[SS] Intensify

"I even had him sign the relevant papers already. Now, what happened last night that got you all so shaken up?"

"Uiharu, have you found anything?"

Trystan's eyes immediately went to the figure of the small girl who had suddenly appeared. How she had stayed hidden was a complete mystery to him if he considered the size of the room they were in, but that was a trivial detail. Putting down the writing utensil he was using to fill out the forms, he started listening intently to the details of the incident from yesterday.

Spoiler:

Trystan's hands closed into tight fists at the mention of the casualties. He should have known that just because they were out of sight, it was too much to hope for that there were no other casualties in the incident.

"The only remains found at the scene belonged to Sadamitsu Norio, a level 0 and known member of Skill Out. I recommend we start there."

"Shirai-san. Before you get ahead of yourself, remember it's Anti Skill's job to investigate possible crimes, not ours."

Skill Out...

As the two bantered in the background, Trystan tried to gather his thoughts. If he remembered correctly, these were the individuals who were opposed to Academy City. Actually, that was putting it lightly. Now that he thought about it further, Skill Out was the name of the largest armed group of Level 0's residing within Academy City. Their original cause was just; it was simply due to unfair harassment and oppression from those Espers with powers that these individuals had banded together for their own protection. However, in recent days, the group was known not for just protection or self-defense, but rather for their violent and border-line terrorist activities against unsuspecting and innocent Espers. Truth be told, when he had first tried entering the city, the group he was travelling with had been assaulted by these same Skill Outs, who had mistaken their Reiki with Esper abilities.

Shaking himself from these thoughts, Trystan loosened his hands, took up the writing utensil again, then finished the rest of the papers. Collecting all the papers, Trystan shuffled them lightly on the table's surface, making the edges line up, before turning to the woman who had handed him these papers in the first place.

"Please excuse this one's interruption, honorable lady, but this one has finished with these forms. Are there more?"

"Good morning, Misaka-san. I didn't expect to see you here this morning."

“Morning, Uiharu-san,” Mikoto replied with a friendly smile. As Uiharu began to report, Mikoto faded into the background, folding her arms across her chest as she listened silently. The only sign that Mikoto was listening intently was her eyes, shifting from person to person as they spoke.

"In total we estimate there to be between twelve and eighteen dead."

Mikoto’s eyes widened. DEAD? Not one but between twelve to eighteen?!

Her eyebrows stitched together. The case was more serious than she had previously thought. There was no way Kuroko would be able to persuade Mikoto out of helping now. Her jaws clenched as her nails digged into her palms. Whoever had been behind this was unforgivable.

Mikoto shifted her weight to glance at the papers, listening in to the rest of the details.

Norio… Skill out.. Level 0…

The guy with the startling green eyes suddenly flashed in Mikoto’s mind. She wondered briefly if he was part of this group called Skill Out. Perhaps she could go hunt him down later in the afternoon, get a lead on where and who the Skill Outs were and find out what connection they held to the incident. A slight smirk pulled on her lips. It sounded like fun.

***

"W-well I was late for class…"

Karl could not catch what the girl was mumbling and stuttering after that. She seemed embarrassed all of a sudden, and her slouched posture did not make her look very confident. The girl did not seem to care much about her appearance either, but nevertheless she was naturally quite pretty-

Where had that come from?

Blinking stupidly at his own thoughts, he gave himself a mental slap. Now was not the time to be thinking about the girl’s looks, there were more pressing problems at hand.

Like how to discourage her from going to class and make her tell me information I want.

Karl made an effort to smile, but it turned out to be a very feeble one. He gave up and tried to continue their conversation instead.

“Surely, a fine morning such as this shouldn’t be spent locked in a classroom?” He said quietly.

“I was just about to have breakfast. Why don’t you join me?”

Inwardly he screamed at himself. What am I even doing?! Even to his own ears he sounded like a bit of a creep. Maybe it was a sign of just how desperate he was.

‘Urgh, now she’s going to run away from me and I’ll never have this chance again…’

Feeling deflated, he stood waiting for the inevitable answer.

