[SS] A Certain Valuable Remnant

“I think now’s a good time.”

The sounds of keys clacking resounded from next to Shirai Kuroko. Though it was something that would probably annoy most people without headphones or earplugs, she could not say much considering the scratching of pen on paper that was coming from her.

“What is, Shirai-san?”

She had made a decent headway in the paperwork she had accrued in the past few minutes. If she focused on it all, she could probably have it all done in a couple of hours.

“To contact Hitotsumi-san.”

It was probably prudent to gather information at a regular rate. However…

“What if she’s engaged?”

Shirai Kuroko frowned. Uiharu had brought up a good point and an easy counterargument. Knowing her, she had probably caught onto the obvious.

Shirai Kuroko had wanted so desperately to shirk her paperwork and was looking for any opportunity to do so.

“I’ll message her, then. She’ll likely have the sense to not look if she’s engaged, right?”

Was it a show of good faith or desperation? Either way, Shirai Kuroko quickly tapped off a quick message to Hitotsumi Futaba.

Report back your findings once you’re no longer engaged with the target.

---

Almost instant rejection. The only thing that could have sealed the deal was him going violent and tossing her through a bunch of shelves or something of that sort. It would have been picturesque to her. She would have been lowering her head to a real piece of human garbage.

Unfortunately, he was not the depraved being she had placed her maximal hopes for, but he was still a prime target and Kumokawa Maria was nothing sort of persistent.

And so, she maintained her business-like smile even as she had been rejected and began to speak to him while she shifted her position.

“Oho, Master. You don’t have to worry about that one bit.” With a quick pivot, she shifted herself so that she was no longer standing in the boy’s way, while she still kept herself within the boy’s field of vision.

“I will not charge you a single yen. I am merely here as your humble maid.” She said with a curtsy that still remained even in his view as he may have moved.

Break into the role without question.

Entice.

Toss away all semblance of a drawback.

The maid-in-training was no slouch. One could compare her to a bloodhound or businesswoman. Once she had smelled even the hint of blood, she would never let go.

Futaba was like an American Superhero. She flew in from out of nowhere, and started fighting crime with what could arguably be called super powers. Perhaps it was this thought which provided her with the drive to fight so hard. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline which coursed through her veins, knowing that her quarry this day had access to firearms which could easily end her life if they knew which way to point them.

The sound of gunshots echoed through the acoustic-friendly design of the underground mall. It was a wasted effort of course, because all the bullets would do it possibly damage the wood. However, there were metal studs and iron bars in the battle marionettes body which would hold its structure together even in the face of a true firing squad. Plus, Doubler didn't need to worry about its structural integrity in the first place. It was a Double, so it would be fixed whenever it returned to the original fold in the dimensions it hailed from.

The battle marionette would begin to weave not at all clumsily as Futaba watched the angle the men held their guns at. So long as they were within her visual range, she wouldn't lose track of their line of aiming: She was too good at multi-tasking for that. It would be a moment later that they began to learn the real terror of her battle mannequin. A left straight would be launched as the wooden dummy would finally step in close to one, and the man found himself being slammed with machine-line force, something no trained boxer would ever hope to match. His body was sent careening through the air, slamming roughly against the stairs, his consciousness robbed from him. At least, Futaba had to hope it was only his consciousness, though since they had pulled guns out for this fight, lethal force was entirely authorized.

With a step to the side, a right hook was launched before the next-closest gunman even had a chance to comprehend what happened, his ribs taking the brunt of the impact as he was launched into a nearby wall, his body bouncing off the concrete constitution with a cloud of dust puffing off from the vibrations. The menacing aura surrounding the Battle Marionette intensified as the gunmen, the criminals, would understand fear. This was the true purpose of her battle marionette, to instill despair in those who believe themselves above the law.

Eight men remained. With the sound of cracking ribs, there were seven. With a foolish attempt at physical restraint, and a subsquent bodyslam against the tiles, there were six. Futaba had nearly halved their number within a few handfuls of seconds, certainly no closer to a minute than merely half of one.

Futaba vigilantly looked upon the scene, now making sure to corral them into her line of sight, keeping their backs to the stairs, but not allowing them to escape up it. The blurring speed, unfaltering resilience, and bone crushing might of the battle marionette gave them hopelessness. Futaba would pull out a radio, from her duffel bag and speak into it sternly but in a manner which was unmistakeably chipper. "Surrender now, criminal scum! Your life of crime ends here!" spoke her voice through the radio built into the marionette for convenient Judgement communication.

Her phone would vibrate among her Judgement supplies, and she would glance at the notification. Since she was so good at multitasking, she could notice small details like that one even in the heat of battle, especially from a relatively safe place like this. It was a message from Shirai. She must have picked her up on camera and wanted to cheer her on! Or perhaps it was just more orders. What if she found the wrong guys with guns? Curiosity was eating at her as she returned the brunt of her attention to the gunmen below, only to be interrupted yet again by somebody shouting her name right next to her, and perhaps there was an echo?

No wait, from over there. Wait no, what was this?

The blue haired girl who had blurted whatever nonsense that was to her was holding something. Something familiar. Something important.

"The case!" she would blurt frantically. With neither professionalism nor tact she would reach over to snatch the technological masterpiece from the small blue girl, "You shouldn't have this, young lady! But thank you for bringing it to me nonetheless, I'll see it to safe hands, I swear on my pride as a Judgement officer!"

Wait, how did this young lady know her name? Did she see it on that one article from the newspaper back then? No need to worry about the particulars if it secured the cooperation of the citizens.

She at least had the good sense to let him pass. Keeping his eyes fixed ahead, the albino boy with a fierce expression made for the counter to pay for his purchases.

“Oho, Master. You don’t have to worry about that one bit.”

She was still talking...

Accelerator felt his chest tighten and his breaths became a little shorter. He was tensing up.

“I will not charge you a single yen. I am merely here as your humble maid.”

