[SS] Easy Money (Side B)

As Aisa was plucked out of harm’s way by the maid, that same girl who looked like she’d be more at home in Akihabara than Academy City tried to say something. But unfortunately, it was drowned out by the screams of the human disaster that had nearly crashed into temporary master.

«SOOOOOOORRRYYYYY!!»

There wasn’t any time to ask for the maid to repeat what was said; she had to chase after the cat. Or rather, the girl who had taken the cat. This was, in a way, a worse situation than being unable to find the cat. After all, if someone else got the cat first, then they would be the ones to get the reward money. So, they couldn’t let her get the chance to contact the owner!

“T-The cat! After it!”

The key to surpassing her greatest flaw was right in sight. It was being taken from her once again, but this time she wouldn’t merely sit still on the sidelines. She immediately chased after the spiky haired girl.

However, Aisa was hardly the active type. Rather, if anything, she could be considered the epitome of the frail, defenseless girl. In terms of physical stature, at least. So naturally, before long sweat was rolling down her brows, her breathing was labored, and she’d caught a stitch in her side. She’d somehow kept up with the girl this long, but as Himegami watched her turn yet another corner, she felt her legs weaken and she fell to the ground.

But, this was not the end. She had an ally, this time. She still wasn’t entirely sure she could trust her, but she had no choice. She would have to leave everything to her. To the maid.

“T, The cat! Get the cat!”

She entrusted everything to her as she fell to the ground. She entrusted everything to…

…Hm? Hm? Hm?

…

What was that maid’s name again?

"I'm doing fine, though I think my ojou-sama here may be in a but of a shock." Maria had turned her head towards the girl who had come up to her while not letting go of the girl in her arms. But now, she turned back to the sight of the spiky-haired girl running with the cat in her arms.

The cat was right in front of her. All she needed to do was chase it. She knew her ojou-sama would want her to go after that cat. It was obvious.

However, the code of the maid dictated not to act without orders. Even if the orders were something she could anticipate…even if the orders were something she knew the master would request, she could not act without the explicit order.

"T-The cat! After it!"

With that, the orders had been made. She would go after the cat. But, she could not just run off and cut contact with her ojou-sama. As such, there was a simple solution.

The maid, with her flexible body reached into her pocket and took out her phone before replacing her ojou-sama's phone with her own.

With the last preparation complete, she began to let her ojou-sama down to the ground as she clearly was starting to feel some exhaustion. As she had finally let the girl to the ground slowly, she had made one final order.

"T-The cat! Get the cat!"

"As you command, ojou-sama." She said with her most maid-like smile before placing the phone in her pocket, lurching into a sprint after the spiky-haired girl and the cat, and closing the gap at a relatively high pace compared to the mob.

“T-The cat! After it!”

Saiai stared at the two as the cool beauty, seeming to have lost her cool, was very anxious about the cat leaving her line of sight. Especially in another person's arms. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that she wanted the cat just as badly as the violent teenagers chasing the girl at this moment. She almost found it amusing how everyone could become so desperate in a blink of an eye, all for just a boost in their finances. Not that it wasn't insignificant, but she shook the thought.

She was about to ask the maid about who the girl is, since her outfit was not prestigious and yet she has a maid follow her around, but Maria had done what a good maid did: Follow Master's orders, and B-lined it toward the cat and the group that chased after it.

A slight cold sweat went down Saiai's face, as she was personally unaware how determined the girls taking maid school really were.

"So..." Saiai looked toward Aisa, who was unfortunately left behind by her own maid to follow her orders. "If you're after the money, do you have a super reason for it?" She decided to ask a question to pass the time. Not like her slave will return to her anytime soon, and her schedule is completely empty until Shizuri-san calls her to duty. "Are you going to by some super expensive jewelry with a super expensive dress?" She took a blind guess.

There was an average to anything. There was one to students at a high school, one to the grades of such students, one to the speed of cars driving through a city, one to the chances of winning a lottery, one to the strength of competitors in an arm wrestling tournament and one to the endurance of an angry mob.

Kamijou Touko, with the huge of amount of experience she had gathered during her time in Academy City on her back, was well aware of the latter. It usually took between ten minutes and one and a half hour to get rid of everyone up to the last pursuer. Usually the mob’s majority would give in right after the beginning of the chase, especially with the pace she was currently going at. However draining herself carelessly needed to be avoided, so she switched between acceleration and deceleration at the most favourable times.

Panting, while eying the frail cat in her arms, the girl mustered a smile to warm that fluffy being’s heart - if and only if it would truly be able to feel empathy towards human emotions, but what did it matter.

Running, charging, taking turns, timing everything perfectly, it would all lead up to the strategy’s success.

However, if there was an average, there was also something beyond that.

All of sudden she felt a presence. Something was drawing closer.

A quick glance over her shoulder allowed her to eye it, the predator that had broken away from the masses, setting themselves up like a Sprinter rooting for the top position in the Tour de France. Clad in yellow and black like a bee, a maid had risen from the pack, raising the threat level to new heights.

«You can’t be serious!!!»