"Please excuse this one's interruption, honorable lady, but this one has finished with these forms. Are there more?"

"No, that 's all of them." Mii said, snatching the papers from his hand eagerly. "For now." She added only after she was several paces away. With an uncharacteristically gleeful expression Mii headed for her desk with a handful of forms to file.

Kuroko meanwhile caught the sliver of a smirk on Mikoto's lips and shot her a pointed stare.

Don't think I don't know what you're up to. The twin-tailed teleporter thought with a lopsided smirk of her own. She turned back to Trystan to speak.

"Due to the severity of the incident, Anti-Skill will be handling the investigation. Officially at least we can't get involved." She smiled slyly again. "But unofficially..." She was interrupted by an abrupt cough from Mii. Kuroko's expression faltered. If they were going to discuss their plans they'd need to do so away from Mii, if only for the purposes of plausible deniability.

***

“Surely, a fine morning such as this shouldn’t be spent locked in a classroom? I was just about to have breakfast. Why don’t you join me?”

Mai looked at him curiously, as though there were something wrong with the boy.

"Me?" She pointed to herself. When it became apparent that he was serious her face brightened. "I'd love to." She bowed. "But...." Mai started as her joy came to an abrupt halt, her memory catching up with her. "I still need to get to class." She shuffled her feet, obviously trying to find an excuse to take him up on the offer.

"I'd love to." Karl stood with disbelieving eyes and ears as the girl bowed to him. "But...." It was amazing how the single could shatter his hopes. "I still need to get to class."

Why? He wanted to ask. Why spend all your time trying to become an esper? For what purpose?

But he kept silent. Karl knew better than to push his luck; he would have to find another way. In other words, this was a lost cause.

A hint of disappointment flashed within his serious expression.

“Oh well, maybe next time then.” He gave a respectful nod. “I’m Miura Karl by the way, it was nice to meet you, or bump into you, rather.”

His lips twitched slightly into a weak smile as he turned towards the café to obtain his breakfast.

"No, that 's all of them...For now."

A small awkward smile appeared on his face, mirroring the sly smile on the lady's face. She seemed surprisingly glad about something, but it wasn't something that he could put a finger on. Actually, now that he thought about it, why did he feel like was one who had been caught in some sort of trap or another? However, his attention was snapped back to reality when the twin-tailed teleporter, whom this narrator will refer to as the almighty TTT, began speaking to him once more.

"Due to the severity of the incident, Anti-Skill will be handling the investigation. Officially at least we can't get involved...But unofficially..."

Trystan cocked his head slightly in confusion as to why she had stopped talking. However, a quick glance over to where the TTT was looking at quickly told him all that he needed to know. Even someone who grew up in a backwater's place knew enough delicacy to understand what was going on. Hurriedly standing up, Trystan bowed slightly while saluting the woman who seemed to have already started gleefully sorting out his papers with a traditional Chinese salute, with his left palm over right fist. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know her name...

He'd have to get it next time.

"Ah, excuse this one's impertinence, but this one still has some business to attend to."

Turning towards the TTT and Misaka, Trystan began speaking once more, an easy smile on his face.

"Is this one correct in the assumption that the both of you are off to some other function now that this morning meeting is over? In that case, allow this one the honor of escorting both honorable ladies to their destination."

They of all people probably didn't need this "escorting" of his, especially this early in the morning, but hey -

An excuse was an excuse, right?

"Is this one correct in the assumption that the both of you are off to some other function now that this morning meeting is over? In that case, allow this one the honor of escorting both honorable ladies to their destination."

Kuroko nodded. Whether it was his intention or not, the journey would give them time to discuss their next move.

"Of course." She replied, latching onto Mikoto's arm. "Shall we?" She tugged insistently at the older girl while shooting her a knowing look.

"Uiharu, I'll be in touch. Let me know if anything else comes up." She called over to the shy girl in the corner. Though Kuroko wasn't sure how, Kazari had a strange way of finding things out. If there was any information related to the incident out there, then she was sure to discover it.

Once out of earshot, Kuroko returned to their previous discussion.