What's more, she kept hovering at the edges of his vision, like a mosquito buzzing back and forth for the opportunity to land. And like a mosquito, she kept letting out that irritating sound. A high pitched droning. He didn't even hear what she was saying, not really. That high pitched noise kept building, and after a moment Accelerator realised the noise was mostly in his head.

"I mean..." He found himself taking a quick, deep breath through his nose, pinching the bridge as he placed a handful of change down on the store counter along with his canned coffee. "I'm not interested." He hoped that would be enough to shut down any further attempts.

But he didn't know who he was dealing with.

Mayhem would be the best word to describe what that doll did to the men in black suits. Even armed with lethal weapons such as handguns their attempt at a fight was overly futile. All it took was a mere moment before they were downed with visible ease.

Not that the blue haired lab coat girl – or rather Shokuhou Misaki who was controlling her from the distance – would care. After all, the item she had just caught at the height of her clumsy struggle was snatched from her hands by that saviour of hers.

«You shouldn't have this, young lady! But thank you for bringing it to me nonetheless, I'll see it to safe hands, I swear on my pride as a Judgement officer!»

Of course, underlined by unnecessarily flashy heroics. The kind that would cost you more time than you actually had.

«Hurry up we don’t have any time ability! Those were only the—!!!»

Annnnd it was gone.

Before she could even muster the time to explain the urgency of the situation, that urgency explained itself with the suitcase vanishing into thin air.

However, things wouldn’t be left at that. Just as suddenly as the suitcase had vanished, suddenly a pair of longitudinal stakes impaled the doll, that had just wreaked havoc over the now defeated thugs, long enough to dig through its body, the floor beneath and the ceiling above, essentially locking it in place. Only on closer inspection that couple of stakes would reveal itself as two street lanterns which had disappeared from their original position behind the men’s clumsy victim and her saviour.

«Honestly, you bunch are useless.»

The suitcase had returned to the side of the incapacitated thugs.

«Since you’re that useless I let you deal with the recovery of the suitcase and other small jobs.»

Someone was now sitting atop it, scolding the defeated in a tone of superiority.

«But I didn’t expect you to fail even at that.»

It was a young girl with dark red hair tied to two low hanging pony tails in a skimpy outfit, consisting of a way too short mini skirt and the jacket of a navy winter school uniform worn over their shoulders, which barely sufficed to cover the reckless amount of bare skin she was showing as the only other piece of clothing she wore were white bandages she used to cover her chest.

«Colour me impressed, the two of you. But that’s as far as you will go.»

The smile on her face was a culmination of all the superiority she radiated, resting a black military flash light on her shoulder as she spoke.

Inertia was a wonderful thing. Forcing an object that was standing still to move was difficult. But so was changing the path of an object already in motion. For the boy who could redirect any vector without batting a single eye, what was happening now was an abject failure.

Yes, no matter what, rejection was not failure. It was getting stomped on, but someone of Maria’s station could never let that stop. Failure was not an end, or even a stumbling point. It was a new building block she could use to piece together her best self.

“That’s a shame. There are so many perks to having a maid.”

And so, she followed him to the register.

“We are a profession malleable to the needs of the one we serve. From odd jobs to clean-up to business expenses and tax calculation (or evasion), one needs only ask and one will have that job done by any professional standards.”

Though, part of her was aware that if he said ‘yes’ at this point, his first order would be for her to leave him alone. But Kumokawa Maria was a persistent girl, and such a thing would only be a minor setback.

Perhaps that was why she was only still in training.

“So, come on, Master. Open up to your dear maid and let’s have a wonderful, professional relationship~”

The high pitched noise in Accelerator's head continue to build. He could quite literally feel his blood pressure rising. It was taking more and more self-control to resist solving this situation with force. And self-control was not something he had spent much time cultivating in the past.

But the scene in the alleyway had dampened his taste for violence.

So instead the boy reached into his wallet and produced a handful of notes which he thrust out towards Maria emphatically.

"Okay, fine. I'm hiring you for one night. Here's your pay. Your first job is to fuck off and never bother me again." He said decisively, barging past her again without waiting to hear her response. He was not someone who sped up his pace for anyone or anything, but for the first time in his memory, Accelerator found his pace quickening as he hurried to leave that place.

He thought that would be the end of it.

For Kumokawa Maria, money was not of any concern. After all, she was the type of person who could create a top tier dish from menial, cheap ingredients. What was of great concern, was the first order she was given.

Kumokawa Maria considered herself a professional. Rather than putting up a fight, she gingerly took the wad of cash, stacked it into a neat pile, folded it, and placed it neatly into one of the front pockets of her outfit.

“Alright, dear master. I shall put that into effect right away.” At least, that’s what she would have said had he not zoomed past her the moment he pushed the cash upon her.

She had not been given the chance to give a final greeting before leaving him to his devices, and as such, his order had not gone into effect.

She merely had to keep the cash safe as she followed him and inevitably failed to accede to his orders. Though she was a professional, she was in training after all.

As long as she kept outside his field of vision, she could follow his order to the letter, though not to the spirit.

Weren’t loopholes a fantastic thing?

The girl sitting atop the suitcase stood, grasping the handle and facing Satomi.

"I'll be taking this now. Don't try following me. This thing has been enough of a pain to track down as it is." She turned to leave but paused, casting a glance back towards Futaba. She pursed her lips in a thoughtful frown then sighed. And then she vanished.

Only to appear beside the bow-wearing judgement girl. The heavy flashlight swung up into her abdomen. She reared back for a second blow, smashing it down across the girl's shin. Her intention was not to cause injury, but pain. Debilitating, agonising pain. Enough to keep her from following for a few minutes, and perhaps more, just for cruelty's sake. The teleporter doubled over, dry heaving and holding her stomach.

Seeing the suitcase left undefended, the blue-haired scientist made a desperate lunge for it, throwing herself towards the silver case. But it disappeared before she could reach it, leaving her sliding across the ground grasping at thin air.

With that potential obstacle out of her path, Musujime Awaki hefted the case over her shoulder and made her way unhurriedly from the underground mall.

