such troubles as her classmates forgetting her name or having great difficulty in calling a waiter to her table. But despite this, she tried her best to not be bothered by it. But unfortunately, her young heart was not nearly so stalwart. Deep inside, she desperately wished for people to notice her instead of just glance over her. So, when she was unexpectedly given an opportunity to make that desire reality, she seized it with a fervor that surprised even herself. In the end, she experienced many troubles, met many people, and may have gone just a tad overboard.

But that’s enough of the prologue. It’s time for the girl’s story to begin in earnest. Now, it all began with sukiyaki…

---

It was summer vacation, an event that was celebrated the world over by weary students. But nowhere was it was enjoyed quite as thoroughly as it was in Academy City, the only place in the world to have over 2.3 million students call it home. So despite the intense heat, many students still ventured out into the city looking to enjoy the respite from their studies. They congregated at diners, in arcades, and in swimming pools. Those of less upstanding character gathered in the alleyways which were shaded from the sun, and still others simply wandered the city to kill time. However, even during the break, there were some who some who had simply had enough of the heat and had opted to spend the day holed up in their dorms.

Himegami Aisa fell into the last category. She had no particular plans, and she had suffered quite a bit from the sun’s rays earlier in the summer. Even if she didn't necessarily have any reason to wear anything so thick as a shrine maiden’s outfit anymore, that didn't necessarily assuage her reluctance to go out into the heat for no reason. And so, she sat in her dorm flipping through channels on the television searching for something to watch. There didn't seem to be anything on the news. There wasn't anything on any of her favorite entertainment channels. She didn't feel like watching children’s cartoons.

Eventually, she found something that could entertain her. The variety of channels the Academy City’s television network were wide and covered many subjects, after all. And so after a half hour of searching, she found herself watching a cooking program. It was about a gourmet that traveled Japan to find hidden gems, and share their cooking with the viewers. It was quite popular lately, and today’s segment was about a restaurant that apparently whose sukiyaki dish was quite famous in the area.

As she watched the show, Aisa's interest grew. As the chefs prepared the dish, her lips grew dry. As the meal was served, her stomach rumbled. And as the gourmet enjoyed the meal and explained it, she almost drooled. And when the show ended, she stood.

“It’s time for sukiyaki.”

---

Driven by her stomach, Aisa had changed into her uniform since it was lying out, made way to the nearest restaurant with sukiyaki that she knew of, and quickly ordered the dish she so craved. It had arrived at her table (though she had to remind the waiter that she had already ordered quite a few times), and it had been quickly demolished after. The craving born from that program had been vanquished. And, thanks to that, the stage had been set.

"-surprisingly enough, Mr. Korikasen has decided a search party would not be needed, as he openly stated late this morning that he will be rewarding 120,000,000 million yen upon the return of his companion, setting a record hi-"

There was a television in the restaurant, which Aisa had been lazily eyeing as she enjoyed her post-meal high. The time was roughly 12:30 in the afternoon, and the set had been set to Academy City’s local news channel. She had already given up on the news channels at the very beginning of her channel flipping, so if Aisa had remained in her dorm she would never have heard of the cat. Or at least not until after it had been found. But since things were as they were…

“120,000,000 million yen…?!”

Her mind was like a game of Guitar Hero set to the hardest mode, with thoughts and delusions flying by at a mile a minute.

If I had that much money… Swimming in a pool of Fukuzawa Yukichi… Living in a grand high rise… Eating all the sukiyaki I want…”

But though she began thinking in the vain of money, it did not take long before her thoughts strayed to other areas.

”Having a fleet of servants at my beck and call… Getting on the news… Becoming famous…!”

Himegami Aisa had merely gone out for sukiyaki, but as a result she was given an opportunity to change her life! The world works in mysterious ways indeed. With delusions of grandeur racing through her mind, she quickly payed for her food and ventured out into the heat of the city, ready to find the cat and enter a grand new world!

July 31
12:04 P.M.

The afternoon streets were rather deserted in Academy City. Most of the people took shelter from the heat inside the nearby buildings.

“… So hot… I’m thirsty...”, a weak complaint was voiced.

Hamazura Shiage was exhausted from the earlier fight between their Skill-Out gang and a group of Espers. Now that he had time to rest, he found himself obliged to go back to their hideout on foot in this burning summer heat, while the others got to go back in an air-conditioned comfortable stolen truck.

(That bastard Hanzou, I’m gonna beat the shit out of him for leaving me behind.)

Rather than a friend, this Hanzou guy was a fellow member of Skill-Out, who just happened to act alongside him frequently.

(At any rate, I need water...)

He pleaded as he lazily dragged his feet.

After a few minutes of dazing around in a search bearing no results, he nearly gave up. He had a very annoyed grimace on his face.

(What the hell? Where did all the shops, spermarkets, cafés and restaurants disappear to? It’s not like I’m in the desert! Finding water shouldn’t be this hard in a city this populated!!)

The boy had no way of knowing that, in his daze, he had already passed a dozen of places where he could acquire water from.

He thought of accepting his fate and stay put, waiting for either rescue to come or death to take him away, but then he remembered that there was a family restaurant nearby. These family-friendly places were the kind of places he usually avoided, for he couldn’t possibly find his prefered type of entertainment in them, nor did he want to disturb such an innocent atmosphere with his presence either. But right now, he didn’t have the luxury to go elsewhere, did he? He would never make it alive out of this district without water.

He felt a burst of energy filling him, and his body started moving on its own, dashing at full speed towards his destination.

---

District 15
Joseph’s Restaurant
12:30 P.M.

After he bought a bottle of water, he remembered that he did not have lunch, so he decided to buy a sandwich while he was at it. He then headed towards the one-person tables in the corner. On his way, some news on the TV caught his attention.

"-eports have been coming in like hot cakes around noon as Korikasen Dakumi, a Dianoid Executive known for his big contributions to the construction of the magnificent building, has apparently lost his pet cat, 'Yuffy'."

(A cat, huh? Yuffy…? What a weird name.)

The boy thought after taking a huge gulp of the drink of life.

