[SS] MissFits

---

August 13th

It was summer in Academy City. Being a city of students the effects of summer vacation reached far. What had been a silent city during daytimes had now become a lively boiling pot of youth culture. With the majority of students enjoying their short term of freedom to the fullest for once the hustle and bustle was strong day in, day out, especially with that perfectly warm, slightly too hot summer weather.

The majority of students.

Those students that had rightfully made themselves deserving of the time to let their heads hang loose. However while those do exist, there are also students that didn't make themselves deserving of the reward that was free time. Students that had slacked off one way or the other, screwing up exams or simply phasing out regularly by not having a proper attendance rate. Criminals from an academic perspective.

Kamijou Touko was one of them.

While everyone she knew, except Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu for obvious reasons, had been set free to enjoy their youth to the fullest, she had to spend the whole day from morning to evening confined to a seat in a classroom. To make matters even worse it hadn’t even been her usual classroom in her usual school, but a special one at a special school somewhere at the other end of the district. Something about there being a need for special lessons handled by a specialist teacher in a  field Komoe-sensei’s capabilities didn’t reach into. Thus this morning she had been sent from her usual school to travel all across District 7, only to arrive there too late and be scolded by the specialist teacher, or rather drill sergeant.

There had been a lot of rumours about extreme teachers, but she’d never expect to run into one that vicious.

Either way, after enduring an entire day of his torture like lessons, Kamijou Touko had been set free on shaky legs. Her strength had been sapped, her mind broken and her hope nearly crushed. Considering the teacher had even went as far as to extend his lessons to compensate for the time lost due to her being late, she knew that time was sparse. Her day had been wasted entirely.

It was late already. She knew without even having to check the clock on her phone.

Yet even though that was the case, she still had to do something before heading for the station. After all curfew wasn’t all that far away, so most of the stores would shut down along with the public transports. Unfortunately she had yet to restock groceries, knowing fully well that even though she had seen some leftovers in the fridge this morning, these must have disappeared already.

Thus to avoid any complications and especially bite-marks she would have to restock ASAP. And with the curfew approaching it was best to take care of that before taking the train. After all, at the time she would get off, most of the grocery stores would have most likely already closed their shutters.

However, she made the bill forgetting about her misfortune entirely.

With the curfew at the horizon the stores were packed with people on last minute errands.

By the time she got out, carrying two bags, her worn out, dead tired body was forced into movement by her usual panic. What had been a likely possibility before, was now a desperate last chance. Like many others she was running to make it to the station. Just like many others she was somehow fighting to make it through. However unlike the majority of them her struggle had been real. There was a striking different between her and them: Her student dorm was at the other end of the district, way down south!

But who did care about that? Before obstacles everyone considered the other equals, not making a difference between better and worse circumstances. Therefore, no matter how much she’d struggle, nobody would bother. Everyone had just the same thing on mind and everyone ran with all their force, paying zero attention to the desperate worn out spiky haired girl laden with weighty groceries and heavy school books.

In the end, she made it to the tracks, the last train resting there, awaiting her arrival. Bringing forth the last bit of strength her body could bring up, she burst into an inhuman sprint, somehow passing through the masses ever violently, reaching out to her final hope, ready to take a dive straight into it head forwards.

Slam-am.

As if echoing the sound of something slamming resounded. However it was no echo. The initial sound had been the doors of the train slamming shut, followed by the spiky haired girl’s face slamming straight into them.

Falling backwards in way less spectacular manner than her dive, she could feel something being crushed under her own weight upon landing.

«…such misfortune!!»

Ignoring the glances of the remaining students that hadn’t left already, the girl quickly returned to her feet, checking on and collecting the groceries that had become victim to the Kamijou deep impact, all the while trying to fight back the realisation that was slowly crawling all over her mind.

It wasn’t that a portion of what she’d just spent her valuable and ever slim budged on had turned all squishy, nor was it the divine punishment that’d befall her head once she’d arrive home. It was something far worse than both.

Something that, with her body’s condition and the time on the clock, would in fact become her doom.

The most unfortunate truth of them all.

Grabbing her head with both hands, as she faced the sky, the truth struck her like lightning.

With the last train gone, there only remained one path to take.

Kamijou Touko would have to walk the entire way back home.

---

Nighttime in Academy City is a truly peculiar thing.

Being a city occupying a third of Tokyo and harbouring 2.3 million people, while also holding the most advanced technologies in the world, it should offer a perfect baseline for an enjoyable life. However with the vast majority of the inhabitants being students a lot of regulations for the sake of their protection have been enforced. One of such being a city wide curfew.

From a set point of time onwards, no student is allowed out into the open. Dominated by that simple rule the entire city is forced to adapt, especially the districts harbouring the majority of schools, causing a lot of the area’s liveliness to cease for the sake of nighttime silence. Stores closing in accordance to the regulations, train lines shutting down at the appointed time and many fearing the disciplinary measures at the hands of the adults, cause the city’s daytime bustle to die down nearly completely once the clock strikes.

However even then there are those who are foolish enough to step out: brave heroes, shady criminals, seekers of romance and adventure, drop-out students goofing around or a disciplinary enforcer wishing to protect the city’s peaceful dignity.

Kamijou Touko was none of them.

Tonight she had absolutely no intention of being out in the dark and yet she was.

Having travelled to the far end of District 7 for the most exhausting of all classes imaginable, only to end up missing the last train home, she had been forced to walk the entire way back to her home. To worsen everything she was laden with both bags of groceries that had ended up becoming more squishy than healthy and a school bag of weighty in-expendable textbooks; not to forget that an aggressive someone was waiting for her to prepare dinner back home.

All in all, she was once again victim to her own never ending misfortune.

As she slowly trudged along the streets, she hardly could see people around. It had been nearly an hour since she had missed the last train, so it wasn’t that surprising that slowly the city would shut itself up. Even the students that weren’t able to catch their trains had already left the area. Some likely had made it back to their dorms already and the rest simple walked much faster than worn out heavy-weight lifter Kamijou.

She couldn’t deny that she was a bit worried. Not entirely for what awaited when she got home, hours too late with bags full of squishy no longer edible groceries, but for the change in the city’s atmosphere. Being a long term resident and someone who oftentimes got into trouble with all kinds of individuals, she naturally knew what times came after the curfew. She knew the kind of people that’d stay up. While many were just the feel good kind, Academy City did have the problem of delinquents spreading all over. It was weird, but considering the amount of students there were it was only natural for there to be a vast amount of bad students as well.

Being not the most girlish of girls, clad in her summer sailor uniform and carrying a bag filled with textbooks didn’t help that in the slightest. It was unusual for someone to be up and around like this during nighttime, as oftentimes such attire would give a whole wrong image that didn’t suit her entirely and yet no one would think anything else. Right now she totally must have seemed like some borderline honour student — not a proper one, though, she wasn’t authentic enough. Basically she’d probably make the ideal target for the many of those bullies to pick on.

For the first time in her life the girl was lead to realise how silent and peaceful the city seemed and how harsh exactly that could weigh down on one. Already picking the longer paths to avoid the usual hangout spots for the troublesome people she still couldn’t feel save entirely. After all it was her who was in this situation. Kamijou Touko the girl that was always accompanied by misfortune could never rest safely. Even if she made sure 100% of the time, it was likely that just after stepping around a corner there would be an angry gang of tall guys that’d immediately pick on her, a certain Level 5 hothead that’d immediately start flinging thunderbolts at her or some insane Magician on the verge of destroying Academy City she’d somehow have to stop. She shivered just at the thought.

«At least it’s a Friday not a Saturday. That way there won’t be as many—!!!»

Speaking to herself, the only person out there, she started a weak attempt at cheering her up. However just as she muttered these words, something occurred to her all of a sudden.

Wasn’t today the 13th?