***

Accelerator wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings to notice the girl following him. Even if he had been, he didn't possess the relevant skills of counter-surveillance or espionage that many of those immersed in the dark side had developed. He'd never needed them. His ability had always been enough.

And for that reason he didn't bother taking a different route back to his apartment. Instead, he opted for the most direct and simple path possible short of breaking down the walls and walking in a straight line. He was eager to get back and cut off the outside world again before anything else could further disrupt his mood. He'd left to find a way to reduce his stress, but somehow in that short period he had only gotten more irritated.

It was as if the world wanted him to lose his temper.

It had been too late.

“This isn’t good. They need more back-up!”

The paperwork that had been plaguing Shirai Kuroko had been left half complete as she left the office she had been stuck in with a frenzy. Luckily for her, Uiharu didn’t do anything to stop her. There wasn’t much time so she didn’t even take the door as she telepoted out of the office and began to move as fast as she could through serial teleports to the site of the incident.

But, once she had finally arrived at the underground mall, she had realized the dreary situation laid out before her.

She had been too late.

All that was left was the bow-wearing Judgement girl, on the ground and unconscious, the blue-haired scientist girl, and…

“Geh. What are you doing here, Shokuhou? And what the hell happened?”

Everything had taken the worst imaginable turn. The loss of the suitcase had been fatal. The clock had begun to race. Consequently, it was time for Shokuhou Misaki herself to step out into the field and regain control. However, first and foremost, she had to take care of the innocent collateral.

Albeit she had been the first to arrive at the scene where the blue haired girl under her control was kneeling down to form a lap pillow for the unconscious Judgement member, her arrival was quickly followed up by another one. One that her clearly outsped her own short distance ‹run›.

«Geh. What are you doing here, Shokuhou? And what the hell happened?»

The sudden intrusion had come so unexpected, it nearly startled the honey blonde.

But a true queen knows how to keep face.

«My my, Shirai-san. It took you forever to arrive! Is Judgement’s reaction time ability really that dull?»

Elevate yourself while you lower others. While hidden behind her cocky smile, she carefully played her cards to keep up the act of superiority, although it only served purposes of social positioning.

«Hitotsumi-san over estimated her own capability ability and went head-on against the Move Point. She barely made it, but hadn’t her luck ability been on her side, she would have been done for.»

Even though fatal, the outcome had still been on the better end of the spectrum. With an enemy like the Move Point things could have easily gone far more south than they should have. But thinking about that shouldn’t waste any more time. The clock was still ticking.

That was why the #5 moved past the unconscious girl and her ‹puppet› and headed for the others that had been incapacitated.

«They’re part of an outside organisation that works with Move Point. While I don’t know what exactly they plan on doing with it, it is tied to the contents of the suitcase she took. And that alone raises a high problem ability.»

The one talking was no longer the energy bundle Shokuhou nor the high-up-her-own ass queen of Tokiwadai. Instead, it was her rarely encountered military tactician self.

Shirai Kuroko suppressed an urge to drive one of her stakes into the honey-blonde girl’s thighs after hearing that insult to Judgement. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard people trash talk the organization, but something about her being the one to do it rubbed her the wrong way in so many different aspects.

“I’ve already called back-up to remove Hitotsumi-san from here since she’s not conscious anymore. So, putting that aside, that leaves the main issues. Move Point.”

Kuroko clenched her teeth and pressed her palm against her temple so roughly, one would think she was trying to snap her head off her neck.

“We can still use that to our advantage, though.”

But rather than focusing on any friction she may have had with the honey-blonde, she was a professional through and through. Certain things drew more priority and attention.

Move Point was a teleportation ability and while Kuroko had never met the girl, she knew that they shared a mutual weakness that they could utilize.

“If they’re an outside organization, then we can shut them down by shutting down Move Point. I would need to tackle her directly, but...”

Shirai Kuroko loathed bringing civilians into a minefield with her, even if said civilian was the third strongest Level 5 she so deeply adored. Nevertheless, it was clear the civilian before her had already gone beyond knee deep into this situation.

“It would be more optimal to work together. What support and information can you provide?”

She suppressed her urge to expel the contents of her stomach through her mouth. After all, time was short and the faster they could deal with this, the better. If the Queen of Tokiwadai was involved, the support she would provide and the support Uiharu would provide would be beyond ample.

«Who said I needed to work with you?»

By nature, Shokuhou Misaki was a difficult person to work with. Her response, sharp, cold and drenched in her typical air of superiority. Upholding that was necessary for the upkeep of her own social status.

«Besides, what would Misaka-san think about the two of us…working together like this?»

Not to forget that she was also a teaser.

However, all that aside, the involvement of Move Point did make the situation far more complicated than the #5 would like it. Someone of that calibre could easily trouble even a Level 5 Esper.

«They’re a small group of both intruders and people within the city. They rely on a few safe houses and other key location abilities, but that’s it. I believe, now that they have the cargo, they will try to make contact with their support group on the outside and seek a way to make an exchange.»

Hence, the only appropriate course of action was to unite forces, if only for once.

«Combining both of our asset abilities, we should be capable of tracking them down and intercept their path before that event. However, I’m not sure how much we could do against them in direct combat.»

Unknown wrote:Aoki-san,

A few minutes ago a suitcase containing a classified item has been stolen by a girl by the name of Musujime Awaki. She is planning to deliver it to an outside faction. Currently, she is being pursued by Judgement and Shokuhou Misaki.

Infiltrate their ranks and claim the suitcase before they can.

Further, please prevent Musujime Awaki from delivering the suitcase and its contents to the outside party.

In fact, do not allow anyone else to lay their hands on it.

I trust in your success.

Find attached a picture of Musujime and the current whereabouts of Shokuhou.

---

The city was bustling as the evening sun slowly faded, drenching it all in deep red. It was only a matter of time before darkness arrived to fight the beautiful city lights. A good hour for a boy and girl to wander the streets in search for another youth. Like a lost needle in a gigantic haystack.