"-surprisingly enough, Mr. Korikasen has decided a search party would not be needed, as he openly stated late this morning that he will be rewarding 120,000,000 million yen upon the return of his companion, setting a record hi-"

“Begfhrd!!! 120,000,000 million ye---?!! Uwaaaah?!!”

The shocking announcement made the boy trip and lose his balance. At this rate the content of the open bottle would be spread everywhere. He then noticed a silhouette sitting in the table just ahead of him.

(O-oh shit! There is someone there! Stop stop stop!)

He managed to halt his fall at the last moment. He also realised that it was a girl. He guessed that she should be around twelve or thirteen. She had hazel hair and blue eyes. She was wearing an orange sweater and a white shirt. Her sweater had a hood that she wasn’t putting on right now, probably because she was indoors.

"-gh reward for a lost pet in the history of man kind. Not sure if that's something to be proud of, but none the less I will go on. The conditions for the award, he stated, are as followed-"

At the realisation that it is a girl, he suddenly felt disappointed.

(Haaah… Maybe I should have let go of the bottle to get her soaked in water…)

He smiled awkwardly at the young girl in front of him in an attempt to hide his inner thoughts.

"First you obviously need to find the cat. The reference picture shows that the cat is adult sized, has fluffy white hair, blue eyes, and a red ribbon tied around the neck. She was last scene in District 15 and-"

However, there was probably no need to put on a friendly face, as she seemed totally distracted by something else either way. She was gazing intently at something.

(Hm?)

He followed her gaze and saw…

“Oh.”

(So that's the cat!! I have to be the first to catch it!!)

Just as he was boiling inside with excitement, someone pushed him from behind.

“Gaaa---!!”

Splash!

“Ah.”

What he secretly wished for just came true. Or, more exactly, the worst part of it.

(Hahahaha! I can’t believe I’m getting so lucky today. Now I get to see her… Wait… Nononono! There is a mistake here! There is definitely a mistake here!!! Why was only her head soaked?! What kind of a sadistic scenario is this?! This should have been the typical “girl is soaked and guy sees her chest but then is beaten down by her” situation!! But now I’m gonna be sacrificed for nothing?! This girl here will still end up killing me even though I saw nothing?! Just who the hell wrote this shit?!)

The poor boy, seeing the girl’s angry glare, trembled in fear.

“L-listen!! I did not do it on purpose! So I’m sorry about what happened!! But I can’t die here!! I have a very noble goal to achieve first!”

(And it is to get rich!)

With 120,000,000 million yen opportunity presented to the Offence Armor, she acted rather calm and even disinterested. She was after all a servant of the dark side, or more specifically a follower of her savior, Mugino Shizuri. Money was never really a problem for her as everything is provided, given that she does her job well.

However, when considering the option, she realized she isn't really payed too much. She receives a big enough share to live, yes, and buy any luxury items she wishes, but never really has she been given a large sum at one time, to really go all out on one's spending habits. What could she do with that money?

"Uwaaaaah?!!" A young male's voice resonated into her ear drums, but never so much as glanced toward them, assuming they were equally as shocked to this new information as everyone else in the diner.

Hmmmmm.... Saiai pondered in her head, unaware that someone was looming over her, nearly spilling a thirst quenching beverage over her head. ...Maybe a maid. Or perhaps a movie that never reached shelves..Those are pretty rare.. Her options were quite limited in terms of her tastes. While she loved movies and sometimes games, she wouldn't exactly binge on either of those. It'd be rather exhausting to watch four to five B-movies with only limited breaks in between each one. Plus watching one after the other really ruins the experience of her simply watching them once in a while.

Saiai did consider the option of actually funding and creating her own movie, but then reminded herself that she was too young for that, and has no real ambition to do that. Watching a movie is much more enjoyable than stressing over the creation of one.

However, a new motive may arise as Saiai stood up, zipping up her sweat shirt to leave, did a rush off ice cold water splash over her head, dripping down her body and soaking her clothes. A great chill went down her spine as the trade of heat and cold was transmitted through her skin. Though it was hot today, so it felt a bit more refreshing then bothersome. Despite the climate however, she was rather annoyed that someone was clumsy enough actually spilled their drink on herself.

".....?" Saiai looked up blankly toward the man, who gave a rather peculiar mix of faces as he was rampantly going through his thoughts like a bullet train. Despite giving a blank look, it seems he was slightly intimidated by her gaze, or perhaps deluded it for an angry glare. Saiai isn't one to get angry over a simple accident, although she would expect a formal apology in exchange for her merciful attitude.

“L-listen!! I did not do it on purpose! So I’m sorry about what happened!! But I can’t die here!! I have a very noble goal to achieve first!” He was cowering in fear, quickly trying to fumble in an apology while trying to make a quick leave so that he may claim a prize that was potentially in reach.

Saiai just stared, feeling a bit dissatisfied by his apology, as it seemed very fast assed, due to the fact that some of the people who entered the diner seemed in a bit of a hurry, while others were talking frantically to one another or calling people on their cellular devices. The hunt had already begun, and this man obviously did not want to be the last into it.

"...I'll accept you apology." She simply started as she shook her head a bit, like a dog trying to whip some hair off their fur, but with more fineness and gentility. But after that, her eyes were slightly covered by her locks, as she couldn't help but smile a bit. "...For half." She added right when the man would get his hopes up to leave.

As the bustling crowd worked its way around her, Aisa took a moment to assess the status of the mission. Upon leaving the restaurant (and almost becoming a rare case of a successful dine and dasher, thanks to her lack of presence) she had immediately taken to the web in a manner befitting a citizen of Academy City and searched for information. But unfortunately, as the announcement had just gone out, it did not seem that there was any info floating about, and so she had to figure out where to begin searching on her own. She began with what little information she had about the cat. That is, that it was a cat. That happened to be lost.

"...A lost cat. Aren't cats usually stuck in trees?"

So she thought, remembering the many manga she'd read featuring exactly that sort of situation. She didn't realize for a moment the difference between a cat being lost and being stuck.

