Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 8, Chapter 1: After School of Girls. After_School_of_Angels.

Part 1

“Such things happened just now, Onee-sama.”

There were three bathing facilities in Tokiwadai Middle School.

One of them was a shower room that was a subsidiary of the school. It was called the "Henie Bathhouse", and it was a place built exclusively for students to tidy themselves up. The bathhouse was filled with white steam. Shirai said this as she poured the suitably warm water on her body. The water flowed down her delicate skin, pushing the soap bubbles on her breasts down to her abdomen.

“Ah, the water splashed all the way to where you were? Is there anything to really fuss about with that degree of power? I tried my best to control myself. If I had used my full power, not even the swimming pool would be enough to block it.”

Mikoto said from the other side of the partition dryly. The bathroom was about the size of five classrooms, and there were close to ninety showerheads. Each of them was separated by white partition boards and a sliding door. The door wasn’t as big as the boards. Considering the height of an ordinary female middle school student, it could probably only hide all the way from the thighs to the chest. If the girl was too tall, she wouldn’t be able to fit the regulations, and had to bend her body down in order to prevent exposing herself.

“Besides, if I want to ‘stop’, I would try to use a peaceful way to settle it. This isn’t something major as well, and I know how to choose my attacks based on who the opponent is. The only person who I can use my full power on is that idiot.”

The sense of comfort revealed in the last sentence made Shirai’s eyebrows tremble. The soap bubbles flowing down from her abdomen to her thighs brought a sense of itchiness. Shirai couldn’t help but think,

That idiot again, for Onee-sama to mention him again...

One of Shirai’s eyebrows continued to twitch as she reached her hand out for the top of the sliding door. That was where she hung the hairbands she normally used to tie her twin pigtails.

Shirai placed one of the bands on the ground. As warm water from the showerhead had accumulated on the white marble floor, once the hairband landed on the floor, it followed the shallow water flow, and drifted into the neighboring bathing room through the gap.

“Ahhh, I’m really careless! To think that I let the hairband flow into Onee-sama’s forbidden area!”

“Stop using that as an excuse to use your teleportation to come over here!”

Shirai was really thinking of using her teleportation, but Mikoto just shouted and slammed hard against the partition. The other girls in the bathhouse, who were busy chatting about, were terrified by this sound, and stopped their conversations.

Because of the noise disturbance, Shirai’s teleportation failed. When she used her teleportation, she had to define the three dimensions by using the theory of the eleventh dimension, and use the resulting values to recalculate and redefine them. The process was extremely complicated, and it sometimes failed due to sudden anxiety or surprise.

“Hoho, this seemed to have been a well-prepared way to counter it, and proves that Onee-sama's thought process and my own are completely in sync. Ho... hohoho!”

“I don’t want to play this sort of mind game with you... Take your hairband back.”

Mikoto’s wet yet delicate hand extended over from the other side of the partition, the wet hairband dangling from her fingertips. Shirai thanked Mikoto, received the thin hairband, and felt the slightly warm air coming from it.

Shirai felt her body from top to bottom, removing the remaining soap bubbles, and turned off the showerhead.

“Oh, yeah, Onee-sama, do you have any plans after school?”

Shirai said as she turned to the partition wall beside her. The water that was flowing down from her clavicle to her chest was flung away.

“Yeah, I do have the plan to sleep throughout the year,”

Mikoto casually replied, and at the same time, a clanking sound could be heard. She seemed to be rummaging through her shower bag, looking for a small bottle of shampoo.

“If that’s not a joke, I could take the chance when you’re sleeping...”

“Stop sighing and saying this so seriously; I’m getting goosebumps. Is there anything for me after school?”

On the other side of the partition, the sound of soap being squeezed out of a sponge could be heard, together with the sweet scent of the shampoo. After that, Mikoto seemed to have turned up the water level, as the showerhead made an even louder sound.

“It’s not really urgent.”

Shirai leaned her back against the partition wall.

“However... about that... I just thought about going out with Onee-sama to buy something, eat some cake. Recently, Judgement’s work has increased, so I had no time to go out with Onee-sama. To be honest, I’m a little bored. Also, didn’t Onee-sama say that she wanted to buy something?”

“Kuroko...”