Kamijou Touko wasn’t the superstitious kind, even after all she had seen. However with the basic premise that had been hammered into her via TV, manga and video games, she suddenly felt the urge to gulp strongly. There weren’t many superstitions she’d believe in, actually there were hardly any — she was a citizen of the capital of science after all — but one, just one thing caught her immediately. One that truly worked hand in hand with the premise of her very existence.

Friday the 13th.

The holiday of misfortune.

«This is bad! This is very bad! Why is it today of all days that Kamijou-san is left in the wilderness far from home! Why didn’t I fake an illness and lock myself up in my room!? Why didn’t I check the calendar!? WHY AM I OUTSIDE NOW!?!?! AT THIS TIME!!?! THIS ISN’T GONNA END WELL IS IT!?!?!»

Panic struck her as her shivering intensified. She no longer held the ability to restrain and simply began to grow louder as she spoke to herself. It didn’t help! What had been calming only a moment ago now amplified her panic twenty fold. She knew she could have been capable of preventing all of this and yet her usual stupidity had simply led her straight for the gallows.

Would she survive? Or would she fall? Suddenly she couldn’t trust any of the surroundings anymore. Shadows were everywhere the streetlights didn’t reach. The streets were seemingly empty and yet again she felt as if she’d heard voices somewhere in the dark. Even the tiniest sensation made her shriek just a bit.

The situation was bad. Very bad.

And it became worse.

Because only a few minutes later a new challenger appeared.

Pressure on her bladder.

Yes, far away from home, keen on avoiding any human interaction in the worst possible of all nights, laden with all kinds of useless weight, Kamijou Touko felt the extremely strong urge…to pee.


Nighttime Academy City is not just a tranquil phase. While the most of the city’s life is washed away by the authorities’ protective strictness a small portion of it still clings to the surface persistently. Youth is a wonderful thing. The phase in life were one wishes for nothing else but to realise their deepest desires. Hanging out at forbidden times and forbidden places, enjoying the nightlife like clubs, karaoke bars or arcades even stepping into the dark side by consuming forbidden substances.

All these are aspects that exist everywhere in the world where there are youths and with Academy City being the crazy place it is, it would be weird if it wasn’t the case for that there as well.

The streets weren’t bustling, most of them lay in silence, much like the one a certain spiky haired girl was on. However the one she was about to cross into was an entirely different matter.

A hidden subculture surfaced there.

A bunch of youths were out, some still somehow fitting into the category of the ordinary and some being far out there — so far out even, it made them more terrifying than anyone else. People with piercings, people wearing weird fashion, people covered all over with tattoos; everyone moving against the schools’ regulations. There were many of them and many of the «normals»; they were hanging out here and there, sitting on the streets, standing in circles and somewhere there was music blasting. They were likely the kind to hang out wherever until Anti-Skill came rushing in to chase them away, only to then settle elsewhere.

Some of them entered a building empty handed and some left it with drinks in their hands. A door was standing open, leading downwards into what seemed to be a basement facility. It wasn’t the only one, a few had opened. Those weren’t your normal establishments, however, but the kind that was well aware of the breach the owner committed. Yet again they were still brave enough to hold their doors open for that special audience.

The surprising change of scenery just within a few steps.

---

Natsuki breathed out slowly, attempting to steady himself as his phone rang, staring quietly for a while at the name calling. For a guy used to keeping his composure, picking it up with a steady voice should have been an effortless, and even well-practiced motion no matter how he felt at the time. However, an entire day being of trapped in remedial courses compounded with the dire situation of his gang, Under Level, had strung him to the very edge of his patience. When he finally felt ready, he picked it up and before he could even finish asking what business someone like her might have, she curtly posed her question.

Natsuki almost crushed his phone's screen upon hearing it, and his facial expression sent a younger member nearby scrambling away. The rest of the members nearby found various excuses to leave his presence and began to slink off before Natsuki could finally get it together to respond;

"... Hey... Hey, hey, you don't just ask a question like that lightly. Intellectual curiosity? Is that it? Well for you, it might be a curiosity, but for US. For ME and MY people, this is a little bit heavier than that, and I don't have the time to..."

He quieted a moment to hear her interruption before interrupting loudly in turn;

"DON'T. Stick your goddamn nose into this unless you're willing to risk your neck! I can't believe-"

Another interruption, but this time upon hearing it, all the rage bled out of Natsuki rapidly. His voice returned to that of a man baffled;

"I... Excuse me? What did you just..."

"No, hey, I don't think- ..."

"That's not really... Uh..."

Natsuki looked thunderstruck and at a lack of words. He had just been issued a challenge.

"Fine. Fine, have it your way... If you can even get yourself out past curfew, I know a place we can meet up. I need to do some digging there myself anyway. I'll text you the details... Yes... Yeah, sure. Later, Elite."

With that and a sigh, he hung up the call. While he sorted out what kind of mess he had just promised himself to, he idly thumbed through the calls he got last night from his gang. He noted how he had gotten them almost at the same time, so most of the calls were marked as unanswered. While Natsuki and his group of members were untouched, almost every other Under Level hangout was attacked suddenly and viciously. Though the methods of each attack varied greatly, the one thing they had in common was that it was by complete surprise and that Under Level suffered a complete defeat. In some cases, as scattered members returned, they'd find their hangout decorated with incomprehensible symbols and graffiti, their belongings strewn across the floor. In other cases, it seemed that it was just his members that they wanted, and after thrashing them thoroughly, they'd leave the rest of the place intact, even cleaning it up or sweeping it a little, leaving little smug hand-written bills or receipts for cleaning services. And then there was... that... case... Natsuki flipped to the video that had been circulating the net.

He could recognize the three members even with their blindfolds on. The three of them, one of them a female, had been seated at a table under a streetlight, with an empty teapot being set between them. The photo was taken from above, so it was likely from some dormitory window. It showed Anti-skill arriving to cut the wire that tied them to their chairs and then after some quick questioning, lead them away. The audio relayed their clear distress and shame, the three of them uniformly crying and shaking in fear from their ordeal.

It was likely they had their phones taken away, but try as he might, Natsuki hadn't been able to contact them. It was probably safe to assume they were done with Under Level after this. And to think, after seeing something like that, an uninvolved girl would want to investigate... Maybe I've misjudged her, and she has some sense of justice or desire to protect these kinds of people... Maybe I owe her an apology later tonight... Maybe... Hayama-san is bringing her around, and she wasn't so bad after-all...

---

---

I am going to fucking kill her when or IF she ever shows up. Glaring around the groups milling around the alleyway, Natsuki scanned for her silhouette full of murderous intent. In fact, he had been doing this for almost an hour now. She's late, late, LATE! Is she making a fool of me?! Again, he considered just calling or texting her, but somewhere inside, he did fear she was making a fool of him and that texting or calling to ask where she was would just make him look more pathetic. The only remaining reason he didn't abandon this street to begin questioning the people in the basement facility was out of some stubborn sense of obligation to wait for her here. If he entered and missed her on the street, she, an elite from Nagatenjouki, would be left alone with... Well... These. People. She would stick out as much as... As much as that one in uniform over there, with the grocery bags.

“What the hell, that's one of our uniforms…”, he muttered to himself.

Natsuki's concern for that underclassman from his school mounted as she looked around the area, clearly here for the first time. Still, tonight's schedule doesn't include babysitting this one as well, I'll just have to ignore her... Is what he thought until he heard snickering nearby from people starting to notice her. Gritting his teeth, Natsuki stepped out towards her and waved her down. Because he was out in casual clothing, actually prepared for the night unlike her, he might look like any other thug prowling the night. Still, he tried to take an even tone and said simply, "Little miss, unless it's trouble you're looking for, I think you're lost."

Friday, August 13rd, 7:45 P.M.

A small charm was dangling in a very captivating manner.