"But this is a rich cat. Would it really be satisfied with just a tree?"

So she continued, not satisfied with the previous conclusion. Her thoughts were taking a strange turn.

"But we don't have any suitable trees here in the city...  Ah, perhaps it's stuck in a building?"

She was closing in on the answer now. Or at least, something she considered an answer.

"A building suitable for a rich cat to be lost in... Ah!"

And she'd found it. Her gaze had wandered as she'd pondered, and came to rest upon a certain building that dominated the skyline. The Dianoid.

For the richest cat around, it was the only suitable place. The building was made entirely out of diamonds, after all. And it was in that home of the well-to-do that Aisa now wandered, intent on making her way to the very top floor. Poorer cats might have to make do with being stuck on the lower branches, but this was a rich cat. And not just rich, but the richest of them all. No doubt it would settle for no less but the very top. And so she wandered the building in search of stairs, escalators, and elevators with which to continue her ascension to the roof.

Or at least, that was her intent upon entering. Now, she instead found herself staring at a map of the building. Her gaze had risen from the diagram of the first floor to the second, then to the third, and onward until she saw a certain dreaded label affixed to all floors above a certain height.

EMPLOYEES ONLY

That short phrase was all it took to smash her perfect plan to pieces.

Maria had ended up eating too much of the dry curry way too quickly. She could feel her tongue burning up from the abundance of spices on the dish. Luckily, it seemed the restaurant was also selling some mango juice that went complementary to the dish. Maria had, in a rush bought two glasses of the stuff and gulped them down without giving a single worry to the amount of calories she might be intaking. After all, she was going to go look for a cat so the exercise she would be undergoing would more than likely be enough to burn off the extra calories.

After consuming the two chilled glasses of incredibly sweet mango juice, she made a long sigh of relief. She pulled out her phone and looked to the great hub of information on the internet, 2ch. Unfortunately, since the announcement had just happened a couple of minutes prior, there were no threads up holding any valuable information. If anything, the internet was doing what it does best: displaying cat videos and people laughing at the expense of others (wwwwwww).

In that case, she was going to have to search for the cat on her own until more credible information flowed forth into the information super highway.

The maid went to the counter, paid for her lunch and made her way out of the restaurant.

"Now…where to look…?"

The maid decided to put together what random snippets of information she could. According to the reports, said cat was last seen in District 15. Seeing as the man who lost his cat was an executive of the Dianoid, said building would not be a bad place to start the search. At least, it would definitely be a better option than going outside in the heat and searching to no avail. It would definitely be best to search in a more comfortable location until definitive intel that it was outside of the building was spread around.

Searching the building known as the Dianoid would be another chore in and of itself. It was a large building after all. She would know. She spent a good five hours cleaning up just niche stores in the lower levels with Tsuchimikado and that other maid with sunken in eyes named Araya Sourenko.

However, the owner in question was an executive. There was a high chance that he owned a room in the upper levels. Considering he was hopeless enough to offer a reward in the hundreds of millions of yen, he could also be hopeless enough to forget he left his cat in his own house.

The maid eventually found herself running to a  map, hoping to find a route to the upper levels. However, in front of the map was a hime-haired girl who seemed to have her presence wavering…another wonderful candidate for a master. Since she was standing in front of the map…Maria knew she could kill two birds with one stone.

She put a hand on the girl's shoulder and with the most maid-like smile she could give, she asked, "Excuse me, Ojousama. Would you perhaps be interested in accepting a new maid into your life?"

(Shit shit shit shit!!! There’s no way she’s letting me go now! I’m dead! I’m freaking dead!!!)

The boy realised how halfhearted his apology was. And the realisation only served to make him even more scared of the girl. There was no way she would accept such an apology, and there was no telling what she might do to him to unleashe her anger. He could feel a cold sweat cooling down his forehead.

He pondered as to what to do. While he was readying himself to run away, judging it to be the safest course of action for him, even if some would argue that it was cowardly - though he couldn't care less - the girl in front of him said something the trembling boy never saw coming, despite them being the words he wished to hear the most deep down.

"...I'll accept you apology."

“... hah?”, he let out a thoughtless sound.

“A-AAAAH!”, the moment his mind cleared up enough to understand her words, he yelled, probably too high for the liking of the people nearby, for they gave him annoyed looks. Noticing this, he lowered his voice. “t-then, I’m leav---”, before he could declare his intent to leave, he was interrupted.

"...For half."

“Hai?”, he was geniunly caught off guard, and stared blankly…

However, a fraction of a secong later, he could guess as to what she was alluding at.

(Fuck!! She realised what I was after!!)

Right now, his brain was working ten times harder than usual in order to come up with the best come-back and decide on what course of action would be the most beneficial to him.

Meanwhile, a faint smile danced about the corners of the girl’s mouth.

Did she see through him or was she just amused by the whole situation?, the boy was wondering.

When he had finally come up with a decision, the boy regained his composure, and let out a fake cough, to announce that he was ready.

“In other words, you want us to cooperate in order to catch that cat and share the reward, is that it?”, he asked, just to be sure of her intentions.

Saiai felt she had successfully dumbfounded the boy, as she seemed confused for a moment at what she meant, before grimacing once he realized that she was intending to take his apology, in exchange for half of the prize money. Not that it was much to her, but being a thorn in his thigh would be a mild enough revenge to keep her from actually being aggravated.

“In other words, you want us to cooperate in order to catch that cat and share the reward, is that it?”

At this point, Saiai was the one that was confused. Did the boy actually expect her to help him? "I was thinking more of the lines of me super watching you potentially catch the cat, then giving me half the cash. If I don't give you some sort of punishment, then your apology is as super empty as the glass you spilled..." She spoke matter of factly, waving a finger at the boy to teach him discipline, her face showing no sign of her lying or making a joke.

"Oh, and I also expect you too pay for snacks and beverages during the search. Otherwise, if you don't catch the cat, I will still gain something out of it while I watch you super fail at grabbing the cute fluffy animal." She said again as she pulled her tablet out and resumed her movie, while occasional glancing up, most likely to make sure she followed him and not let him escape. "Good luck."