The voice from the other side of the partition wall became somewhat gentle.

Go... go for it! Today, Kuroko won’t back down so easily! I know that Onee-sama cares for Kuroko even though she’s stubborn, and fawn in her arms, hoho... hehahahahaha—!

Shirai Kuroko stealthily revealed a lecherous smile, and as the partition blocked her, Mikoto was completely in the dark, and only said gently to her kouhai,

“You always run off to the sweets shop to heavily indulge every time after your Judgement work; no wonder your little belly won’t disappear no matter how much you diet.”

A second later.

With a lecherous smile, Shirai Kuroko teleported over to where Misaka Mikoto was.

More accurately, she was directly above her.

As a woman, she knew she would lose, but she had to give the opponent a kick that could send her flying back.

Part 2

The ‘School Garden’, which was made of five schools, was a mini-city.

Maybe it’s like an American naval base stationed in Japan? Shirai considered. Of course, this comparison may seem weird, but there was a large barricade that prevented other people from entering. The barricade was separated into different areas, such as experimental facilities and housing areas. Even the shops that provided the daily necessities, such as a café or a clothes shop, were available.

Shirai and Mikoto were walking in this "city that had everything".

Though it was a sealed place surrounded by a barricade, there were still public buses driven by female drivers. The crowds of people moving around were wearing different kinds of uniforms, five in total, and looking at them, they were all young girls, which was inexplicable. The ‘School Garden’ with its stone walkways and white buildings looked like an old town located near the Mediterranean Sea. The buildings had a Western feel, but they were rectangular, as if the triangular roofs had been forcefully torn down by someone- a unique building design exclusive for those areas with little rain. Though the buildings here were modern, there was a tinge of an ancient feeling imbued in them.

However, compared to the scene of a Western street, there were two things lacking in the ‘School Garden’:

One, a church.

Two, sculptures of greats.

There should be no need for explanation on the first part. As for the second part, as most of the sculptures were religious greats or saints, one couldn’t see them here.

This Western street that had neither of these things seemed really weird because most of the cities in the West had expanded from a religious site or square.

Over here, what replaces it was a school.

If there was a bird’s eye view, one could see everything clearly. Numerous roads expanded from the five schools like a spider web. These five spider webs intertwined with each other, forming numerous cross junctions in the process.

In other words, the roads in the ‘School Garden’ were rather narrow. This was the result of building so many experimental facilities in limited land space, and it made moving along them feel like a maze.

And right now,

After school, on this wonderful street, two girls were walking side by side.

Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto.

As the idols of all the girls in Academy City and princesses of Tokiwadai Middle School, the duo’s hair was rather messy. This, of course, was the result of a large-scale battle.

Mikoto tiredly combed her hair with a comb in her hand and said,

“...No matter what, isn’t it too much to send a flying kick to the face without putting anything on? I saw what I shouldn’t be seeing clearly; that nearly scared me to death.”

“Hohoho, I expected that, Onee-sama. To fight head-on with the strongest electromaster is definitely stupid, but in the bathhouse, where there’s water everywhere, Onee-sama wouldn’t want others to get involved, so she won’t use her electricity. My only miscalculation was that Onee-sama’s unarmed combat is so vicious.”

Shirai gave a wry smile, as if she had given up. Such a sight wasn’t suited for a student of Tokiwadai Middle School, which had the mission of "creating world-class talents through education".

After that, Shirai laughed, and lashed her shrivelled bag. She seemed to have regained her spirit. Mikoto looked tired as she said to Shirai,

“Come to think of it, you really intend to lose weight?”

“Why can Onee-sama not treat dieting as anything significant yet still maintain such a perfect body? Don’t tell me that you mastered a way to use the electricity in your body to burn off the fats—?!”

“There’s no such thing, and stop looking at me with such a fierce expression... That’s enough! Didn’t I say that there’s no such thing? Stop shaking my shoulders! I understand your feelings, but doesn’t our school forbid students from dieting?”

Over dieting would prevent the students from developing properly, and that included their esper powers. Thus, some schools forbade their students from doing this.

On hearing that, Shirai stopped rummaging through her bag and sighed,

“Though powers are important, is there really a need to sacrifice a girl’s happiness for the sake of powers? I don’t want to become a person stacked with fats teleporting all over the place.”