Faced with that new challenger, Kamijou Touko had to change plans. Even if she would now increase her speed to somehow regain the distance she had held before, it would just end up wearing her out, leaving her as an easy target for the rest of that mob. But running away like before wouldn’t change anything either. Cheap tricks like cutting corners at random were no longer effective.

«NOW!!!»

Releasing a loud shout, she fainted a quick turn to the left, only to turn right instead, leaping straight through the open doors of a bus, right in the action of closing.

Daring, probably stupid and pretty much the best plan she had been able to come up with on the scratch, she had gone with what was given to her. Only a moment later and she had likely been crushed by the doors or maybe run straight into them, stopping her advance once and for all. However it hadn’t come this far. For once her timing had been perfect, a little too perfect, but what did it matter?

The doors wouldn’t open once they were closed and the automatic bus would begin to move only a moment later, had the final signal before departure truly been given. Kamijou herself had known the cruelty of Academy City’s full automatic transportation, thus she had also known the right way of playing it out - even if it left her heart in pain.

Was it too early to breathe in relief, though?

As she watched the maid leave, along with the cat, Himegami felt the blood that had all rushed straight to her head finally begin to return to its proper place. For the first time since she'd first heard of the reward on the news, she finally looked back on her actions with a calm heart. She remembered her every action, she looked back on her decisions, she reviewed her activities, and reached a single conclusion.

Greed is scary.

And, with that realization, she made a firm decision in her heart. She would not allow herself to be swept away by greed again. She would retain her rationality. She would have a pure heart. She would strive t-

"So... If you're after the money, do you have a super reason for it? Are you going to buy some super expensive jewelry with a super expensive dress?"

"-o be noticed. I'll make sure I'm noticed."

In response to Saiai's innocent inquiry about her motivation for searching for the cat, Himegami's thoughts did an immediate one eighty as she voiced them, mid sentence, in a voice that was hardly a whisper. But the second time, she spoke clearly. She didn't raise her voice, but the firmness of her tone and the hardness of her eyes made one thing clear.

Greed was indeed scary.

The girl holding the cat was quite skilled at evading pursuit. She seemed to be pulling this acceleration-deceleration strategy to shake off the mob following her and from the looks of it, she had some measure of success.

She had to break out of the mob in order to catch up to the boy, but these were all random delinquents and average high schoolers who had been blinded by their greed.

Maria, who had a far more noble goal, could not lose to the likes of the rest of the mob. With the deftness of a white-collar worker late for work, she weaved through the mob, zig-zagging around the various students, delinquents, and miscellaneous people who composed it and sprinted straight out as soon as she made it to the edge.

Then, she saw it. The girl had looked back. She had screamed something in panic but the words never reached Maria's brain as she focused purely on catching up to her and the cat.

After a short amount of time, the girl, Maria, and the mob began to near a corner. But, Maria was ready to be a step ahead. The moment she saw even the slightest indication of a turn, she would cut across the corner, narrow the gap, call to the girl, and explain the situation without mentioning the reward. The plan was foolproof and began to take immediate effect as the other girl made her motion to turn left.

Maria followed through and cut through left. But, she realized what a big mistake that was.

«NOW!!!»

The girl's actions had been a feint and Maria had been played for a fool.

"Dammit!!"

But her pride mattered not at the moment. All that mattered was catching up to the spiky-haired girl and the cat.

The girl had turned right and jumped straight into a bus. The mob had yet to catch up and she still likely had a few seconds before they flooded the area and made it impossible to move. Luckily for her, there was a bike rack in the area into which she had been misled to run.

She picked at one of the bikes which seemed like its chain lock had been loose and sure enough, she had been able to pull it out without much effort.

She likely would no be able to ride across in time to cross the incoming mob, so she immediately, kicked off the kick-stand and threw it into a roll until it crossed across the walkway and landed after the front wheel had turned. With the head of the mob finally rearing itself into the picture, Maria ran to the person at the front, placed her hand on top of his head, and pole-vaulted using her arm as the pole.

It was a show of acrobatics that was nothing less than Olympic-worthy yet effortless for Kumokawa Maria.

With a 10/10-rated landing, she picked up the bike and started riding it after the bus that had just left the station. It was not too far away, so she could still follow it. After all, Kumokawa Maria's determination as a maid could not be outdone.

"To be noticed...."

Saiai had waited patiently for an answer, but only god a very soft and subtle whisper, having no real idea of what she said. Even if she was trained to be more self aware of her environment, even she couldn't make out the words the strange girl was saying. until she announced them more clearly.

"-o be noticed. I'll make sure I'm noticed."

Saiai watched carefully at her facial expression as she vocalized her intentions, with a fiery passion in her eyes. She clearly was willing to go great lengths to achieve her goal, but also lacked the physical build to do it herself. Perhaps that's why she sent a rather athletic maid to go after the neko.

Kinda reminds me of that super weird romance movie two girls liked the same guy, so in order to fight over him, they sent super ninjas and samurai after each other and-....Gaaaah.. I'm getting a super headache just thinking about all that lost potential... For some reason, she started rubbing one of her temples trying to ignore such a bad movie.