"Obviously our first move should be to look into Skill Out activity in the immediate area around the time of the incident." She frowned, pondering the issue. It was important they approach this correctly or else they would risk losing their only lead.

***

“Oh well, maybe next time then. I’m Miura Karl by the way, it was nice to meet you, or bump into you, rather.”

"My name's Kashiwagi Mai." She bowed again. Mai looked past Karl towards the school. Many thoughts swirled in the girl's head. It wouldn't hurt to skip class just once. After all, it wasn't every day a handsome boy asked her to breakfast.

She would have to be abnormal not to take the opportunity.

"Well... I guess I could get something to eat." She followed after him, her hesitant shuffling making it obvious she still felt bad about the idea. "I did miss breakfast after all." She rationalised to herself.

"Is this one correct in the assumption that the both of you are off to some other function now that this morning meeting is over? In that case, allow this one the honor of escorting both honorable ladies to their destination."

Mikoto blinked. Was this guy for real? Did he seriously think they were weak little girls who needed protection? A guy’s arrogance never ceased to amaze and annoy her. Before she could open her mouth to huff out a haughty answer however, Kuroko latched onto her arm and answered him with an "Of course”.

She opened her mouth to protest when Kuroko gave her arm a meaningful tug, shooting her a knowing look.

"Shall we?"

Mikoto simply nodded at her.

They walked outside quickly in silence. Once they were clearly out of earshot, Kuroko started talking again.

"Obviously our first move should be to look into Skill Out activity in the immediate area around the time of the incident."

Mikoto watched as Kuroko frowned, wondering if she should tell her about the guy she had met earlier. She didn’t even know how much of a lead he would be and didn’t want to raise a fuss when there needn’t be one. Kuroko looked stressed enough as she was. Mikoto glanced at their “escort”, wondering what he was capable of. Although he seemed odd, he appeared to be a good guy if his actions so far had any merit.

For now though, Mikoto decided to keep quiet about this Karl guy. After all, she had no proof that he was involved in any way.

“Well,” Mikoto spoke up for the first time in a while, “it sounds good to me. But do you know who the Skill Outs are and where their base is, Kuroko? Surely, a group like that has a meet up place? Maybe we might be able to find some clues in their hideout.”

**

"Well... I guess I could get something to eat."

He turned his head in surprise as he heard Mai’s hesitant shuffles follow after him.

"I did miss breakfast after all."

Karl nodded, trying to hide how happy he felt.

“And they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” he said seriously.

“Table for two please,” he asked the waitress and they were led to a small table in the corner. Karl could see how nervous Mai was, and he wondered briefly what was making her more so: the fact that she was having breakfast with a stranger or the fact that she was missing class.

It’s probably her first time missing class, Karl deduced. Heh, I used to be like that… Caring about school work so much…

He offered her a seat like a true gentleman.

“The breakfast is on me,” he said, eyeing his wallet for a moment with a hint of despair in his eyes.

I hope I have enough money…

"Of course, shall we?"

Nodding, Trystan collected his things, before heading out behind the TTT and Misaka, closing the door behind him as they left. After a short distance of slightly awkward silence, the Judgement personnel began to speak once more.

"Obviously our first move should be to look into Skill Out activity in the immediate area around the time of the incident."

That was true enough, but he had no idea how they would go about collecting information on such things. It wasn't like you could just walk up into a shady corner and ask the people you encountered about a border-line criminal group's activities. As he thought this, he caught Misaka's glance from the corner of his eye. Hopefully, she didn't have a bad impression of him; if the TTT hadn't given her a look, he was almost entirely certain that he'd have gotten at least an earful, if not a shockingly painful piece of her mind for his excuse earlier.

“Well, it sounds good to me. But do you know who the Skill Outs are and where their base is, Kuroko? Surely, a group like that has a meet up place? Maybe we might be able to find some clues in their hideout.”

Ah, so her name was Kuroko. It looks like this narrator can stop with the senseless abbreviations now. In any case, Misaka had pretty much voiced Trystan's own concern out. Just how exactly were they going to track these people? His brows furrowed in concentration as he thought about this. After a brief moment, Trystan began to speak again.