With that, Saiai stood at his side, after leaving money on the table, staring blankly at the monitor while everyone has already evacuated to begin the search. Perhaps he could try and break for it, but little would he realize what kind of girl he was up against. "Longer we stand here, the quicker I might get hungry. Just to give a fair warning. I don't want to be super unfair."

------------------------------------------

Meanwhile on the internet:

12:56 PM
District 15

«Such misfortune…»

Kamijou Touko’s everyday life in a nutshell.

From all the calamities that girl used to attract there was no saying how much more could be stacked on top of it all. Every day she had things happen to her that no one would ever wish to experience, from the typical everyday disasters up to catastrophes of extents that far exceeded the expectations of your everyday student. From hitting her toe against the couch table’s leg, over tripping over her very shoes and nearly falling off the handrail in front of her dorm room’s door up to somehow getting drawn into a conflict between Magicians (to think that such people even existed!).

And today, on her way home from the make up classes she had been forced into in her precious summer vacation after missing too often in school over the course of the only short first year, she had lost her packed lunch to a stray cat that had smelled the perfect opportunity just when she had been about to bite in her self made sandwich that had already required all her craftiness to make the best out of this week’s leftovers.

Already long past defeat, a Kamijou Touko drained of even the slightest bit of colour to decorate her energy bar, wearily set one foot in front of the other, somehow hoping to make it to a place that would function as shelter from the heat, while also granting her empty stomach the long awaited salvation.

Unfortunately this hadn’t been going that well either. The first store she was headed for had closed due to a sudden water pipe incident, the next one was out of food and another only had products way too expensive for her to afford with the last remains of money she had to stick with at the final day of the month. It had begun to pile up again.

«Dear God or whoever rules the earth and the skies! I have never believed that you exist, but now is your time to prove to this stray child Kamijou-san that you actually do! So grant her this final ray of hope in this most desperate hour…! »

Turning towards supersticion as her last resort, that spiky haired girl set foot towards the very next convenience store her legs had carried her to. This was the final chance for hope to descend upon her. This place would be entirely different, finally granting her peace…!

13:03 PM
District 15
Mitsuwa Convenience Store

Such misfortune.

When Aisa turned to face the one who'd addressed her, she almost thought she'd somehow wandered into Akihabara while distracted. But a quick, bewildered glance at her surroundings quickly confirmed that she was still in Academy City, leaving her with nothing but a confused stare to give to the young maid. On the hand, her initial perusal of the girl had revealed that she held no flyers, tissue packets, or adverts of any kind. But on the other hand, there was no way someone in such a flashy get up could be an actual maid.

"...I'm not interested in purchasing any products." she said at last, having carefully chosen her words.

In the end, Maria's question was one that came out of nowhere. She was fully conscious of this fact to the point where she had even formulated a number of possible replies she could receive and how to react in each case. It was a level of communication a maid definitely needed. However, things fell apart from there as she overlooked one simple factor.

"...I'm not interested in purchasing any products." The girl in the Kirigaoka summer uniform had spoken.

It was at times like this that Maria's maid outfit became a curse to her ever undying cause to find a suitable master. But, even so, Maria felt that she still had a natural maid-like aura. "So you don't even think I'm a real maid. That…is quite the heavy blow right there…" She muttered.

"No. No. I'm not trying to sell you anything." Maria spoke in a much more audible tone to the girl in front of her, dropping her informality by giving a quick maid-like bow. "I am a student at Ryouran Maid School. Aside from the temporary task of searching for a fluffy cat that I have undertaken, I am also in an undying quest to look for a suitable master and I have deemed you a possible candidate, Ojousama. Would you like to have a maid in your service as a trial run of sorts?"

"I was thinking more of the lines of me super watching you potentially catch the cat, then giving me half the cash. If I don't give you some sort of punishment, then your apology is as super empty as the glass you spilled… Oh, and I also expect you too pay for snacks and beverages during the search. Otherwise, if you don't catch the cat, I will still gain something out of it while I watch you super fail at grabbing the cute fluffy animal. Good luck."

As he listened to her, the more words left her mouth, the more Hamazura’s face distorted. Was it shock, regret or annoyance that he felt at the moment? It was probably a mixture of all of them.

(WHYYYYYYYYYYY?!!! WHY DID I HAVE TO END UP WITH A BOSSY GIRL LIKE THIS?!)

He really wanted to lay down and cry his tears out.

“Right…”, he didn’t dare to voice out his complaints though, he could only obey like the pathetic underling he was going to be few months later.

With that said, the girl left some money on her table and stood up next to him.
"Longer we stand here, the quicker I might get hungry. Just to give a fair warning. I don't want to be super unfair."

(You don’t want to be unfair, my ass. You’ve already declared that you’re gonna make me do all the work alone. I’m not your slave, dammit.)

“Haaaah…”, he let out an unusually long sigh, “I did not even have lunch yet… I guess I’ll just have to eat later...”, he mumbled.

“First let me check online for some clues. Surely people started sharing info.”

------------------------------------------

Meanwhile on the internet:

------------------------------------------

“You don’t have to stare at me that much…”, he retorted while putting his phone back into his pocket, “You’re freaking me out…”

“Anyway, they say the cat is near Mitsuwa grocery store in district 15. Let’s go.”

---

They got out of the restaurant and were heading towards their destination, somewhat hurriedly. Well Hamazura was, and the girl had no option but to follow him if she did not want to lose him. She was the one who wanted to tag along anyway.

He knew that it was wiser to just run in a moderate pace. However he was in a rush, but also he kind of wanted to show off.

Though his hopes to surpass the girl were soon crashed.

The delinquent was rather surprised by the girl’s stamina and physical ability though. This girl… she was keeping up with him and did not display any signs of being tired, nor did she complain of the quick pace with which they ran. Honestly the boy started to fear that he might lose to her… to a girl this thin.

After a dozen minutes Hamazura could feel he was soaked in sweat and was gasping for air by now. Strangely enough the girl, who looked to be tired as well, still looked in a better state than him.