"So...You want to be noticed by someone? Or is it perhaps you want to be super more popular than some bullies who made super fun of you for having somewhat messy looking hair?" Saiai didn't realise it yet, but she might've just accidentally insulted her while trying to find the source of the girl's ambition.


The 'hero' of this story had done their absolute best to outrun the group of students chasing her down for whatever reason. She had fought long and hard to the point where her legs began to tire, only to manage to find a seemingly safe place among an automatic public transportation vehicle. As the students come up to the door in which would not let them in, the bus was already beginning to move, driving away from the students in which tried to chase them down.

Touko didn't realise it yet, or perhaps never will, but about half of the people in the bus with her were watching the news whether on a small monitor a part of the bus, or on a mobile device. Surely, most of them had heard the news about a 120,000,000 yen cat on the lose.

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

With a very ominous aura among the bus, Touko would be able to feel the greedy stared penetrate her back, and the cat shaking slightly in her arms already from the entirety of the chase before. What was currently stopping them however from tackling the girl right now to grab the cat and leave.

It was simply because even if they grabbed it now, there was no way to leave the bus to the next stop, so instead they were waiting for the right time to engage in all at war with the small and seemingly defenseless girl to claim it's bounty, the victor go the spoils.

Letting herself fall into the not that comfy seats of the public transport vehicle that had become her saviour, Kamijou Touko finally released a sigh of relief, while still holding the fluffy comrade close to  her chest. And right as she was about to proclaim her personal success, a thought crossed our spiky haired heroine’s mind.

«This went way too smoothly!!!»

Kamijou Touko was not your average person. Ever since the day of her birth all that waited for her out on the streets was misfortune with even more misfortune stacked on top. Of course one would grow a huge amount of natural paranoia under those conditions.

Instead of letting herself sink further into the spoiling half-softness of half-assed modern bus seats, she instead jumped up, rushing to its back window, ready to stake out the current conditions.

«Why do you always have to crush Kamijou-san’s hopes, world!!?!?!??»

There it was, the yellow chaser, still at full pace, now even with an upgrade. Much like Kamijou herself, the maid currently chasing her had acquired some kind of vehicle in order to match the challenge in her own way, boosted with beastly stamina. Hitting the pedals with inhuman dedication her enemy was drawing in.

That enemy was a maid. An unstoppable force, impossible to overcome. She was sure, even if she were to run towards the end of the world, that maid wouldn’t give in! That was just how dangerous their kind was!

«…I guess this really leaves me no choice. I really didn’t want to do this…but…»

So what remained was invoking the final weapon.

Flushing away all hesitation she reached out towards her phone, quickly scrolling through the disappointing amount of contact list entries, before making the decisive call.

«Tsuchimikado!!! Tell me everything you know about maids! All their weak spots! All of it!!!»

Clinging onto that final straw to fight off one calamity, the girl’s attention had been drawn away from the worrisome glances her animal companion had kept giving its surroundings, to that gathering of starving carnivores hiding in the bushes…

[OOC: Would be nice if someone NPCed Tsuchimikado~]

"So...You want to be noticed by someone? Or is it perhaps you want to be super more popular than some bullies who made super fun of you for having somewhat messy looking hair?"

"When it was my turn for after-school cleaning duty, my classmates did it for me, thinking I was absent. I had been in class the entire day. When we pair off in PE, there's always one person who thinks they're the odd one out and ends up in a group of three, even though I was standing there the entire time. Just earlier at a restaurant, I had to grab a waitress as she walked by so I could order."

Himegami spoke composedly, but the passion in her eyes faded as she did so. It was clear that she had remembered something unpleasant, and that her previously good mood had vanished as a result of it. And the one who had caused her to remember that... Was Saiai. Even if unintentional, there was no doubt that she had committed a faux pas.

---

"It's so hot..."

Back at the dorm, hiding from the sweltering summer heat, Tsuchimikado Motoharu was desperately trying to cool down. He was sitting in front of a fan and had turned the air conditioner on at full blast, but he was still sweating. Not even that much was enough to cool the room to a more enjoyable temperature. He was just beginning to consider going out to get some buckets of ice to cool the room down with when the sound of his phone's ringtone stole his attention. After a moment of consideration, he lazily reached over to pick it up, and felt fortunate that he hadn't left it too far from the fan. If the distance had been too great, he probably wouldn't have even gone to the trouble of grabbing it...

«Tsuchimikado!!! Tell me everything you know about maids! All their weak spots! All of it!!!»

As a shout suddenly blared into his ear, Tsuchimikado inadvertently flinched and drew the phone away from his ear, and then he even lost his grip thanks to the sweat on his hands. As the phone clattered to the floor, he sighed resignedly and reached over to pick up the phone from where it had fallen, hoping that he hadn't cracked the screen. But halfway through the motion he paused, as though he'd just remembered something of the utmost importance.

And then, his characteristic flippant grin spread across his face as he resumed motion. It almost seemed that he'd been reanimated; instead of the slow halfhearted movements he'd made before, he now moved briskly as if he had found a new toy and wanted to start playing with it immediately.