Its shape was one of a grey and round cat head attached to a purple strap.

It was one of the “small and cute” items a young girl could get from trendy stores in districts like Harajuku.

But the reason it was so captivating wasn't because of its inherent cuteness or its skill at mindlessly dangling from the phone it was tied to.

No, it was merely an object of distraction.

Distraction from the dreadful numerals that were mere centimetres away from the charm.

“...I feel like checking out hot suicide spots right about now.”

Those unreasonable and frankly worrying words weren't muttered by an actually suicidal person. No, the girl who had said something so out of place for a student who would normally only talk about hot hangout spots, simply felt that death would come her way anyway and her pride told her to actually have an active hand in it rather than wait for it.

That person was Natsumi, so proficient at breaking curfews that it was a shame it wasn't actually a career.

Though her phone's actual display was turned off, it was configured to always display the time so that she wouldn't need to do anything but pull it out of her skirt's pocket and open the magnetically closed case to figure out the time. And with an arm still heavily injured and under cast, that kind of concise functionality that avoided her having to fumble with her phone with only one hand too much just to tell the time was otherworldly convenient.

(Is this occult Friday the 13^th nonsense is actually real? What the hell made me think taking up a job today was a good idea, then?!)

Indeed, though it was mainly short and sweet to fit her currently inadequate condition, she had still picked up one of the jobs that had come her way solely to get her mind off the injury and boredom. The main problem was simply that she had lost track of time and by the time she knew it was...

...Well, this time of the evening.

Which would've been fine had she been residing in a dorm quite relaxed with the notion of curfew and hadn't repeatedly broken it throughout the course of July and just gotten around to fixing the issue that would have her dorm mistress spare her life.

But a life that easy wouldn't be fun now, would it?

Though she spoke and thought about it in a casual manner, Natsumi's expression was that of a grim, dejected smile. “Guess I'll suck it up and get ready for the whopping I'm about to get...” With a sigh, Natsumi resigned to her fate and resumed her nonetheless tranquil steps towards the School Garden.

Want to hear a joke? Takamiya Jin obeying a curfew. See, it's funny, because there's roughly a snowball's chance in hell of it actually happening.

Rather than to say that he breaks curfews, it would be more appropriate to say that Jin doesn't believe they exist. You know, like the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus. A myth created to make sure that children behave.

Regardless, it would be very strange indeed for Jin to not be out at night. What is marginally more strange is that he appears to be performing a pole dance... Several stories from the ground. The fact that he does not fall is proof of his grip strength, and the fact that he makes it look good proved that he is a sexy beast.

It's truly a shame that no one is watching. It could open them to a whole new world.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. With a, "Hup," Jin flipped himself up, landing on the small end of the metal pole in a manner very reminiscent of a certain raccoon thief jumping and pressing the circle button near small points.

In hindsight, having a zipline to use right now would be really sweet. Alas, hindsight is 20/20. He shall have to find another route.

Ooh, a parachute would be cool too. He should really write these things down! But where would he even get a parachute in the first place...? Ah well, he can figure out such small details later.

Flicking a small pebble out of his pocket, he watches it fall for several seconds, then gives it a piercing glare that causes it to stop falling out of sheer fear.

Just kidding, it's actually just the power of Takamiya Jin's esper ability, Spatial Lock, which holds the rock in place, the same as the floating metal rod he is standing on. A pebble can't feel fear, silly!

He casually hops down, grabbing the stone with his right hand. Sure, catching his entire body weight with one hand on a small object is a bit painful, but since when has Jin cared about small things like that? What matters is, it looks pretty damn smooth.

With his other hand, he reaches back towards where he was moments ago, releasing his hold on the metal bar, and causing it to fall into his outstretched hand. No sense in wasting a perfectly good rod!

Using the pebble as a pivot, Jin swings a few times to build momentum, then releases at the peak of his arc, propelling him forward. Seconds pass, before he makes a pointed glance at the metal held in his left hand, and grinds to a halt. With his right, he gropes for a second bar, which has been strapped to his back this whole time. Meanwhile, he casually releases the lock on the stone he has left behind. Stones are common, so why would he bother recovering it?

There are few students below, considering the time, so it probably won't hit anyone. Not that JIn particularly cares if it does. That said, given the size of the pebble... Anyone who it lands on must be truly unfortunate.

Armed with his dual wield pipes, Jin casually traverses the airways in a manner reminiscent of that eternal playground equipment known as the monkey bars. It's not like he particularly has a destination, he just feels like going this way.

Slowly and playfully, Jin descends in this manner. Sometimes he leaps about like a trapeze artist, other times he just lets himself fall for a bit before catching himself on his poles. It isn't long before he is relatively close to the ground. With a sigh that seems to say, ''Aww, over already?' Jin simply releases his Spatial Lock, and falls casually to the ground.

At the last second, he realizes that if he were not holding the metal rods, he could have performed a superhero landing. What a waste, he mentally berates himself!

If it was not yet obvious, Takamiya Jin is a person who lives entirely at his own pace.

Now that it was during summer vacation, Tsukomata Kana would have a lot more time to herself. Like it should be for any student, this was an exciting time of the year for her. She would have more time to study, and more time to help other students. Normally this would fall solely into tutoring others, but Kana had begun to do her best to escape an otherwise normal life. She had finished a tutoring session just a few minutes prior, but Kana was staring at her phone, having just finished a call with Natsuki.

Normally she wouldn't contact him. They had almost nothing in common, live practically worlds apart, and have entirely different viewpoints on just about everything as a result. Possibly one of the few subjects they would agree on, if you were to ask them would be that they don't get along with one another. So why would that be different now? Kana had been reading about this new gang of some sort which had recently started taking action. While she didn't like the concept of gangs to begin with she understood some had formed in an attempt to defend oneself. To her understanding Natsuki would be that type. Their group still seemed to be violent, and even attacked Kana once in the past, but that didn't matter anymore.

Kana had watched the video on the web, and had heard even worse rumors circulating around the students. She didn't contact Natsuki out of concern, however. To her this was a chance to once again escape the normalcy of her life. She knew Natsuki would likely either have information, or maybe have even have some relation to the events. Based on the call she just had, it seemed she had guessed correctly. She managed to get him to agree to meet up, and just needed to sneak out later on to meet him.

She didn't know what she was getting herself into exactly, yet she was still looking forward to it. Kana looked glanced around herself, making sure no one had heard her during the call. Not necessarily because she wouldn't people to know about it. It may have an impact on her reputation, but she didn't want anyone to try to talk her out of it. Kana pocketed her phone, and began to head back to her own room so she could get her preparations in order for later.


Kana sat at her laptop browsing through the web. Her objective? Information as usual. She had hoped to get some useful information before she met up with Natsuki, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen at this rate.  Nothing... nothing at all. This was just a waste of time in the end. Kana sighed to herself in disappointment. While she enjoyed the act of looking for information to learn, possibly almost as much as actually learning the information she was looking for, it wasn't the same if it ended up being a fruitless endeavor.

Now that she was bummed out, her focus on other matters began to return. That particular lead was dead, and while there were likely others, she didn't have time for them. If I kept looking any longer I'd probably just be late with the meet up. She sighed and glanced down at the time. Ah. It seemed she was already late actually. She stood up quickly in a panic. Why hadn't that idiot just called or messaged her? Despite being late being entirely her fault, she had somehow managed to mentally shift some of the blame to Natsuki. Combined with how long it would take to get there, she would be over an hour late for sure. She grabbed her bag and jacket and then ran out the door, rushing to a meeting she was already late for, as was common for her by this point.


Dragging herself along the ground, she could finally see Natsuki up ahead. Kana felt like this was beginning to happen a bit too often recently. Showing up both late and exhausted. Kana felt a little uncomfortable walking through this area at this time, but that wasn't going to chase her away or anything.  
However with the atmosphere around them she didn't want to call out to him, and just quietly walked up. She wasn't even paying attention to what was going on, too busy thinking about the fact that she was incredibly late. A rare moment when her viewpoint to the world might be a bit more narrow than usual.

