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Even though Saten Ruiko and the others kept insisting, Ethan still couldn't bring himself to believe Misaka Mikoto's true gender. They hadn't personally verified it, after all.
What Ethan was sure about, though, was that the request had to be Misaka's.
"Time-and-space odd-jobber? What a joke. I'm Misaka Mikoto, ranked third among the Railgun users. Why would I ever need to ask you for help? Pfft." Misaka curled her lip. She hadn't run into any trouble yet, so why would she believe Ethan? Asking for help was beneath her.
"You never know. Maybe you want me to turn you into a real girl. Or maybe you want your flat little runway to get a, you know, lift." Ethan snarked, enjoying the look he could hear forming on her face.
He nearly pushed Misaka over the edge. Just as she was about to snap back, a loud bang came from the bank across the street and three robbers burst out.
"How dare they hold up a bank in broad daylight. They're asking to get themselves arrested." Shirai Kuroko announced, fastening her Wind-Disciplinary Committee armband with dramatic flair before charging forward. Uiharu Kazari scrambled to put on hers too, but compared to Kuroko she looked clumsy and slow even with the armband in hand.
"I'll help too!" Misaka's eyes lit up. Competitive to the core and secretly heroic, she couldn't stand by when trouble showed up, even if it technically wasn't her job.
Three small-time crooks like that were nothing for Kuroko or Misaka. But when Misaka moved to act, Kuroko stopped her, whining that Misaka wasn't a Wind Commission member and shouldn't interfere. That got them arguing, and while they bickered the robbers bolted.
Kuroko reacted fast, though. She used her spatial ability and pinned two of the thieves to the pavement with steel hairpins. The third, quicker than the others, grabbed a hostage.
Ethan felt the cold blade press against his throat and rolled his eyes. If you wanted a hostage, couldn't you pick someone else at random? Why me?
"Stand still and let him go, or I'll slice him up!" the blond robber barked.
"Oh, him? Fine, fine."
"Might as well kill him, he's useless."
"Yeah, saves on rations too."
"Do it!"
Kuroko and Misaka looked at Ethan and the robber with half-smiles that were anything but comforting. They didn't seem worried that Ethan might get hurt. If anything, they egged the robber on.
Part of the reason was that Ethan had called them cross-dressers earlier, which put them in a sour mood. The other reason was Ethan's own reputation. He'd sparred with Misaka before. She hadn't gone all-out, but she'd seen enough to know Ethan was no weakling. For robbers to hold him hostage was basically running toward a gun.
"Hey, hey, you two are serious? You actually want him to kill me?" Ethan flared, ignoring the blade, shouting straight at Misaka and Kuroko.
"What do you mean 'serious'? We only met today. We haven't even exchanged names. Don't pretend we're close."
"Exactly. He's just some random guy. If he dies, he dies. Honestly, someone like him dying might be for the best."
"You two are so cruel. There's an old saying that a woman's heart can be the cruelest of all. Wait, you two are just cross-dressers. So does that mean the cruelest heart belongs to cross-dressers?" Ethan gaped at them as if they were lower than scum, as if he was staring at the most monstrous people on earth.
"Shut up, you idiot!" one of them snapped.
"Kill him. Now! Or I'll kill you!" Misaka and Kuroko roared. Their cute faces had gone hard and feral. They fixed the robber with cold, murderous stares, daring him to do it.
"Um, murder is bad! Really bad! I think we should talk this out calmly. Killing is illegal…" the blond robber began to backpedal, suddenly nervous, even trying to soothe Misaka and Kuroko.
"Heh," Ethan said with a cold laugh. "With those two, matters of law are irrelevant. They're telling you to strike because if you do the crime, you're the criminal. Afterwards they can either capture you or kill you to silence you. It's a perfect plan for them and a disaster for you."
"No way," the robber whimpered. He hadn't come for blood, just quick cash. Why were these two girls so vicious?
"Take a look at their eyes," Ethan said. He didn't have to embellish. The robber glanced at Misaka and Kuroko and saw only brutality. Maybe it was paranoia, but it was enough.
His hands shook. The knife clattered to the ground and he dropped to his knees. "I surrender. I surrender. Don't kill me. Please don't kill me. I… I'll turn myself in. I want my mom…"
Nobody expected it to end like that. Saten Ruiko and Uiharu were stunned, eyes wide.
"Hmph." Kuroko arched an eyebrow and snapped on handcuffs. She took the robber down without breaking a sweat. The three thieves were all quickly subdued.
"What useless trash. At the very least he should've stabbed him before surrendering," Misaka grumbled, clearly annoyed. Her remark made the blond flinch.
"..."
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