(Where the fuck does she draw all that stamina from…?)

Shiage really wanted to stop to catch his breath for a second, but his pride would not allow him to do that, specially not in front of… a high level Esper.

(Hanzou, go to hell. Do me a favor, just go die and rott in the darkest abyss of hell. You not only left me behind, but you used my tools to open that truck and then you took them with you.)

He cursed his partner for making him be in the peril he was currently in. If he had his tools, Hamazura would have took a car and saved his energy for the real hunt, not to mention that he wouldn’t have to learn he was not only in terms of powers, but also physically weaker than a high level Esper. He wouldn’t have had to feel this pathetic.

Still clinging to that slight ray of hope that he was mistaken, he decided to ask her. It was true that he was scared to confirm the truth, but his desire not to feel bad about himself overcame his fear.

“Say… what level are you?”

“Haaaah…”, he let out an unusually long sigh, “I did not even have lunch yet… I guess I’ll just have to eat later...”, he mumbled.

“First let me check online for some clues. Surely people started sharing info.” The boy known as Shiage spoke, pulling out his cellular device.

Kinuhata for a moment looked away from her screen to look up at the sulking boy, tilting her head slightly, thinking she has done nothing wrong or at least unjustified. She slowly maneuvered herself to the other side of his figure, as he texted away on his phone. It appeared he was chatting on some sort of message board, not that she really cared, but it was what he was typing that fascinated her.

"...Bunny girls, huh.." Saiai stared up at him, muttering those words. Whether or not he could hear them was unknown to her, but she began to question whether or not trusting him at all was a good idea. Though it seemed he did catch on that she was staring at him, with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.

“You don’t have to stare at me that much…”, he retorted while putting his phone back into his pocket, “You’re freaking me out…” Shiage gave a slight cold sweat and Saiai continued to stare into the depths of his soul.

“Anyway, they say the cat is near Mitsuwa grocery store in district 15. Let’s go.”

"Good dog." She returned to her screen, accidentally(?) confused him for a dog for a moment, as she gives one pat on the back before following him, not even seeming interested in the pet hunt at all.

------------------------------------

"..........." Saiai was taken by surprise when he suddenly started sprinting toward the direction of Mitsuwa. Though it was very easy to keep up with him. At one point it seemed like he was pushing himself even harder for some reason, despite the fact they could've just taken a cab or just jog to the location.

Now here she is, staring down at him with rather pitiful eyes as he panted heavily, sweat dripping down his face, while Saiai was hardly out of breath. As his heart ached from constantly pounding, his pride shriveled up, slowly dissipating, knowing that this little girl, lacking physical appearances, has beaten him at a 'race' she wasn't even aware was happening.

"...Why are you trying to show off in front of a kid...Are you super desperate?" Saiai began prodding questions into his personality, as she did not see any real value at trying to race a twelve year old girl.

Though Saiai was taken by surprise yet again when he asked a rather random question.

“Say… what level are you?”[/quote]

Saiai stared at him for a moment, having no intention to answer that question, but felt like outright lying would be boring, which was not the intention of why she continued. So she asked, "...Is this your attempt to forgive yourself for being super beaten by a twelve year old girl?" There was little evidence she was a esper, and wasn't even under the power curriculum. Her backstory and profile had been erased, altered, and classified for only those with proper authority to go over it. So the only reason he would possibly ask is to get an explanation as to why she can handle such a long period of non-stop running. This was also a perfect opportunity to stab at his pride.

«This…this can’t be true…!»

Flabbergasted to the outmost Kamijou Touko stood in front of a cooled shelf decorated with a gigantic yellow sign saying «75% off» and another sign with a short explanation revealing that the cooling system for the packed bentos was broken, thus forcing them to quickly sell out all of those before they would get old. To top even that, Touko had been the first to witness the clerk placing both signs, meaning she was now standing on front of the full selection, untouched by anyone.

Had God answered her prayers? Did that almighty being up there truly exist? Did it finally realise her value?

Ignoring the fact that with limited money one should always have in stock a plan B, the spiky haired girl began to pile up all sorts of packed bentos, especially her favourites, on her arms, to quickly secure as much of the special offer as allowed by her arms’ strength.

With this I could really survive until the end of the month and it’s even much cheaper than cooking myself! Kamijou-san’s survival is secured! Haha!

Quickly heading to the counter before any disaster or sudden challenger could appear, our heroine was truly in a hurry. Even if those lunches were packed, she had to quickly secure them in her home fridge before the heat would steal away the freshness.

But right as she was about to meet the counter, someone or rather something was blocking her rainbow road.

*Meoowww*

Taking a glance past the gigantic stack of special offers she had pilled up in her arms, the girl saw it, her sworn enemy. White fluffy fur, cute marble like eye balls and the sharp teeth of a vicious lunch stealer.

This time she wouldn’t be fooled. She knew what she had to do. This was a matter of survival!

«You again! I won’t fall for your tricks again, so cut out that kitten look! And now go away! Shoo Shoo!»

"So you don't even think I'm a real maid. That…is quite the heavy blow right there… No. No. I'm not trying to sell you anything. I am a student at Ryouran Maid School."

"Eh?"

What that revelation earned was small exclamation of surprise, and what might have been recognized as an expression of mild disbelief on the face of someone with more expressive features. However, the mere fact that the girl had attempted to explain herself without any mention of a product, at least so far, caused Himegami to allow a degree of curiosity to mix with her suspicion. It wasn't often that one come across a genuine maid, after all, so despite her caution it was difficult to avoid having her expectations leak out.

"Aside from the temporary task of searching for a fluffy cat that I have undertaken, I am also in an undying quest to look for a suitable master and I have deemed you a possible candidate, Ojousama. Would you like to have a maid in your service as a trial run of sorts?"

Being referred to as 'ojousama' certainly piqued Himegami's interest, but the other task the maid mentioned did the same, and to an even greater degree.

"A cat? Are you referring to the one with the reward?"

Obtaining a maid was a tempting prospect, but if this girl was also searching for the cat, then she was competition. And if she was a competitor...