“However, I heard that when dieting, the part that's reduced first is the fat on the breasts. Also, if you over diet, your skin will lose its fat, and will become dry and rough. Your hair will also end up lacking nutrients and fall off easily.”

“AHHHH—! I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO SUCH HEALTH TRIVIA THAT WILL DISTRAUGHT ME!!”

Shirai covered her ears and shook her head hard.

If it were any other place in Academy City, such an action would be seen as weird. But right now, when girls overheard the duo’s conversation, they'd also felt the same thing and wouldn’t look at her strangely. A girl who was about to put a French fry into her mouth revealed a stiff smile, and put the fry back into the packaging.

Shirai thought that even if it was Mikoto, she probably wouldn’t talk about such things like weight or cosmetics. Though she did keep an aloof look, she would still mind other boys staring at her. However, being in the ‘School Garden’ wasn’t really different from being in a girls’ school, so they could say whatever they wanted.

The two of them walked through this artificially created Western atmosphere.

There were no large shops like department stores or shopping malls in the ‘School Garden’. All the items required for lessons or school life, like "P.E. attire" and "stationery", had their own stores. Thus, the streets were filled with mini-stores that specialised in selling certain items. As for some of the large buildings, they belonged to the experimental companies.

Like a trail in a maze, there were shopping streets everywhere.

Shirai saw the brand of a certain shop, pulled Mikoto’s hand, and walked into the shop.

Mikoto saw what was inside the shop, sighed, and said,

“You came here for this?”

“Oh, my, yes; this is a daily necessity.”

Shirai casually replied.

It was a lingerie shop.

It was a small yet intricate shop, the interior design was mainly made of wood, and the atmosphere felt like that of an antique shop or a gift shop. The orange sunset shined in through the window and, coupled with the lamp lights, created a soft light. One could see that the designer wanted to create a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere.

However, what was being displayed were women lingerie, all of different colors, with different lacings and patterns. It really didn’t match the calm atmosphere of the shop. Maybe it was a method to make their products stand out even more and give the customers a deeper impression of their goods?

“To be honest, I do feel that this place isn’t suitable for hanging out with friends. My choice of underwear being discovered isn’t such a good thing.”

“With our current relationship, there should be no need to consider this. Onee-sama likes pink and childish underwear; I’ve checked it thoroughly- Owowow! Stop pulling my ear, Onee-sama!”

“...Teleportation is truly a troublesome ability. Talk, Kuroko: where are you hiding every day when you see me changing?”

“This... this isn’t important, right, Onee-sama? Don’t I show my underwear to Onee-sama every day?”

“I didn’t see that voluntarily! Who asked you to wear such transparent silk pajamas!? I’m guessing that you’re letting me see it on purpose?!?!”

“Ara ara, Onee-sama, I really feel that your fondness of pink kiddy loose pyjamas is- Ayowow! Onee-sama, you want to be the queen this year- OWOWOW!”

Though Shirai was being pulled by the ear, she seemed happy.

The two of them continued to make a ruckus, but it didn’t attract the attention of the bystanders. Besides the two of them, there were three students from other noble schools and an old granny shop owner and lace master who seemed to have sat at the counter for many years, but no one seemed to notice that they were causing a scene. The female shopkeeper continued to read her English newspapers. In the ‘School Garden’, where every student was a girl, this sort of ruckus was just par for the course.

“Ah, Onee-sama, that top and bottom combination over there seem to suit you.”

“How can you still calmly recommend this when your ear is being pulled...WA! How do they even have that kind of 80% transparent laced underwear!? Is that used for comedy!?”

“This is a lingerie store, it’s normal for them to sell such high class underwear.”

“...It sounds like you’re an expert or something like that.”

“I’m an expert at making Onee-sama blush due to embarrassment...owowow! Oh my, I seem to be more excited now. Hoho...hohoho. In this bright day, to be seen getting a part of my body being pulled by Onee-sama, it’s another pleasure.”

“Kuroko, if you keep at this, I’m going to pull your ear off, no?”