Normally you might expect her to apologize for being late. Ordinarily you would be exactly correct. Kana doesn't like others to wait for her, or to inconvenience them. However, this was Natsuki's fault. He didn't complain about her being late! Which made her extra late. "Natsuki! You idiot. Why didn't you call or text me? Just look at how late you've made me. If you'd have said anything I could've been here earlier." She held up her phone with the time displayed on it.

A shock ran through Kamijou’s entire body, as the girl was suddenly approached by someone from the depths of the night. She had been worried to begin with, knowing fully well what kind of people would lurk around on the desolated city streets, yet the moment she saw the one that initiated conversation, her eyes simply widened as she remained speechless.

«Whyyyyy?! Such misfortune!!»

Unable to hold back any of her over the top panic with all she had already been through, the realisation she just made and of course her own bodily urges.

However, she wasn’t that weak a person, was she?

No matter how often she would look at the boy that had approached her, the entire impression he left on her was that of a delinquent, one of the most scruffy kind. And being someone who was used to these kind of people, she could already classify him in her mind. He seemed to be a good runner, or maybe a fighter? Or maybe he was just a bait to keep her distracted while his friends would surround her? Possibilities, possibilities.

Quickly running through her collection of past experiences, she finally picked the method she’d consider the most suitable.

At least she would have.

«Natsuki! You idiot. Why didn't you call or text me? Just look at how late you've made me. If you'd have said anything I could've been here earlier.»

Another contender appeared. She broke out in cold sweat, but only until she got a full image of the girl. Blonde, twin-tails, school uniform. Actually inspecting the latter a bit further, even someone as unfortunately experienced as Kamijou Touko found herself to be rather surprised. That school uniform wasn’t just any you’d see anywhere. There were a lot of schools in the entirety of Academy City. Some ordinary, some below average (like Kamijou’s) and some elitist (like Misaka’s Tokiwadai). However this one was an entirely different thing. The stage above the stairway. The most elitist of all schools in the entire city:

«Na-Naga-Nagatenjouki Academy!??!?!?!?!»

She was in awe, yet at the same time strongly confused. What was such an elite even among elites doing in a place like this at a time like this approaching guys like that?

She wasn’t stupid, but she didn’t have the fantasy to explain that by her own ideas. Therefore drawing upon ideas ripped straight from anime, manga and visual novels something entirely strange formed in her head, simply replacing the excuses she’d just made up to escape that other situation.

From the way the girl’s words sounded and from the nature of this time of day, there was only one conclusion to it all. One conclusion that quickly occupied the entirety of the teenage girl’s mind.

…

..!

!!!

«Kamijou-san is not gonna disturb any of what the two of you are doing! Good evening!»

Calmly dropping the message of departure, she did a gracefully robotic 180 and stepped forth with the fake calm of an everyday high school student during exam week and the hurry of a little girl that accidentally walked into an adult movie.

Yet, only thirteen of her short steps later God’s hammer struck again straight from up above.

It wasn’t that that pebble a certain troublemaker had dropped had directly struck her. In fact it had so easily avoided her it could be considered a lucky miracle. Yet again it only remained a miracle for that alone. After passing her it struck the ground or rather the grid above a small drain embedded into the sidewalk. The angle it hit, paired with the force of the impact and the material’s strangely corroded state were enough to damage the grid sufficiently, so that her step just a moment later would lead it to break and with her entire weight on it cause her to be stuck and loose balance in the least positive way.

Groceries spilled, school bag flung away and body hugging the asphalt, the sight of Kamijou’s misfortune at the hands of a pebble out of nowhere was imparted on many more just like this.

«…such…misfortune…»

«Natsuki! You idiot. Why didn't you call or text me? Just look at how late you've made me. If you'd have said anything I could've been here earlier.»

"Haaah?!" An immediate response, conveying equal parts rage as well as an inability to believe what he was hearing. A typical one-sound opportunity for someone to reword what they just said. But no, Natsuki reminded himself, this was the Nagatenjouki Elite, Tsukomata Kana. He confirmed with a sidelong glance that she was, indeed, unabashed and realized ... ... This one's in her uniform too. Hey, what is this, a late night study party? Does nobody around here understand how dangerous it is lately?!

«Na-Naga-Nagatenjouki Academy!??!?!?!?!»

Turning back to the underclassman, he noticed her transformation into a deer in headlights, her widened eyes settling upon the Elite's uniform. Having made a similar mistake in the past, Natsuki definitely understood where she was coming from and began to track her thoughts as if she were saying them outloud.

«What is someone like HER doing here?»

The girl glanced over at Natsuki and Natsuki silently returned her glance, waiting for her to come to her own conclusion.

«What could she be doing with the likes of HIM?»

She seemed lost in pondering the matter... Then her face brightened.

Oh, she came up with something. That was fast ...

Oh, wait, she's embarrassed by it. ... Wait.

"Hey! It's not like-"

«Kamijou-san is not gonna disturb any of what the two of you are doing! Good evening!»

The girl, Kamijou, spun like a top and began a hasty retreat. Hey.... What the hell did she even come here to do... A look of sad confusion finished off what little rage Natsuki still felt and his mind began to clean up the nonsense that had just occurred.

Hm? "Kamijou"? A curious sense of familiarity tugged on the back of Natsuki's mind. Though Natsuki attempted to recall where he'd heard her name before, he was quick to give up. Maybe she's dating someone I know or something. He felt like someone from Under Level was bragging about a "Kamijou", so that seemed correct. Lumping the "Solved" anomaly into the "Forget" pile, he allowed his mind to resume it's clean up and he resolved to begin again fresh by briefing Tsukomata about-

A quiet, low whistle followed by a high pitched *plink* of something glancing off metal drew Natsuki to focus back on Kamijou just in time to see her step through the floor. It was almost as if there had been a pitfall placed for her while her back was turned... While Kamijou let out some pitiful moan of self lament, Natsuki idly scanned the skies for the source of the projectile, uneager to step out if there were others... Nothing. Even though he spotted nobody, Natsuki immediately blamed an esper in his mind before making his way to his pathetic underclassman. In a city full of espers, it wasn't unheard of for one to explore their very own, very special, super unique power irresponsibly under the cloak of night.

"Kamijou... san, you said? I think you might be under a misunderstanding." Natsuki tried a more polite tone that he used often, though he settled into a squat next to the girl plastering the floor. He had no obvious reason to care about her, but when faced with an underclassman in such a rough shape, he couldn't help but at least ensure she made it out of his view safely. After that, he really needed to get on with his investigation, or else more of his people were going to get hurt. But first, he'd need to calm her down. "The girl from Nagaten is Tsukomata. She's... A helper. Or better to say, a meddler. She's helping me look into something. Oh, and I'm Fudou, I'm actually a senior from your school, believe it or not." He took a quick pause to make sure he wasn't overloading her again. He continued shortly in his best impression of a concerned senior student, "So, now that we've introduced ourselves, and you know why WE'RE here, perhaps you could share with us what brings YOU here? I can't imagine a straight student comes here by mistake, Kamijou-san, and these parts can be dangerous at this time of night. If you can share with us why you're here, maybe we can help you with it and then set you on your way? How does that sound? Do we have a deal?" after patting some dust off of Kamijou's shoulder, he gave her a winning smile and a hand to help her up, if she would take it.

He then threw a pointed glance at Tsukomata, as if to egg her to play along. Though he couldn't tell how Tsukomata would react to this strange detour, judging from what little he knew of her personality, he doubted Tsukomata could decline if asked in such a manner on behalf of a third party. He also doubted he would be able to get any questioning done with Kamijou around. To Natsuki, this helpless presence kept him from the more serious mindset he needed to be in when dealing with something so dangerous. The sooner they dealt with her, the sooner they could move on.

