[SS] A Certain Russian Transfer Student [Tokiwadai Students/Faculty]

"Vodka tastes good in Russia."

Mikoto blinked, clearly confused.

Vodka? Was that some kind of a food?

"Hypothesis No1. It's likely I was sent here as an Ambassador and to please my superior who wishes to see me pushed into perverted opportunities involving rare cosplays but at the same time it's also likely that I was sent to experience a normal life."

Again, Mikoto blinked, her head tilting curiously to the side. Every time she tried to make more sense of this new friend, the confusion only seemed to get worse. Was she saying that she didn’t have a normal life before?

"Question No1. Where are you currently staying and do you have additional space for a transfer student?"

“Oh…” The easy smile regained its place at Sasha’s more “normal” question. This, Mikoto could understand and answer to, at least to some extent.

“I live at Tokiwadai’s Exterior student dormitory outside the School gardens,” Mikoto replied. “There’s also another one inside the School Gardens. I have a roommate who lives with me, and the rule is two in a room… But maybe something can be arranged for you. It might be a good idea to talk to one of the teachers…”

She hesitated slightly, the corners of her eyes creasing into a defeated smile.

“Well, talking to the Dorm Mistress directly might be your best bet… But she can be rather scary…”

She forced out a watery chuckle that ended up sounding more like a hiccup.

"Well I suppose it can't do any harm..."

She expected more of a fight than that. Does that teacher really cares about anything at all? Well, at least it was beneficial for her.

Other than that, she had forgotten a detail.

"OK, I'll play your game. Who should I cover for if I'm asked?"

She had not given her name yet. As rude as it may be, she never introduces herself on her own accord, only when prompted and with a reason.

On her side she knew about Guy for probably as long as was a teacher at this school, she was curious about the new male teacher of the second year, which led her to ask the questions she had asked earlier (unfortunately the question she wanted to know the most was not answered), nonetheless she still managed to get his name after asking around (though she can't deny the weird expression she had when she first heard it).

She was still irritated over the smirk, yet concluded that nitpicking on every detail would only make her lose her precious time.

“Hujisaka Natsumi.”

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Natsumi." He said. "Now I know your name, don't go getting in any trouble. After all, there's a limit to how much I can cover for you." He made it clear that he now had leverage against her. The boy was more sly than she had anticipated.

"Now then..." He returned his attention to the classroom only to be met with a veritable horde of girls swarming past him eager to get to their next class. They ignored him, chattering among themselves as he fruitlessly called out to them. "R-remember your assignments! We've got the Midsummer Festival to prepare for!" He realised with despair that none of them were listening and his shoulders sank low.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Natsumi."

She looked at him bewildered, who had told him he could call her by her name?

"Now I know your name, don't go getting in any trouble. After all, there's a limit to how much I can cover for you."

(Leverage, huh...)

She had gotten his message very clearly, but did not intent to do it. Leverage wasn't really something that worked with her, and the only thing that could truly scare her was her dorm mistress.

"Now then..."

She looked at him as he focused his attention to his classroom, and the scene that followed was either ridiculously funny, or awkwardly ridiculous for her.

A group of girls were passing by, and Guy tried to call out to them as a normal teacher would.

"R-remember your assignments! We've got the Midsummer Festival to prepare for!"

Simply put, he was ignored. As his shoulders sank low Natsumi looked at him with a disagreeing look.

“You're pathetic, you know that? ...Heck why were you stuttering the first word?”

She muttered the last part in a lower tone than the rest.

Dorm Manager. The word sent shivers down Misaka Mikoto and Sasha could tell she must have been an individual of some importance. Maybe Dorm Managers are like Science equivalent of a Catholic Abbess judging by how she spoke of her and connecting the two together Sasha figured out it was in her best interest to seek out the abbess immediately if she were to secure a place to stay for the night and every future nights lest she wants to risk spending a night in an entire hotel reserved in her name by Vasilissa. A hotel rigged with hidden chimera eyes in every unsuspecting corners.

It was already noon and she barely had few more hours until school was over. She must act now or else!

"Proposition No1. Mikoto please assist Sasha by leading me to the Dorm Manager immediately."

Sasha then grabbed Mikoto by the hand and tugged at her, motioning her to come with her away from the teacherless classroom more or less left in chaos. Officially it would have been self study period with Guy missing from the scene but the students had no real interest in a self study session anyway.

But more importantly why was she so strong? It almost felt like Mikoto was being dragged off. The sensation was as though she was walking 101 dalmations on a single leash.

As she was about to walk away in the opposite direction of Guy's class she suddenly recalled she had more business there than she originally intended.