"Perhaps we could narrow the area to investigate to the immediate area around the scene of the crime again? This one thinks that it is also possible that the cause of the incident might be physically close by; after all, where there is smoke, there is fire."

“Well, it sounds good to me. But do you know who the Skill Outs are and where their base is, Kuroko? Surely, a group like that has a meet up place? Maybe we might be able to find some clues in their hideout.”

"Perhaps we could narrow the area to investigate to the immediate area around the scene of the crime again? This one thinks that it is also possible that the cause of the incident might be physically close by; after all, where there is smoke, there is fire."

"It seems the obvious move." Kuroko agreed. "We patrol the area and locate the local Skill Out base of operations." She declared with the firm authority of a leader. "But there's still the question of how to approach them. You're right in thinking a direct approach would be pointless." She cupped her chin. Negotiations would be difficult at best. She ran through their options. An undercover ruse? Sneaking in? As a last resort there was always a straight frontal assault. Her eyes turned to Mikoto briefly. Yes, with the Railgun on your side a direct confrontation was always a possibility.

***

Mai took her seat demurely and waited with her hands in her lap as Karl caught the waitresses attention.

“The breakfast is on me,”

She smiled happily at the boy. He seemed so sweet and in her excitement Mai never once considered the possibility that he may have an ulterior motive.

"Wow, really?" She snatched a menu and started to scour it. "I'll take the number one!" She pointed out a large western breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

"It seems the obvious move. We patrol the area and locate the local Skill Out base of operations. But there's still the question of how to approach them. You're right in thinking a direct approach would be pointless."

“Pointless?” A rather arrogant smirk played on Mikoto’s lips. “I don’t remember anyone saying that, Kuroko.”

She placed a hand on her hip, tucking a hair strand behind her ear.

“Anyway, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Her right hand slipped into her skirt pocket, obviously referring to the arcade coins that were there. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at her junior, knowing full well that she would probably go right ahead herself even if Kuroko said no.

**

Karl swallowed the guilt that rose when Mai smiled at him happily. So innocent. He was once like that and believed in everything and everyone. But there was no place for innocence and naivety within Academy City. What he was doing was for the greater good, he promised himself. He would open this girl’s eyes to the truth.

"Wow, really? I'll take the number one!"

Karl looked at what Mai was pointing to. It was a large western breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

1,300 yen…

His eyebrows twitched sporadically as he wondered why he hadn’t thought of walking into a cheaper café.

Convincing himself that it was all worth it, he quickly ordered Mai’s choice along with much cheaper plate of toast and scrambled eggs.

He sat back in his chair, wondering what to do next.

“So… Kashiwagi-san, which school do you attend?”

Of course he already knew the answer, but he figured he may as well do this properly.

"It seems the obvious move. We patrol the area and locate the local Skill Out base of operations. But there's still the question of how to approach them. You're right in thinking a direct approach would be pointless."

“Pointless? I don’t remember anyone saying that, Kuroko. Anyway, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Trystan watched in slight confusion as Misaka put her hands into her pocket. The slight clinking told him that the contents were light, metallic objects of some sort or another, but what could she possibly do with them, flick them at -

And then it dawned upon him why her nickname was the 'railgun'. It was entirely likely that, as an Esper with vast control over electricity, she had the ability to manipulate electric and magnetic fields as well; after all, from his limited knowledge gained from science class, it seemed that these two things weren't too far off from each other.

But then again...

Turning to Misaka, Trystan began speaking.

"Excuse this one's insolence, but this one does not believe a frontal attack to be the proper course of action. Disregarding Lady Kuroko and Honorable Lady's abilities, this one believes we simply don't have enough information at our disposal right now to justify a front-on raid..."

“Pointless? I don’t remember anyone saying that, Kuroko. Anyway, aren’t you forgetting something?”

The telltale rattling of coins caught Kuroko's ear and her mind's eye filled with images of wanton destruction and property damage. District 15 in chaos. Entire buildings levelled. And all of it Kuroko's responsibility. She was about to protest when Trystan interjected.