Though she had intended, with all the good will she could possibly muster, to carry on a determined endeavour of returning to the dorm before her death sentence would grow much worse than it already was, in the span of mere seconds she would find that life just wasn't that easy for her.

(What the hell is that?” That personal thought ended up leaking out of her mouth halfway through.

For, far too many metres above her head, was an idiot who seemed to be playing around with his ability by poledancing on the poles of his own belonging. Or at least that's all she could tell; the situation was way too bizarre for Natsumi to reason anything else out of it.

And unfortunately, all chances of her escaping was distraught by that idiot landing not too far away from her, likely would have rammed straight into her if his landing calculations had been any worse.

Bearing herself in face of the inescapable reality that, from her experience, it was very likely that today would not be restful thanks to this idiot, Natsumi sighed and sucked in a deep breath before saying...

“What do I get from not turning you in to Anti-Skill, Public Danger Pole-Dancer?”

As the self proclaimed greatest nuisance of Academy City heard the girl's words, a series of emotions fluttered across his face. Surprise, that there had actually been someone to see him after all! Shock, that anyone would be willing to talk to Academy City's #1 Nuisance (Self Proclaimed) of their own free will! Disappointment, that despite having seen the dance he had spent all of five minutes perfecting, she found it so horrid that she would threaten to call Anti-Skill.

Amusement, at the idea of Anti-Skill hunting down a rogue pole-dancer. Contemplation, as to whether or not Anti-Skill would actually get involved for that level of nuisance. Deeper contemplation, as to whether or not he should tone down his antics as a result of this information. It would be a pain to have to evade Anti-Skill, after all. Heck, even Judgement would be annoying.

Jin might like to be annoying, but to be annoyed was so not his style.

All these facial transformations took place over the span of several seconds, making it extremely unclear how seriously he actually took any of the emotions he seemed to be feeling. However, at the end of this bizarre string of changes, Jin finally settled on a sheepish expression, his gaze downward as he scratched the back of his head.

"Was... Was it really that bad?" The nuisance asked meekly. He looked all the world like a young girl who had been caught staring at her crush. Then again, what kind of young girl was a goggle-wearing high school boy with a half meter metal rod in each hand?

Just as Kana was about to continue her discussion, on how if Natsuki had just been a bit more responsible the situation could've been averted, at least to a minor degree, she realized there was someone else with him already, one who seemed surprised by Kana's arrival. She had tutored several students from the school so she could recognize the uniform right away. She must be one of Natsuki's friends, then? Her reaction was somewhat understandable. It did seem unusual for someone from Nagatenjouki to come associate with someone like Natsuki, but in Kana's case, she commonly tutored students like him. Though that wouldn't have been so late at night.

Just as Kana was ready to move on to the more important matters with Natsuki, it seemed the girl had thought of something, and decided she needed to go. Disturb what they're doing? Kana wasn't sure whether she had remembered an important issue or what, but the reaction seemed a bit odd. After barely even walking away, however, the girl managed to find herself fallen flat, and the contents of her bags found themselves all over the ground.

Kana could only assume the girl, Kamijou, was of the klutz type. She had read about similar characters in her books, and seen them in various other forms of media, but she hadn't ever seen it in person. Kana sighed to herself, knowing this was going to end up being yet another distraction.  As expected, Natsuki went over to help her. However, it seemed like they didn't even know each other either, based on the introductions. She also didn't appreciate being introduced as a meddler, but she would let that pass for now.

Waiting until after Natsuki finished, she looked around the two of them. He asked what Kamijou had been doing, but it seemed clear at a glance. Wasn't she just shopping around? Shrugging to herself she stepped forward to provide her own aid. Using her Spatial Control, she concentrated on small groups of the items at a time, and returned them to their bags. Not necessarily in the same order or even the same bags, but better than being spread all about, and levitated the groceries and school bag back beside Kamijou.

"Are you alright Kamijou-san?" She asked, to be polite, but she was fairly confident that the girl was fine. It wasn't a nice fall, but it probably didn't cause any serious damage.

To Kamijou’s surprise that scruffy delinquent revealed himself to be rather polite as he came to her aid when she had fallen. She didn’t get why entirely, but appreciated the worry. Still a bit dizzy by her own sudden explosion of misfortune she wasn’t able to grasp a portion of his introduction properly, but she still tried to catch on the very same time she returned to her legs and checked for her body and the bags.

Ready to cry out over the once again spilled contents of her shopping bag, she actually found herself rather surprised at the sight of the last of the items returning themselves to the plastic bag.

«Oh, ooh! Thank you very much…!»

Still a bit overpowered by the suddenness of the events the first thing she actually did was thank the two of them for their help, bowing a bit with both the bags back in her hand. That was the most formal way of dealing with those things…especially if you still felt as if you were standing on thin ice. Eyeing the two of them carefully, the spiky haired girl just couldn’t shake off the thoughts she had developed; besides what she’d been told hadn’t sounded entirely convincing — naturally!

«Ehhh…what I…am doing here? Well you see…uuuh….»

She had been keen on avoiding that topic all alone, but it seemed he wouldn’t let off.

What to everyone else seemed like a surprisingly polite delinquent boy was to Kamijou-san a violent man casting her killing-intent filled gazes, an image built from both her over exaggerated worry born to the terrible circumstances and of course her not so positive experiences.

Besides…admitting this was a tad too embarrassing.

«I…missed…the last…train…home from my…special…summer classes…and…now…I’m…walking…home?»

Was that a question or an answer? A bit too nervous to actually make sure to sound definite she truly tried to evade the entire topic until the very last moment. Honestly, though, admitting that things were like that was a heavy thing. With all the cool and daring guys out here at night, the story of someone having missed on catching their last train and now having to walk through the entire District on their own was just a letdown. She knew and she didn’t wish to disappoint. Not that they would start picking on her for that!

«…N-n-no need to help me! I-it’s just a bit of a walk, you see. Kamijou-san can handle that…please take care of your own…private business…I didn’t mean to disturb…ahaha…ha»

Flushing the most nervous of all smiles she tried facing the two, already plotting the second best ideal escape path. After all, what had worked once would work twice as well. Besides…she hadn’t forgotten about it yet…

The call of the toilet.

«Ehhh…what I…am doing here? Well you see…uuuh….»

Here it is again, Natsuki thought to himself disapprovingly. It was a simple question, but if she required thought before replying, Natsuki assumed she could be hiding something.

«I…missed…the last…train…home from my…special…summer classes…and…now…I’m…walking…home?»

Natsuki nodded to himself, confirming his suspicions internally. Special summer classes was a believable excuse, having been subjected to them himself for the majority of the day; and missing the train would excuse why she would be out so late... However, this alley was off of any route a straight student would take home, especially this late at night. No, there's definitely something afoot. Or so he convinced himself.

«…N-n-no need to help me! I-it’s just a bit of a walk, you see. Kamijou-san can handle that…please take care of your own…private business…I didn’t mean to disturb…ahaha…ha»

Natsuki placed a pained, almost dejected look on his face before responding, "You aren't fooling anyone with that, Kamijou-san..." Shaking his head, he continued, "If you wanted to go home, I believe you're off the correct path. And on purpose... It's far too easy to find trouble in these parts if you don't know where to look, so I thought we could help but... If you have your reasons, I won't pry.", he finished with an exaggerated shrug and a sigh. Was it too cheesy? Oh well, I probably won't be seeing her again anyway. "Stay safe, Kamijou-san. If you change your mind, I expect to be around in there.", he said, giving a thumb back towards the door he had been waiting at.

