"So, Natsume-san, you work fast. But how reliable is this photo? An esper who can capture images from the past—that's a rare kind of ability."
Shirai had some scrapes on her arm, and Uiharu was carefully applying ointment to the wounds.
Natsume Sonoko, sitting on a nearby stool, answered while eyeing Shirai's injuries with concern.
"We have second-year Maeda-senpai to thank. Since not much time had passed, her ability was still quite effective. That's how we finally got a look at the culprit."
"Shirai-san, are you sure you're okay? That looks really painful," Sonoko asked, her tone full of worry.
Though being a Judgement member wasn't usually highly dangerous, it was different for someone like Shirai, who constantly pursued criminals off-campus.
"Natsume-san, I've had professional training. I can handle pain, no matter how bad—this is nothing."
Raising a finger emphatically, Shirai drove her point home.
Sometimes, Sonoko genuinely admired Shirai Kuroko. In many ways, Shirai operated on a level ordinary people could hardly reach.
Not only did she possess an extraordinary sense of duty and justice, but even Misaka-senpai—the Railgun herself—seemed increasingly worn down by Shirai's overwhelming presence.
Lately, Misaka's electric discharges had become noticeably more frequent, almost unconsciously so.
Sonoko, on the other hand, lived quite differently.
She enjoyed three square meals a day, studied diligently in class, occasionally hit the arcade after school, and spent evenings surfing the web in her dorm.
Her days were a bit silly, but living as an ordinary student guided by her whims suited her just fine.
Still, even an everyday student like Natsume Sonoko had her limits.
If anyone made her truly angry, she'd make sure they experienced a real taste of "fire and ice."
"Natsume-san, could you introduce us to this senpai? Her ability could be really useful for our current investigation. With her help, we might be able to track down the one planting bombs."
Uiharu studied the photo—supposedly taken from the past—with keen interest. However she looked at it, such a power would be a huge help.
If this ability truly could recreate the past, maybe they could locate the culprit near the explosion sites.
"Alright, but whether she helps or not is up to her. At most, I can give you her contact info."
Sonoko moved closer to Uiharu and glanced over at Shirai, who was rolling up her sleeve to apply the ointment.
After finishing with the ointment and wrapping the bandage around Shirai's arm, Uiharu scanned the portrait from the photo and began searching the database for any esper matching the appearance.
Although the database claimed to hold records of nearly every esper in Academy City, Uiharu's search came up empty.
"Another dead end. Has the city's database been glitching lately?" Sonoko said, clearly annoyed. Recently, the database's usefulness had dropped significantly.
"Lately, we've been running into more espers not registered in the database, or ones whose powers have suddenly grown so much that the records no longer match," Shirai remarked, adjusting her sleeve and flexing her arm.
Aside from this unsolved bombing case, the number of other incidents had been gradually rising.
Even the injury on Shirai's arm happened after hitting a dead end with the bomb investigation—she'd gone to another crime scene involving an esper.
The suspect appeared to be a Level 3 wind-user, but the database listed them as only Level 1.
"So… Academy City's getting chaotic?" Sonoko couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
She knew a thing or two about the forces behind the unrest.
Just thinking about the various experiments and plans hidden beneath the city's surface made her feel the weight of it all.
"District 7 is mostly middle and high school students, so public order is still relatively stable. But some other districts have already seen small-scale armed riots," Shirai explained, standing up with a slight frown.
"Armed groups… You mean those Skill-Out gangs?" Sonoko asked, surprised.
She'd heard about them—most of the Skill-Out groups in District 7 were truants or night-dwellers who ganged up to attack lower-level espers.
Still, those Skill-Out guys probably hadn't stolen her bicycle.
--+--
With nothing to show for their efforts, things had gotten complicated again. After checking in with the Anti-Skill teacher, Sonoko prepared to head back, visibly frustrated.
Even with a clear picture of the suspect, it was useless if they couldn't find the person.
Sonoko couldn't just wander all over District 7, nor could she ask Uiharu to stare at surveillance footage indefinitely.
But before returning to her dorm, Sonoko remembered something.
Maybe she could buy a new computer on the way—retail therapy to soothe her sorrows.
After just ten minutes in the electronics store, she walked out carrying a laptop bag and a free store mascot—a monkey plushie.
Sonoko didn't know much about laptops, so she'd relied on some basics she'd picked up online a few days earlier, choosing a reasonably priced model with decent performance.
It didn't cost much—certainly less than her missing bicycle.
Just after leaving the store, as she walked along the nearby street, a few startled exclamations reached her ears.
Sonoko stopped in her tracks.
In her line of sight stood a woman in a white blouse and a short skirt, looking somewhat dazed under the blazing sun.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
Under the horrified stares of several passersby, the woman began slowly unbuttoning her blouse, revealing a pale neck.
"Can't be helped. It's just too hot today," the strange woman said listlessly, glancing up at the intensely shining sun as if that explained everything.
"I've been walking under this sun forever—feel like I'm getting roasted."
She shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand and kept unbuttoning.
"Huh? This button won't come undone."
Sonoko stared, dumbfounded.
She'd heard there was someone like this in Academy City, but seeing it unprepared was still a shock.
"Button your clothes back up! There are so many people here!" a female passerby cried out, embarrassed and angry. It seemed everyone shared the same opinion on this matter.
"Oh, this button's frozen. No wonder it suddenly feels cooler."
The strange woman's eyes were tired and vacant; she didn't seem at all surprised by the frozen button, as if it were perfectly normal.
When she moved past the frozen button and continued undoing the ones below, a sudden cold breeze swept through, making everyone's hair stand on end. Those farther away hardly felt a thing.
The strange woman frowned slightly, and soon she hunched her shoulders a little, as if feeling chilly.
"Where's this cold wind coming from? The weather's so weird today."
"Strange—it's blazing hot out."
"What's with all the weird stuff today?" The passersby chattered among themselves.
Sonoko's face flushed slightly. Had Academy City's public morals really fallen this far?
So it seemed the task of maintaining order and purifying the city's social environment now fell to a certain passerby who wished to remain anonymous—one Natsume Sonoko.
She felt she ought to do something. Like helping everyone put on an extra layer in summer, so no one would go stripping casually.
Quietly freezing the buttons in place, the meddling Sonoko even thoughtfully provided a cooling service.
Seeing the strange woman start rebuttoning her blouse and even tugging her collar tighter, Sonoko finally let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. The redness in Sonoko's cheeks faded, and that awkward feeling finally lifted.
Two birds with one stone—she'd solved the strange woman's overheating problem and helped purify Academy City's social environment.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.