She hurried to his classroom, pushing him aside in the process and started looking for a girl to interrogate.

As she spotted a girl she knew, she dashed through the classroom and pulled her outside, leaving the other classmates in utter confusion.

“Kiyoko Haruka, you're coming with me.”

“Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wait!! Hujisaka-senpai!?”

Haruka was pulled faraway from the classroom. Natsumi was making sure that she was far enough from Guy before asking her questions.

She suddenly came to a halt, making Haruka almost bump into her.

“Haa... haa... Do we need to be so faraway from the classroom?”

“You're officially in self-study right? Then who cares.”

“Well I don't think anybody is going to study on their own with the new student... Did you need anything?”

“Guy Li.”

Since he wouldn't answer her questions she decided to ask his students to get her answers.

“Excuse me?”

Haruka had a hard time remembering who she was talking about and hesitated between a few of her acquaintances.

Natsumi sighed and repeated.

“Guy. Your English teacher.”

“Guy... Guy... Oh! Ashton-sensei! Wait a second, is it really okay for you to call him by his name so casually?”

“...I don't think he gives a shit and I don't either... Wait, what?”

Natsumi was at a loss of words and looked genuinely surprised. What had she just said? Haruka noticed that Natsumi was fairly surprised and found it quite funny as Natsumi didn't really show her emotions at school.

“Guy Ashton Li right?”

Natsumi stared at her blankly.

“...Is Ashton his second name? ...No wait, actually I don't care. Tell me more about it.”

“....If I remember correctly, this is Ashton-sensei's first assignment to a role of teacher.”

She ignored Natsumi's 'it' as she was already aware of her tendency to misuse words either voluntarily or not.

“Heh, he got quite the luxury as a first assignment.”

Though there was something that bothered Natsumi about Haruka's way of referring to Guy.

“Wait, why do you call him Ashton-sensei?”

“...I can't remember either of his other names...”

Natsumi felt an urge to facepalm, but looked at Haruka as if telling her to continue saying what she knew about Guy.

As Haruka was reciting everything Guy had said during his first class there was a detail that brought Natsumi back to reality.

“...Kingdom...”

“...Come again?”

“I said: Ashton-sensei is from the United Kingdom. He also mentioned that he spent some time in China and had quite the practice with languages.... Is anything wrong?”

She asked worriedly when she saw that Natsumi was slightly frowning in shock, clearly looking uncomfortable.

“No. There isn't. That's all I needed to know. Later.”

She replied coldly with her head filled with thoughts. While she hadn't heard the languages part, this was actually more than what she had expected to learn and it didn't really feel that good to her.

As Natsumi left, Haruka considered asking Guy about Natsumi's reaction just now and returned to her classroom.

(...Is he multi-cultural? Well, that's not my problem...)

She had taken quite a bit of her own time to ask Haruka about Guy and what she had heard cut off her curiosity.

Natsumi felt pretty sick after asking. She only had bad memories of the UK due to her relatives..

(...When I think about it, I never visited since then...)

Needless to say that while she didn't have any good memories from the UK, she had yet to remember how much she actually loved being there.

"Proposition No1. Mikoto please assist Sasha by leading me to the Dorm Manager immediately."

Abruptly, Sasha grabbed her hand. In a moment of confusion, Mikoto’s cheeks turned pink at the sudden contact.

“Eh?”

Then she found herself being dragged out of the classroom and along the corridors, students staring as they sped past.

“Ow ow ow ow….!”

Tears sprang into Mikoto’s eyes. Her arm felt as if it was being pulled out by Sasha’ relentless grip. She quickened her pace, trying to save her poor limb from falling off.

“Wait, wait! Sasha!”

To her dismay however, the other girl wasn’t listening. Mikoto tried to tug away to the opposite direction, in a vain attempt to slow down the blonde. But it was like tugging on a heavily-loaded cargo truck.

‘What the…? What kind of super strength is this?!’

Before she knew it, they were already outside of the school building. Despite this, Sasha continued her maddened pace.

‘If this keeps up, my arm’s going to break off for sure…!’

Thinking quickly, Mikoto called out loudly to try and catch Sasha’s attention.

“Hang on! You’re going the wrong way!”

Sasha quickly took notice of Mikoto's pained expression and came to an abrupt halt, releasing her friend from the light grip that wasn't very light for Mikoto. She needed to control her strength, especially if she was going to fit into a normal school life where her brute strength was least needed. That and she didn't know where exactly she was going. Where was the school dorm anyway? Which direction? Mikoto could tell her and she can reach most destination on foot.