Internally, Natsuki felt mixed feelings about letting her go when it seemed clear she wasn't ready to handle whatever business she had in this alley... It actually did pain him somewhat to think about leaving someone so helpless seeming, alone, in such a place... However, after wasting so much time waiting for the Elite, he didn't want to waste much more with someone so likely to get into trouble. When fate struck this girl down next, Natsuki reasoned that he should strive to be out of fate's way, lest he find his entire night wasted with no leads. Justifying his actions with that grim thought, he gave a light nod to Kamijou to close their meeting and turned back to Tsukomata, walking close enough to converse comfortably.

"What to do about our hapless kouhai, you think, Elite-san?" he said with an uncharacteristically genuine sigh. The case with Kamijou was gnawing at him and he conveniently had someone here serious enough to perhaps justify his actions. Perhaps if her point of view was cold or callous, he could reassure himself he had the moral high ground, at least over her. "We could keep an eye on her... Or we could just get started in there.", he said pointing towards the door he had been waiting outside of. "I was thinking I'd fill you in on what I know and then we could simply sit at a few tables..." Realizing the plan sounded a bit weak, he explained his thinking: "It's a place where people feel "safe" from the authorities... And in the presence of the right substances, the right table with the right people is all I'm hoping for."

Was he actually getting embarrassed now after the stunt he'd pulled off? Of all times? Looking at him in not-so-positive awe, Natsumi felt strong reluctant to know what had brought this boy to put on such a display.

“...what makes you think I'd rate your pole-dancing skills? Heck, am I supposed to rate your strip-teasing ones and gauge your amount of talent to apply for a job at a gay strip club?” As such, sarcasm was all she could default to, all the while taking extra care not to ask him what he was doing and why, lest she embarked on a bizarre... “discovery” journey.

And that sounded like the kind of journey she didn't want to take even if she wasn't tired and risking her life right now.

She did have one recommendation for this peculiar boy, though.

“I have no clue why you're walking around with these improvised metal stilts, but do you mind not ramming into anyone's faces with them?” She warily asked as she turned around, already ready to depart for her ultimate destination, whether that was for the night or forever, though rather concerned of whether next time he attempted landing it wouldn't just barely be near someone...

And if she had the misfortune of being in his path again...

“...what makes you think I'd rate your pole-dancing skills? Heck, am I supposed to rate your strip-teasing ones and gauge your amount of talent to apply for a job at a gay strip club?”

Takamiya Jin put on his best contemplative gaze, as if he was seriously considering requesting exactly that. As all his other expressions, it was so exaggerated as to cast suspicion as to its degree of honesty.

"Well, I mean... If you really want to..."

The nuisance responds, tilting his neck such that his jacket slowly slides off shoulder in a seductive manner, revealing the thin shirt below.

Alas, his efforts seem to be wasted. His audience was already giving him a parting shot as she turned away.

“I have no clue why you're walking around with these improvised metal stilts, but do you mind not ramming into anyone's faces with them?”

But how could Takamiya Jin call himself Academy City's #1 Nuisance (Self Proclaimed) if that was all it took to be rid of him!? "Hold these," the Ultimate High School Truant Student told his nonexistent assistant as he passed his rods into the firm grasp of the one and only, Spatial Lock. He didn't need them any more, having his hands full was a pain, and besides, it might confuse someone who shows up in the next few minutes! I mean come on, it's a pair of metal bars just floating above the sidewalk! Who wouldn't be confused?

Having taken care of that, the esper takes a leisurely jog to catch up to the girl. "Stilts?
What stilts?" The boy is the picture of innocence as he provides his empty hands for her to see. As always, he doesn't hold that face for long, finally relaxing into a more natural expression with a leisurely grin with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"So, Cast-chan, the boy adds, referring to the girl with the unknown name by the very obvious thing covering her arm, What's a girl like you doing out at this time of night?
It's not safe, you know. Perverts galore!" He adds the last bit with a chuckle, knowing that for him to not be considered a pervert at this point would be very odd.

But then, Takamiya Jin isn't the type to care about the labels of other people in the first place~ Even if it means being called a pervert, Takamiya Jin will do as he pleases until his last breath!

Kana found herself unconcerned with Kamijou's hesitance in answering the question. Whether she was having a problem of her own, or whether it might just be due to fear of the one questioning her, it didn't matter much. Kana was a little surprised when Natsuki began to pry further. Given that it seemed like they didn't know each other prior to this meeting, it seemed a little unusual. Kana would rather they simply get started with their own matter at hand, it was why they met out here after all.

After Natsuki seemed to finish up the conversation with Kamijou and then turned to Kana, and began to ask her thoughts on the matter she simply shrugged as she heard the topic about Touko still continued. "She doesn't really have anything to do with us, and she didn't seem to be asking for our help either. Just let her do as she wants. You don't even know her do you?" Kana asked just to make a point. She didn't need an answer, she had just seem them introduce themselves.

After clearing her thoughts on that, she returned to the main point at hand. "So there is a chance we might not get any leads at all then? We'll just be hoping we can manage to get some info from some thugs?"  It's not like Kana had a better idea, she had contacted Natsuki on this subject for a reason. It was closer to his domain than hers for sure. She had just hoped he had a more direct method of gaining more information than this. If this was what Natsuki thought was best she would just trust him on the matter for now.

"Alright, we can see how this goes then. You said you'd fill me in first, though, so what is it that you know?"

OK. She’d somehow managed to get away from those two. Kamijou Touko sighed in relief over the possible trouble she just had avoided. Especially with how that scruffy boy had spoken towards the end, the suspicion he’d shown to her and the overall weirdness of their encounter, she was sure only staying a bit longer would have drawn her into something yet again. Into something she really couldn’t afford.

She had to get home after all. She had to pee after all. She had to avoid misfortune at all costs after all.

With her resolve straight again she moved on, along the streets, further down the line.

Still, it was weird that that boy had thought she was after anything worth the suspicion. All she had told was the truth, nothing else. This just had been the best route for her to take and from her experiences probably the safest even, or had she messed up…?

«…Please don’t tell me I turned right instead of left, back at the intersection!? Such misfortune!!»

It couldn’t be helped, could it?

Her heart dripping heavily the spiky haired girl wandered on, heavily loaded, physically weakened and urgently strained by a bladder about to burst. But no save harbour in sight, none at all. Just empty streets all over again, now that she’d managed to escape that lively strip.

But that was fine. Finer than before, right? At least there was no one around, no trouble, no danger, no one who’d be stupid enough to go out at night. Or was there…?

«What’s a girl like you doing out at this time of night? It's not safe, you know. Perverts galore!»

Startled immediately at hearing the words echo throughout the streets, Kamijou’s mind produced the sound of sirens all over again. This was bad bad bad. Why had she even thought about it? Hadn’t her experience already told her that even appraising the tiniest bit of fortune in her life would immediately trigger a definite reversal?!

She gulped, then she saw two figures in the distance. The street was long, no further intersections, only gloomy back alleys leading astray. If she turned back she’d just get to that place with the many suspicious people again, but if she’d move straight forwards she’d run into whatever was going on up ahead.

Academy City’s strange nightlife and that odd couple or a pervert on rampage about to throw himself onto a girl, which was was worse?

«TO THE TOILET!!!»

She burst into a sprint. Not forwards, but back to where she had come from. In the end she wouldn’t choose either of the two, but decide on the basis of her most urgent and powerful desire. She needed to pee. Not in a few minutes, but now. Immediately. And if she recalled right at least there had been a place before where freeing herself from that burden would actually come into reach. Thus with her legs’ full force, she’d come charging right back.

"She doesn't really have anything to do with us, and she didn't seem to be asking for our help either. Just let her do as she wants. You don't even know her do you?"