"Excuse this one's insolence, but this one does not believe a frontal attack to be the proper course of action. Disregarding Lady Kuroko and Honorable Lady's abilities, this one believes we simply don't have enough information at our disposal right now to justify a front-on raid..."

"I agree." She said, trying her best to sound rational and composed to mask the nervous dread she felt at Mikoto's threat. "We need to know more before we rush in. Remember our objective is to find out what occurred last night. Not to get into a fight."

***

“So… Kashiwagi-san, which school do you attend?”

"Tokiwadai!" She declared eagerly. It was obvious from the way she spoke that the fact filled her with pride. "It's amazing! The girls there are all so refined." She started to gush. "Sometimes I feel a little out of place." She laughed with a modest shrug. "I'm sorry. You don't want to hear about that sort of thing, right? So where do you study?" She asked, leaning forward onto her elbows.

"Excuse this one's insolence, but this one does not believe a frontal attack to be the proper course of action. Disregarding Lady Kuroko and Honorable Lady's abilities, this one believes we simply don't have enough information at our disposal right now to justify a front-on raid..."

"I agree. We need to know more before we rush in. Remember our objective is to find out what occurred last night. Not to get into a fight."

Mikoto pouted childishly at their responses, looking away in annoyance.

“Tch… Alright, alright, I got it already!”

Taking her hand out of her pocket, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at a tree nearby as if this situation was entirely its fault.

Mikoto fell into a sullen silence.

‘I’ll just take care of it later myself if they’re not going to do anything,’ she thought sulkily.

**

“Tokiwadai!”

Her exclamation was filled with joy and pride. Karl felt his disgust well up as Mai continued her chatter about her school.

"It's amazing! The girls there are all so refined. Sometimes I feel a little out of place.”

Although she laughed, Karl sensed that perhaps she had some insecurities that she covered up with cheeriness and easy shrugs.


“I'm sorry. You don't want to hear about that sort of thing, right? So where do you study?”

Karl shook his head quickly.

“No, I’m interested to hear about Tokiwadai- I’ve heard it’s a great school. I… dropped out of the esper program few years ago.”

He shrugged. He decided to be honest with her for now. There was no harm in it.

“So I enjoy hearing about people’s schools- brings back memories…”

Not so good memories…

"I agree. We need to know more before we rush in. Remember our objective is to find out what occurred last night. Not to get into a fight."

After a moment's pause, Misaka responded.

“Tch… Alright, alright, I got it already!”

While she seemed reluctant, it seemed that, at least for the moment, they had managed to convince the Railgun not to just outright attack everything in sight. For some reason, this unexpectedly hot-blooded and straightforwards approach caught him completely off guard; he had expected the poster-girl for Academy City to be someone more, well, for the lack of a better way to describe it, in line with the City's general image of scientific and methodological processes.

However, now that they ruled that option out for now, how exactly were they going to go about gathering this information that they needed? He turned towards Kuroko, then poised his question.

"While this one knows how to spout the theories, lamentably, this one is ignorant of how to put them into place; how does Lady Kuroko propose we go about this?"

Kuroko watched Mikoto skulk away with a pouting expression and sighed.

Sorry Onee-sama. But we can't afford to miss this opportunity. She apologised mentally to the older girl.

"While this one knows how to spout the theories, lamentably, this one is ignorant of how to put them into place; how does Lady Kuroko propose we go about this?"

The teleporter stroked her chin.

"It'd be a lot easier to find out what they know if we didn't have to be so secretive." She lamented. "Not to mention the consequences if we're found out." Her face tightened in a stern frown, her eyebrows knitting in concentration. "But if we were to gain their trust..." A look of slow dawning realisation spread over Kuroko's features. "I've got it." She declared. "Lets meet back here at the scene of the incident at 1700." She turned to Mikoto. "Onee-sama, we should be on our way to class."

***

“No, I’m interested to hear about Tokiwadai- I’ve heard it’s a great school. I… dropped out of the esper program few years ago. So I enjoy hearing about people’s schools- brings back memories…”

Mai gasped sympathetically.