Aha, this'll be a nice distraction from the heat~

"Ahaha, sorry about that, Kami-yan~ You suddenly started shouting, so my hand went howatcha, and then my phone went badam! But anyway... You asked what a maid's weaknesses are?" His tone was flippant at first, but when he turned the topic to the Touko's question, he became deadly serious. It would be clear to any listener that what he said next was nothing to be trifled with. Supposing, that is, that they knew nothing of the topic of conversation.

"A maid's greatest weakness... Is criticism! They strive for nothing but perfection in serving their masters, and cut no corners! Ah~, even if you ask for a lap pillow, then they'd definitely give you one~!!! But! Kami-yan, if someone calls out a flaw in their performance, then they have no choice but to use everything they have to apologize to their master and attempt to rectify it! Kami-yan, do you understand what I'm saying...?"

He trailed off, giving the impression that he was leaving a space for Touko to respond. But in reality, despite the somber tone that was heard over the phone line, his face was warped with barely restrained laughter. It was taking every he had to recompose himself.

"Kami-yan, you must abuse them! Point out the flaws and insufficiencies in their every action! It may seem cruel, but it is the only way to defeat them!!!"

Tsuchimikado didn't actually know the circumstances, but going with the flow, he simply blurted out the most absurd things he could think of. All still in that same somber tone, of course. He would probably get some bruises for this later, but... Right now, he was just looking forward to hearing about what kind of ridiculous accidents his advice would get his unfortunate friend involved in!

[OOC: Request accepted.]

Maria was now in hot pursuit of the bus. The next stop was critical. If the girl holding the cat did not leave the bus, she would make a last minute entry and enter the bus to meet with her personally. Regardless of what choice the spiky-haired girl made, they would definitely be face-to-face no matter what.

'The real battle for the cat would start then' is what the average person would think. But, in actuality, it was the exact opposite. A genius like Maria was well aware that the battle to acquire the cat had been going on since the beginning of the chase.

She had made a few missteps but she had definitely put the cat into check. But, check could still be easily escaped. An external piece could destroy the check in one single stroke. As such, she needed to take measures to ensure that she attained checkmate. There was only one way to do that: engage the spiky-haired girl in a dialogue.

Maria looked to the bus in front of her. It was unknown which side the girl was sitting on, so, she would have to take a gamble. Left or right?

But, as she was ready to take a chance, Fortune seemed to smile upon her as the spiky-haired girl made her way to the back window. Now that she was able to get a better look at the girl, she noticed that she seemed to be wearing a certain familiar school uniform.

Come to think of it, isn't that the uniform from sis's school?

Maria could not let this opportunity slide. She picked one hand off the handle bar, and waved at the girl to grab her attention. Even as the spiky-haired girl spoke on the phone she had suddenly grabbed, Maria hoped to give off one impression to her.

I mean you no harm. I just want to talk to you!

Kinuhata stared at the girl as she seemed to express her frustrations with her current status among other students. Her problem was that, despite her cool-beauty like atmosphere, she doesn't seem to get noticed by anyone. Was it perhaps she was too quiet? Her clothes just so happened to match the background? Are people just consciously ignoring her. There was multiple possibilities, but it seemed like she was suffering some type of misfortune that she had to cope with.

Although with her small little rant, Kinuhata didn't feel all that much guilty. It's not she had any emotional attachment to the girl, and it's not like she was intentionally trying to get her to remember such emotional events. Kinuhata never in her life wished to become popular, especially with the lifestyle she had been attending for most of her life. Though, she did feel like how the girl was going about it was wrong.

"...So basically..." Kinuhata tilted her head a bit, as she tried to go about her reasoning. "You're trying to super collect the money so you will no longer be super ignored? I guess that's a temporary measure, but do you really super want people to surround you because you have a bunch of money? Isn't that super desperate? You won't be happy for long." Kinuhata crossed her arms as she continued to talk to her. Using greed as a way to get attention felt like the worst, and most temporary of measures one can take to achieve status and popularity. She somewhat pitied the girl and sorta wished she just bought a dumb car or dress rather than to achieve something so shallow.

First the loud noise of the phone hitting the solid ground, then Tsuchimikado’s words that were wasting time even further. It was unusual, but given the current circumstances, Kamijou Touko was a tad impatient.

However as he finally started his explanation our spiky haired heroine listened in closely, as if taking mental notes, which she actually did.

«Kami-yan, you must abuse them! Point out the flaws and insufficiencies in their every action! It may seem cruel, but it is the only way to defeat them!!!»

And then when he finally arrived at the crucial point, everything inside Kamijou’s head snapped. She could feel the reaction the final revelation caused inside her body. Her existence shook. She finally had it! The ultimate weapon!

«Thanks a lot Tsuchimikado!»

As she was enveloped in flames, she finally slammed her flip phone shut, cancelling the call. There was no time to waste! The offence had to begin NOW.

…but

how exactly would she…

…deal with this…?

Going back over everything, Kamijou Touko was currently sitting in an automatic bus, her natural enemy, the maid, was chasing her on a bike. Between them were not only a few metres but also the bus’ back window which she couldn’t actually open just like that. Not to forgot that even if she were able to, she had to somewhat shout those things to even get them through.
So how exactly was she supposed to fend off that enemy right now?

Eyeing her opponent with the blindness of a soldier that has fallen for bloodlust, all reasonable attempts at peaceful communication would simply fail miserably.