Mikoto smiled as she pulled Shirai’s ear, but the cute look of Mikoto blushing and turning away when she had seen the underwear that Shirai had recommended didn’t escape Shirai’s eyes. Shirai saw the side of Mikoto’s embarrassed face and revealed a smile of happiness like never before.

Suddenly, Kuroko saw that Mikoto seemed to be shocked, staring seriously at something else.

“Eh?”

A suspicious Kuroko followed to where Mikoto was staring.

On the window that was beside the road, the world outside the window was already engulfed by the sunset. On the sky far away, an airship was floating slowing. There was a large screen below, and right now, the news was being aired on it.

The headlines could be seen from here: the Americans had successfully launched a space shuttle. Various images of the shuttle from different angles were being replayed on the screen.

Mikoto completely forgot about the underwear as she watched the news report seriously. This made Shirai, who was beside her, feel bored.

“There are a lot of them recently. Last week, it seems like France, Russia and Spain have launched theirs. This month, China and Pakistan are preparing to launch theirs as well. Our sensei would often mention this during the second economics lesson when talking about the pros and cons about the aeronautical development industry.”

Shirai said this as her finger touched Mikoto’s earlobe.

“WAA! Kuroko! What are you doing!?”

Mikoto frantically turned towards Shirai.

“That’s...that’s right, Academy City also launched one last week. Come to think of it, why did you choose such a useless course...stop poking my ear...you...and stop petting me!”

Tokiwadai Middle School was known as an elite training institute, and the philosophy was to ‘create world-class talents through education’. Thus, their curriculum was different from ordinary Middle schools.

“In the past, the multi-phase rockets and space shuttles required a large-scale firing area to be launched, so only a few countries or organisations had such funding and technology to use it. But now, times have changed...I have to hand in a report this week, so I checked up on some things...”

Shirai said as she casually picked a black-laced top-bottom combination and tossed it to Mikoto.

“To be honest, I do feel that learning the third economics is useless, but since you’re handing in your report, I’ll tell you something. Right now, the latest technology is to place a rocket below a plane, and firing it directly in mid-air. Ever since such technology was developed, the number of rocket thresholds have decreased, so such things can’t be seen in old references. You have to be mindful of this when you’re collecting information.”

Mikoto’s expression didn’t change as she tossed the black-laced underwear back at Shirai, and sighed. After this, she seemed to be really interested in a pale yellow underwear.

“O...Onee-sama...isn’t that a little too childish?”

Mikoto unhappily glared at Shirai, but Shirai didn’t seem to back down. Mikoto seemed to have gotten some sort of signal from Shirai’s stiff expression, and could only turn to look at another set of underwear unhappily. But to Shirai, the other one was still rather childish-looking.

“Sigh... now that you mentioned it, once the basic information in the reference is edited, the entire information becomes hard to interpret, so troublesome. But I can’t just abandon all the old references. Besides, some information can only be obtained from the old references.”

“Isn’t judging the rights and wrongs of old and new information part of what we have to learn? Besides, if you take it all now, it’ll get complicated when the aeronautical development industry gets complicated, and would definitely mind-boggle you. Ever since the private sector merged in, the entire industry got bustling, not only are new records formed, the chronology is updated regul...WA! WAIT A SEC, KUROKO! ISN’T THAT A LITTLE TOO...!”

Shirai was holding a set of underwear that had extremely low defence stats, so low that Mikoto was stunned.

“Ngh? Onee-sama, did you say something?”

“En...ne...never mind, everyone has their own underwear preferences. However, try not to get caught by the dorm supervisors or instructors.”

Mikoto avoided looking directly at the scary set of underwear in Shirai’s hand and adjusted her breathing.

“How...However, the situation right now is really troublesome. Those organisations who originally have a launch area don’t want the newcomers to come in and mess things up when the industry develops. The organisations with new technology however want to prove to the world that the new technology is much cheaper and safer than the old rockets and planes. Old and new technology, one side gets supported, the other side would lose ground. This is why everyone has been firing rockets into the air, to prove the reliability to their sponsors.”

Though Mikoto was trying her best not to look at the underwear in Shirai’s hand, she still couldn’t resist the urge to peek. She muttered, “Instead of wearing such things, you might as well not wear anything...”

“Hn? Why is Onee-sama trying not to look at me?”