And yet it was all too natural to search someone in this chaos. At least they weren‘t the only ones to. «Hey you. Overthere! You’re looking for someone aren’t ya? Me, too!» From among the crowds a sailor uniform girl emerged, pushing into their safe space before they even had the chance to build up their defence. «There’s a bunch of guys I was supposed to meet up with. Straight laced. Suits. Something like that. But I can’t seem to find ’em.» Speaking in the manner of a ruffian with no sense of manners, the girl matched her looks. Wearing a beige cardigan over her blue, white and red uniform, she gave off the idea of a student; one she’d defy with the weird oversized black scarf and her unnatural blonde hair, messily tied to two buns at each side, sharp teeth and military boots at her feet. However, that wasn’t even the weirdest aspect of her.


What stuck out the most on the encouter was the oversized backpack she wore, reminding of heavy military gear in terms of size and shape. Something, a girl of her stature shouldn’t be able to carry this easily. From it emerged a bunch of tubes connecting to the scarf itself.

«What’cha say? You help me and I help y‘all?»

---

Musujime Awaki couldn‘t rest. There was no chance she could. Pulling along the heavy suitcase she ran, forward to the end of the roof. And upon arrival she gulped, sucked it all up, and jumped again. Not in a literal sense, of course. Did she disappear and reappear a couple of hundreds metres and therefore buildings later.

Surpressing the urge to spew, she’d cast a glance over her shoulder.

Only to find their presence chasing her relentlessly.

Shadowy figures, as large as cars, yet made of flesh and covered by hide. Their wild eyes were fixed on her, as they writhed with bloodlust. Like hounds they chased her, crossing the gaps between the buildings with the ease of simple leaps.

Wolves after the red riding hood.

As time passed, and the distance traveled become longer and more apparent, between the darkening of the sky and the increase in volume of people, Unimato's arms became steadily more and more tired from lugging around the stack of books that they should have very much gotten a bag for. Lamenting on the things they should and should not have done or wish they had, such as maybe making a stop at their dorm to drop off the books and wishing their ability could make things lighter instead of outright intangible , they let out a sigh, wondering if they should maybe try to strike up conversation with the kid to take their mind off the books. Though before they could let a word out, a particularly strange individual, seemingly jumping out from the crowd into their and Misaka's personal space, was before them.

«Hey you. Overthere! You’re looking for someone aren’t ya? Me, too!»

Unimato stops suddenly in their tracks, before potentially running into the person, turning their head, afterwards, to see if Misaka was able to do the same.

«There’s a bunch of guys I was supposed to meet up with. Straight laced. Suits. Something like that. But I can’t seem to find ’em.»

The individual continued, as Unimato took a couple of steps back to get their bearings straight, sizing up this ever-so-lacking-in-matters, supposed 'student.'

'Ok... random person talking to you... has yet to give a name... and... what in the city could potentially be in that backpack? And why does it have pipes attached to it?! That's not some kind of... weapon, is it? I mean, judging by the size of the bag, either an air compressor or a loader for particularly large ammo could be in it... or maybe that's an engine and those pipes are for exhaust- Pull yourself together, Uni! Just wait for her to finish and politely ask her to leave.' The poor nervous wreck of human being would think to their self, resisting their 'fight or flight response' (with emphasis on flight) in this situation.

«What’cha say? You help me and I help y‘all?»

"I-I'm sorry to hear that you're missing some... people of your own." They finally respond, now taking an instinctive step in front of Misaka, attempting to try and show that they mean to protect her, if it comes down to it... though it might not seem so to this oddball of an induvial, seeing that Unimato is currently stumbling on their own words. "It s-so h-happens I'm helping this little one find someone as well. A-and though the ex-extra help would be appreciated, I wouldn't want to make finding your people take longer, than it needs to- that a-and I think splitting both our attention on something else might only prove a hinderance to both parties, in the end." Uni continues, perhaps sounding a bit too overly formal. "Might be better off focusing on one with thing at a time... i-if any of that makes sense, of course... They finish explaining in the most roundabout manner possible.

While meanwhile in the back of their head:

'They are really giving me some "shady gang member" vibes, the more I look at them... If worst comes to worst, I can always phase Misaka. My range should be enough for her to run into the crowd, unseen, as well as enough time to make some distance.'

Unknown wrote:Aoki-san,

A few minutes ago a suitcase containing a classified item has been stolen by a girl by the name of Musujime Awaki. She is planning to deliver it to an outside faction. Currently, she is being pursued by Judgement and Shokuhou Misaki.

Infiltrate their ranks and claim the suitcase before they can.

Further, please prevent Musujime Awaki from delivering the suitcase and its contents to the outside party.

In fact, do not allow anyone else to lay their hands on it.

I trust in your success.

Find attached a picture of Musujime and the current whereabouts of Shokuhou.

Aiko let out a sigh as she sat up from her bed having just read her new assignment. There'd been a slight lull in assignments since Ichigo Ai's death, but it didn't last long. Aiko wasn't as big a fan of this new handler. She'd never met them in person and all she got were these simple texts and attachments. At least Ichigo Ai talked to them in person, though she was dead now so maybe this new person was trying to avoid a similar fate. Either way, this new handler seemed to have a much higher opinion of her abilities if she was getting sent this assignment solo. Dealing with Judgement, Misaki, and whatever this Musujime was capable of, Aiko didn't feel much faith this was ending in success.  

"Well, it just said infiltrate and not fight so maybe I'll have a chance. Might as well get over there and get this over with."


Luckily Aiko knew a good number of shortcuts throughout the city, so reaching the mall entrance where both Misaki and Kuroko were didn't take to long. Aiko wasn't sure how she'd be able to locate them if they'd both left the scene already. She'd also arrived just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation the two were having.

«Combining both of our asset abilities, we should be capable of tracking them down and intercept their path before that event. However, I’m not sure how much we could do against them in direct combat.»

"Need a third to lend a hand. Sounds like you could benefit from bolstering your numbers."