Right now all that stood at the center of the world was acquiring a means to make the maid feel the full brunt of her means of victory.

«Ahahaha! I got it!!!»

After a mere minute of stressful thinking, that far exceeded Kamijou’s exam mode, she brought forth the trigger of destiny. It was neither a rocket launcher, nor the remote control to a nuke. It was but a simple lipstick, a classmate had forced onto her claiming she was a girl so she had to own such things. And using that very lipstick she recklessly committed herself to an act of vandalism (Furuhashi Gou’s wrath my be felt!).

«Take this!!! Taste Kamijou-san’s true power!!!»

On the back window of the bus there now was a message written in red lipstick.


In her ecstasy of fumbling together anything that’d make sense that idiot had forgotten to actually mirror the text.


Also…wasn’t it about time the bus arrived at its destination…?

"...So basically... You're trying to super collect the money so you will no longer be super ignored? I guess that's a temporary measure, but do you really super want people to surround you because you have a bunch of money? Isn't that super desperate? You won't be happy for long."

Truthfully, everything Saiai had said was on the mark. Even if money would get her noticed, the results would be temporary and superficial. In the end, nothing would really change. Money could buy many things, but it couldn't buy human growth. Not so easily, anyway.

...But even if that was true, and even if Aisa realized all that, right here and now she was blinded by money. Not everyone was like Saiai, who had access to such wealth that even vast funds like those offered for the cat didn't seem especially tempting to her. To a girl like Aisa, a sum of money like that astronomical, more than she could ever hope to hold. And so the yen sign held an allure to her that Saiai simply couldn't see.

"They say everyone gets five minutes in the spotlight. Did you know?"

So she posed a question to see if Saiai would understand.

"...If things stay like they are, will I ever get mine?"

As Maria waved back and forth, in hopes of getting the spiky-haired girl to notice her, she watched as the girl took out something and started to write in big red letters on the back window. This blatant act of defacing public property could only be done with something like lipstick.

She pedaled forward a bit to get a better view of the writing as it continued to grow line by line. There was only one problem. Maria could not tell why but the entirety of the writing was backwards. Most likely, the girl who had written it was in too much of a panic to remember to flip the text so it could be normally legible.

It was understandable. She was chased by a mob and was still being chased by a fervent maid. It was only natural that she would be panicking.

Luckily, Maria was a transcendent genius. Reading flipped text was nothing to someone of her expertise.


Is she…trying to taunt me…? If I pedal any faster, I'll crash into this bus. Maria started wracking her brain, trying to figure out what the purpose of such a message was.


That was not good. A maid had to maintain as ladylike a demeanor at all times--even when running or chasing after something. Wait…was she even able to pay attention to how I was running?


She had to call that one into question. She definitely spent a fair amount of time getting the ringlet curls in her hair to be flawless. She wanted to call that into question but…

I have been running for a long time…maybe the curls became partially undone while I was working and moving around so much…


I did sew it myself! But…does it really look that out of shape? Her resolve began to waver. Her pedaling began to slow down as she began to start to fall into an existential crisis of broken pridenot even noticing that the spiky-haired girl had misspelled 'sewn'.


It's supposed to be cute and welcoming! A maid can't serve her master if the master is unwilling to be open with her! But…is it really… Her thoughts began to slow, concurrently affecting her movements.

But, there was still something that needed to be done. The face of that hime-haired girl who she took up as her master floated into her mind. NO! FOCUS! YOU CAN WORRY ABOUT YOUR PRIDE AND FLAWS AFTER YOU FINISH WITH THIS JOB! YOU HAVE TO CATCH THAT CAT FOR HER!

With her resolve renewed, she began to fiercely pedal and match the speed of the bus as best she could while keeping the distance she needed to slow down without crashing.

She had her plan at the ready. All she needed to do was execute it with precise timing.

"They say everyone gets five minutes in the spotlight. Did you know?"

"No." Saiai put it bluntly. She was never one to want attention from strangers. She didn't flaunt her legs or hips, showed off what wealth she had, or even acted friendly around others. In a way she was very anti-social on the account of her profession and who she works under. ITEM was just about the only family and friends she really had and bothered showing her casual personality to. Others? It was more like a stone face with few exceptions during periods of boredom.

"...If things stay like they are, will I ever get mine?"

"Hmmm...Supposing you have a super healthy body for the average citizen in academy city, you most likely have a solid 80 years to get into the spotlight....But to be super honest I don't see why you haven't yet." Saiai tilted her head slightly as she tried to ponder what about her is creating this situation of self hatred and lust for attention. "Well it's not like you'll be in the shadows forever, not that I super care. I think the spotlight is silly. I just want to have fun." She started to stretch out her legs and arms for some reason, feeling her muscles relax and reform to a suitable state for running. "Ah. I'm sorry. I think I'm going to super steal your spotlight by the way."

She finally spoke the last statement with a completely blank face, that spelled doom for Aisa's short popularity.

In Academy City one had commotions on every end. If it wasn’t because of some Esper going too far with their powers, the usual Skill-Out crime disasters, or some new insane scientific experiment, it just was another sort of commotion that came naturally from an over dimensional amount of teens hanging out in the same place.