She suddenly took out her phone again, the green gekota themed phone one would expect to pick up from a kid's toy store. Coincidentally the one Misaka Mikoto had in her pockets with only difference between them was Sasha's was lime green pro wrestler Gekoman while Mikoto had the emerald green original Gekota phone limited stock.

She dialed the only number that was registered in her phone. Phone number that connected her directly to the one who controlled anything and everything within Academy City. The Superintendent of Academy City, Aleister Crowley.

Just as the phone connected Sasha inquired before the person on the other line could greet her again.

"Question No.6 What is the quickest route to Tokiwadai Girls Dormitory?"

After a brief moment of silence as she silently listened for instructions. Sasha hang up the phone and picked up Misaka from her legs and carried her in a stereotypical princess hold. A strange sight for the underclassmen who saw them as going by height Misaka Mikoto was slightly taller than the blonde Russian exchange student, yet Sasha was able to carry Mikoto as though she didn't weigh a thing.

From the window of a third floor, Sasha jumped.

A jump using every bit of her leg muscles to fly sky high into the air. Mikoto felt the air brush past her cheeks as she and Sasha was launched into mid air with a force rivalling that of a cannon. As the momentum launched them back towards the ground she felt her muscles tensing up bracing for impact yet she felt nothing as Sasha's lean legs made contact with the concrete roof of a 10 storey building, creating a small crack marks around the soles of her shoes where she landed yet Mikoto felt no shock from the landing, cushioned from Sasha's arms with each land.

Before she knew it, they were once again hopping from building to building from tall to taller to not so tall and Mikoto lost count by the time they reached the destination.

Tokiwadai Girls Dormitory.

"We have arrived at our destination Mikoto. Please lead the way to the Dorm Manager."

Just as she asked for directions she began to inquire.

"Question No.7 Are you ok?"

“Uwaaah~~”

Mikoto gratefully massaged her aching arm as Sasha finally released her.

“Geez, that’s some strength, Sasha!” Mikoto complained. “I seriously thought my arm was going to- ?!!!“

Her trail of thought was immediately wiped away when Sasha took out her phone.

“Gekota!!” Mikoto yelled out in excitement. Sasha hardly seemed to notice as she spoke on the phone with someone on the line. Mikoto quickly fished out her own phone from her pocket, her brown eyes darting between the two similar objects.

‘That must be the pro-wrestler Gekotaman model.’ Mikoto immediately identified, her eyes lingering over Sasha’s phone. ‘Lime-green colour… It’s not a rarity at all.’ Mixed feelings rose. She would have really liked to see the ultimate rare teal-blue Gekotaman pro-wrestler, but at the same time, Mikoto was glad she owned a much rarer version of a Gekota phone. A satisfying burst of trivial pride filled her chest at this thought.

As Sasha hung up, Mikoto opened her mouth to ask an important question that was supposed to seal their friendship forever.

“Hey, hey, do you like Geko- Ehhhhhhh?!”

Shock and embarrassment petrified her body as she suddenly found herself lifted up bridal style into Sasha’s arms. Without warning, the blonde Russian suddenly leaped upwards into the air. The abrupt and terrifying speed froze her entire system and Mikoto almost forgot how to breathe. The wind whipped at her hair and face wildly. It was just like teleporting with Kuroko, but this had been so unexpected…

And why was she in this… this position?!!!

Mikoto’s entire face was burning a bright shade of red by the time they reached their destination after countless leaps between buildings.

"We have arrived at our destination Mikoto.”

Mikoto stumbled away from her dazedly as Sasha placed her down. Her legs felt like watery jelly.

“Please lead the way to the Dorm Manager."

Just like that. Complete seriousness. No embarrassment whatsoever on Sasha’s part.

It just wasn’t fair.

"Question No.7 Are you ok?"

Steam could almost be seen vapourising from Mikoto’s ears. For a long moment, she just stared at Sasha, her face still a brilliant shade of crimson.

“It… It’s fine!” Mikoto finally huffed, giving into her pride and wanting to maintain her dignity. Irritation pulled at her twitching eyebrows.

“L-let’s just go, okay?!” Wanting to take control of the situation, Mikoto grabbed Sasha’s arm and attempted to pull her to a direction. She tugged, but nothing happened. It was like pulling on a large block of cement. Sensing her pride being poked at again, Mikoto quickly let go and gestured her friend to follow.

“Come on, this way!”

Soon, they found themselves in front of the Dorm Mistress’s office. As they neared, Mikoto’s red cheeks had paled considerably at the thought of coming face to face with the strict woman again.

She raised a hand to knock on the door but then faltered when her courage failed. Even the elegant oak-carved door standing before them looked ominous. Behind it was a terribly scary woman who could squish you like a bug with a mere look from those terrifying eyes… Mikoto glanced at Sasha briefly, trying to regain her confidence.