This was the answer that Natsuki had both hoped for and disdained. While he had felt responsible for his hapless underclassman, it was true that they had much more important matters to attend to. It was good to have this Elite with him to blame for putting her out of their minds. "That's rather cold, but no, you're right..." He would take some solace in having sent her away safely at least once; if she came back after that, it would be on her.

It seemed the Elite disapproved of his plan, but he was pleased by her reaction. She probably expected a five point study plan to learn about these MissFits., he thought with an internal smirk. He was happy his loose plan made her feel uncertain. If he was lucky, by the end of the night, he could instill some fear or respect for this side of life which she was taking so lightly.

Nodding and taking a moment to organize his thoughts, Natsuki settled himself against a wall before speaking, "Hrmm... Before that... You remember the other guys from when we met at the library? Yuri and them? They're part of a gang called Under Level. I'll spare you the introduction brochure, but there's alot of other in Under Level, and they're all under me." He said with some pride leaking into his voice. Still, he didn't bring them up just to brag, "I imagine you saw that fucked up video with the tea party? Those were them. Under Level. And it wasn't just that group. These MissFits hit a number of hideouts and groups simultaneously..." He paused for a moment to thumb slowly through the long string of missed calls on his cell, as most of his gang cried out for help at the same time. No matter how many times he looked at it, it stirred up his emotions, but he put effort into keeping it from his face and voice.

"I ... I don't know how they knew or where to look, but the organization in their attack was... Devilish. It was completely one-sided... We were taken completely by surprise. And afterwards, we learned nothing about them... For such an organized attack, there was no pattern... Each group was hit differently, for different reasons, some of them just gave my guys a bloody nose, others strung them up for Anti-skill to find... And others..." He paused again to pull out what looked like a receipt and showed it to her; Upon closer inspection, indeed, it was an official looking receipt for a full house cleaning, 0 yen, a special courtesy of the "MissFits". "They left this with one of our places they cleaned out... These fuckers were just playing with us... They knew who, when, and where to hit us and we don't know a damned thing about them... Besides that these cowards hide behind masks..." While he didn't allow any of his bubbling rage to seep into his voice, his choice of words was enough for him to have to take a moment to settle down before continuing. "We had heard rumors of masked people running the streets a few nights before we were hit, so I don't think we were the only targets. If we're lucky, they'll have been doing shit like this for a while in other areas and someone will know something... So first, I want to find out if it's just us or if other gangs got hit too. And then..."

He trailed off as he saw something in the distance. A one-of-a-kind ridiculous silhouette of a girl sprinting, weighed down by swinging grocery bags. "Shit... Kamijou..." He was disappointed to see her back here, but also worried again... "The hell is she up to...", he muttered, eyeing her in the distance. There was a moment's indecision where his worries fought a losing battle internally against their earlier decision to not interfere... "It's probably best to hide, then.", he muttered to his companion with a sigh, deciding to "blend in" with another pair of stragglers sitting in the dark. In reality, it was a pair of younger visitors whom had drank too much inside or had taken an unfamiliar substance; so preoccupied with keeping themselves together, they hardly seemed to notice or care when Natsuki joined them without a word. So sitting to their side in silence, Natsuki left space in the dark for his companion to join him if she would, resolving with interest to watch his underclassman pass.

That boy was either mad and talking to an imaginary friend, or had an ability allowing him to talk to an imaginary friend. Did she want to know? No. Would she end up knowing? Likely, yes.

In a desperate attempt to avoid that ultimately outcome, however, not even daring to answer the oddman's bizarre requests, statements and questions, Natsumi simply turned around with the most displeased of expressions to make her way out of there and back to her dorm.

If she was lucky, then this oddman would get the message and let her go without any further harassment, and if she wasn't... well, not that she ever was, but if she wasn't, for once, then she would never make it home within a time where she wouldn't see death unfold before her eyes.

It was all up to her luck for this encounter, in other words.

And with a sigh, she grit her teeth and braced herself for the worst, since this lad seemed already persistent enough. Especially since there was an idiot shouting about a toilet, and depending on how she tried to avoid oddman, it was entirely likely Natsumi could encounter said idiot...

I repeat, "how could Takamiya Jin call himself Academy City's #1 Nuisance (Self Proclaimed) if that was all it took to be rid of him!?"

Even the loud feminine cry of «TO THE TOILET!!!» which would normally set off Jin's Nuisance Senses like a fire alarm in hell, could no longer deter him. Let alone simple body language and an attempt to ignore him. It was no longer a matter of simply being a nuisance... It was now, a battle of pride!

Without missing a beat, the legendary annoyance swiveled to match his unwilling companion's turn. "Went the wrong way, hm? Nothing wrong with that, it happens to the best of us!" It was unclear by his attitude whether or not he was only pretending to not recognize the Tokiwadai blazer.

The truth is, he just didn't care very much about school in general, so of course he didn't care about the significance of Tokiwadai. Takamiya Jin does not discriminate based on social status. He is an equal opportunities nuisance.

""Don't worry! No matter how many times you get lost, I'll protect you from those famous roaming perverts until you get where you are going!"

Jin's pep completely belies the fact that he is obviously ignored and unwanted. That said, ignoring Jin is the traditional method of handling Academy City's infamous nuisance. If he were to be discouraged by something so small as that, just who would he be?

As Natsuki began to go through his monologue about his own position in a gang Kana found herself quickly losing interest. Whether Natsuki was the leader of Level Under, or the lowest ranking member, it wouldn't change the way she saw him. Though she had a feeling he wasn't a bottom rung member based on what she knew already. It wasn't a surprise that he had known the people involved in the video either.

It still left a few things unclear to her, but it sounded like the Missfits were more dangerous than she had initially suspected. It sounded like they were some sort of super effective strike team based on how Natsuki described their efficiency. She didn't really understand what they gained from doing any of this though. Why would they fight Under Level? She didn't really understand the nature of gang wars at all, though.

The receipt they had left behind. Kana couldn't help but find leaving a "Calling card" like that to be interesting, though there wasn't anything amusing about the situation itself with how out of control they seemed to be.

"So you're not even sure if it was just Under Level that was hit, then? Do you have any idea what they might've been after by targeting you?"

While she had been interested in furthering the conversation it seemed she wouldn't get the chance just this moment. Natsuki seemed to notice that same younger girl from before. It seemed odd she would return at this point. Kana had written her off as simply trying to go back home after shopping earlier, but maybe Natsuki had been right to be suspicious of her reasons. Kana followed into hiding along with Natsuki, though she didn't really see much point in doing so. Regardless of what Kamijou was doing here, she found it unlikely it would matter to them still.

"I thought she was just going to head home, why would she come back out here?" She didn't think Natsuki had an answer, but she whispered to him anyway.

Mission Clear!

In the end Kamijou Touko felt a storm of relief coming over her. Showered by the sensation of freedom, she’d lean back, rejoice, celebrate and absorb the positive emotions she had just piled up before herself.

It was finally over. She had finally done it. Or at least so she thought for a moment, before leaving the cabin.

All she had done was head for the toilet, relieve herself from the bursting bladder and then prepare to move out again, still packed like a mountain hiker’s donkey. But hadn’t there been a step before all that? Only once she’d actually left the cabin she’d notice the terrain she found herself in. A dirty toilet compartment. Not any, but one in the heart of the lion’s den. Right. She’d quickly crossed the streets and entered the sole place with open doors, somehow snuck past the security and the guests and now that’s where she was.

It was dirty, the mirrors and walls covered in graffiti and some strange smell climbing all the way up into her nose. Fortunately there was no one in here besides her, but she could hear the sound of people and feel the heavy bass shake the floor from beyond the door.

As she did, she gulped questioning her own mental state for the rashness of her dumb actions. Had she already forgotten?

«OK, no problem. No problem. I made it in, I can make it out again…I hope…»

Coming to terms with herself, the spiky haired girl did all she found herself able to: rely on her non-existent stealth skills. She’d push the door open slowly and carefully, just for her eye to take a first peek, check if anyone was around, then hurry to get out before anyone would come. And for some reason that turned out to be quite easy.