People would grow used to it eventually. It was an everyday thing after all.

Somewhere in the city’s District 15 a young girl walked along the walkway, just like any other would. She was dressed quite fashionably, a lavender coloured summer dress with short skirt and long sleeves, white high heeled leather boots that reached up to her thighs and a 1000000 yen handbag casually hooked to the same arm with which’s hand she was currently holding a top modern cell phone. Even from far a distance people would notice that besides being a fashionista that girl also was quite a beauty. A pristine face and long perfectly glossy tea coloured hair with a naturally charming curl to it, really gave the final topping.

While many would care to share their attention, the girl, much like any high class elite, would simply leave it unreturned.

Right now she was busier dealing with her phone and the usual things someone in her position would have to deal with.

Social media and the like? Not quite on the mark.

For a while that girl seemed to have been wandering around aimlessly, as an agitated furrow had built on her face. It wasn’t worry, nor anxiety, rather aggression.

Finally putting away the phone after some more time, she quickly came to notice that she had arrived at a red traffic light, blocking her from crossing the street just yet. She was mumbling something to herself, but since she had dropped her phone into the handbag, she quickly lost the connection to the cause for that more or less bad mood.
Switching to a more relaxed, still superior cool expression, the girl would finally eye her surroundings.

She had noticed a lot of people behaving more strangely than usual before, but she hadn’t had the time to bother. Now that she had the time, though, she would actually give them the benefits of a questioning glance, before, well, going back to simply ignoring them again.

A moment passed and the lights went green.

She crossed the street, unknowingly closing in to the very centre of all that commotion.

That high class fashionista girl’s name was Mugino Shizuri. Of all Espers in Academy City, she was the #4.

Engulfed in her expectations of sure victory, Kamijou’s eyes were glued onto her opponent, craving for any and all signs of a reaction. She could tell when the other girl’s glance wandered along the crappily written lines of text, she was following it on every ever so slight movement, her eyes could see her opponents’ absorb the verbal bombs directly sent towards them. With every line Kamijou Touko could feel the impact her fierce attack caused, with every line read she could feel her opponent’s strength slowly but surely being drained. She could feel the power being smacked out of their body. They were truly being devastated!

And then she saw it.

The great revival.

The comeback.

Her attack had been absolutely ineffective!

And to top even that, she was sure that it felt as if the bus’ speed was decreasing steadily.

«TSUCHIMIKADO YOU BASTAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDD!»

That shout’s pure despair would easily reach out to even the astronaut’s out on the ISS.

For a while now the cat in desperate heroine Kamijou’s arms had been struggling to gain even a hint of her attention, another ineffective struggle. All she had cared for was that one opponent she so forcefully had to defeat, fully ignoring the existence of those in her closest vicinity. Her situation was like that of a hiker trying to help a hurt deer on a casual weekend trip, while being surrounded by a pack of wolves hiding in the bushes all around; she was done for in any and all senses.

«…such misfortune…»

The moment she had finally acquired realisation there was nothing left, but to once again curse her own rotten luck.

Along with the safety of the bus ride, everything came to an end; the cat knew, the carnivores knew and now Kamijou Touko knew, too.

Gulping in fear when facing the many greedy glances directed towards the little fella in her arms, she arrived at the point of her last prayers.

The instance the bus had stopped, that very moment the doors opened, it was as it time itself had frozen. A cold chill ran all through her body.

«FOOOOR FREEEEDOOOOOOM!!!!!»

Blurting out the very first battle cry she had been able to pull from her poorly video game and TV based repertoire, mimicking the protagonist of every 2nd big movie, she burst forward with all her legs’ strength, diving straight into the masses of money hungry beasts recklessly.

Dead or alive, in one way or another she would make it out of this…she was hoping!

"No."

That answer definitely threw her off, considering that was a turn of phrase she had assumed most people knew. But what came immediately after, she simply had no response for.

"Hmmm...Supposing you have a super healthy body for the average citizen in academy city, you most likely have a solid 80 years to get into the spotlight....But to be super honest I don't see why you haven't yet. Well it's not like you'll be in the shadows forever, not that I super care. I think the spotlight is silly. I just want to have fun."

In the first place, she was someone who stayed in the background, and never took the initiative. She responded, but never spoke first. And even when she chimed in, it was a short, quiet answer. So to be suddenly put up front with such a response, it was impossible for her to formulate an immediate response. So she stood stock-still. Due to her naturally stoic expression, it wouldn't show on the outside, but she had been caught completely off guard. A fish out of water, she was having trouble responding to Saiai's response.

"Ah. I'm sorry. I think I'm going to super steal your spotlight by the way."

And it was that nature of hers which ensured that she would remain unpopular, that the status quo would be maintained. Even as she watched Saiai stretch, and completely understood the implications of her words, Aisa could not bring herself to take action. Even though she, as someone years older than the little girl before her, could easily restrain her if she just tried, she did not have the courage necessary to actually do so. If she could just speak forcefully, and somehow convince Saiai to give up, she could stop her without having to physically restrain her, but she didn't have the courage to attempt that option either.