---

As the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky, it became clear that the pair's aimless wandering had proven fruitless, at least up to this point. The girl smothered in the large hoodie had taken to walking just a bit behind the now hoodie-less boy to keep from getting bumped around by the crowds of people that new prowled the streets. The lack of any sightings or clue of Accelerator was disheartening, but the young girl was resolved not to give up so easily. Her internal pep talk was swiftly interrupted however as her face collided softly with the back of her sea urchin companion. He'd stopped short as a strange girl wearing some wild contraption had thrown herself in front of him.

«Hey you. Overthere! You’re looking for someone aren’t ya? Me, too! There’s a bunch of guys I was supposed to meet up with. Straight laced. Suits. Something like that. But I can’t seem to find ’em. What’cha say? You help me and I help y‘all?»

"I-I'm sorry to hear that you're missing some... people of your own. It s-so h-happens I'm helping this little one find someone as well. A-and though the ex-extra help would be appreciated, I wouldn't want to make finding your people take longer, than it needs to- that a-and I think splitting both our attention on something else might only prove a hinderance to both parties, in the end. Might be better off focusing on one with thing at a time... i-if any of that makes sense, of course...

Misaka had to agree with the sea urchin boy's judgement. She considered herself a pretty good judge of people and this girl with her weird contraption was setting off alarms. Her companion however was stumbling over his words so of course it was up to her to make sure the strange girl hit the road.

"We are in the middle of our very important search and don't have time to look for anyone else says Misaka as Misaka attempts to make sure the strange girl does not continue to press this."

“Necessity. It’s necessity.” She said clenching her fist at her side as she tried to let the honey-blonde girl’s words pass through her the best she could. “It’s not like I could just try and push you out of the scene and hope you’d walk away. Besides, Onee-sama would understand, even if she doesn’t approve. And that, too, would be fine.”

If Shirai Kuroko were being honest, she hated the fact that she was saying these words. Of all the people she had come across in Tokiwadai, Shokuhou Misaki was someone she considered to be an absolutely blackened entity.

It was not simply the rivalry and explicit hatred for each other that blossomed between Misaki and Mikoto that had led to Kuroko’s sense of revulsion.

Shokuhou was someone who trampled upon the dignity of others by the very nature of her power and amassed tremendous influence through its use. In a sense, she reminded Kuroko of…

Really, what’s happening to me?

A certain fiery girl’s words flashed through her mind.

Shirai Kuroko did not blush or stammer. She did not make any awkward denials or simply attempt to brush everything aside.

She was…

No. There are more important things than all of this.

“If that’s the case, then we have a couple of options.” Kuroko lifted up her hand and two fingers as she reasoned things out.

“A head on attack.” She put one of the fingers down. “Or an ambush at the estimated drop-off point.”

Hot-headed though she was, she would not let that cloud her better judgment. At least not fully.  

“Either way, it seems we at least agree that teaming up is for the better.” Cutting to the chase, Kuroko took another step towards Shokuhou as she directed her hand towards the blonde’s shoulder.

“So, let’s get going. There’s no time to waste.”

At least, that was what she was about to say before a third voice entered the fray.

Yes, a third person who had been likely overhearing everything she and Shokuhou had said.

Her hand stopped before it reached he honey-blonde’s shoulder and her head turned to the side in a stepwise fashion as if it were making discrete, robotic movements before her eyes faced the newcomer.

“Who...” Kuroko stuttered only one word before looking back towards Shokuhou for only one more second. “Who are you?”

So much for a lack of time.

«Ayyyy. ’s alright. Was just feelin’ ya out!» The girl’s smile was broad and as was her tolerance. She may have the speech of a ruffian, but that clearly wasn’t her defining trait. «I’m sure I can handle myself. ’s not that hard to sniff out my fellas. They’re probably wasting time somewhere or elseswhere. Just gonna take a bit!», she’d say in careless voice, turning towards the dark streets framed by the overtly bright city lights.

And yet she didn’t go. «Just one more thing…» Her voice fell into a deeper tone, more serious. Foreboding.

«Where’d ya get that hoodie? Quite fancy thing! Wanna grab one, too!», she’d declare, suddenly rushing into the girl’s comfort zone as a her hand shot forward to grab one of the cat ears; not with the strength the motion may have implied, but soft care.

Eyeing the fabric curiously, she reattached herself to those that had attempted to cast her away. Nonchalantly.

---

With Shirai on board, Shokuhou Misaki was convinced that their success ability had increased, albeit only by slim margin. After all, both options she had dropped on the table, were quite risky in and of themselves. «All we need to do is ensure that we catch her, before the item leaves our reach ability.» She kept it simple, leaving out on the pleasure of teasing the other girl some more by rubbing the circumstances into her face. There was a lot of time to do so later.

Turning towards her other favourite toy of the day, the queen spoke: «We’re going.» Although she didn’t need to, given that the blue haired scientist had been one of her puppets all along.

Yet before they could move forward, another party dug itself right into the core of their conversation.

«Need a third to lend a hand. Sounds like you could benefit from bolstering your numbers.»

«Oh my, Aoki-san! Volunteering yourself for our party? How very altruistic of you ☆» Smiling brightly at the offer of the random newcomer, Shokuhou immediately stepped past the other two girls, laying her hand on Aoki Aiko’s shoulder in a very jovial manner. «The more the merrier, I would say ☆»

However, as kind-spirited these words were on the surface, their subtext was very venomous, did she not trust the girl any further than a pebble she’d throw herself. And who could blame her? Someone whose thoughts she had no line of access to, could never be trusted.

«Ayyyy. ’s alright. Was just feelin’ ya out! I’m sure I can handle myself. ’s not that hard to sniff out my fellas. They’re probably wasting time somewhere or elseswhere. Just gonna take a bit!»

And right when Unimato was about to breath a sigh of relief at this potential gang member looking as if they were about to leave...

«Just one more thing…»

That breath was instead held as they watched the individual rush past them and towards Misaka, in one, swift motion reaching out for...

«Where’d ya get that hoodie? Quite fancy thing! Wanna grab one, too!»

...The ear of their hoodie.