Shirai picked up several sets of underwear that she liked and said suspiciously,

“Academy City itself is an exception, it does have both old and new technology, so there’s no such problem. And with the ‘Japanese Government’ being the biggest sponsor, they should be feeling alright...ugh...”

Before Shirai finished speaking, she traced her lips with her fingers.

Her lips seemed to be cracked. On seeing that, Mikoto said,

“Do you need some lip balm? The air in the shop is rather dry due to the air-conditioning.”

“No. It was already cracked yesterday.”

Basically, Tokiwadai Middle School forbade students from putting on make up. And the rules were strict—forget about bright lipsticks or mascara, even practical items like lip balm and hand creams were forbidden.

So to them, ‘light makeup that could barely be seen’ had become a tradition. Unless one looked closely, one could see that Mikoto and Shirai’s lips were giving off a little glow and flavour. However, it was a tactic of last resort, and yet now it had become a little trend that was occurring around Tokiwadai Middle School. Everyone even had a name for this ludicrously pompous method of make-up: ‘ladies’ ceremony’.

“Okay...”

Mikoto rummaged through her bag and pulled out a stick-shaped lip balm and said,

“We’ll be going to the pharmacy to buy some lip balm later, so you won’t mind using this one for a while, okay?”

“WHAT!?”

Shirai Kuroko looked in astonishment as Mikoto casually pulled out an ordinary lip balm.

She widened her eyes, her whole body trembling.

(Lip...lip balm! O...Onee-sama’s... Onee-sama’s... Onee-sama’s lip balm that she used to rub over her precious lips! Ha...haaaa...Kuroko...haaa...Kuroko can’t take it anymore—!)

“Wait...wait a sec, why are you pulling the entire stick out? Time out! Time out! KUROKO, WHY ARE YOU OPENING YOUR MOUTH SO WIDE!!? ARE YOU GOING TO EAT IT ALL UP!!??”

“AH...too excited, I nearly ate it up...”

“I can guess what your mind is thinking, but this lip balm is sold in sets of three, so this one hasn’t been used yet. Ordinary people won’t even think about using lip balms that someone else has used before, right?”

“Eh...it wasn’t used before? Cheh...what a pity. Ah! But if I use it and then return it to Onee-sama...!”

“No need to return me that. There are three of them anyway, so it’s alright to give you one. STOP...STOP IT! STOP FORCING THAT LIP BALM WHICH YOU USED BEFORE ONTO MY LIPS!”

It was like Shirai and Mikoto were living in a Hollywood movie, as the good guy and bad guy skirmished around, fighting for the handgun. Suddenly, Mikoto froze.

Shirai discovered that Mikoto wasn’t looking at her, but at something behind her.

She turned around, looking surprised.

Breast pads.

They were meant for girls to wear underneath their bras when they were not confident about their breasts, a gimmick meant to protect their pride and dignity. In reality, in ‘School Garden’, there were only girls—which meant that there was no one to seduce, so these things weren’t very popular, and could only exude a sense of sadness due to the poor sales.

Shirai thought for a while, and remembered something.

Mikoto had mentioned just now as they were walking on the streets.

“However, I heard that when dieting, the part that reduces first is the fat on the breasts.”

“Haha, so Onee-sama is mindful about this? For a huge bust or slim figure, Onee-sama chooses the former?”

“Wha...”

Mikoto’s expression immediately stiffened.

“No, that’s not right...Onee-sama shouldn’t be too mindful about the breasts. If so, this means that it is an abstract desire, like say, Onee-sama wants a mature adult’s body, and not be treated as a child? Ah, Onee-sama is infatuated! Whom is the lucky man who made Onee-sama so persistent? It should be someone older than Onee-sama, right? Come to think of it, on the last day of summer vacation, didn’t Onee-sama meet up with someone outside the dorm? Didn’t the other person look like a Middle School student?”

In this critical juncture, to make such a provocative statement.

Shirai was already prepared to be beaten up, such that she had even thought about the words she wanted to say after she was beaten up.

However...

The Level 5 esper of Academy City, commonly known as the Ace of Tokiwadai, Misaka Mikoto just blushed, lowering her head till she couldn’t even say anything.