In the end, if she could just take action, then all of those problems would melt away like snow before the spring breeze. Even if she failed to find the cat, then when she began the new term at her new school she could surely turn over a completely new leaf. But whether it was because she lacked the strength of will or because it was simply wasn't that easy for a person to change themselves, she couldn't do so. She couldn't take that first decisive step. So instead of acting, she just gave a quiet response.

"I see. Good luck."

She still held the hope that she would get her five minutes someday. But today was surely not the day she was waiting for. That was the realization she had obtained.

Maria matched the speed of her fervent pedaling to the deceleration of the bus and slid her bike so that she would end up on the side of the exit. As the bus's momentum slowly turned to zero, she, too, slowed down to near zero.

The bus doors opened and the moment of truth arrived. Would the spiky-haired girl stay inside the vehicle for the sake of safety or would she fold under paranoia and make another break for it?

If she took the easier and option and stayed, all Maria had to do was--

«FOOOOR FREEEEDOOOOOOM!!!!!»

With a battle cry that pierced through the heavens, the spiky-haired girl took the more risky and hasty option of rushing out into the focus of the many predators in the bus who were eyeing the cat.

At this point, all of her plans seemed to fall apart. The idiot was jumping straight into den of lions with seemingly no way out. At this rate, an angry mob would descend upon her, tear her away from the cat in a violent manner, and turn into a full scale riot.

Everything would be lost at the moment. "I'm not going to let that happen."

Her deceleration vector was immediately reversed as she skillfully maneuvered the bike into the bus to catch the sight the spiky-haired girl.

"Hurry! Get on the bike!" She said as she made it next to the girl, reaching an arm out to her. "Otherwise the impending mob'll rend everything to shreds for that cat!"

"I see. Good Luck." The girl said after a long silence after Saiai's announcement. Seemed she wasn't even upset at her words, in fact relieved. Her words seemed have touched her heart, not that it she was intending to. She was just laying out her perspective and looking at the facts. The girl was paranoid of never getting noticed, when she hadn't realised she has a full life ahead of her to worry about, instead of in the moment. A simple life lesson that seems to have taken off the pressure from her shoulders, however long it remains away.

Though, through this revelation of the heart, something crucial just occurred to her. "...Where did that bus go again?" Saiai was smart, but didn't entirely think her words through. She claimed that she also wanted to catch the cat, in a way that suggests she'll do it immediately but...at the moment, there is no way to figure out it's location. She didn't get the bus number either so she can't track it. It certainly wasn't just waiting around the corner for her to jump at. "...Guess I'll wait to super steal it from your maid."

Saiai would then just relax against a light pole, leaning up against it as she decided to relax with the girl instead of going out of her way to search for it. Sounded to tedious unless it was right in front of her. However, something did catch her attention. The familiar jingle of an expensive handbag as heard coming down the side walk. It'd only take a short glance to recognize the super model known as Mugino Shizuri, #4 of all espers and #1 in ITEM. Saiai smiled and waved at Mugino non-chalantly, greeting her as she came across their path.

"Good evening, Mugino~. How are you doing?" Saiai asked, as she had been busy all day and hadn't seen her the whole time. Not that she needed to be around her at all times, but it was a pleasant surprise.

It had been quite a surprise for Mugino Shizuri, when a familiar sight crossed her eyes upon wandering through the city rather aimlessly, therefore it was only logical for her to raise her brows for just a moment.

«Oh, Kinuhata?»

The city was quite large, but it seemed the usual rule of the small world would hit straight on point, just as usual. No matter how random the path you chose and no matter how far you walked, you’d still run into the people of your everyday life right around the next corner. At least she would’t mind if it was just was one of those three. Adjusting her handbag once again the beauty of tea coloured hair accepted that destiny, simply waiting for her…acquaintance’s…arrival.

«Good evening, Mugino~. How are you doing?»

«Normal. I was just on my way to the Dianoid to stock up a bit here and there.»

Her reply felt simple, yet the fact that she didn’t ask anything back was another sign of her self centred personality and probably to her perspective at life. To her such questions and their answers hardly mattered, as there was no place for them in this world. You die, you survive, you win and you lose, that was all there was in this world. Beyond that anything was just some major spoil.

But even with her usually like that, even she wouldn’t help but notice something going on in her surroundings, probably due to her natural instincts. Still she didn’t have reason to voice it just yet, therefore she’d focus on something else. So instead she would just focus on the one comrade of hers she found right in front of her.

«And you? What are you up to? It’s rare to run across you in the city like this.»

Of course this question was asked more out of the urge to make way for some dialogue, rather than actually caring, but what did it matter? They worked with each other, so at least a minimum of etiquette would be required. Furthermore she just couldn’t help herself, the prospect of this day felt rather boring. Maybe tagging along with someone else would bring a little bit more…

…she guessed.

Everything would have come to an end. Whatever it was about that cat that had every single human in this city go crazy, it was now impossible to defend the fluffy companion from it anymore. Kamijou in her despair hadn’t found any other solution than taking the masses head on in a truly desperate attempt that in no way could lead to an happy end, not with that rotten luck of hers.

However, just as she was charging forward, something else entered the stage.