‘Alright.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I can do this!’

Just as she turned to knock again the door suddenly swung open. Mikoto’s expression turned into one of pure alarm and she immediately backed away from the figure suddenly looming over her.

“Hmmm…? Misaka. What are you doing loitering before my office?” The sharp eyes behind those gleaming glasses leaned down to stare at the Level 5 girl. “It’s quite suspicious.”

Mikoto gulped. “N-no…” Her feeble voice wobbled pathetically. “I was… just about to knock…”

The scary pair of eyes narrowed for a moment, then caught sight of Sasha. The tall woman straightened back up, regarding the Russian girl with a neutral expression.

“And who is this?”

“This is Sasha Kreutzev,” Mikoto quickly launched into an explanation, glad that the Dorm Mistress’ attention was now drawn away from her. “She is a new transfer student into Tokiwadai from Russia.”

The woman before them was neither a Esper nor a Magician yet something about her presence felt like a open threat just waiting to pounce on them both. All it would have taken was one wrong answer and the demonic dorm mistress would be claiming their lives. Or at least that's how it would have usually seemed like if Mikoto was with Kuroko causing a scene that warranted her swift discipline. Kuroko had a theory that it's quite possible that the Dorm Mistress was yet another veteran soldier who came to Academy City as Anti-Skill. Added on top of that theory was Saten-san's amazing urban legend pointing towards the Dorm Mistress as being someone very high ranking within the Anti-Skill if not the Chief Commissioner, and that secretly the Tokiwadai Girl's Dormitory was just a convenient cover for Anti-Skill Commissioner's head office located somewhere hidden within the premise.

Sasha seemed neutral before the one woman both Kuroko and Mikoto feared the most. Feared not because of her ominous appearance when she was required to be nor was it because she had the ability to rival their own Esper abilities. The fear came from the fact that against the Dorm Mistress, they lacked the time to control their Abilities. In comparison the Dorm Mistress showed no hesitation in her movements. If she was set on paralyzing someone with a choke hold, chances are they were already within her vice grips crying uncle.

All Espers required abnormal amounts of concentrations to calculate their abilities and while the degree was different for each Espers as it was the case between Mikoto and Kuroko, the latter requiring even more concentration than the former. Somehow despite their efforts neither of them could have pull a fast one over the speed at which she grabbed them and twisted into their necks. In some regards, she was amazing. It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to assume her skills with hand to hand combat could be very useful in the employment of Anti-Skill. Who knows, perhaps Saten-san was onto something.

Last but least it was an established fact that somehow, the Dorm Mistress could temporarily disable an Esper's abilities. If Kuroko's testimony had any truth in them, it was likely that she pressed some kind of a pressure point that made it alot harder for her to materialize her personal reality.

Against that iron wrecking ball Sasha remained expressionless as she introduced herself.

"Intro No1. Good afternoon, I am a Russian exchange student Sasha Kreutzev. I came to inquire about my lodgings here at Tokiwadai Girl's Dormitory."

Just as she finished introducing herself the company was greeted by a fourth.

Mikoto did wonder how long it would take before she showed up. Knowing that rumors regarding Tokiwadai's Ace tend to spread like wild fire once started... it wouldn't have taken long at all for her number one fan to get wind of it and ditch school.

Teleporting right in front of the Dorm Mistress was Shirai Kuroko, a lv4 Teleporter and from the appearance of her armband conveniently pinned on her sleeves to abuse her power of authority, she was a member of Judgment.

"Judgment Desu no! First you kidnap my precious Onee-sama by skipping classes, you then proceeded to use your abilities without authorization, destroyed several buildings with your crude landing and outran a Judgment officer who sent you warnings to pull over!" She flashed her armband at Sasha with a sense of dignity. Though it wasn't very convincing since the said member of Judgment also violated several laws herself by ditching class, abusing abilities to catch up to them.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" she screamed irritated at the images flashing through her head as her mind finally caught up to the present, until which it was focused on catching up to Sasha's speed.

"Not only that, you had your hand rubbing all over Onee-sama's erotic goddess rear slopes as you were on the run! how can you be so barbaric? Don't you realize that under the childish underwear and embarassing pants beneath her skirt is Tokiwadai's forbidden fruit of paradise?!"

A dark aura was starting to overshadow Kuroko's form ever so slightly and none of them took notice of it. Not even Sasha who usually looked into these subtle threatening alarms. Instead the Russian doll seemed focus on what the teleporter had to say. It was somewhat....... interesting and entertaining.