“Ah, eh? O–Onee-sama...?”

Shirai inadvertently turned pale.

A certain boy’s face appeared in Shirai’s mind, regretting deeply in her own heart as she bit onto the handkerchief. Just as Shirai was about to bite it to shreds, Mikoto finally snapped back and revealed a look of uninterest, yet glancing stealthily at the breast pads from the corner of her eyes, muttering, “Oh...to think that some people use this contraption”. Though she was trying to look aloof, she was practically admitting her guilt.

“...So breasts pads come in different types and textures, huh? Wah, this is practically a balloon stuffed with fruit juice.”

Though Shirai was greatly hurt by this huge interest of Mikoto, she couldn’t bear to turn a deaf ear to Mikoto’s words. She could only suppress her jealous feelings, sigh slightly, and say,

“Hn, I heard that breasts enhancement surgery is just gel packaged inside plastic bags and stuffed inside the breasts. Maybe that might be more bouncy.”

“Bouncy...? Ho...but the sizes may vary.”

“Because everyone is different. Ah, will Onee-sama’s cute breasts develop to that size after puberty?”

“Stop pointing! There are other customers here!”

Mikoto frantically pressed down Shirai’s fingers, but her eyes had been attracted by the products that Shirai was pointing at. As the observer, Shirai inadvertently sighed. If it was even possible to stuff such large padding inside a bra, it was not strange for it to be exposed.

For a while, Mikoto seemed to have forgotten something as she observed the breasts pads in front of her. After a while, she backed away, tilted her head, and said,

“However, even if I’m to wear this, wouldn’t I be exposed if I take off my clothes?”

“...! O–Onee-sama! Don’t...don’t tell me you thought about everything already!?”

“Ah? Eh? No...that’s not it, Kuroko! I’m talking about P.E! When I change my clothes!!”

Mikoto frantically denied it, but Shirai revealed a manga-like thunder shocked expression as she remained rooted to the spot.

Part 3

Academy City was engulfed in the sunset.

The buildings of ‘School Garden’ had white walls, and the atmosphere would change according to the colour of the sky. The last bus was about to arrive soon, and the girls from 5 different schools, wearing their own set of uniforms, were heading towards the bus terminal. Like Shirai and Mikoto, their dormitories were outside ‘School Garden’.

Though the school never decreed that the students had to take the public bus, these girls who were so pampered and isolated that they had a sense of fear against Academy City. Among them, there were also people who had never stepped anywhere else beside the dormitory, the bus, or ‘School Garden’.

Among the noisy crowd that was heading home, Shirai and Mikoto were leisurely walking back.

They were not doing this voluntarily however, as they were unable to hasten their pace. The dried and shrivelled bags in their hands swung around lifelessly.

“You...how many times must I tell you...I’m talking about changing before and after P.E lesson...it...it has nothing to do...to do with someone I like...nothing at all...”

“I...I must reemphasi...undressing yourself in front of men...is a little too early...”

“RAHHHH—! IT’S SO HARD TO TALK TO SOME PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO BUY SLEAZY AND REVEALING UNDERWEAR!!”

“SLEAZY...REVEALING!? O–ONEE-SAMA’S TRYING TO ACT CUTE BY WEARING SUCH CHILDISH ONES! AS A FELLOW FEMALE, I CANNOT AGREE TO THAT!!”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“WHAT?”

Mikoto and Shirai continued to quarrel, but after quarrelling for so long, they were overwhelmed by their own fatigue. The duo finally sighed and relaxed.

They didn’t take the bus back, so they weren’t mindful about the timing of the last bus. From the corner of her eyes, Shirai saw a shop closing as the students were heading home, and said,

“Oh yeah, Onee-sama, we can argue about the truth later, where are we going right now? We spent too much time arguing. I originally intended for us to go somewhere to eat after we bought our stuff.”

“That’s right, we can settle this misunderstanding later. Isn’t it too late today? Especially since the shops in ‘School Garden’ close very early.”

“Ugh, but once we exit ‘School Garden’, there are many shops that will be open at this time. Maybe we can go and order a dessert set from ‘Black-honey Hall’...”

“Ahhh, Kuroko, you normally can’t resist the temptation. No wonder some parts of your body are so...ugh!”