The place – a former basement like live music club turned bar – was crowded, many people around, young, all of them students, the youngest from middle school and the oldest likely from college. They hung out here and there. Some plain and normal, some extreme wearing flashy clothes, tattoos, piercings, dyed hair all that. They were all the same and they were all strange. However, the mood was perfectly great. It was light hearted, relaxed, ecstatic. A taste like home.


A pink haired girl with pony tail in a gothic lolita outfit was standing on a small stage in one of the room’s corners performing some famous anisong offered by the karaoke machine, elsewhere a bunch of boys tried hitting on a girl at bar-like counter and at another place some danced around while others chilled next to them at a conversation pit of comfy couches. The laughed, they celebrated, they enjoyed their youth. It was a gathering of the oddest of characters from all over the place, but nothing was really anywhere near dangerous. There may have been drugs, there may have been alcohol, but overall it was the most peaceful of all places. In reality at least.


To delusional Kamijou, however, it was a den of lions, truly, absolutely. All around her she only saw monsters. Anyone left and everyone right, they were all the same to her. Threats! Threats that would rush at her if she only took one wrong step! She’d sneak, yet at the same time do it so obviously and stupidly, nearly everyone had their eyes turned her way. Packed like a donkey, being the only one dressed in a school uniform and acting so overly suspicious, nothing else should be expected, but it was fine to her. In her eyes, she was perfectly fine. Not the avatar of oddity, but the perfectly silent ninja, like Hattori Hanzou!

Little did she know about a certain someone whose target she’d already become.


«Famous roaming perverts? You better watch out, nya!»

From somewhere else all of a sudden another boy butted into the conversation of the two. Tall, hair dyed blonde, dark sunglasses, gold chain and clad in a loosely buttoned green Hawaiian shirt with blue shorts it was clear that he was up to no good. And really, he wasn’t, going by the smirk on his lips.

«Rumour has it there is an exhibitionist wearing nothing but a bra and pink bunny slippers! Or was it the smooch thirsty transvestite? Or the ear whispering maniac? Ah right right right! It was the hair sniffler! The one that likes bowing over defenceless middle school girls taking a deep sniff of their hair’s unique scent! I heard he takes a liking to ojou's first and foremost, nya!»

That boy’s name was Tsuchimikado Motoharu and truly he was always up to tease where ever he could. If the target was easy that was fine, but he was hungry especially for the most difficult ones. And right here out on the nighttime streets he’d found an ideal one. Thus, smirking like the devil dancing in the moonlight he approached the already quite odd pair, making things only way odder, sharing his made up wisdom.

Enter nuisance No. 2.

"I thought she was just going to head home, why would she come back out here?"

Watching the girl make a beeline for the open door made Natsuki grimace, his vague fears quickly taking form before him. He voiced these fears without taking his eyes off Kamijou's descending silhouette "By the way... You didn't see anything... Of note. In those bags of hers did you? I hope she hasn't gotten herself into doing "deliveries" or something...", he muttered sideways to his companion, now idly eying the door she had gone into. "You start off with safe packages, easy money, pocket change... And in a week, they'll have her laden with... Well, laden with nothing good if you get caught." Had his underclassman been roped into drug and substance trafficking though? It seemed unlikely, but while Natsuki mused over this, a slight gagging sound to his right alerted him that his time sitting here had come to an end; His neighbor was about to vomit.

Standing up slowly, so as not to disturb the man, he addressed his companion again, "Well, like you said, her business is not ours... Where she went, however, is, unfortunately, our business." Perhaps in the back of his mind, he was relieved he might get to the bottom of the mystery that was his underclassman; but at least consciously, he would try to prioritize what they had come here for. Setting off after Kamijou, he would answer the Elite's earlier question, "Oh, right... Yeah, we're not sure. We don't know a thing about how long they've been here... If they've been clearing out other gangs first or if they just got here and started this shit... And no, officer, we've done nothing to warrant such behavior... Well, nothing that nobody else on the streets does." he finished with a smirk and some snark as he led the way down the stairs, the light stench of cheap alcohol and smoke hitting them as they descended the enclosed stairs. He confidently nodded to a man hanging around just outside the door at the bottom of the stairs, giving acknowledgement to what Natsuki presumed was his work as a lookout doubling as some humble bouncer in a pinch.

Inside was significantly more welcoming than other bars he had been to, a focus seemingly being placed on enjoying music with some space for dancing as opposed to tightly packed tables and cheap booze. Oh, and karaoke, Natsuki realized, as he spotted the eccentric singer. "Were you planning on drinking?" He posed the question off-hand, as he made his way to the bar. In reality, he was only asking out of politeness, since he was going to pick up a pitcher anyway; just hoisting the drink with some cups would provide a self-evident cover as to why they were here and would be convenient to share with a table of strangers in exchange for their company.

Natsuki easily found space at the bar to order, making good use of the vacuum left behind by a girl whom had monopolized the attention of her surroundings. After ordering, Natsuki would quickly sweep the room with his eyes for Kamijou; of course, he was unaware she had holed up in the bathroom temporarily and didn't see her. Slightly unsatisfied, Natsuki turned his attention back to his companion to see if they could get anything out of their neighbors while waiting for their drink to arrive.

"I actually didn't think you were coming tonight, you know...", he started lightly, "When I heard you mention the Missfits, I thought you were interested just on a fad or something and you'd get cold feet before coming out... But here you are. I can't imagine it was easy to slip out of your dorms... The Missfits really are something though aren't they? A mysterious, masked gang stomping out gangs left and right and vanishing again without a trace! Hahah, what I wouldn't give to know more! ..." He continued on, fabricating other such meaningless topics, punctuated with cheap, light laughter; Natsuki highlighted ridiculous rumors with false, almost purposefully unintelligent admiration, hoping to snag anyone nearby whom was eager to share more or was insulted by his tone.

So occupied in spinning background conversation while waiting for their drink, Natsuki would be relying on his companion to eavesdrop on their surroundings as well as hopefully spot Kamijou within the patrons tonight.

"Don't worry! No matter how many times you get lost, I'll protect you from those famous roaming perverts until you get where you are going!"

Those words had made her escaping attempt come to a grinding halt. Whether it was because of the sheer unrelenting annoyance this boy was proving to be from a single encounter alone or the way he spoke like some kind of grand hero, Natsumi couldn't pin just what was it that pissed her off more.

And so, with a deadly turn of her head, she looked back at the bizarre theatre boy. “If you don't stop harassing me, you're the one who's going to need protection.” She spat out the words in the lowest and most dangerous tone she could as she squinted.

«Famous roaming perverts? You better watch out, nya!»

However, one factor she had not expected, and perhaps she should've, was that a second annoyance would come in to disturb her originally peaceful way back to hell.

«Rumour has it there is an exhibitionist wearing nothing but a bra and pink bunny slippers! Or was it the smooch thirsty transvestite? Or the ear whispering maniac? Ah right right right! It was the hair sniffler! The one that likes bowing over defenceless middle school girls taking a deep sniff of their hair’s unique scent! I heard he takes a liking to ojou's first and foremost, nya!»

Finding no words to reply in face of such inherent stupidity, one she rarely encountered as the student of a prestigious girls-only school, Natsumi had to resist a very urgent need to facepalm. It was then that she decided on one thing.

Wordlessly, she sped up her pace and decided to try losing the two nuisances in a very peculiar way.

As if following an inherent survival's instinct, whether it was one she inherently had or had grown independently, the gears turned in her head as she analysed every exploitable element.

Scratch the "try". She would lose them.

And the first step towards achieving that...

was to flee into a building she had yet to know was hosting an ear-numbing karaoke session in its basement.