Then that meant she was aiming to steal her chance to finally stand in the spotlight. As she recognized that fact, Himegami began to watch the girl with renewed vigor, an odd light gleaming in her eyes as she pictured being lauded with attention, and then having this maid steal it all away. That trial run would just have to wait for now.

"Indeed, ojousama. I am searching for the one with the absurdly large reward." The straightforward and honest maid named Maria confirmed Himegami's suspicions. After all, there was no point in a maid lying to her master. If anything, such would be blasphemous to the very existence of maids and would most definitely be punishable.

"If you too are searching for the cat, then how about we work together then, ojousama?" Maria gave a simple offer to her mistress hopeful with the polite smile one would expect of a maid. "If you are worried about splitting the reward or losing any spotlight from finding the overly rich cat, then don't. We maids hold the purpose of working to support a master in the background without ever taking their spotlight. As such, I will not be detracting from the reward you would receive if you found it."

Besides, I have other reasons for finding this cat…she thought, never uttering that last sentence.

"As a show of faith, let's share intelligence." Maria picked up her phone and opened up a certain thread on 2ch. With a quick scroll-down she noticed that intelligence had finally began to surface about the cat's whereabouts. Sadly, it was not in the upper levels of the Dianoid as Maria had wished. But that no longer mattered. There was some intelligence out there. With a smile, Maria spoke to the other girl. "It seems like our feline target has been sighted at Mitsuwa. Let us hurry over there before people rush in to catch it."

"...Why are you trying to show off in front of a kid...Are you super desperate?" The girl was looking down at him with pitiful etes.

(Tsk. You’re right. I’m pathetic. But I don’t need your pity. I hate that look from your likes the most.)

“Yes I’m desperate. Got a problem with that?”, he mumbled again in an unheard voice while glaring at her somewhat hostily. He then asked her about her level.

Saiai stared at him for a moment, but she avoided his question, by asking another question herself. Something he somewhat saw coming, unless she liked to boast and brag about herself, but she did not look like such a girl. She was probably the kind of girl to like being bossy without actually being overly open about herself… so basically an unfounded and unjustified tendency to look down upon whoever she deemed as “weak”.

"...Is this your attempt to forgive yourself for being super beaten by a twelve year old girl?"

“It’s not that. I just… No. Never mind.”

The boy found it was a waste of time to try and explain himself to her. He knew that she would never understand his suffering. That kind of person, a person who belittles others, a person who takes their kindness for granted, a person who thinks they are above the rest, a person who feels no shame in treating others like servants, that kind of person couldn’t possibly understand him. No. He would not even hope that she does. How could she, when, he himself was one of those “weaklings”, whom the girl and her peers enjoy looking down upon, have to go through a fucking hell because of self-centered assholes like her? They were nothing but bastards who thought your level determined your worth as a human being.

He swore to himself to never forgive them for what they did to him.

Yet, here he was, obediently letting himself be toyed around by one of those people he despised the most.

(Fuck. I’m getting distracted by those thoughts again. I need to calm down. Dumbass Shiage, you were the one who agreed to her conditions. Don’t go throwing all the blame on her now..)

He slapped his face with both his hands. It hurt, and he knew he had two big red spots.

“Heh. Alright. Let’s take the cab.”

There was no need to mention that, obviously, he had to pay for her too.

Finally, about five minutes later, they arrived at Mitsuwa.

Saiai, the clueless level 4 esper, only tilted her head, curious as to what he was thinking about at the current moment. Hamazura was rather a strange individual to her, and didn't like not being able to read into someone's character, not that it actually mattered. It was most likely something insignificant or something related to his pride. Perhaps he was a level 0, failing to achieve their power in the curriculum.

If so, it was best not to get involved by asking. Instead she simply followed him to an open road to call a cab. In which she did not say a single word along the drive, as she focused her attention back to her monitor. This time, however she decided to at least give some help, by looking at recent news involving the Cat Hunt and reading some message boards.

"Seems the cat has not been spotted anywhere yet, so it is probably super hiding near Mitsuwa." She muttered to him, as eventually they'd stop right across from a certain convenience store. A young girl can be seen across the street, ogling at the sale that was occurring right before her eyes. However, from their angle they do not quite see the cat yet, as only the young girl could see it.

Meanwhile, five high school students can be seen walking rather exhaustively down the sidewalk, drenched in sweat. They walked sluggishly as the sun beat down on them, looking in far worse condition than the unluckiest person on the planet. "So hot..." One of them muttered, as they were all heading for the convenience store to get a drink. They all had been running around for a particular cat, however after several minutes of searching, their hype was toned down several notches. Apparently, sprinting in random directions in the area did not do them any favors.

"Isn't the convenience store's cold storage out of order?" A growl can be heard from a clearly flustered student.

"I just want something to drink, I'll take moderately cold drinks over dying...Hm?"

And suddenly, their movement stopped, as they all leaned forward a bit as something caught their eye. The young girl, in which held an obscene amount of bentos, glanced down at the floor at a white, fluffy cat with a gloriously red ribbon around it's neck. A bell would lightly chime as it cried toward the girl for sustenance.

*Meeeeeeoww*

"...." "....." "...." "...." "....."

The power of greed is a corrupting one. These highschool kids normally would do their best to impress a young girl such as this, or perhaps be more considerate for her safety. Like an assassination robot, however, their targeting systems were only focused on their objective. "G-..." Whoever is caught in their rampaging crossfire, are merely a casualty of war, who was sacrificed for their greater good.

"GET IT!!!" One of them yelled as they all rushed violently toward the cat, one of them diving to the floor to grab it. The cat hissed in retaliation, slipping right out of his arms and running under Touko and down the aisle. With all the students charging toward her, she had no way to defend herself with carrying her beloved treasure as they may crash against her and potentially spill the beloved source of energy.

With all the commotion going on in the convenience store, Saiai would not notice as she was focused on the screen of her pad, only hearing the rushed clattering of feet entering the store. However, her faithful partner surely had noticed the commotion.