Finally releasing their breath as they initially intended. '...almost gave me a heart attack, there...' Unimato thought as they watched this tactless 'student' feeling out the fabric. "I... um... That's actually my hoodie..." They pipe up in a rather sheepish tone. "She looked cold... so I lent it to her." Uni continued, now looking the other way, as if embarrassed to admit it belonged to them, even though it never did before when they were the one wearing it. Though that was mostly due to the fact it was a comfort thing for them and they have not actually offered anyone else to wear it, until today.

"Oh, uhm... not to be rude but I don't think I... caught your name, at all...?" They say more so in an inquiring tone in an attempt to quickly change the subject, returning their gaze to the person in question.

As soon as Aiko made her presence known, both girls' attention was squarely on her.

“Who... Who are you?”  

«Oh my, Aoki-san! Volunteering yourself for our party? How very altruistic of you ☆. The more the merrier, I would say ☆»

Aiko had been told that Judgement was on site with Shokuhou, though who was there specifically wasn't mentioned. It turns out it was Kuroko. Aiko barely kept herself from letting out a sigh. She'd hoped the Judgement member might at least be someone on the weaker end, but Aiko had heard no shortage of rumors about Kuroko's proficiency. It seemed Kuroko didn't recognize her at all and that would be to her benefit. It'd be easier to steal the case away from the both of them if they weren't completely aware of what she was capable of.

As for Shokuhou, Aiko had a suspicion that for whatever reason she couldn't read her mind. Their interaction just now also furthered that suspicion. If she could read her mind, why could Shokuhou allow her to join them knowing that Aiko planned to steal the case from them at the end. Though she could also just be planning to use Aiko and then discard her at the end. Either way, it didn't change the fact that this was going to be rough.

"Of course, you know I'm ever the helpful type. And to you Shirai-san, I'm Aoki Aiko, professional busy body at your service. So, where are we headed?"

---

«Ayyyy. ’s alright. Was just feelin’ ya out! I’m sure I can handle myself. ’s not that hard to sniff out my fellas. They’re probably wasting time somewhere or elseswhere. Just gonna take a bit! Just one more thing… Where’d ya get that hoodie? Quite fancy thing! Wanna grab one, too!»

The girl in front of her may be extremely suspicious, but Misaka couldn't fault her exquisite taste in adorable hoodies, as indicated by her desire to have the same one as she was currently wearing.

"I... um... That's actually my hoodie... She looked cold... so I lent it to her."

"That's right, the hoodie belongs to my sea urchin friend here says Misaka as Misaka hopes he forgets and leaves it with her."

Misaka then proceeded to grab Unimato by the sleeve and start pulling him in a direction.

"Now we have to keep searching says Misaka as Misaka tries to continue her search for the strongest."

“Hmm...he really looks pissed off.”

Kumokawa Maria couldn’t help but mutter as she kept a safe distance from the boy. The power of the concept of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ truly was undeniable. But, this, too, was its own issue.

“Really, if my own maidly charms weren’t enough to help the new master get out of his funk, then I’ve already made a significant failure as a maid.”

Maria was a maid-in-training. She could hardly be faulted for her deficiencies. After all, training was meant to iron out those kinds of wrinkles in her skills. However, it was patently obvious that her priorities were skewed as hell.

What she was doing would clearly constitute stalking to any reasonable outsider, but the maid-in-training would not let those technicalities bother her as she continued to follow the pathetic annoyed boy.

“No. Not yet...”

She had complete intent to approach the boy once again, but now was not the time to break the orders she had been given. A proper opportunity needed to present itself once again.

She just needed the right stimulus—the right thing to prompt a maid to arrive in the nick of time.

---

"No. Stop, Shokuhou.” Shirai Kuroko said as she faced the mental esper who had almost too easily picked up suspicious and allowed them to tag along like she was pulling characters from a gacha.

“Please tell me you’re not just going to pick up every stray who offers to help?”


Shirai Kuroko had already been apprehensive about pulling in Mental Out into this whole thing. Everything about this was a headache waiting to happen. Despite being one of the more hotheaded members of Judgement, even she knew when to adhere to certain boundaries in protocol.

"Of course, you know I'm ever the helpful type. And to you Shirai-san, I'm Aoki Aiko, professional busy body at your service. So, where are we headed?"

“She’s clearly suspicious! You can’t just tell me it’s a good idea to pull her in because she offered to help on something she’s pretending to have no idea about! And don’t even give me any nonsense about keeping suspicious people closer so you can keep an eye out on them at all times!”

«And don’t even give me any nonsense about keeping suspicious people closer so you can keep an eye out on them at all times!»

«I’m glad you agree Shirai-san ☆ I always knew great mind think alike ☆»

Beaming with over the top girlish confidence, Shokuhou Misaki sealed their fate. Naturally, in a way that made her seem all the more unreasonable did she not bother to play her cards secretly. But that was another part of her game as the great Queen of Tokiwadai.

«I’m sure as fellow Tokiwadai girls, we will get along just fine ☆» The carmaradry of school mates was another of those ploys one could easily utilise. Whoever had sent Aoki had likely been aiming to do the same.

Now with all that having been said, she would steer the reigns just the way she needed even further, not solely for the sake of enforcing her privilege but also since she had been the most capable at doing just that. What was a schemer without a scheme, after all?

Bringing out her phone, she dialed one of only few numbers she kept on quick dial. And as quickly as she had dialed, the connection would come through. «Hokaze-san ☆ Do we have Musujime Awaki tracked down yet? […] We do? Great ☆ Please forward the coordinates to me, Shirai and Aoki Aiko then! […] Yeah, they’re with me today. […] Thank you ☆»

And then, within just the same absurdly short timegap as before, the other two girls would find their phones ringing as the requested information arrived in their mail boxes. Coordinates. Satellite images. Connections to live camera footage. Legal? Well, ladies of the upper class wouldn’t limit themselves by dusty concepts such as rules, would they?