Big round wheels, a body of steel and on top a girl dressed less like a proper maid and more befitting of the pop culturally spoiled region that was Akiba.

«Hurry! Get on the bike!»

That was all she heard and all she needed to understand.

Breaking her own charge, that spiky haired girl took a turn and threw her arm outwards for the sake of clinging to that hand of salvation, while still holding her little companion to her chest with the other.

She’d accept the sudden offer of the girl that had been an enemy only a moment ago. Once pulled along, she’d quickly find a way to clumsily jump on the bike, using her free hand to somehow cling to anywhere while tightening her safety grip around the cat, already predicting that what might come next would be more of a roller coaster ride in an amusement park than a jolly riding trip on a sunny summer day.

«Quick, get us outta here!!»

Kamijou could obviously think about rights and wrongs another time.

For now the only thing that mattered was ESCAPE.

«Normal. I was just on my way to the Dianoid to stock up a bit here and there.»

Kinuhata smiled as she approached Mugino. Her role model usually never had time for her other than missions and debriefings. Only occasionally do they actually socialize or meat up in a proper environment, let alone with the whole group with it. She keeps any personal affairs to herself for the most part, so it was nice to actually talk to her casually.

«And you? What are you up to? It’s rare to run across you in the city like this.»

"Nothing really. Though have been following the story of some fool hearty executive paying a super large amount of money to find their lost cat. It's really super odd. I was thinking of possibly catching the cat if I ever super find her." Saiai said, explaining the current situation. It seems she couldn't really shy away from a situation like this. It was easy money, but it seems Saiai was in no rush, considering the odds of finding the cat has diminished quickly.

"A slave of sorts was helping me but super disappeared, so now I'm essentially alone among other contenders." Saiai shrugged, looking around just to get a refresh of her surroundings. The maid has yet to return with the cat, and most likely was farther away then expected. It was probably best to wait for her to come back to her master and just take it...that would be mean, but it's A LOT of money. "Ironically it's a dianoid executive's cat."

Maria could only hope that the spiky-haired girl had heard her offer to help. If she had not, this entire chase for the cat would have all been for naught as the many herbivores turned carnivores would run into mad rampages to satisfy their greed.

Luckily enough, the spiky-haired girl seemed to have heard Maria’s offer as her former capture target now turned into her protection target. She threw out her arm to Maria’s while using her other arm to safely keep the cat from falling off.

«Quick, get us outta here!!»

As Touko's fingertips reached up to right above Maria’s, she leaned forward a bit more and grabbed at her palm and pull her inwards. Without even an opportunity to stumble, she pulled Touko in and elegantly placed her on the back metal grating for bags and packages above the back wheel. There was no time to worry about comfortable positions and the like.

Yet, despite that, she unconsciously placed Touko into a comfortable leaning position with her head leaning against Maria’s back, her free arm firmly placed around Maria’s waist and her two legs facing the same side of Maria’s back. In the end, the transcendental genius of a maid had done her due diligence despite her unawareness of it.

“Roger that!” With a confident smile on her face, Maria’s feet began to push at the pedals of the bike. “Hold on tight!”

No more words were necessary. With a skillful, speedy three point turn, the maid and the spiky-haired girl were propelled out of the bus and turned back onto the street. Rather than getting on the sidewalk, Maria turned onto the road itself and pedaled as fast as she could to get away from the bike.

All that mattered now was getting as far away from any mobs as she possibly could.

«Nothing really. Though have been following the story of some fool hearty executive paying a super large amount of money to find their lost cat. It's really super odd. I was thinking of possibly catching the cat if I ever super find her.»

«I see. So that’s what’s going on.»

While her expression didn't vary from her usual boredom, Mugino at least managed to prove her sharpness all over again, had she quickly made the connection between the ongoings of the day and her surroundings. To be fair, though, money could explain a lot of rather strange misbehaviours people would show in their everyday life.

However that didn’t quite manage to catch her attention properly.

«Ironically it's a dianoid executive's cat.»

Being told that she could only depict the extents of the sum placed on the cat’s head. Still, was that sufficient to actually draw her in? She still seemed as indifferent as it could get.

«Anything else about it?»

In the end this turned towards something that sounded more like a mission briefing than a casual conversation on the street. But that was how it usually went with workaholics, they just ended up losing touch with proper conversation. Beyond that, it wasn’t as if Mugino was talking to other people a whole lot. Hell, if she thought about it, she even came to the awkward realisation that this was one of the little number of people she actually spent time with. Not that there was anything bad about it, but.

Taking another moment, that high class girl let out a sigh, before seeking something else to set her eyes on, then stepping forward.

«I guess, we could make ourselves a nice dinner for two once we have the money.»

With that being said it had been decided. Mugino Shizuri had not even proclaimed that she would join in on the wild hunt, no, she had even proclaimed her very victory in this ordeal.

She wasn’t after money per se, nor was she after fame, she did not even care about that animals safety or another person’s wishes, all this was about, was her own selfish need for some more fulfilment and if something as childishly pointless as this little game would bring it, she would join in, wreck all enemies and stand victorious.

«Now, share everything you know, Kinuhata.»