"The chances of actually finding this cat are extremely low, so we can't expect we'll find it super quickly..."

Right after the cat had passed through the tunnel that was her legs, Kamijou Touko was overrun by the angry mob in a comical yet painful manner. The result was the treasures she had so eagerly attempted to collect, raining down from the heavens, the contents smashing against the floor with squishy sounds.

Before, however, our spiky haired heroine could even course that rotten luck of hers, she found herself back on her legs again, sprinting straight through an empty path in between shelves, quickly overtaking all competitors, before cutting perfectly into that fleeing cat’s path.

Leaping and trying to catch it, much like a professional American Football player, Kamijou Touko had set her sights solely on the poor thing being pursued with such vigour. The moment she would have caught the cat, she would roll along floor while pressing it against her chest, waiting for the right moment to clumsily return back to her legs, before charging towards the store’s exit with the might of a sprinter right before the goal line.

There she went again. Again, Kamijou Touko’s body was set into motion before her mind could even understand. Just as usual, whenever there was someone in need, brave Kamijou-san would feel her legs move and drag herself into dire peril, rooting to save someone or something. A while ago it was a weird girl that had 103000 grimoire’s in her head, now it was that fluffy white cat that for some reason had an over enthusiastic bunch of pursuers on her back.

That such action would eventually make herself the enemy of the whole world was something she had yet to become aware of. For now it was all about making a great escape!

«I don't even know why I'm doing thiiiiiiiiiiss!!!»

"Indeed, ojousama. I am searching for the one with the absurdly large reward. If you too are searching for the cat, then how about we work together then, ojousama? If you are worried about splitting the reward or losing any spotlight from finding the overly rich cat, then don't. We maids hold the purpose of working to support a master in the background without ever taking their spotlight. As such, I will not be detracting from the reward you would receive if you found it."

The proposal was enticing, for sure. But there was no way for her to be sure that the other party would follow through, so agreeing to partner up held a degree of risk. On the other hand, however, that risk comes with a proportional advantage. They can cover more ground, launch pincer attacks, and just generally have more options. But despite all that, she was still indecisive. She wasn’t the hot-blooded type, after all. It wasn’t in her nature to make instant decisions.

"As a show of faith, let's share intelligence. It seems like our feline target has been sighted at Mitsuwa. Let us hurry over there before people rush in to catch it."

…However, there was nothing stopping her from doing all of that thinking on the run, was there? And the girl had mentioned something about a trial run.

“Let’s go.”

---

Himegami knew where Mitsuwa was. It frequently had sales, and despite her above average stipend from the city Himegami was a frugal sort of person, so she shopped there often. As a result, it didn’t take them long to arrive outside the store. There didn’t appear to be much of a crowd, so either they had arrived before the crowd… Or the cat had already moved on.

“I’ll check the pet food isle, so you should check the seafood section. We should hurry; someone else could be catching the cat right n-“ «I don't even know why I'm doing thiiiiiiiiiiss!!!»

Her sentence was cut off by a yell from someone within the store, and Himegami stopped immediately in front of the doors and glanced inside to see what the commotion was. She immediately came to regret her decision, however, when a familiar spiky-haired girl carrying a familiar looking white cat came barreling through them and straight toward her. She attempted to quickly step back and away from the danger, but in her rush she instead lost her balance and fell backwards, with the spiky-haired girl still on a collision course with her…

“Hyaaah!” was all she could say.

Mitsuwa Grocery Store.

Despite it being known for its sales and low prices, it was generally the place to go in order to get good ingredients for food at a low price. The maid was all too familiar with this location as it was one of her priority locations for whenever she needed to acquire food.

But she was not there to find food. Maria had arrived with her temporary ojousama in order to find the missing cat worth tens of millions in yen. With the information she had seen from 2ch, she had fully expected there to be a complete riot taking place at this convenience store with a crowd of cat-hunters bottle-necked by the entrance limiting factor known as the doorway.

What did this mean? Had the cat already moved to another location? That seemed likely but it was still probably best to search.

She began to take in her mistress's orders. "I’ll check the pet food aisle, so you should check the seafood section. We should hurry; someone else could be catching the cat right n-"

But the orders were immediately cut off by the sound of another girl in the store, screaming at the top of her lungs, before she could fully relay her strategy. «I don't even know why I'm doing thiiiiiiiiiiss!!!»

An odd spiky-haired girl was running out of the store at full force. However, that was not what caught her attention. What was more eye-catching was the cat that she was holding while running for dear life.

Under normal circumstances, this would become a top priority. However, the maid had an even greater priority at hand.

Her mistress, who seemed to have been trying to back out of the way lost her balance and started to fall backwards.

As a maid, her mistress's safety came first, regardless of the circumstances. Cat or no cat, ignoring her mistress's sudden plight would have tarnished her state as a maid.

Without a moment of hesitation, Maria caught the falling girl underneath her armpits and with a smooth motion, she pulled her mistress away out of the running girl's path. Though her mistress was now in a half standing position with her legs angled with the ground, at the very least, she would be safe from harm.

"Are you feeling alright, ojousama?"

If anything, Hamazura Shiage was lucky that the cab fare was relatively cheap. As it turned out, a five minute drive did not cost…too much…and his wallet was grateful enough for that fact. Even with that, though, he still had to deal with paying for this irritating Esper's whims.

Even if there was the silver lining of 60M Yen, that number was definitely set to decrease depending on the whims of the girl who had him chained to her.

"Seems the cat has not been spotted anywhere yet, so it is probably super hiding near Mitsuwa."

"Not even a crowd or an angry mob. So much for being able to easily find the cat." Hamazura sighed. He was already starting to lose his motivation. But the desire for 60 million Yen would never let the fire ignited in his heart burn out.

"Hamazura-shi."

He had to finally begin searching for the damn thing. The sooner he could find the cat, the sooner he could get that money.

"Hamazura-shi."

Yes, he would find that cat and get the money. He would find the cat and chase after it, much like those other students who were running were doing right now…

"Hamazura-shi."

"The chances of actually finding this cat are extremely low, so we can't expect we'll find it super quickly..."