"Don't you realize how much trouble I go through each night applying Onee-sama's cute bum with tender baby oil by teleporting just the right amount of lotion onto specific areas not to awake her?!"

For the first time Sasha laughed. An actual laugh that broke her usual stoic demeanor.

"Intro No1. Good afternoon, I am a Russian exchange student Sasha Kreutzev. I came to inquire about my lodgings here at Tokiwadai Girl's Dormitory."

Mikoto stood by, happily allowing Sasha to take control of the situation. It might have been the blonde girl’s lack of knowledge about the Dorm Mistress that had prevented the normal reaction of fear that the woman usually elicited in students, but Mikoto still had to give it to her. She admired her directness in the face of the scary woman.

Mikoto held her breath as the Dorm Mistress adjusted her glasses and leaned over Sasha…

"Judgment Desu no!”

Mikoto jerked, her head whipping to the sound as her eyes rounded at the sight of her junior flashing her Judgement armband.

“K-kuoroko?!”

Her cry was ignored however as her roommate continued on with her infuriated speech.

“First you kidnap my precious Onee-sama by skipping classes, you then proceeded to use your abilities without authorization, destroyed several buildings with your crude landing and outran a Judgment officer who sent you warnings to pull over!"

Mikoto’s lips twitched upwards. This was just like Kuroko to--

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Mikoto flinched at her junior’s sudden scream at some image in her head. Sweat suddenly gathered on her forehead as a dark aura began to emit from the Dorm Mistress beside her. The Electromaster frowned, a hand rising to calm her junior down.

“Hey Kuroko—“

But she wasn’t listening.

"Not only that, you had your hand rubbing all over Onee-sama's erotic goddess rear slopes as you were on the run! how can you be so barbaric? Don't you realize that under the childish underwear and embarassing pants beneath her skirt is Tokiwadai's forbidden fruit of paradise?!"

For the umpteenth time that day, Mikoto’s entire face turned red, her ears blowing out steam. Her own aura had been steadily growing dark and dangerous, now becoming evenly matched with the strict woman silently standing next to her.

"Don't you realize how much trouble I go through each night applying Onee-sama's cute bum with tender baby oil by teleporting just the right amount of lotion onto specific areas not to awake her?!"

Laughter suddenly filled the air, full of genuine amusement. Forgetting her embarrassment momentarily, Mikoto stared at Sasha in astonishment, before realising that she was probably laughing at her expense. Thanks to a certain perverted teleporter.

Irritation soared through the roof as Mikoto felt her pride crumble.

That did it!

“KUROKO!” Mikoto roared. Even her neck was the colour of a hot chilli pepper. She stepped forward to give her junior the punishment she would never forget, blue sparks already spitting furiously from her hair.

But before she could even let one whip loose, the Dorm Mistress had already moved in a blink of an eye, faster than her lightning.

CRACK!

Mikoto’s eyes widened in fright at the sight of the strict woman holding Kuroko by her twisted neck. A hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a shocked cry.

“Kuro...ko…”

The woman carelessly tossed Kuroko’s limp form aside, readjusting her glasses as she ignored the trembling Mikoto and stared down at Sasha.

“Very well,” she said crisply, as if absolutely nothing had just transpired. “I shall look into it and let you know of the arrangements by this afternoon.” Her voice held no room for arguments.

A fine eyebrow raised above her narrowed orbs as they shifted a glance at Mikoto, who immediately tensed.

“Now, shouldn’t you both be in class? Last time I checked, being a Level 5 doesn’t exempt you from classes. Does it, Misaka?”

Mikoto took an involuntary step back, shaking her head furiously. Her pupils were dilated in terror as they fixated on the ominous figure that was the Dorm Mistress.

“N-no! D-d-definitely not!” she squeaked.

A while had passed since Natsumi left Haruka, and needless to say that what Haruka had said couldn't get out of her brain. As such she had spent the last hour and such thinking so deeply about it that it gave her a headache.

(Screw it.)

For a change of pace, Natsumi decided to change the purpose of her skipping. She needed a breather and figured it would be good for her to do something she hadn't done in a while. In worst cases, should the dorm mistress notice, she could always shift the blame on Guy. At least that was what she had planned.

She quickly made her way to her room after making sure that her roommate wasn't here to take two bags, one with her personal stuff and one with clothing to change out of her uniform after she left the School Gardens. She quickly left the dormitory before encountering the Dorm Mistress.

Though on the way, she had heard a fair amount of noise from the dorm mistress's office. She figured someone must have died at the hands of the dorm mistress and decided to not get involved any further. Justified absence or not, she would not be let off the hook without a proper explanation and background to that explanation.