"That's terrible!" She blurted out without thought to Karl's feelings. "I mean..." She jumped to correct herself. "It's just, you must have worked hard to be accepted into the program. To give it all up like that seems so sad." The pain in her expression was sincere.

"I guess I sort of know how that feels." She admitted, lowering her head to stare into her lap where her hands fidgeted. "Even though I'm a Level 3 it seems like I'll never be good enough." She said, referring to her own unattainable standards. "I don't know if hard work is enough."

"It'd be a lot easier to find out what they know if we didn't have to be so secretive. Not to mention the consequences if we're found out. But if we were to gain their trust...I've got it. Lets meet back here at the scene of the incident at 1700. Onee-sama, we should be on our way to class."

"Understood."

Turning to Misaka, Trystan began speaking once more.

"This one apologizes for any inconveniences his presence has caused."

He then turned towards Kuroko, a small smile came to his face as he turned to leave.

"This one assumes that his presence will be unneeded for the rest of the honorable ladies' trip. Well then-"

He brought up his hands, left palm over right fist, in a traditional salute.

"Please take care."

With that, he started down a path towards A Certain High School. As he rounded the street corner, leaving the two out of sight, he pulled out his cellphone, checking the time. He scratched his head slightly. This excursion had taken slightly longer than what he had accounted for. He activated two of his hansha, before applying them around his legs, then broke off into what others would look to be a mad dash.

Well...a little boost should be alright...

"I've got it." Kuroko suddenly declared after musing for a while, "Lets meet back here at the scene of the incident at 1700."

1700?

That meant…

"Onee-sama, we should be on our way to class."

Mikoto hurriedly hid a brief smile that had suddenly appeared, nodding in agreement. What Kuroko didn’t know was that Mikoto only had morning classes today…

Good, it’ll give me time to investigate on my own. It’ll be faster if I do it this way.

To Kuroko, she quickly nodded and agreed with her junior with unusual ease, her earlier frustrations apparently forgotten.

“Yeah Kuroko, we should.”

Mikoto watched with slight amusement mixed with bewilderment as the strange guy bid his farewell.

When he was out of sight, Mikoto turned to Kuroko with curiosity etched on her face.

“Who is he anyway? We didn’t get introduced properly but he seemed to know who I was.”

At this, Mikoto grimaced and sighed.

**

Karl felt annoyed as Mai blurted out her sympathies with such sincerities. He wasn’t here because he wanted pity from her. No, it was supposed to the other way around. She was supposed to be the pitiful one!

Swallowing his disgust, he merely shrugged. He did not trust himself to speak at this moment.

"I guess I sort of know how that feels." Mai continued, obviously oblivious to his inner torment.

"Even though I'm a Level 3 it seems like I'll never be good enough. I don't know if hard work is enough."

Karl almost snarled out, ‘At least you HAVE some sort of power!’ but he managed to stop himself just in time.

“No, sometimes it’s not,” Karl said instead, and although his voice was steady, there was a hard edge to it.

Noticing his own tension, he quickly cleared his throat and attempted to lighten his tone.

“If you’re Level 3, you must still be quite an esper. May I ask what kind of ability do you possess?”

“Yeah Kuroko, we should."

Something about Mikoto's sudden change of attitude did not sit well with Kuroko. Though she knew the girl was up to something she couldn't guess at what.

“Who is he anyway? We didn’t get introduced properly but he seemed to know who I was.”

"Is it really that odd?" Kuroko asked. "A lot of people know your reputation. Perhaps he recognised you from some piece of propaganda or another." She suggested. "The new recruit? He was involved in the incident yesterday. So far he seems harmless." She said "If a little odd..."

It wasn't long before the two arrived at the school gates. Kuroko stopped to address Mikoto.

"Well, I'll see you at the agreed place. And please, Onee-sama. Don't go rushing into trouble on your own." Her expression dropped as she implored Mikoto one last time. It was a nice thought at least.