As Mikoto ridiculed Shirai, halfway she could feel a tremendous killing aura.

Shirai, who was beside her, lowered her head, hiding her expression, her mouth muttering something.

“Kuro...Kuroko...I originally intend to add on ‘It’s alright to eat more as long as you exercise enough, however’...”

“Onee-sama, you’re really fond of saying such words that hurts a young girl’s heart. I might end up using ‘teleportation’ to remove your clothes in broad daylight, no?”

Shirai squirmed as she said this. Her esper power was practically the worst enemy to all the girls. As long as her hand touched it, no matter whether it was a skirt or underwear, it could be teleported somewhere else. In other words, whether Mikoto would end up fully or half-naked would depended on her.

Facing this impending danger, Mikoto couldn’t help but tremble in fear. Luckily, a phone rang, resolving the tense situation.

On hearing it, Mikoto knew that it was not hers.

“Kuroko...why do you always like to use such powerful multi-function phones that are impractical? Is there any significance in increasing the number of chords?”

“Heheheh, not only that. This phone has many disadvantages such as being small, easy to lose, hard to press buttons and a blurry screen.”

Shirai weakly laughed as she pulled out the phone.

Her phone’s design was completely different; it was a 1cm diameter, 5cm long cylinder that looked like lipstick. She pressed the top button, stopping the ringing, and from the side, pulled out a thin transparent paper-like substance. This was the ‘main body’ of the phone.

“Looks so sci-fi, yet so hard to use. Looks really deceptive.”

“No need to worry about me, Onee-sama, I love to blindly pursue the latest technology. Someday, I want to ride in a transparent tube tram...ah, excuse me.”

Shirai turned her back on Mikoto, stared at the screen, and placed the phone on her ear.

The caller was registered inside her phonebook.

On the screen was the liaison office of Academy City’s security forces, ‘Judgement’.

‘Judgement’ was like the police, it was responsible for handling cases that were caused by misuse of esper powers. Shirai was one of them as well.

“Shirai here. I finally get to go shopping with Onee-sama, and the atmosphere’s rather good. Is there really anything so important for you to bother me?”

“WA! Then am I holding Misaka-san’s virginity? What a relief.”

The other person on the phone was also a Judgement member. The voice sounded sweet, as if her mouth was stuffed with candy, but on hearing this, Shirai really wanted to cut the line.

“Shirai-san, there are some things happening right now that I can’t handle as a newcomer, so if you’re free, I’ll like to ask for your suggestion as a sempai.”

“Just ‘if you’re free’?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that I finally got my wish to go out with Onee-sama?”

“Yes, this timing is too good, I’m stunned myself. Seems like Heaven wants me to let out a cry of victory. Wahahaha!”

Shirai picked up the phone and gently tapped the microphone onto the wall of the shop beside her.

“UGWAA! My...my ears hurt! What’s with that strange sound...”

“You say anything troublesome, I’ll let you hear the sound of nails scratching on glass, okay?”

“Any–Anyway, please get to 177th division in 30 minutes. The situation now is getting worse.”

The other person cut the call.

“Haiz...”

Shirai Kuroko kept her phone, looking guilty as she said to Misaka Mikoto,

“Sorry, Onee-sama. I don’t know how to apologise to you. That Judgement gave me work to do without understanding the situation...”

“No problem, no problem. I’ll send you off with a bright smile.”

“...You’re not even saying a single word of comfort, I really want to cry...alright then, I’m off. Take care, Onee-sama.”

Shirai turned and headed toward the bus stop. In order to save time, she decided to take the last bus.

Walking halfway though, Mikoto suddenly said,

“Kuroko, I know that work is beyond your control, but I’ll advise you to come back earlier. It might rain tonight.”

“Ah, I forgot to check the weather report, didn’t know about that. Thanks for reminding me, Onee-sama. We’ll meet back later at the dorm.”

Shirai turned and bowed at Mikoto before turning back and running to the bus stop. Behind her, Mikoto’s footsteps were getting softer and further, finally unable to be heard.

Shirai was somewhat mindful about the weather, so she looked up at the evening sky. There was no sign of rain coming anytime soon.

(Eh...?)

Suddenly, Shirai felt that what Mikoto had said just now didn’t feel right.