«You two take this girl overthere with you. I’ll manage the communications ability from the distance.» Pointing her delicate gloved finger at the blue haired labcoat girl who currently was standing by idly, Shokuhou Misaki made it no secret that she wouldn’t accept a no for answer; even if she sugar coated it in her usual up-beat demenaour.

---

«Tch» Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Accelerator turned to eye the nuisance that clung to him like flies to a turd. «You don’t know when to stop, do you…» As he spoke the casual exasperation was underlined by a great sense of hostility. So sharp it could almost be lethal.

«Hah! You think we’re scared of you, do you?» A confident voice resounded as a couple of footsteps became audible. And as they did, a number of young men emerged from the shadows of the side alleys bordering to the already not so popular side street. All of them were boys, dressed shabbily, muscular and armed with whatever makeshift weaponry one could imagine. Classics such as a basebal bats, nailboards, and even pitchforks among them. «We know you’re just some wuss now! The Number One. Pffff. Just a title some old farts made up for some flex, isn’t it?» The leader of group closed the distance a bit too carelessly, wallowing in his own arrogance.

And only then he seemed to have taken notice his target’s company.

«And who’s she? A maid. How hot! Guys, let’s have some fun with her when we’re done with that weako.»

«I told you to to piss off. Did I not?», he’d speak, facing no one in particular. «Getting all cocky now?» «That’s what you get…» Turning only to that nuisance of a maid as he spoke, that Number One sighed loudly.

And then he’d…

---

«For fucks sake! Piss off already!», Musujime Awaki shouted as she waved her flashlight at the incoming monster. Charging like the rabid beast with its maw wide open it would have torn its fangs right into her. Wasn’t it for the dumpster appearing right above it in that very instance.

Now as it was just crossing the gap between the building it had been on and hers, it was launched downwards by the falling weight.

Right into the middle of another quarrel.

Right the very moment a certain white haired boy had intended to split concrete with the absurd force of a single step.

Instead he now found a strange furry monster and a metal container crashing down upon him. Something, he, too, wasn’t all too bothered by, did his reflection immediately launch the both of them back into the air. Yet not cleanly as they took the leader of the street thugs with them tearing through the edge of a building on their path threre.

---

Still enarmoured with the hoodie, the obvious delinquent girl no longer had eyes for anything else, even as she conversed with its presumed and actual owners. «Name’s Jun—»

Yet before she could wrap up the introduction, the loud noise of something crashing through massive concrete in a nearby side street cut her off. Now, finally averting her attention from the hoodie, she’d give the whistle of the amused onlooker. «That’s a big one!»

"No. Stop, Shokuhou. Please tell me you’re not just going to pick up every stray who offers to help? She’s clearly suspicious! You can’t just tell me it’s a good idea to pull her in because she offered to help on something she’s pretending to have no idea about! And don’t even give me any nonsense about keeping suspicious people closer so you can keep an eye out on them at all times!”

As expected of her, she was suspicious. Aiko doubted there was much she could say herself to convince her without blowing her cover, so the only answer she gave to Shirai's concerns was a simple shrug. Luckily for her, Shokuhou decided to brush her off just as easily.

«I’m glad you agree Shirai-san ☆ I always knew great mind think alike ☆. I’m sure as fellow Tokiwadai girls, we will get along just fine ☆»

"Yeah Shirai-san, is such open suspicion really the way to treat your senpai. It's our duty to look out for our juniors you know."

As the mission the higher ups had given her involved using her status as a fellow Tokiwadai student to infiltrate this group, Aiko was wearing her uniform at the moment. Though like usual it was the winter uniform out of season. Shokuhou then pulled out her phone and made a quick call.

«Hokaze-san ☆ Do we have Musujime Awaki tracked down yet? […] We do? Great ☆ Please forward the coordinates to me, Shirai and Aoki Aiko then! […] Yeah, they’re with me today. […] Thank you ☆»

A moment later, Aiko felt the phone in her pocket vibrate. Pulling it out, she confirmed the location. Luckily, it seemed Musujime hadn't gotten too far ahead of them.

«You two take this girl overthere with you. I’ll manage the communications ability from the distance.»

"Fair enough, you never were one for direct confrontations after all. Let's get moving before the gap widens even more. If this is where the target is now, I know a good shortcut."

Aiko would then start moving at a relatively swift pace towards the location she'd been given.

---

Misaka had already started to pull Unimato along with her to remove the both of them from this conversation. Unfortunately for the two of them even if they had decided that they were done with the strange girl, she had not decided that she was done with them. Keeping pace with the pair, the strange girl introduced herself.

«Name’s Jun—»

Though her introduction didn't get very far before it was interrupted by the loud crashing sound of heavy objects colliding with concrete.

«That’s a big one!»

The strange girl was right, it was a big one. Potentially bigger than most espers in the city could cause. Not that Misaka had been given a reason to suspect and esper was the cause, but it was academy city after all. On top of that, if she concluded the cause was a power esper, this was the best clue she'd gotten through all her nights of searching and her conversation with this strange girl was certainly not going to cause her to potentially miss her change to finally meet the strongest.

"Run Sea Urchin-san, we have to go check that out says Misaka as Misaka concludes that it mights have be caused by the strongest!".

Misaka then let go of Unimato's sleeve and broke into a sprint in the direction of the loud noise as fast as her small legs could carrier her. As she approached her destination, her heart beating faster and faster as she may be approaching her goal.

«Name’s Jun—»

The delinquents introduction getting cut off-presumably not even a full syllable in-as a loud crash resounded nearby, causing the young Misaka to stop tugging on their sleeve. Meanwhile, Unimato's immediate response was a mix of a jump, similar to that of a skittish cat, and their appearance visibly flickering in out, involuntarily, followed by the fumbling of their books due to loosing their grip on them in that moment.

«That’s a big one!»

"Run Sea Urchin-san, we have to go check that out says Misaka as Misaka concludes that it mights have be caused by the strongest!".

Were the other's response to the crash, before the smaller of the two took off in the direction of the noise. Whilst Unimato stood still for a solid few seconds, looking almost dumbfounded.