"Hamazura-shi."

All sorts of shenanigans seemed to be ongoing as a spiky-haired girl picked up the cat and ran, almost knocking over some student who was accompanied by a flashy looking maid.

(A maid? Damn these richer espers flaunting their wealth…)

Even as those thoughts ran through his head, Hamazura could only do one thing.

"GAH! THAT GIRL HAS THE--GWAAAAHHH!" Before he could finish his exclamation which the little esper girl likely heard, he was immediately dragged back into a nearby alley with his mouth covered by a relatively slender hand.

As soon as he was sufficiently in that alley, the hands on him let go, leading him to fall straight onto his ass.
"Owww…"

After he finally got up off his feet and turned to face his assailant, he recognized her almost immediately. "Kuruwa-chan…what are you doing…?"

It was a black-haired girl with an odd sense of style ranging from both her hairdo consisting of brown around the bangs to her yellow, mini-skirt yukata with a transparent obi.

"I am searching for Hanzou-sama's whereabouts. Have you any information about that?"

"Looking for Hanzou again, huh. I should have figured…" Hamazura sighed. He had been pulled away from the 60 million yen that was right under his nose for something so trivial. "I haven't seen him since took my lock-picking tools for that truck and that was a couple of hours ago…"

"That is a shame." Kuruwa's face showed a slight hint of disappointment.

"You aren't going to take this opportunity to eliminate me or show me another kunoichi technique, right?" Hamazura stiffened his body in anticipation of a repeat of what happened last time.

"No. Ascertaining Hanzou-sama's location is my priority at the moment. So, I shall see myself off." On that note, the kunoichi left in the most mundane way possible: walking out of the alley the way they came in.

"Not even jumping from building to building…ahh…what a disappointment…" Hamazura sighed. "Time to get back to searching for that cat. Though, I guess I can take a back route and find the cat solo now that I've escaped that crazy esper bitch."

But, as he turned around, he saw another person standing a few feet away. "Don't tell me you were waiting the whole time for Kuruwa-chan to leave, Hanzou."

"It was the best thing I could do. I can't have Kuruwa following us around right now. Komaba-san is calling the District 7 group together."

"Ugh…this couldn't have come at a worse time." If Komaba was gathering the entirety of Skill-Out, it had to be important. That 120 million yen was about to slip from his fingers but he knew where his priorities lay. "What's going on?"

"Remember that gang of Level 2s we were keeping a watch on? It turns out they're getting ready to attack a popular spot used by students from Level 0 majority schools."

"Those fuckers…" Hamazura clenched his fists and started walking. "Fill me in on the details, Hanzou."

"I'll fill you in when we get to the truck I stole earlier."

Those two figures walked out of the alley. They would protect those helpless Level 0s who were about to be preyed on. They would be the terror who would fight against all those who would prey on those helpless Level 0s who could not protect themselves. For, they were District 7's Skill Out.

Kinuhata Saiai was so preoccupied with the screen before her, that she didn't even notice the commotion going on at the store. She had premium ear buds inside that had great sound cancelling and surround sound so her movie quality would not be diminished by a petty mobile screen speaker. Someone would have to be fairly close to grab her attention. Luckily, her beloved companion (slave) was beside her to keep a close eye out of anything important.

"Hamazura-shi." An odd broken record was heard in the background, though not that it bothered Saiai too much. She decided to ignore the repeated name being called out. "Hamazura-shi...Hamazura-shi...Hamazura-shi."

"GAH! THAT GIRL HAS THE--GWAAAAHHH!"

Saiai at that moment would look up, blinking a couple times as the sudden panicked yelp is made right beside her. Her partner has potentially found something useful, but perhaps bit his tongue, she would think. However, upon actually looking at his last known location, which was behind her, it was as if he had completely vanished. "...?" Only question marks, dangling around her head, were present with her at the moment. The boy known as Hamazura Shiage was gone. "...That was super impressive.." She muttered, thinking he had intentionally escaped and with such speed that she couldn't catch it. Thinking this was also an attempt to impress her, she was at least fairly surprised.

The group of high school students would almost clobber over Aisa, perusing the porcupine that is Touko, who held an organism with higher value than that of Gold Bars. They would continue to chase the misfortunate high school girl, and would turn the corner to follow her. "YOU CAN'T GET AWAY!!"

Saiai would glance over, not really interested in intervening, but instead approaches the Maid and silent beauty that was Himegami Aisa. "Are you two okay?" For the sake of her boredom, she decided to talk to the two interesting looking individuals, recuperating from the panic attack that ensued.

Bullet train girl Kamijou Touko was unstoppable!

With despair, fear and bravery driving her, the girl rushed forward full force, ignoring any sort of obstacle that would find its way into her path. Unfortunately that was exactly the kind of attitude that would have made crash into a girl that had been about to step into the convenience store. Fortunately for both of them, though, the girl held reflexes that had somehow protected them, paired with a comrade that’d quickly remove them from the danger zone.

Not that it mattered anymore. All those two would have of the fleeing girl was a strong surge of wind, reminding them of how gruesome the collision may have been. Touko herself would have taken a deep sigh of relief, if her lungs weren’t required to power her body instead.

«Sooorrrry!!!»

Showing at least a slight sign of caring to lower the burden on her heart, she closed this chapter.

When a moment later her ears informed her about the arrival of that angry mob, she felt forced to add another. «SOOOOOOORRRYYYYY!!»

First following the sidewalk a little, she then quickly crossed the street, gracefully avoiding the cars by just a slight margin, not coming to a stop even when arriving on the other side, but heading further along the path, taking turns at intersections occasionally or risking another random street crossing.

Obviously our spiky haired heroine had experience in being chased, did she know exactly how important sudden changes in direction were for making the great escape.

«Don’t worry, Neko-san, they’ll be gone soon!»

There was no saying if the cat actually understood, but the romantic side of Kamijou Touko required something to calm herself down a little, was she sure that everything would come to a happy end in only a few moments; that was how it usually went after all.

Unfortunately reason was long since lost with this situation.