***

“If you’re Level 3, you must still be quite an esper. May I ask what kind of ability do you possess?"

The question was enough that even if Mai had noticed his tense behaviour she wouldn't have cared. She looked him in the eye.

"Here' I'll show you." She sat straight up in her seat and shook her arms, rolling her shoulders as though limbering up for an acrobatic feat. She lifted her left hand, passing it over the table. It passed through the glass in front of Mai like a hologram. She repeated the movement a couple of times before removing her hand. "Phase Shift. The ability to move though solid matter." It was obvious from her proud tone that she was having trouble restraining herself from showing off more.

"Well, I'll see you at the agreed place. And please, Onee-sama. Don't go rushing into trouble on your own."

“Mmhm, see you later Kuroko,” Mikoto said distractedly.

Waving a hand carelessly at her junior, she turned to the direction of her locker, mind already racing ahead to ponder what she should do later in the afternoon.

'Damn, I was planning to go to the Arcade, but it’ll have to wait.'

The cute white teddy bear flashed in her mind briefly but she shook her head to get rid of the delightful image.

'Maybe I can take care of this problem quickly and then go to the Arcade afterwards. Skill Oust are just a bunch of Level 0 delinquents anyway, it shouldn’t be too hard to get some information out of them.'

Suddenly feeling confident, Mikoto opened her locker with a grin and scanned through her timetable.

'Just two classes this morning… I’ll finish around 12:30 pm. Kuroko wants to meet at 1700? Hmph, plenty of time!'

Grabbing at her textbooks, she quickly closed her locker and walked to the classroom. She sent cheerful greetings to the students along the way, but her mind was elsewhere.

**
"Here' I'll show you."

Karl watched with slight apprehension as Mai made a big fuss about her preparation. He wondered if she had some destructive ability, the kind that Railgun had, and felt a twinge of fear despite himself. Surely she wouldn’t use it here…?

Just as he opened his mouth to question her actions, Mai lifted her hand and passed it through the solid glass as if it were nothing but air. Karl’s eyes widened. Although he hated the power development programs and espers who wielded their abilities with ignorance, he couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer wonder of the powers themselves.

"Phase Shift. The ability to move though solid matter."

Karl easily detected the hint of arrogance her voice displayed and the pride with which she suddenly held herself as she continued to show off her powers. Arrogance was something Karl had dealt with countless times in his life. It was the terrible but inevitable part of Academy City.

Jealousy and resentment awoke in him as he stared at the glass cup where Mai’s hand had gone through, and he struggled to keep those negative feelings down.

“That’s really impressive,” Karl said after a moment’s pause. He almost winced at the obvious longing and envy in his own voice.

Fixing the glass cup a thoughtful stare, his hand reached out as if it had a mind of its own, brushing against the side of the cup hesitantly.

It was solid.

OOC: here! over here! notice me, Touko~ XD

It's only...11:50, huh?

Trystan sat in class, leg absentmindedly bouncing as he looked at the clock. Suddenly noticing the movement, he placed a hand over his thigh, stopping the motion. Kuroko had told them to meet up at five, but he didn't feel like sitting around until that time came. The Certain High School technically ended at 3:00 pm, but there were still cleaning duties to attend to afterwards, which could easily drag on for another half an hour to a full hour at least. Well, he could also attempt skipping out during lunch, but it just seemed like such a...delinquent activity that he didn't feel it appropriate. But then again, in principal, he shouldn't even be considering skipping class; while he had now joined Judgement, it wasn't like it was a practical option for him to skip class every time there was an ongoing investigation.

While he was lost in his own mind pondering these things, time had continued to flow as usual. A jarring bell rang as the class officially ended. As the students around him clattered about readying their lunches, Trystan wandered out into the hallway, his feet moving him automatically, but slowly, towards the canteen area.

(OOC: Sorry, I only get a few hours to check on the forums per day.)

Touko let out a loud yawn, stretching her arms and legs out as she rocked back in her chair. The movement didn't escape Komoe's attention. The small woman approached Touko with a sweet smile on her face and rapped her on the head with a rolled up handful of papers.