"S-Sea Urchin-san...?" They would mutter in a confused tone, tilting their head like a curious cat as they finally came back to their senses... though apparently not fully, as after a couple of more seconds go by, their eyes go wide, only now realizing that the kid took off. They look back and forth for a moment as if having a moment of silent panic to their self before looking down at their stack of books and shoving them towards the stranger and taking off after Misaka shortly after, all while uttering something of a rapid, almost incoherent apology.

"M-Misaka-san, wait up! You shouldn't go running off! E-especially towards something like that! Unimato proceeded to call out as they run after the one still wearing their hoodie.

“Ah. Guess I screwed up.”

She had figured she was keeping a solid enough distance from the boy that she would not be able to be seen. She was hardly a slouch and she knew how to practice stealth in a proper manner, but stealth from one person was a different matter compared to stealth from a group.

If she had anticipated this, she would have been following while jumping from roof to roof. She was nimble enough that such a thing would be a very pertinent option. However, she never took that precaution and at this point, hindsight was 20/20.

And yet despite the absurd plethora of thugs who had been attempting to surround him (with clear intent to go after her the moment he was felled), he had focused his annoyance more towards her then the others.

It would have been a perfect time for her to be a bit of a masochist, but she was not that type of person.

That being said, everything seemed to flip on its head before he could make another move. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was as if the sky had begun to fall on them. Between the dumpster and the silhouette of something clearly living that she couldn’t exactly distinguish, both of them had fallen towards her dear master and yet he wasn’t troubled by it in the slightest, to the point where the two falling objects were simply thrown in a different direction by him, pulling the gang’s leader with them.

Kumokawa Maria was many things. She was a maid-in-training. She was a girl who was chasing after a missing Kihara. She was a fairly resilient person. She was trained in multiple forms of dance that syngerized well with her ability. She was one of many Espers here in Academy City.

But before the surreal scene in front of her, even she could only barely eke out a single utterance while opening her eyes wide and tilting her head.

“What?”

---

She was never going to get through to either of these two. Not the Level 5 with the most potent mental ability in the city nor the newcomer would ever listen.

She was the lone sane person in crazytown, or at least that’s what Shirai Kuroko dearly wished to believe.

“Fine then.”

What was the old adage? When in Rome, do as the Romans do?

She was probably not going to get much support from the Number 5 if she ended up going rogue at this point (even if she felt she didn’t need it, but one needn’t discount a good set of support) so she acquiesced to the team-up.

After all, the longer they lingered, the further the target would be able to escape.

Taking heed of Shokuhou’s instructions, Shirai Kuroko grabbed the lab coat girl who had been with them and immediately started teleporting towards the given coordinates, one teleport at a time.

Arriving at the scene of the ruckus, Last Order and Unimato would witness a clash between monsters.

Of course that wasn’t the end of it. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Accelerator watched as another creature came plummeting down from above, claiming the centre of the circle formed by the street thugs.

And what a creature it was. Tall as bear, covered in fur from head to toe, yet wearing a pair of stretch jeans on its lower body. Its head was in a strange shape, somewhere between human and wolf. Yet the greatest oddity here was the fur on its head, arranged to form something akin of a pompadour. As it walked on all fours, it turned to ignore the naturally terrified hooligans and instead directed all its attention to him, the Number One.

Then, just like that it split its maw to talk? «The fuck yer thinking ya doin’? Messin’ my mate up jus’ like that!» To call it ordinary speech may have taken it a bit too far. This was more akin to barking when it came down to it. Yet still…

Accelerator didn’t have any drive to deal with whatever this was. «Listen. Your friend came down on me. Maybe you shouldn’t play jump when you can’t even stick the landing.» Biting back, he didn’t appear all too bothered with the whole situation. It had just been an unforunate reflex, after all.

Then again, he was almost certain whatever these things were, they hadn’t been on to no good.

«You fuckin’ with me? ’cause of you we lost our prey! Y’know you gotta pay for that, don’tcha?» Circling to the left, the creature gained the appearance of a predator. Radiating confidence all throughout, was its muscle mass far above that of anything human. And yet while that imagery alone was enough to freeze the angry mob, it didn’t bother the even greater predator one bit. «Can we get this over with already? I got other things to do…»

That was the signal. Immediately after the beast set off into a highspeed charge, defying the levels of the world’s peak athletes as it sped towards the albino boy. Yet just as it was about to arrive, it suddenly stopped in its track as though driven by instinct taking a safe leap to the side instead. «…?» And then it did it yet again. Another attack, broken off at the very last moment, completely by instinct.

«What the fuck?», they both said in tandem.

Staring down at the boy, the beastman finally came to a realisation.

«…so I can’t attack ya, huh?», it would mutter. And then, just as instinctively it shifted its attention. «If I can’t do that, then…» Yet before it even finished the sentence, the creature’s maddening charge continued, this time directed not at the boy but his female friend in black and yellow. Bracing its claw to grasp her momentarily.

They both were the centre of the circle, after all. Which meant they mustn’t have been completely unrelated.

Bluuuuuurrrrrghhh

Finally in safety and with her stomach more than empty, Musujime Awaki leaned back from the overized plant pot she had claimed with both her hands. Having greeted the roots of the palm tree it held with not the most pleasant gift straight from deep within, she could finally reassmble her thoughts.

«Whatever caught those things… I’m glad it did» There was no time to rejoice just yet, but she was certain to have made it outside of their reach. After one of them had been knocked away miraculously, the other had quickly broken off chase to follow it instead. And when that happened, she took a long leap around the city, making it here.

Here was another building rooftop. The entire floor covered by sand, except for occasional plank work that was made to imitate a ganglank. Pair that with the carefully placed, seashells, palm trees, surf boards, parasols, torches, barrels and wooden shacks, the imagery of a tropical beach paradise was quite perfect.

A scenery that offered little at nighttime on a weekday.

Pushing the suitcase forward, she sought out a beach chair to rest herself on for the moment.

Teleporting took a heavy toll on her, after all.

Not that she couldn’t rest, just for a moment…