It might rain tonight.

These words may seem normal, but this was Academy City. It had three sets of satellites, and one of them was the ‘Tree Diagram’, which had perfect simulation capabilities. In other words, the residents of Academy City wouldn’t use the word ‘maybe’ to describe the weather.

(If so, Onee-sama...)

Though Mikoto’s words made Shirai unsettled, Shirai decided to continue on with the job at hand. The last bus would leave in ten minutes. Shirai held onto her dry and crumpled bag tightly as she dashed toward the destination which she could not see. Unknowingly, the minor doubt in Shirai’s heart vanished completely.

Between the lines 1

The 7th District of Academy City.

In a corner of this 7th district, there was a student dorm where Kamijou Touma was staying. Although it was in the same school district as ‘School Garden’, it was ordinary and low profile.

Of course, this place was a boys’ dormitory, but one of the rooms was an exception. There was a silver-haired, emerald- eyed, idle 14–15 year old girl wearing white nun robes.

The idle girl, Index, was now occupying the space in front of the television.

The television was currently airing the weather report, and in the background was a large map of Japan. The nee-chan in a suit was smiling as the humidity was reported. A while back, it was the UV rays report, and now it was a new gimmick. Ordinary high school student Kamijou Touma could feel that the season was changing from this minor change (though the weather was still hot).

“Touma, Touma. They’re just drawing rings on the map of Japan, how can they tell tomorrow’s weather like this?”

Index asked without turning her head around. Kamijou’s frustrated voice came back from the preparation table. Tonight’s dinner was deep-fried chicken cutlets, and he was about to toss the marinated chicken into the wok.

“Index, stay away from the TV when you’re watching it. Also, those ring things are called isobars. By knowing the rise and fall in air pressure, you can guess whether there would be rain-producing clouds. However, it might rain when the clouds hit a mountain, so we can’t always use air pressure to judge this.”

“Wooahh...eh? Wait...using the landscape to predict the changes in weather...ah! So Academy City has learnt how to use artificial methods to measure fengshui?”

“Seems like you’re getting too excited, so I’m not going to curb your enthusiasm. I’ll let the calico cat eat it.”

Kamijou used a pair of metal chopsticks that were used for frying to pick a piece of well-fried chicken from the wok, and placed it on a plate before putting the plate on the ground. The calico cat that was curled up beside Index immediately reacted, and with the speed of a flying arrow, rushed toward the plate. It nibbled at the chicken before rolling on the ground, as if it was saying, “It’s hot! But I must eat it! It’s really hot!” Kamijou then took another plate, filled it with water and placed it on the ground. The calico cat didn’t seem to be a natural wildcat, or maybe it had been domesticated before, as even with the crackling sound from the pot, it was not afraid.

Index, who was sitting in front of the television, saw this and immediately jumped up.

“So...so mean! Touma would be angry every time I eat it when you’re not looking! Why is Touma only good to Sphinx?”

“Ah? It’s not that I’m not letting you eat. It’s because you’ll always eat everything up when I’m not looking...STOP IT STOP IT!! That one is still raw, it’s just marinated—!!”

Kamijou skillfully used the metal chopsticks to block the gluttonous girl who was attacking at full force, protecting today’s dinner. During this tumult, there were already two pieces of metal burnt black.

A really hungry Index was unable to eat the meat, and ended up biting the back of Kamijou’s head. All of a sudden, she tilted her head and asked like an innocent child,

“However, Touma, why is the weather report nee-chan often wrong? Does stupidity look like a profitable thing?”

“To be said that by someone who’s like that, the weather reporter nee-chan is also pitiful...OWOWOW!”

The boy’s scream accompanied the sound of sharp teeth biting.

“Be... because the weather report isn’t 100% accurate! It used to be, but it seems that the calculating device is broken.”

There seemed to be many doubts in Index’s head, but Kamijou didn’t intend to explain further.

‘Tree Diagram’.

One of the three satellites that Academy City possessed, a supercomputer that could accurately predict where all the air molecules would move. However, it didn’t exist anymore.

Kamijou stared at the screen.

The weather report that had lost its perfect instrument was over, and what replaced it was the traffic report within Academy City.

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