"Ow!" Touko hissed, rubbing her head.

"If you're going to fall asleep in class try to be more subtle about it, Kamijou san." Komoe said as the bell rang. "Don't forget your assignments!" She called after them but the first wave of the students had already made it to the door. Touko looked on in sympathy.

'Poor sensei', she thought.

Even with her sympathetic feelings for the teacher, Touko decided that she would be best served by making a stealthy exit from the classroom. As quietly as she could manage she slipped from her seat and past Komoe, blending into the crowd of escaping students.

It wasn't long before she spotted a familiar figure wandering the halls.

"Hey." She waved to Trystan, making her way towards him. Though she had no intention of joining Judgement, she also had no intention of dropping her own investigation into matters. "Any news on what happened last night?" She asked bluntly.

"Hey. Any news on what happened last night?"

Trystan was roused from his thoughts by the voice of someone calling out to him. Turning around, he saw a familiar form approaching him from the crowd. If he recalled correctly, she was the one who had shown up afterwards. However, he also didn't recall interacting much with her afterwards either. Actually, he didn't really remember much about yesterday night other than the smell of the explosion itself, so his memory wasn't exactly helping him here either. Regardless, he was sure that the had seen her at the scene last night. Without thinking too much into it, he decided to share the information they had learned today.

Well, he may have called it information, but it really was just one single hint.

"No, if this one understood the briefing this morning correctly, they have not learned anything new, other than the one who's remains had been found in the wreckage belonged to a known Skill-Out member."

After a moment's consideration, Trystan committed to letting the fates decide whether or not he would become a delinquent on this day.

"...if this one might so inquire...is...the Honorable Lady going to continue investigating on her own?"

“That’s really impressive,”

"Thanks!" Mai beamed, delighted at being able to show off to someone for a change. "I mean, it's not the coolest ability or anything..." Her usual self doubt crept back and she looked away sheepishly, suddenly self conscious about being the centre of attention. "I mean, it can't really compare to controlling electricity or reading minds." She smiled weakly as she compared herself to Tokiwadai's Ace and Queen respectively. The comparison wasn't a favourable one.

A few moments later and their food arrived at the table.

"Wow!" Mai was already salivating at the sight of the dish and she said a hurried thanks before digging in, her manners forgotten in her hunger. "Thanks. You know I was worried about skipping class, but this is nice." She paused only briefly to say.

Mai’s previous pride visibly faded away before Karl’s eyes, replaced by an obvious lack of self-confidence.

"I mean, it can't really compare to controlling electricity or reading minds."

Karl wasn’t sure who the “reading minds” was referring to, but felt certain that he knew exactly who she meant by “controlling electricity”.

Before he could say anything however, their food arrived. He nodded a quiet thanks at the waitress as Mai exclaimed in wonder. Her plate was twice the size of his. He blinked in surprise and bewilderment as the girl immediately dug into her food in frenzy with a hurried expression of gratitude.

"Thanks. You know I was worried about skipping class, but this is nice,” she said, between mouthfuls of food.

He nodded, eyes slightly round in surprise.

Karl took a careful bite of his scrambled eggs, chewing slowly and thoughtfully. It was slightly too salty for his liking but it was otherwise alright.

“You said you’re level 3 right?” He asked after he swallowed, “Are there lots of espers in Tokiwadai?”

It was a question he genuinely did not know the answer to and curiosity filled his voice.

“You said you’re level 3 right? Are there lots of espers in Tokiwadai?”

"Yeah. Everyone there's an esper actually." She said, taking another bite. "You need to be at least a level three to get in, so it's pretty exclusive." She spoke with her mouth full, making short work of the food on her plate. Apparently her manners had disappeared into the black hole in her stomach along with half the breakfast. "Most of us are level threes, but there's a few level fours too. And of course two of the seven level fives in the city study there too." She continued on between forks full of pancakes.

It wasn't long before her plate was clear and Mai sat back with a contented expression.

"So, what do you want to do now?" She looked ready to jump from her chair. Any trace of doubt about missing school had vanished at the prospect of having fun instead.